WHEREAS a certain deed was, on or about the thirty-first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, made and executed by Thomas Bannatyne Gillies, Esquire, Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, as holder of the delegated powers of the Governor and Governor in Council under “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” and the Amendment Acts thereto, under certain conditions, to certain individuals, which deed is as follows:—

This Deed made the thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, witnesseth, that whereas application has been made to me, Thomas Bannatyne Gillies, Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, as the holder of the delegated powers of the Governor in Council under “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” by William Crush Daldy, James Tannock Mackelvie, William Aitken, Thomas Murison Stewart, Charles Ring, Andrew Wardrop, John Logan Campbell, and William Lee Rees, for permission to occupy for mining purposes all that piece of land at Coromandel which lies within four hundred yards at right angles on both sides of a straight line commencing at the junction of the main Kapanga Creek with the Whakaroa Stream, and running in a north-easterly direction between the north-western angle of the Tokatea Gold Mining Company’s (Registered) lease and the south-western angle of the Masonic lease, to the nearest branch of the Harataunga River, save and except all land lawfully held under the Gold Fields Acts and Regulations prior to the twenty-second day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, which said land has been exempted from occupation for mining purposes, and also to construct thereunder a tunnel or tunnels: Now therefore, in pursuance of the powers vested in the Governor in Council under and by “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” and delegated to me under the one hundred and ninth section of the said Act, I do hereby authorize the exclusive occupation of the said land, that is to say: All that piece of land at Coromandel which lies within four hundred yards at right angles on both sides of a straight line commencing at the junction of the main Kapanga Creek with the Whakaroa Stream, and running in a north-easterly direction between the north-western angle of the Tokatea Gold Mining Company’s (Registered) lease and the south-western angle of the Masonic lease to the nearest branch of the Harataunga River, save and except all lands lawfully held under the Gold Fields Acts and Regulations, prior to the twenty-second day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, by the said William Crush Daldy, James Tannock Mackelvie, William Aitken, Thomas Murison Stewart, Charles Ring, Andrew Wardrop, John Logan Campbell, and William Lee Rees, their executors administrators and assigns, for the period of twenty years from the date hereof, for mining purposes, and for the purpose of constructing thereunder a main tunnel between Coromandel and Kennedy’s Bay, and such other tunnels as may be necessary or convenient for the working of that portion of the Gold Field of Coromandel; and the following are the conditions and restrictions to which the said occupation shall be subject, and in accordance with which the said land shall be held:—

Provided always that unless the Company shall, before the expiration of eight calendar months from the date of the time of completion and approval of surveys, enter into a bond binding the Company to expend a further sum of two thousand pounds beyond the above-mentioned sum of one thousand pounds in the carrying out of the said undertaking, then and in that case the license hereby given to mine for gold in the said ground, and all the benefits property and estate hereby created and vested in the said Company, their executors administrators and assigns, shall cease and determine as if they had never existed.

And whereas on the said deed was indorsed a memorandum as follows:—

Memorandum of Agreement made and entered into this eighth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between the within-named Thomas Bannatyne Gillies, Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, as the holder of the delegated powers of the Governor in Council, under “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” of the one part, and the within-named William Crush Daldy, James Tannock Mackelvie, William Aitken, Thomas Murison Stewart, Andrew Wardrop, John Logan Campbell, and William Lee Rees, of the other part—Witnesseth that for divers reasons and circumstances it hath been agreed between and by the parties in the within deed mentioned that the paragraph number one in the said deed shall be expunged, and in lieu thereof shall be substituted as follows:—That the main tunnel shall be six feet six inches in height, in breadth at the base six feet six inches, and in breadth at the top five feet six inches, these measurements to be inside and clear of everything. Tunnel to be safely built and timbered where necessary with substantial timber; and that the word “two” in paragraph numbered three of the within deed be altered to the word “three,” and so that the time for final completion of main tunnel be three years instead of two years, as in the said paragraph mentioned. And it is hereby expressly agreed and declared that the agreement hereby made shall be read as if incorporated with and forming part of this said deed. In witness whereof the said parties have hereunto subscribed their names.

Which said deed gave and purported to give to the said parties therein named power to construct and maintain a tunnel through the Tokatea Range between Coromandel and Kennedy’s Bay, in the Province of Auckland, and to work for gold therein and therefrom: And whereas the grantees therein named have formed themselves into a Company incorporated under the provisions of “The Joint Stock Companies Act, 1860,” by the name of “The Coromandel Tunnel and Gold Mining Company, Limited,” for the purpose of constructing and maintaining the same tunnel and to work for gold in the said ground or claims: