However, it is possible that the tin-mining case was only a rationalisation, to justify a loophole that had been created—perhaps deliberately—in the legislation. After buying the mineral lease, the new owners immediately paid the arrears rent for the lease (£310) and then—as a lessee in good standing until 31 December 1877—pegged a gold mining claim,under The Gold Fields Regulation Act. According to the Goldfield Regulation Act, a gold mining claim needed to be on public display for a period of 30-days, but the new owners had back-dated their claim, allowing no time for an objection to be raised. Overnight, the price paid for the leased land and other THIC assets by the new owners—mainly wealthy Tasmanian politicians—became a remarkable bargain. The buyers' cronyism, connivance, and conflict of interest—as politicians who had recently debated and voted upon the new Act—seemed obvious, but their actions had been completely legal. The new arrangements were controversial; there was disputation, during 1878 and 1879, between the new owners—collectively known as 'the Hematite Company'—and the small-scale gold miners, and protests from others concerned about the probity of the way the new owners had acquired the gold rights. By October 1878, it had become well known that the rich Tasmania Reef extended onto the old THIC leasehold land. A new company, The Tasmania Extended Gold Mining Company was set up to mine gold, on ten acres of land on Cabbage Tree Hill, due east of the Tasmanian Mine lease and to the south of two other gold leases. The land included a part of the bounteous Tasmania Reef, which could be accessed by extending the workings of the Tasmania Mine over the boundary of the 'Hematite Company' lease. The 'Hematite Company' interests received a small number of shares in the new company, but received a lucrative 5% royalty on the gold mined. The Tasmania Mine had paid dividends of over £700,000 by 1900.It was one of the deepest and richest mines in Australia, by the time it closed in 1914.Although William Grubb died in 1879, his family—benefiting from both his share of the Tasmania Mine and the 'Hematite Company' royalty—became even more weathly, as did the other partners in 'the Hematite Company'. Although the underground quartz reef workings would not affect the surface quarrying of iron ore, the surface workings were also soon thrown open to gold mining.