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There is a peculiar feature in this locality that is not found in any other part of the Eeefton District. There is a certain quantity of gold in the mineralised slate. The same thing occurs in the Phoenix Mine at Skipper's, where gold is actually in the schist; but at Larry's the slate belongs to the Matai series, which is a more recent formation. It is highly carbonaceous, and contains a great deal of pyrites. Duffy Brothers are now crushing the whole of the mullock that came out of the adit levels, and the material yields on an average of gold per ton. From 175 tons of this material put through their crushing battery they obtained 25foz. of gold. If the pyrites from this material was collected and treated properly a great deal more gold would be obtained. There are good sites on both sides of Larry's Creek for the erection of machinery, and sufficient water can be obtained from this creek at an elevation capable of producing at least 1,000 horsepower if required. Boatman's. G adman. This is a special claim of 100 acres, and includes the ground formerly held in mining leases known as the Occidental, Comstock, Garden Gully, Specimen Hill, and Juno. It is on a continuation of the line of the Fiery Cross and Welcome Reefs. There were numerous quartz boulders lying about on the surface of the ground formerly held in the Specimen Hill Lease, some of which were extremely rich in gold. There is, however, a great depth of alluvial drift on surface of the rock that has made prospecting for lodes a very expensive undertaking in this locality. Several adit-levels have been driven into Specimen Hill ground, from which 2,265 tons of quartz have been taken, yielding 1,1050z. of gold, representing a value of about £4,223. There are two lines of reef running into this property, one of which contains a percentage of antimony, and in the other, the stone is almost free from base minerals. But although a large amount of work has been done in this ground, the workings have been principally confined to the upper levels, where the country is greatly disturbed ; the lodes are broken and intermixed with mullock, and are lying very flat? All the indications show that no solid lode will be found near the surface in this c'aim. The large quantity of rich specimen-stone found on the surface clearly indicates that they have come from some lode not yet discovered, and being on the same line of reef where very rich auriferous stone has been worked—striking in a northward direction —there are good reasons to believe that rich stone will yet be found in this ground at a considerable depth from the surface. The character of the lodes in Specimen Hill shows signs of being tilted over since their formation, but this disturbed ground is not likely to be met with in deeper levels. It may be stated that this claim is the highest on the range, being 2,535 ft. above the level of the sea. A low-level adit was commenced many years ago from Little Boatman's Creek to prospect different claims in this locality, which is constructed for a distance of 2,500 ft., but it requires to be extended for about another 400 ft. to cut the lodes that have been worked on upper levels in this ground. This would cut the lodes at about 600 ft. under the old workings. The strata at the far end of this adit is lying far more uniform and regular, indicating that a solid country will be met with, but even this depth may not prove sufficient to strike the best lodes that should run through the ground. There are large areas of coal close to the mouth of the low-level adit, which will enable steam machinery to be used very cheaply for winding, air-compressing, or for quartz-crushing, while sufficient water can be obtained from Boatman's Creek to produce 60 horse-power at the site where the late Specimen Hill Company's crushing plant was erected. Welcome. This is a special claim of 68 acres, and includes the ground formerly held by the Homeward Bound, Eureka, and Welcome Extended Companies. The portion of the ground held previously by the Welcome Extended Company has so far proved to be the richest in this district —27,092 tons of stone were crushed which yielded 64,6140z. of gold, representing a value of £251,020, out of which £110,250 was paid in dividends. This shows the average value of the stone taken out of this ground to be £9 ss. 3d. per ton. The lode is worked in the Welcome ground for a length of 675 ft., and in this distance there were three breaks of 15ft., 25ft., and 45ft. in length respectively, dividing the lode into three distinct blocks. Two of these breaks were found on all the levels at the same angle as the strike of the lode going northwards. The average thickness of the lode was about 2ft. 6in. The lode was first struck in the Welcome about 100 ft. below the surface, and after going through the ground to the boundary of the Homeward Bound claim it was at about I,oooft. lower level. The workings were carried on from nine levels, six of which were adits, constructed from the face of the range, and, as No. 6 level was the lowest that any adit could be constructed, a shaft was sunk in this level at about 2,700 ft. in from its mouth. This shaft was sunk to a depth of 450 ft., and three levels opened from it. A large chamber was constructed alongside the shaft in which steam winding-machinery was erected to haul the stone from the lower workings; but either through carelessness or otherwise a fire occurred in this chamber and destroyed all the machinery, and the timbering of the mine at this place being burnt, it completely closed all communication in this direction. The late Eureka Company constructed an inclined adit opposite the Welcome ground on the east side. This adit was carried down on an inclination of 1 in 3 for a distance of 1,800 ft., and from the end of this incline a level was constructed for a distance of 800 f t ,, which brought it near the boundary of the Welcome ground. A monkey-shaft was sunk at this place to a depth of about 230 ft., and a drive taken from the bottom of this shaft, running parallel with the Welcome boundary for a distance of 586 ft. in a northerly direction. Two cross-cuts were constructed to the westward
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