checking
of the reef slides by cutting back the vertical reef walls, and it
attempted little practically besides the removal of the drainage and
spring water and the clearing away of fallen reef from the face of the
blue ground. This was slipshod mining at best, for the bare extraction
of the reef, which had slid and fallen over the claims, actually
exposed the mine to further reef slides, and this disaster was
aggravated by the utter
lack
of system in clearing off the fallen debris. Every claim-holder was
permitted to clear off his own claim independently, and credited with
an allowance of 4s. for every load of 16 cubic feet of broken reef
removed. The clearing of the face of one claim or a cluster of claims
was no security against repeated reef slides, and barred the
possibility of developing any section of a mine in an economical and
well-planned way.
The
practical impossibility of opening a little claim, whose surface area
was only 961 square feet, beyond a limited depth forced the
consolidation of claims in spite of the original prohibition of "
claim blocking." The poorer sections of ground were the first to feel
the pressure for the enlargement of holdings, and, to secure the
continuance of working, permission was granted in 1874 by the Kimberley
Mining Board for the holding of ten claims by a single owner. This
concession led to
