C.—3c. 
8 
The west lode was 20ft. in thickness for a length of about 100ft., when it branched in two 
divisions going to the southward, but still carrying a fair amount of gold. At the No. 5 level, which 
was canied from the bottom of the shaft, a dislocation occurred similar to that found in the adjoin¬ 
ing claim, the Wealth of Nations, on the southern boundary, and very little work was done to 
ascertain the nature of this dislocation beyond sinking a winze about 59ft. under this level and driving 
a cross-cut on each side—namely, 50ft. to the eastward and 30ft. to the westward. 
There is a considerable quantity of stone still left in this mine below the adit-level, which will 
pay to work. A large lode was left in the face by the Wealth of Nations Company going into this 
ground at the boundary, and from the recent developments in that company’s ground there is every 
likelihood of good stone being a,gain found if the shaft were sunk to a deeper level. The present 
workings in the Wealth of Nations is about 575ft. below the deepest workings in the Energy, and 
the character of the ground passed through shows clearly that a large dislocation has taken place, 
which indicates that the Energy will have the same character of ground for a certain depth below 
the bottom of the shaft. 
The average value of the stone crushed from the Energy ground has been about £2 per ton, but 
when the crushing plant used and appliances for saving gold is taken into consideration there is 
good reason to believe that not more than 50 per cent, of the gold in the stone vvas recovered. The 
property is likely to become one of considerable value when it is properly opened out on deeper 
levels. 
Wealth of Nations. 
This is a special claim of 64 acres, and includes the gi-ound formerly held in mining leases 
known as the Independent, Vulcan, and Wealth of Nations Extended, from which 62,096 tons of 
stone was crushed, yielding 34,739oz. gold, representing a value of £134,981, thus showing the 
average value of the stone crushed to be about £2 3s. per ton; while the amount of dividends paid 
was £36,312. 
The ground was worked from adit-levels from the top of the hill down to the battery-level. 
Some very good stone was found near the surface, but a dislocation took place on the same level as 
where it occurred in the Energy Claim, on the northern boundary. An adit-level was constructed 
on the same level as the crushing battet 7 . This was carried into the hill for a distance of 800ft. 
to the line of the reef, and thence driven a further distance of 800ft., making a total length of 
1,600ft. This level was constructed through barren ground; a chamber was constructed at 800ft. 
from the mouth of the adit-level, and a shaft sunk at this place to a depth of 200ft., and another 
level constructed for a distance of 9G0ft.,near the end of which a block of stone was struck, and 
went up for 50ft. above the 200ft. level. The same block of stone was followed down to the 350ft. 
level, when the dip or inclination of the block changed entirely, and went away at an opposite 
angle. 
^ ^ shaft has been sunk in the 200ft. level at a point about 500tt. distant from the main 
shaft, and it is from this monkey shaft that the present workings are carried on. A level was driven 
from this ^laft at 150ft. under No. 2 level, and from this a winze w'as sunk on the lode, which 
proved to be 15ft. in thickness, and averaging about from 7dwt. to 8dwt. of gold per ton. The 
monkey shaft has smee been sunk to a depth of 300ft., and a level constructed at this depth. A 
comrnencement has been made to slope out the lode. At the lowest level the lode is from 8ft. to 
10ft. m width, but its length has not yet been determined. 
The lowest level in this mine is about 360ft. above the deepest level in the adjoining claini — 
the Keep It Dark, where very good stone is now being worked. There is now a reasonable pro¬ 
spect of this mine being again placed on the list as a dividend-paying one. 
The company has a crushing plant consisting of twenty heads of stamps of the very old type, 
eight berdans, with the ordinary quicksilver and blanket-tables, which is driven by an over-shot 
water-wheel 50ft. in diameter. Attached to the crushing plant is a sawnnill. There is also a 
reversible overshot water-wheel, 30ft. in diameter, used forw’inding purposes. It maybe mentioned 
this is one of the few mines in the district that save the tailings, which have hitherto been treated 
in berdans, but this process does not extract anything like a fair percentage of the gold the tailings 
contain. 
Keep It Dark. 
This is a special claim of 57 acres, which has been held by the Keep It Dark Company since it 
was first taken up m the beginning of 1874. There has been 114,979 tons of stone crushed from 
this ground, which has yielded 60,834oz. of gold, representing a value of £236,958. Of this amount, 
£109,583 have been paid m dividends, while only £6,208 have been made in calls. The average 
value of the stone crushed amounts to about £2-1 per ton. 
This is the deepest quartz workings in the Reefton district. The lode running through this 
ground formed almost a right angle, one of the ends being about north and south, and the other 
nearly east and west. This lode w'as carried down to a depth of 500ft., when it got greatly broken 
up. In some places in the upper levels it was about 400ft. in length, having a maximum width of 
about 20ft. Below the 500ft. level the lode became disturbed and broken, with isolated blocks of 
stone, which was of low grade; but after going through about 250ft. in depth a new lode was struck 
about 15ft. in thickness, which is averaging from lldwt. tp 12dwt. of gold per ton. 
The main shaft is sunk to a depth of 503ft., and the lowest level from the main shaft is opened 
out at about 490ft. A monkey shaft was sunk in this level at a distance of 522ft. from the main 
shaft to a depth of 375ft., and from the bottom of this shaft a level has recently been constructed to 
work the new block of stone, which is 190ft. distant to the westward, the depth of this level being 
about 1,090ft. below the surface of the ground, or 860ft. below the top of the main shaft which 
makes the workings about 200ft. under sea-level, and at this depth there is no water in the 
ground. The upper workings are carried on from adit-levels to the height of 230ft. above the level 
of the mouth of the main shaft. 
