Because of high expectations for the Prospectors’ Claim, high prices for shares were paid even before the company was established on 22 November 1880 on terms very favourable for the vendors. Some observers felt it should not have been formed so soon, as the property was yet to be tested adequately. Whenever any promising stone was found the prices surged. A wide range of people acquired shares, and for a while share trading was profitable for the sellers, but the failure to find a reef of any sort, let alone one containing good ore, meant that the company quickly collapsed, with those who had retained their interests losing their money.