3

a—6

Although the Broken Hill blow has all the appearance of a gold-bearing reef, I was unsuccessful in testing the stone. Some 20ft. or so of the width of the reef is exposed, but this appears to be only a small portion of it. The hanging-wall not showing above the surface. This, like the Bonanza, requires to be worked to some extent before the value of it can be estimated, as a greater portion of what would, in all probability, be the best part of the reef is hidden. There are indications of other reefs westward of this within the Broken Hill boundary. The Enterprise is the next on this line of reef, and the area held by that company contains four lodes and several quartz crops upon them. The most important one is facing the Owen River. On visiting this first, it had the appearance of several big blocks of quartz piled one on another, with soil and moss between them, to the height of 106 ft. When the shareholders, at my request, stripped the face in a line eastward from the cap to the river, it proved to bo one solid reef, sloping eastward 52° to the river; but, this being contrary to the direction of the general dip of the reefs, and. of the strata to which they nearly conform, I got them to open the cap and to put a winze 10ft. down on the underlie. The cap proved to be 6ft., and the underlie 63° 30' south-west. (See Sketch No. 2.) I prospected the whole surface of the stone, taking clippings from the whole face exposed, and found, by crushing roughly and panning at the river, lldwt. 16gr. to the ton; by an analysis of the same amount of quartz, 4oz. 2dwt. 4gr.; stuff from a drill, No. 1, Bdwt. 18gr.; No. 2, 19dwt. lOgr.; No. 3, 3oz. 12dwt. 21gr.: these were ]ft. Gin. deep. No. 4, a drill-hole nearer the cap of the reef, gave a yield of 19oz. lodwt. 6gr. to the ton, the last two producing a number of small quartz specimens evidently from a joint in the stone faced with gold. Two other tests were made on the foot-wall of the reef, both containing gold but not payable, and a reef at the river-level gave about 4dwt. The Enterprise reef as now proved has a section as shown in margin, and is probably 102 ft. in thickness from wall to wall. The distance exposed on the line of it is nowhere more than 40ft., so that to prove it laterally should be the first work done, when the stone could be quarried in an open face. ' The Golden Point leasehold is the last southward on these reefs, and in this the Enterprise will bo found to dip under and to follow the bed of the river, and sinking will be necessary. The reef is nowhere exposed in this area, but the wash of the river has, I am informed, been rich in gold of a similar character to that obtained from the quartz, and has been worked for some distance through the Golden Point ground; and has no doubt come from the breaking-up of the reef. The deposit is a local one. It is probable that the Comstock reef, which has a strike 4° to 8° westward of south, has intersected the Enterprise somewhere below this point, and that in continuation it follows the eastern bank of the river, along which a reef crops at intervals for a distance of 300 to 400 yards, and that, as is usual in such intersections, one of the lodes has been enriched by the other crossing it. There are other reefs—four probably—in this ground, and two of them are gold-bearing. A very large lode extends at the back of this, the Enterprise and the Broken Hill, but it has not been proved, and I had not an opportunity of prospecting it; it has however the same character as the other lodes. North of the Bulmer Creek claim is a lease held as the Lyell Quartz-mining Company, and it is on the line of these reefs. The Golden Crown is an isolated lease, taking in a hill to the east of the Owen River, the crop being about 700 ft. above the foot of the hill. The reef is very little exposed, and the strike of it doubtful, but the underlie is about 50° to the westward. The face of the hill has an inclination of 33° to 45°, and so it would not take a groat distance to intersect the reef by driving at any point below the cap. There are parallel reefs in the claim. I obtained a prospect of loz. sdwt. 16gr. from a rough crushing at the river, and sent the remainder of the stone for analysis to Wellington, where it produced sdwt. 2gr. The quartz was from every part exposed. The Golden Fleece and Comstock are on a reef between the Bulmer and the Golden Crown, which runs from 4° to 8° into the south-west, down a long spur. The lode is an immense one, and crops in four or five places; it has a slight underlie to the south-west, but is quite unprospected. I obtained the colour of gold in the Fleece from the main reef, and found gold-bearing stone on the surface which slopes to the Owen River, which probably came from a parallel lode. The Southern Star claim is to the westward of the Bulmer Creek, and will, judging from the amount of quartz on the surface, have reefs in the ground. Several other lodes were examined and tested, most of which showed some gold, and all a good body of stone. The several tests mentioned were small parcels each being from 41b. to 101b. weight, and it is to be regretted that the distance from any battery, and the difficulty of getting the quartz away, prevented a larger sample being treated; but, as that taken was from every portion of the reefs exposed, the result, I think, should give an idea of the value of them. Such small trials are, however, apt to give an exaggerated value or the reverse. I can only say that the quartz is there in any quantity, and that the gold is there also, and apparently in payable quantities; but the permanent character of the reefs must be proved by working them. The want of a battery is much felt, but there is no mine sufficiently open to warrant the -erection of one, except the Enterprise. This claim will no doubt be the first to obtain machinery