THK NEW MINING FIND

Hokitika Guardian, 25 April 1921, Page 2

THK NEW MINING FIND

RICH REEFS DISCOVERED. OVER. 100 OUNCES PER TON. (Inangnhua “Times.”) Mr Downey, Inspector of Mines for this district, who with Mr Duncan Me Vicar, visited the scene of the recently reported quartz find on the Big Grey, returned to Reel'ton on Friday night, after a very rough trip, both as to the country and the weather experienced.

The partyleft Ikamntua on Monday on horseback', and after five hours’ riding arrived at Hie cam]) of Messrs MoVicar and Hurley.

They visited the newly found reefs the following day. The stone is located about 4 miles west of the New Big River sebute of gold, in good solid country, which has every appearance of being solid. The reef was first discoved on a spur, which Mr Downey says is 1500 feet high. The stone has been driven on for a couple of chains, and Mr Downey states the strike of the stone was then departed from, ’’lit he is sure it' will again be got when the course of the work is straightened. The gold is good, seams of the precious metal running right through the stone, while every piece that has been picked up contains gold in highly payable quantities. There are hundreds of tons of quartz on the surface, and all of it is high grade milling stone of a fine character with very little, if any, mineral showing.

Some distance on tlie north, two other reefs have • been located near Bullocky Creek, one of 14ft and the other of 3ft. 6 in. These are not of such rich grade as the original find, but both are highly payable. Samples of the quartz was brought into town by Mr Downey, and are on view at the Inspector of Mines’ office, Bridge Street. One block of about 14 pounds in weight has distinctly visible seams of gold right throughout, and in no part can the quartz he looked at without gold being seen, the whole, of the stone radiating with the glow from the gold. So far three claims have been pegged out on the line of reef, in which in places seams of gold ns thick as a lead pencil can be seen with the naked eye. Mr Downey considers the place can be reacned from Stevenson’s Flat on the Maruia Hoad, though there is a high saddle to cross. An alternative route could be constructed by way of Snowy and Quartz Creeks, though by this route there is a big swamp to be traversed which offers great difficulties.

There is plenty of water in the loI cality for power purposes, the Alex- ! under River being adjacent to the find j and carry sufficient for all purposes, ' and the fall of the river is somewhat | rapid. j The stone has not been assayed so far, but expert miners consider that the blocks shown will go over one hundred ounces to the stone. This estimate is I no fairy tale. We have seen the stone and can vouch for the quality. Taken altogether the find is the most important ever recorded in the district, and goes to prove that the 1 argument of the experts sent out by the Mines Department some years ago ' —that no reefs would be found in the district—are worth about as much as the paper they are written upon. The up li 'ation of the prospectors has been lodged in the Ahaura Court, though the ground is generally considered to be in the fnangahua District. Meantime correspondence is going on over the matter in which Court district the application is to be dealt with in the Reefton Courts. Samples of the original piece of stone from this find may be seen at Mr W. Morris’s, of the Empire Hotel, who is only to willing to show them to anyone interested. These have already been seen by many mining men and they consider the samples the richest ever seen in the district.