74 
In the neighbourhood of Bendoc and Clarkeville there is a promising 
field for quartz mining. Several reefs have been opened up and worked 
successfully down to depths ranging to 300 feet. The upper shoots were 
worked but the necessary sinking and opening out for lower shoots has not 
been done, and at present quartz reefing is at a complete standstill. 
Besides the reefs already opened up and worked to shallow depths there is 
a good field for the prospector in searching for new reefs in this auriferous 
belt of country. North of Bendoc the country does not appear to* be very 
favorable, but soutn of Bendoc to Clarkeville, and probably still further 
south, there is sail room for the prospector so far as the natural conditions 
are concerned. 
The difficulties to> be faced are the remoteness of this 1 ' locality, the poor 
means of transport and therefore the heavy charges for carriage of food, 
machinery, tools, &c., and in consequence the high prices for all neces¬ 
saries. Although this is geologically a favorable district for quartz mining 
the disabilities are so great in prospecting and actually working the reefs 
that the present condition of mining is not to be wondered at, and though 
as a mining field the conditions are favorable, it is difficult to see how the 
mines are to be re-opened until there is better access to the field and con¬ 
sequently cheaper means of living and of working the various reefs known 
to exist. 
The Rising Sun Reef, Bonang. 
This reef is about ij miles south-west from the hotel at Bonang and 
2,500 feet above sea-level. The mine was extensively worked for many 
years and large yields of gold were obtained. The strike of the reef is about 
N. 20 deg. W., dip E. A shaft was sunk so 1 as to cut the reef at 500 feet, 
and from that depth to the surface the reef has been stoped out. The 
shoot of gold dips north. At the shaft the reef is cut off by a fault which 
strikes north-east. The continuation of the reef on the north side of the 
fault is considered to be an outcrop of quartz about 20 chains distant, but 
this has not been sunk upon. 
The outcrop of the Rising Sun reef was about 200 feet long and 1 foot 
thick. At 300 feet deep the reef is'said to have been 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. 
thick, and to have yielded 4 ozs. of gold per ton (gold worth £4 2s. 6d. 
per oz). 
At 500 feet the reef is from 6 to 12 feet wide but poor in gold. Very 
little prospecting work appears to have been done, and the top shoot of 
auriferous stone has been worked out to the fault. The shaft should be 
sunk deeper to cut a second shoot. 
South Rising Sun Reef. 
A little to the south-west from the Rising Sun shaft are the workings 
of the South Rising Sun. A shaft is sunk 50 feet and a cross-cut 25 feet 
long has been driven to the reef which dips E. at about 75 deg. The reef is 
about 12 inches thick. Another shaft has been sunk and some exploratory 
work done by Mr. Pearce, and the quartz shows some gold, but there is no 
means of crushing the quartz within a reasonable distance. The country 
around is very favorable for auriferous reefs and the belt continues north¬ 
ward to the New South Wales boundary, but as there is no means at 
present of treating the quartz there is no inducement for prospectors. 
Southward ttiis belt of country has not been much prospected, one reason 
being the depth of the surface soil. Close to the Rising Sun shaft and on 
the west side is the east edge of an outlier of basalt. The basalt continues 
