THE FAIRFIELD DISCOVERY.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 240, 4 February 1888, Page 3

THE FAIRFIELD DISCOVERY.

The discovery of a fabulously rich silver lode at Fairfiold, New South Wales, was announced by cable the other clay. The following additional particulars are to hand by the mail : — A shaft has been sunk to a depth of 12. feet, and the same character of silverbearing rock has been found to continue. The known depth of silver-bearing deposit is over 60 feet, and how much deeper the lode continues is, of course, only matter for conjecture. The width of the rock is about* 500 feet, and the continuance of the lode through its entire width has been shown by a shaft which has been sunk on the other side of the hill. The length of the lode afc. present ascertained is 800 ft., over 500 ft. having been exposed at the mine itself, and the remainder being shown by the road to> the mine, which cuts into the face of it. Thus if the rock continues of the same* character throughout its entire body, there exists here a solid mass of extremely rich silver rock, 800 feet ia length, 500 feet in width, and 60 feet or more in depth. An eminent Sydney geologist who inspected the mine recently gave his opinion that upwards of one million tons ot ore were exposed to view. But little work has been* done at the mine up to the present, beyond sinking a few shafts and cutting into the face of the rock to show its character, by which means a considerable quantity of ore has been obtained, and is now lying ab the mine ready for removal. More correctly speakng, the mine should be called & quarry, as the work to be done consists' entirely of quarrying into, the surface of th» rock, and owing to this fact the working expense of the mine will be extremely low. The workings are situated almost in the centre of a 240 - acre mineral lease and all the surrounding blocks for some distance have been taken by various individuals. The mine has already been floated into a company, under the mm* of the White Rook Proprietary Company, with a nominal capital of £1,060,000, and the broker for the Company states that applications were received for doublfe the wumber of shares to be issued.