A VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS.
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER>
No. 3.
IN our progress down the slopes following the course of the great quartz reef of Adelong, we had, in my
last, reached the claim of Iredale and Company, late Lind and Company. The next in succession is the
claim of Mitchell de Souza and Company, thirty feet; here the lode approaches the colour of a dark grey
granite, the metallic veins appear more stratified, the width is from twelve to twenty inches, and the mundic
and sulphurets change some what in their character. There are about fifty tons of quartz raised here,
estimated to yield about five ounces per ton.
The next on the reef are Arigan and Fallon, twenty feet; these parties have about ten tons of quartz
raised, expected to produce between four and five ounces per ton, and have reached a depth of 130 feet.
We now come to Skinner and party, forty feet, who have just crushed thirty tons, which produced 120
ounces; their depth is 115 feet, and the lode here becomes irregular in width, varying from six to ten
inches. Then comes Kennedy and Company, forty-five feet . This party has crushed twelve tons of quartz,
which produced forty-eight ounces of gold and at a depth of 130 feet; the width of the vein ranges from four
to eight inches. Here masses of granite intrude between fragments of slate, and fill up the fissure. We now
reach Douglass and party, thirty feet; the produce of this claim, have been crushed, five of which
yielded twenty ounces, and nine produced eighteen ounces of gold. At a depth of 115 feet the vein
varies from four to nine inches in width, and the slates become metalliferous and silicious. The following
claim is that of Luke Tyrrell, twenty feet; here the veins were irregular, sometimes expanding to a width of
ten or twelve inches, at others, contracting to a mere streak of casing. The filling of the fissure is here
granitic, becoming a dyke or elvon, differing in its constituents from the walls and inverting blocks of
indurated silicified schist rich in metallic sulphurets. Particles of gold have been observed in both the
schists and granite in this locality, and at a depth of 112 feet the vein is five or six inches in width. Ten tons
of quartz have been crushed from this claim, yielding about twenty-six ounces, and about eight tons are
now at the mouth of the shaft, expected to average four or five ounces to the ton.
The next claim is the property of William Williams, twenty feet. At a depth of 112 feet he has struck a
small leader, which has produced about two tons of auriferous quartz, estimated to yield two ounces per
ton.
Then comes Brierley and Hargraves, forty feet . This party have raised fifteen tons of auriferous quartz,
which produced thirty ounces of gold. At a depth of 140 feet a vein, from four to six inches in width, is
invested by indurated black slate, alternating with granite. These are succeeded by M'Cormick and party,
thirty feet, they have crushed twenty tons of quartz, the yield of which varied from five to two ounces per
ton, becoming poorer after the mundic made its appearance. At a depth of 115 feet they are on a vein four
inches wide; the character of the dyke corresponds with that in the claims immediately preceding it.
The two following claims, at a depth of sixty feet, have struck small veins which traverse the dyke, and
from which they have raised a few tons of quartz, but at a depth of upwards of 100 feet they have not yet
fallen in with the reef.
Neizeman and party are next in succession, forty feet, and at a depth of 104 feet are on a vein partially
decomposed, about four inches in width, and from which they have obtained about twenty tons of rich
quartz.
On the succeeding claims, for about 200 feet, the miners have recently opened narrow veins of mundic
quartz, at depths varying from 110 to 130 feet, that will yield from three to five ounces to the ton, and are
expected to increase in width as they descend.
The hill, which had been gradually becoming more precipitous, here presents a varied formation; the
surface rocks assume a basaltic and doleritic character, apparently the wreck of an ancient volcanic
outburst, exhibiting a distorted stratification. They descend to a greater depth than the surface formations
higher up the range, and are found reposing upon ancient granites by which they are broken and
disjointed. These igneous products of a former period have been pierced by recent outbursts, but,
offering more resistance to the upheaving forces than the arenaceous rocks formerly noticed, have been
less disturbed.
The fissure which had followed the schistose stratum from
the crown of the range, and been gradually becoming contracted as it approached the more compact
formations, here finally disappears or will only be discovered at a much greater depth. The intrusive granite,
repressed by the pre-existing igneous rocks on either hand, has burst through the weaker schistose
stratum, investing each shattered fragment and filling every cavity, thus forming a dyke, occasionally
traversed by minute quartz veins, few of which are metalliferous.
For upwards of a quarter of a mile, at intervals of twenty feet, shafts have been, and are still being, sunk
through this dyke on the line of the reef, varying from eighty to 150 feet in depth, and as yet no lode has
been discovered, although some of the shafts have reached water. Here and there a narrow vein appears
to cheer the miner in his labours, and tempt him downward, but it soon runs out. A series of shafts have
been opened about thirty feet to the westward, but after reaching a depth of from forty to eighty feet they
were abandoned for the present line. It is possible that the reef splits somewhere below the crown, and that
the miners are at present on either the east or west branch; the only way to prove this would be by cross
drives, but, however anxious some might be to follow such a course the immense ex- pense attending
sinking or driving through solid rock deters them from making the experiment. It is in such case as this that
the operative miner feels himself crippled by the absence of capital, without which all his energies are
unavailing; the exhaustion of his resources but too frequently compels him to relinquish undertakings which
he knows perseverance would ultimately crown with success.
While companies, established with no other end in view than to find billets for the promoters, or to entrap
the unwary, under the auspices of our Montague Tigges, would probably wind up with loss to the
shareholders, the formation of copartners between operative miners and capitalists might reasonably be
expected to promote the interests of all concerned, and would certainly direct a greater amount of energy
and mining experience to the development of our mineral resources, So well is this now understood by the
working miners and claimholders on the Adelong that all labourers on the reef are remunerated bshares,
This system has superseded regular wages, and gives satisfaction to both the employer and employed,
In quartz mining there is little possibility of robbery or fraud, as the gold can only be obtained by a tedious
process, after passing through the hands of the crusher, who has no connection with the claim holders, and
is usually instructed to pay the gold produced from a lot of quartz into one of the banks to the credit of the
proprietors as a company. In a copartneiship consist ing of (say) twelve shares six of which were held by as
many operatives, and six represented by capital, the later might rest reasonably assured that the
operations of the copart- nership would be carried on with the utmost economy, and with all the ability of
the working partners. I am at this moment in sight of a reef from which the finest specimens procured in
the district were obtained, and which, although opened for nearly a mile in length, has been abandoned
-- not because it held out no promise, but because the claim holders were needy men, and unable to carry
on for 12 or 18 months, before which they could not, under the most favourable circumstances, expect a
return for their labour
Upwards of a quarter of a mile below the point, where the lode, after gradually wearing itself out finally
disappeared, an extensive outcrop of quartz again made its appearance in the line of the fissure. On
following it down ward it was found to pass into the granitic dyke on the north side within a very few feet
of the outcrop. To the southward it also disappeared for 400 yards, when it again showed on the surface for
about 200 feet, and sank to rise no more in the vicinity. The filling of the fissure caused by the disruption of
the schistose stratum at the southern extremity of the reef, is sometimes composed of granite, at others of
quartz, and occasionally of both intermixed. Notwithstanding the many abstruse theories propounded
relative to the origin of quartz reefs, it is possible that they may yet be traced to the simple chemical action
of heat and water upon the various bodies through winch the fissures pass, and that the fissures
themselves will be found to result from the same action.
Returning to the reef where the quartz makes its second appearance on the surface, we find that it was
three feet wide and varied in its character from that higher on the range, was less auriferous, and more
honeycombed the sulphurets were partially decomposed by the combined action of the atmosphere and
the neighbouring springs, and the cavities in the lode were filled with hydrous oxides and earths forming
the wash dirt that has proved so productive of the precious metal. At a depth of from forty to fifty feet the
decomposition cased, and mundie appeared in a proportion equal to one-fourth of the lode, containing
less iron then elsewhere and more arsenic. Gold became less abundant also, at the depth of 115 feet:
the sulphurets gradually disappeared, and were succeeded by pure white quartz -- nearly barren, but at
145 feet the mundic again shows on the hanging wall and promises at a greater depth to cut out the white
block.
We will now ramble over a few of the claims, on the lower section of the reef. The first, seventy-five feet, is
worked by Iredale and Company. ln this claim the granitic dyke passes into quartz; north half of the ground,
no reef , south half, surface for forty feet down was payable but not rich, sulphurets decomposed, replaced
by earthy oxides, at sixty feet reached the mundic, where the decomposing agents ceased to net Mundic in
large quantities, lode less auriferous as it descends, until at 115 feet the barren white quartz appears. This
party have about 250 tons of auriferous stone raised, estimated to produce from two to five ounces per
ton.
The next is Wells and Wilson, seventy -five feet. This claim is similar to that preceding it. The surface reef
for fifty feet in depth produced in large quantity of quartz, the average produce was three ounces per
ton, some small lots reached as high as six ounces. At sixty feet the decomposition ceased, and the
mundic appeared , the yield was now about four and a-half ounces per ton, becoming less productive as it
descended, until at 115 feet the white barren reef intervened. At 147 fee1 it is improving, but "slowly. Six
hundred tons of quartz, have been raised from this claim, the present width of the lode is about three feet.
Then comes Griffiths and Company 72 feet, Surface reef here irregular, varying in width, from four inches
to two feet, yield from three to six ounces per ton. At sixty feet the decomposition of the sulphurets ceased.
Pale tin, white and light copper mundic appeared Reef from two to five feet wide, slate hard, black, and
silicified. The yield from the marble quartz, from sixty to eighty feet, averaged four and a half ounces, 120
feet it had decreased to two ounces, with the white reef close at hand. Then Lemon and Woodman's, fifty
feet, surface reef to fifty feet in depth, yielded two ounces per ton. At the point where the
decomposition ceased the mundic stone produced for a few feet an average of nine ounces, and the last,
consisting of forty tons, yielded five ounces per ton. The width at a depth of 110 feet is eighteen inches,
was wide nearer the surface, but was only rich and payable when the lode became narrow. The next
in rotation is Dent and Company, thirty feet, recently crushed a few tons of quartz, averaging four ounces
per ton, are at a depth of 120 feet, and have twenty tons of quartz raised, width of reef twelve inches. The
following claim belongs to Richardson and Company forty-five feet at a depth of 130 feet, a narrow vein
runs into a broad white reef, they have crushed a few tons averaging fifty ounces, and have about ten tons
at the shaft mouth. Then comes the Cumberland party, who claim 120 feet. The surface reef was of little
value, but at sixty feet decomposition ceased, and the lode became rich from that point downwards,
varying in width from two to four feet, the widest part least productive, 120 tons have been crushed
averaging five ounces, and there are 150 tons of quartz raised on the claim, at a depth of 120 feet the lode
contracts to from twelve to eighteen inches, in width, this is one of the most valuable claims on the lower
part of the reef. The next two claims of 90 and 120 feet, are again on the granite dyke, a bluish granite
and masses of indurated black schist, much altered by their contact with the investing rock, here usurp the
place of the lode, at the depth of sixty feet. The minors opened a narrow vein from which a few tons of
quartz have been obtained, which averaged about four ounces, and at a depth of 112 ft sinking through the
same hard rock they are still in search of the reef. Lower down is the claim of Byzant, and Company, sixty
feet; the usual small veins were found near the surface, which, although rich, quickly ran out. At a depth of
120 feet a blast put into the hanging wall exposed a rich mundic reef, two foot, in width, the yield of which is
estimated at be- tween five and six ounces to the ton. On examination, the miners discovered that they had
been sinking alongside of it for the last sixty feet; their want of success had reduced them to the last
extremity, and, during months of weary and anxious labour tho object of their search had been daily within
a few inches of their heads. This incident proves the expediency of cross drives.
For a distance extending many hundred yards lower down, claims have been taken up and worked by
about twenty-two companies, and their numerous shafts in the granite elvan, which here again displaces
the quartz, vary in depth from 50 to 150 foot; the average depth may be said to be one hundred feet.
Although many small veins have been found traversing the indurated shistese fragments and the granite in
the vertical bed of the tilted stratum, there is, so far, no appearance of a reef. I have described it in this way
to draw attention to the fact that the cavity caused by tho partial removal of a perishable stratum of schist
invested by more durable rocks might be mistaken for a fissure caused by contraction or disruption.
Two foot, a week is accounted good work for three men. and the sinking of the last twenty shafts through
solid rock would not be undertaken by contracts at a lower rate than £5 per foot. The labour and material
expended upon them, therefore, may be valued at £10,000. It must be a matter of surprise to many how
men without capital could prosecute so expensive an undertaking. In a few of the companies persons'
possessed of spare' capital -- are share-holders, but the majority are entirely composed of working miners.
In such cases it is not unusual for one-half of the company to hire themselves out to obtain the means
necessary to enable the remaining half to carry on their operations.
It will be observed that what is called the surface reef at the Adelong usually extends to the depth of from
forty to sixty feet. This is perhaps the lowest point to which the rainwaters have penetrated, conveyed along
the joints of the rocks, and by filtration through the superstrata, converting the sulphurets and arsenites of
some metals into oxides, removing more by decomposition, and perhaps reducing others by the aid of the
solutions which they become charged with in their passage. If the reef as it now exists was covered to the
depth of sixty feet by a solid rock impervious to water or atmospheric influences, what is now called the
mundic reef would extend to the present surface; but if, on the contrary, the reef was denuded to the
level where the mundic is now first met with in a state of perfect crystallization, in process of time it would
assume the condition of the present surface reef.
Many of the auriferous reefs that have been discovered in New South Wales are what are known as
surface reefs, that is, their auriferous character decreases as they descend, and become quite lost at a
depth seldom exceeding thirty five feet, but more frequently twenty-five. It may also be
remarked that where these reefs follow the undulations of the surface, even descending the sides of
mountains, where an enormous denudation has taken place, they retain this feature. It is worthy of
consideration whether the oxygenated surface waters charged with the solutions tliey collect in their
passage through the upper strata, have any effect in reducing tho gold hold in combination with sulpurets
or chlorides of other metals and minerals, and whether as the surface wears away, and the upper portion of
the reef becomes destroyed by disintegration, particles of pure metal may not continue to be reduced
or formed to as great a depth as the waters can penetrate, provided that the necessary agents are present
in the mechanical or igneous rocks forming the surface. These remarks are suggested by the fact that in a
very large pro- portion of the quartz raised from the Adelong reef, yielding as high as seven or eight
ounces, a particle of gold is not visible to the naked eye.
To recapitulate in a few lines, I may say with reference to the great reef at Adelong, that a stratum of schist
of undetermined length and breadth, resting upon more ancient igneous products, has been tilted and
invested by granite -- that either the contraction of the cooling mass, or the wasting and decomposition of
the schist by the infiltration of surface waters has caused a longitudinal fissure through its whole extent,
widest and deepest where the granitic mass had risen to the greatest height. That this fissure has been
subsequently filled, partly by molten granite and partly by metaliferous quartz, by the agency of heat,
the presence of either dependant upon the constituents of the investing rocks. The long dissertations
written upon the dipping and rising of quartz reefs, according to some geometrical rule, will, I fear, prove to
be like the philosopher's stone of the middle ages. Nature is a simple chemist, and varies her productions
according to the materials upon which she operates.