MURRAY CREEK.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1093, 29 May 1882, Page 2

MURRAY CREEK.

KEEP-IT- DARK. . The event of the week, and one that lias caused more excitement in Reefton than has been shown for many a day has been the discovery of the richest stono probably ever got in the district in the Keep-it-Dark mine, and the extraordinary prospects that that venture now offers. Some of the stone recently come upon is of strange richness, and the resnlt has been that mining enterprise has an awakening that cannot fail to be of the utmost service in promoting its prosperity. One lump of quartz is estimated to contain a pound weight of gold, three bags of picked stuff are said to have yielded an amount that we do not care to publish, for fear of exaggeration. On Saturday night, when the returns came in and were generally known, a kind of carnival was held, for the results shown mea.i more than the mere sucoess of one mine or the advantage of one body of shareholders. The Keep-it-Dark has the Wealth of Nations on one Bide, the Nil Desperandum on the other, the Rainy Creek and the Inkerman are on the same line, whilst the lay of the country is identical with a large number of the enterprises now being prosecuted in the district. The special value of the late, find of the company lies in the fact that it has proved beyond all question the permanency of the reefing interest of the district. The stone first got at the upper levels of the mine was of comparatively poor quality ; the lower it descended the better it wns, and the rich quartz of the last week was actually got at 130 feet below the bed of the Inangahua river. This constitutes the great value of recent discoveries, for they prove that the reefs of the district are no, superficial upheavals but defined formations tl-at will be sources of wealth for many long years to come. The result will give courage to many faint-hearted shareholders in other companies, and will thoroughly restore confidence throughout the colony where Inangahua scrip is heli l . We may add that the amalgam for tl o week's crushing was 18550zs from IS2' tons of stone. The f ortnight gave 830ozs. of retorted . gold, and the retorted gold, for the month was 10230z5. A dividend of about 3s. is likely to be declared by the directors at their meeting to-night, and those holding scrip may reckon themselves lucky people, as their property is likely to equal in value the best miningventures in the district. The shareholders in the Nil Desperandum and other reefs in the district should be, and no doubt are in the highest degree satisfied with the recent success of the Dflks, as being merely preliminary to their own good fortune. The question of obtaining highly auriferous quartz at great depths is now most satisfactorily set at rest, and increased vigor in mining speculation may be expected.