Page:Downey•Quartz·Reefs·West·Coast•1928.pdf/99

 ore-bodies being traced from it up to No. 8 level. No. 10 level was nearly as good as No. 9, and the stopes over No. 11 level (1,775 ft.) also produced large quantities of stone of good grade. Between Nos. 8 and 11 levels the country was much broken, and the blocks of stone found lay in all sorts of situations and at all orientations, making it evident that the greatly increased amount of ore found in that part of the mine resulted from faulting of the lode, the quartz of an upper portion having been thrown down and massed up with that of another portion in which the blocks were less disturbed. A wide ore-channel existed, in which the blocks of stone occurred most erratically. On No. 11 level the appearance of the mine began to alter again. The wide ore-channel closed in, and such ore as was located on the level or below it was apparently confined to what may be considered the original fissure, and this ore was in much less quantity than on the two preceding levels. On No. 12 level (1,925 ft.) practically no stone was located, and there was a very limited tonnage developed between it and No. 11.

Up to the end of 1926 the total amount of quartz crushed from the mine was 107,113 tons, which yielded 123,515 oz. 7 dwt. 3 gr. gold, valued at £501,360 13s., and the sum of £145,098 was paid in dividends.

Owing to the erratic disposition of the blocks of quartz through the mine it was not found possible to prepare any satisfactory longitudinal or transverse sections of the workings, but a study of the plan seems to indicate that originally there were two main shoots, with an easterly dip and a northerly pitch. These were shattered by faulting, so much so that it is difficult to correlate any of the ore-bodies in the lower part of the mine with those of the upper part, but from No. 8 level down there was sufficient connection between the blocks to enable a very fair idea of their pre-fault occurrence to be arrived at.

Owing to the unsatisfactory nature of the developments in the bottom level the mine is now closed down, and it is questionable if further prospecting in it is justifiable. Referring to the mine in 1913, Dr. Henderson says (Geol. Bull. No. 18, p. 171): “The ore-bodies developed in No. 2 to No. 9 levels are more or less connected, and the same may be said of the double blocks occurring in No. 7 to No. 10 levels. It is probable that the northerly blocks of the lower levels may be correlated with the ore-bodies so far developed in the upper levels, except in the case of that in No. 2 level. The southerly ore-bodies of the lower levels would then correspond with the original Big River block that was located in No. 2. In this case two original ore-shoots would be indicated, and further prospecting towards the south-east in No. 3 to No. 6 levels is advisable.” There seems to be some probability that search eastward from the shaft on these upper levels may reveal stone. The one ore-body in No. 2 level referred to by Dr. Henderson as not being correlated to the northern blocks in the bottom levels was only traced a short distance below that level, and may form portion of a third shoot not elsewhere seen, but which might be located by prospecting. It is doubtful, however, if prospecting in any other direction from these upper levels would yield any useful result. Small blocks of stone belonging to the southern shoot may exist there, but the probability is greatly that any stone that may have originally been there has been carried down by the fault movement to a lower horizon. It is also possible that between Nos. 6 and 11 levels stray blocks of ore may have been missed or left behind. For instance, on No. 10 level a strong block of quartz,