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crushing was soon taken out of 86 tons, which yielded gold to the value of £688 5s. 6d., equal to 2 oz. gold per ton; and further prospecting showed the reef to extend at least 700 ft. in an east-and-west direction. An adit was then put in to cut the formation 130 ft. below the outcrop. At this depth it proved to be 13 ft. wide. Within a very short time the sinking of the Globe, or “A,” shaft was started, and by means of this the stone was followed down to 825 ft., the depth of No. 6 level. The winding in this shaft, it is worthy of mention, was done by an overshot water-wheel erected near the battery, the power being communicated to winding-gear at the shaft, one and a half miles distant, by a steel rope. Down to No. 5 level the stone maintained good size and value, but on No. 6 level it was much broken and poorer. During the course of operations another block was also discovered, which yielded a large tonnage of quartz. In 1896 the mine was sold to the Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand, which company also purchased the adjoining Progress Mine and a number of contiguous claims. During the period 1882–96, during which it worked its property, the Globe Company crushed 73,428 tons of quartz for a yield of 38,844 oz. gold, valued at £138,283, and paid in dividends £40,000.
The claim subsequently known as the Progress was originally worked by the Oriental Company, which was formed in 1876, and, like its neighbour, the Globe Company, worked some large low-grade ore-bodies without success. In 1881 it purchased the battery of the Union Company, and did a certain amount of crushing, but in 1886 it went into liquidation, only a short time before the discovery of the east-and-west reef in the Globe ground, and the mine and plant were sold to Mr. Gerald Perotti for the small sum of £320. The purchaser tried to get a few friends to join him in forming a syndicate to get the mine going again, but no one could be induced to put money into the venture. When the discovery in the Globe was made in September a company of 24,000 shares at 2s. each was formed, however, in a few hours, Mr. Perotti retaining a large interest. This new company was named the Progress. A little prospecting soon served to show that some stone that had previously been worked by the Oriental Company, and left as unpayable, really represented the continuance of the Globe reef in the Progress ground. Driving on the stone was resumed, and in a few feet the reef, which was 9 ft. in width, was found to show material improvement in value. One sixpenny call was made on the shareholders, and this enabled 310 tons to be taken out as a trial crushing. On being put through the battery this parcel gave the very satisfactory return of 400 oz. gold, from the sale of which the company was able to pay a dividend of 1s. per share, absorbing £1,200. From that time work continued steadily with varying degrees of success. Stoping was started from No. 1 level, but as the stone approached the surface it was found to be much broken, and poorer than on the level. The following of the stone with winzes from No. 1 adit showed, however, that good values lived down, and a second adit was started from near the battery in Devil’s Creek, which it was estimated would have to be driven 1,200 ft. to meet the reef. In the meantime, prospecting revealed the fact that there were in the claim two other blocks or shoots of quartz, both of which were picked up in the lower adit. The company also sank what was known as the “Old Progress” underground shaft, with which the adits were connected. Up to the time of the sale of the property to the Consolidated Goldfields, practically all the stone above No. 2 adit had been stoped out, and the shaft had been sunk a further lift and connected with a winze from
