THE MOONLIGHT REEFS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 581, 7 October 1869, Page 2

THE MOONLIGHT REEFS.

An enormously rich quartz specimen was brought to town on Tuesday evening from a newly-discovered reef in the Moonlight district, and its exhibition yesterday caused quite a fever of excitement. The. specimen was nearly solid gold, and is the richest that has yet been brought from the Moonlight district, where valuable | gold-bearing reefs have now been proved to exist in numbers. We will state the simple facts connected with this discovery as they have been related to tis, leaving them in the meantime to speak for themselves, as we have no wish to get up any spurious excitement. Some three months ago, a number of gentlemen in town formed themselves into a company and obtained a lease of sixteen acres of land at the junction of the middle and left-hand branches of the Moonlight Creek, and immediately set men to work to drive a tailrace up the left-hand branch, in order to cut through any reefs which were supposed to exist there. 'In this work they were joined by two men paid by parties who had taken up a claim on the opposite side of the creek. During their operations they cut through several leaders, and about a fortnight ago came upon a clearly defined quartz reef; showing gold. They drove right through this, and found that it was four feet thick. This discovery was reported jto.±ho-pr«Bpeotorsrin town, bnt they gave orders for the men to continue driving to the boundary of the claim in order fully to test the value of the eround. The result was that two days ago they struck another leader, from which they broke' specimens showing in abundance, the richest of which was one small piece weighing 2oz, and containing Hoz of gold. The men immediately left off and came to town. They state that the casings, which are of a mullocky slate, with quartz intermixed, are as rich as the specimens brought down, gold being clearly visible all through. Yesterday a company was; formed to work the reef, called the Band of Hope. Last night a meeting of the promoters was held, at which it was decided that not a share should be placed inthe market until the discovery was thoroughly tested. In the meantime, the prospectors are to work for two months sinking a shaft from the bank right on to the reef, then drive along the line of reef to test its size and value, and then to send a ton of stone down to be crushed. The result will be anxiously looked for. Out of the large number of companies which have lately taken up mining leases in the Moonlight District only three others in addition to the Band of Hope — namely, the Moonlight, Mawhera, and Sunrise — are at work. A large number of men are employed in the works on these, claims, and rich reefs have been found in each, from which quantities of specimens have been sent to town. The overseer of the Sunrise Company reports having found three new reefs in his ground. The upper reef in the Moonlight claim has been driven right through, and is found to be six feet of solid quartz, with gold distributed all through it. The crushing machinery is being rapidly erected, and is expected to be in full work in a few weeks. The last recorded sale of a share in this company was for £96. It was reported by an Hokitika auctioneer's notice the other day that a share had been sold by auction for £45, but no such transaction has been reported to the office of the company. The, Golden Hill Company, in close proximity to the Moonlight Company, intend to commence operations at once. An extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Moonlight Quartz Mining Company was held at the offices of the Company on Tuesday, to consider a proposal to reduce the qualification, number, and quorum of directors. Mr Kenrick. was elected Chairman. The minutes of 1 the meeting of shareholders, held on the 12th June, were read and confirmed. It was proposed by Mr Kennedy, and seconded by Mr Stephens, that rule 1, fixing the number of directors, remain without alteration. Mr James Kirton, who appeared as proxy for a number of the shareholders resident in Canterbury, moved as an amendment — "That this meeting do adjourn for a fortnight." The amendment was lost, the ayes being 36, and the noes 47. The original motion was then put and carried. It was proposed by Mr Kennedy, and seconded by Mr Gilmer — "That in rule 3, fixing the quorum of directors to the.word ' four' be struck out, and the word c three' be inserted in its place." Carried. Proposed by Mr Ken-? rick, seconded by Mr Revell — " That in rule 13, fixing the qualification of directors, the words ' five shares' be struck out, and the words ' one share' be inserted in their place." — Carried. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, terminated the proceedings.