Page:Downey•Quartz·Reefs·West·Coast•1928.pdf/50

 Smoke-oh Creek. At first the values in the stone were not considered payable, but a little later the reef was traced to the eastern bank of the creek, where some work was done on it, with the result that the gold values seemed to show material improvement, and the Minerva Gold-mining Company was formed in 1890 to further test the discovery. This company drove an adit level on the stone on the eastern bank for a considerable distance, and from the adit put down a winze for 40 ft. at which depth water prevented further sinking. The stone from the winze was estimated by the owners to be worth 10 dwt. gold per ton. From the foot of the winze a crosscut was made in the reef for 22 ft. without finding the other wall. In 1891, the battery of the William Tell Company at Ross was purchased and re-erected by the side of Blackball Creek, a short distance below where the reef was found, and crushing was commenced and continued from time to time up till 1894, during which period 2,460 tons of quartz were crushed from the mine for a yield of 771 oz. gold, valued at £2,987 12s. 6d. The reef was about 5 ft. in width, and a large quantity of stone was available, but the average return of only a little over 6 dwt. per ton left no margin of profit, and in 1896 the company suspended operations. As far as can be gathered, all the stone crushed came from the sides of the adit, and there is nothing in the records to indicate that any was taken from the winze, where better values seemed to obtain, nor from any point below the adit. Evidently the company was working on a very limited capital and became discouraged by the results of the crushing; but in view of the fact that in sinking the grade of the stone appeared to improve, and the further fact that the cyanide treatment was but little known in the Dominion in those days, it seems to the writer that this old mine might deserve further investigation in the future.

Croesus Knob Reefs.—Auriferous quartz was first found in this locality, near the head-waters of Ten-mile Creek, by Harry Neilson in 1897. This prospector traced shoad stone up the bed of the creek mentioned, and located what was subsequently known as the Croesus Reef on the crest of the mountain-range. The outcrop was traced on the surface for about 700 ft., and trenches cut across it at short intervals for 400 ft. showed that it contained payable gold. The Croesus Gold-mining Company was formed to work the find, and an adit (No. 1) was driven in 100 ft. below the outcrop. At 130 ft. from daylight this adit intersected the reef, which was then driven on for over 400 ft., and a rise was put up to surface for ventilation. In 1899 a battery was erected and crushing operations went on until the end of 1902, during which time 4,757 tons of quartz were crushed for a yield of 2,655 oz. 10 dwt. 3 gr. gold, valued at £10,785 16s. 8d.

During the years crushing was in progress the development of the mine was carried on steadily, Nos. 2 and 3 levels being opened on reef. A fourth level, 284 ft. below No. 3, was also put in and driven about 924 ft, but no reef was cut in it. There is some room for doubt, however, if sufficient work was done on this level to definitely determine whether or not the reef lived down to this depth. The level was certainly carried far enough north to meet the downward continuation of the shoot of stone, but more extensive crosscutting would appear to have been justified. However, the records concerning the mine, in common with those of most of the mines operated about that period, are very incomplete, only the scantiest information being available as to the appearance of the level, so any opinion expressed regarding the point referred to can be looked on as merely speculative. Moreover, it is in any case doubtful if the vein would have been payable at that depth, even if it had been picked up. The lowest