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Birthday reef should be about 3 to 4 chains west of the shaft, and the Kathleen about 12 chains, while to the east the Snowy line should be 12 chains, the Empire 16 chains, and the Imperial 32 chains. If the proposed work were looked upon purely as prospecting it might have something to recommend it, but in view of the great distance it is from any known payable reef, and the comparatively poor results of all the testing so far done in the company holdings, there seems little to justify the immense expenditure the carrying of it out would entail.

This lode-series lies about 30 chains eastward of the Birthday, or Blackwater, line. In 1906 a very rich leader was found on it by James Hurley, a short distance north-east of Trig. M, which on being followed down was found to be cut off by faulting at a shallow depth, and could not subsequently be picked up again. In 1914 the Blackwater Mines, Ltd., put out a crosscut for 800 ft. to the east on No. 3 level, with a view to prospecting the country towards the leader, but the work was not carried far enough to reach the latter, even if it lived down to that horizon. Several other small leaders were cut, however, in this crosscut, but only one of them had any gold values, and this was much too poor to pay for working.

The Empire and Imperial outcrops in the South Blackwater Company’s ground are thought to be probably on the same line.

Eastward of Hurley’s leader, and also to the north of the North Blackwater Mine, much prospecting has been done for miles, and many outcrops were located, all of which either barren or contained merely the barest traces of gold.

This series is about two miles westward of the Blackwater (Martin’s) line. A gold-bearing reef is said to have been exposed there many years ago by alluvial miners working in Snowy Creek. In 1911 a syndicate composed mainly of men employed at the Millerton Coal-mine at Westport sent two prospectors named Danks and Morgan to examine the locality. These men soon found an auriferous outcrop on the north bank of the creek. With the assistance of Government subsidy an adit was driven into the rising ground immediately above the outcrop, which followed reef for about 180 ft. For the first 30 ft. the stone was of fairly good grade, and up to 3ft. in width, but for the rest of the way it became much narrower and poorer. At 180 ft. in the reef pinched to a mere track, and continued so for a further 70 ft., when it widened again to about 3 ft. and carried values estimated to go from 20 dwt. to 25 dwt. gold per ton. At 300 ft. from daylight the adit passed into alluvial drift and was discontinued.

Shortly after this, the Millerton Gold-mining Company, Ltd., of a nominal capital of £62,000 in 62,000 shares of £1 each, was formed to work the property. Of the capital, £12,000 cash was to be paid the vendors, £2,000 went in flotation expenses, and £14,000 was to be provided for working-expenses. A start was made to sink a vertical shaft about 450 ft. north of the original discovery, and this was subsequently carried down to a depth of 390 ft., three levels being opened from it, at 115 ft., 240 ft., and 415 ft. respectively below the shaft-collar. No. 1 level connected with the