A VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS.
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER>
No. 6.
Having endeavoured to describe the great reef of the Adelong, we will now direct our attention to the lesser
reefs in its vicinity, a detailed description of which is rendered unnecessary by the uniformity of the
investing rocks, and the various lodes, all corresponding in their main features, and differing only in minor
modifications - the result of local conditions the same granitic outbursts have enveloped the schistose
strata, and in these vertical strata, having a direction parallel to the line of the main reef and at no great
distance from it, are to be found the lodes now under consideration.
About 500 yards from the great reef, to the eastward, is the Commissioner's Reef. At the base of the hills,
which form the summit of the range, a line of shafts has been sunk about twenty feet apart, for half a mile
along its course. These shafts vary in depth from thirty to eighty feet. Here a few very rich specimens were
obtained, but the quartz not averaging more than one ounce to the ton, with no indications of Improvement,
it was found not to be payable under the present system of working, and is now abandoned. At some future
period when an increase of population has reduced the cost of unskilled labour it is probable that it will be
profitably worked. About the same distance still further to the eastward, and higher on the range, another
quartz lode has been discovered. It was opened by two parties, who have raised a few tons of surface
quartz, which produced about two ounces of gold per ton; but as it descended it became less productive.
Below this reef a wide gully conducts the drainage to the main creek, and the detritus in the bed of the
watercourse was sufficiently auriferous to pay for working.
We will now direct our steps to the western side of the range, where, stretching across the slopes, we find
the Victoria vein about half a mile distant from the great reef and at the same elevation. It has been already
stated that the ancient superstrata on the western descents are more arenaceous than those on
the eastern, and this character will be found to increase until, at a distance of four miles to the northward,
the altered rocks pass into a fine schistose sandstone regularly stratified and tilted. At the northern
extremity of the Victoria an eruption of granite has dislocated and disturbed the older rocks, thus forming
fissures through which the surface waters have percolated, causing land slips and destroying a large
portion of the reef in their passage, when they burst from the sides of the mountain in numerous
little springs and collect in a deep ravine, through which they make their way to the main stream. At this
spot the creek was very rich, and a large quantity of fine gold was obtained, derived from the destruction of
the reef above by means of the disintegrating action of the springs. How little truth is there in the
poetic fiction of "eternal hills;" every mountain, as a condition of its existence, attracts a slow but sure
destroyer to its bosom.
The Victoria, second in importance only to the Great Reef, was at one period in high favour, subsequently
all but abandoned, in consequence of the uncertainty of the lode, and now within the last few weeks a
number of claims have been taken up at the southern extremity of the hill, which rise daily in the estimation
of the miners, although but little has been yet obtained to warrant the change of opinion with regard to it.
The fissure containing the quartz lode presents an appearance of irregularity in its descent not to be found
in the great reef; the space between the walls varies in width, for the first sixty feet the dip is to the
eastward, varying in its angle at every few feet; at that depth it enters the modern blue granites, and the dip
changes to the westward. In its short course, so far as has been examined, it makes many deviations from
a right line, sweeping, with irregular curves, round protuberances in the mountain. In the upheaval of the
upper strata of older porphyritic formations, a lateral pressure has been created, which did not descend to
the lower granites, the rise of which probably caused the disturbances. The estratum of clay slate which
invests the reef is contorted and compressed in a most extraordinary degree, generally indurated and
black, and sometimes silicified and filled with tortuous veins of metallic sulphurets and arsenites, chiefly in
small silver white crystals. The surface reef, in two or three claims, ranged from a few inches in width to two
or three feet, and the transitions were rapid from the extreme thickness to a mere streak. The auriferous
quality of the lode also varied from nine or ten ounces, in a few rare instances, to two ounces, per ton, with
the same rapidity. Little quartz has been raised from this reef, not exceeding 350 tons; and all that I could
hear of a shaving been sent to the mills for several mouths was 3 tons 16 cwt, raised from the claim of
Hillhouse and Co., which has been but recently opened on the lower part of the hill, and which produced 8
ounces 15 dwts. per ton; and about ? tons of picked stone from the claim of Jones and Co., which
averaged 5 ozs. per ton. Passing along the line of the reef we observe that operations have been
commenced on several new claims, taken up on the faith of the 3 tons 16 cwt. of quartz recently crushed
by Messrs Hillhouse and Co. None of these pay from the surface, it would therefore be premature to offer
any opinion of their future prospects; the only indications, at present are the small veins and threads of
quartz usually found intersecting schists invested by granite. The first claimholders that have raised
auriferous stone are the Messrs. Hillhouse and Co, who have now three tons on the grass, which are
expected to prove equally valuable with the small lot already crushed; at a depth of seventy-five feet they
have a vein from six to eight inches wide, and the claim presents a most promising appearance.
The companies working the next four claims are sinking in search of a reef, and in reaching depths varying
from twenty to fifty feet they have encountered several small veins, some of which, it is to be hoped, will
lead to payable quartz. The next claim we will notice is that of Crouch and Co., who, at a depth of between
eighty and ninety feet, are on a narrow vein about six or seven inches in width. The quartz is sufficiently
rich to pay for raising, if it were more abundant; the surface reef was poor, but a portion of it paid for
crushing. The next claim is that of Hatton and Co. The quartz from this portion of the lode is irregular in
its yield; the surface reef was poor; at a depth of sixty feet it contracted to the width of four or five, inches,
mundic appeared, and now, at about seventy feet, it has become somewhat wider, and would- like that in
the preceding claims - pay if there was enough of it. There are about two tons at the mouth of the shaft,
which appear like five-ounce quartz. We now come to the claim of G. Wright and Co., the lode here
cropped out on the surface; for several feet downward it maintained a considerable width, and was irregular
in its yield, some portions being barren, and others of a limited area unusually rich ; twenty tons of picked
stone produced eight and a-half ounces per ton. At a depth of 110 feet it diminished in width to a
mere streak, and has not yet become payable, although the prospects are more favourable. About forty
tons of stone are ready for crushing -- a few tons of which would produce about six ounces, if picked; the
remainder may be classed with two ounce quartz.
The neighbouring claim is that of Jones and Co. The surface quartz here was abundant but patchy, and
amidst a great deal that produced barely enough to pay for crushing. A small selected lot returned as high
as fourteen ounces per ton. At sixty feet the reef entered the true granites, and diminished in width from
three feet to as many inches; here the mundic made its appearance and continued downward. At a depth
of 117 feet the leader is still narrow, but what quartz is obtained maintains« an auriferous character. Four
tons of this stone, picked, was recently crushed which gave five ounces per ton. There are about eighty
tons of surface quartz piled up on this claim which may be estimated at about two ounces per ton.
Three or four claims higher up have not yet proved payable, in fact I do not believe that a claim on the reef
is paying the cost of working. At the depth where the surface quartz ter- minates after passing through the
superstrata of older rocks, and where the vein enters the blue granites, it becomes so narrow as to render it
impossible to raise a quantity sufficient to cover the expenses. At a greater depth it may become more
valuable.
We now, descending the northern slopes of the mountain, cross Williamstown valley, and ascend the
opposite hill until we reach the Curryjong reef. Here a great deal of labour and capital has been expended
with as yet but little return, although the depth reached is such, as to leave hopes that a rich lode may soon
reward so much labour and perseverance. The formation is a stratum of modified talcose schist, containing
a large proportion of carbonate of lime, invested by the prevailing granites. The schist is silicified and
veined with metallic sulphurets and arsenates in small silver white crystals, which, with arsenical pyrites,
are to be dis- covered here in a form which does not present itself on the other reefs. Small veins and
threads or quartz are frequent, some of which yielded at the rate of seventeen ounces of gold per
ton; others ranged from five to ten ounces. These veins traverse the schists, run into one another, and
disappear, but as yet have led to no reef. The schists would pay for crushing, as gold is combined with the
sulphurets and arsenites, which they contain in such abundance. There are many claims upon this reef,
and several shafts have been sunk to an average depth of forty feet, but I will confine my notice to two --
one the claim of Mrssrs. Jones and Co., the other that of the Messrs. Edwards. The former, in reaching a
depth of sixty feet, has passed through many small veins which were exceedingly rich, one of which
averaged at the rate of seventeen ounces of gold to the ton. At their present depth auriferous sulphurets
and and arsenites are more abundant, and are discovered in masses, but they are still looking for a reef.
The latter also discovered a rich vein just beneath the surface of their claim, which produced at the rate of
about ten ounces to the ton, but vanished a few feet lower down. In sinking to their present depth of fifty
feet, their experience has been as already described, but as yet no reef has presented itself. A very few
tons of auriferous stone have been sent to the mills from this reef, and what has been crushed
has generally been by way of experiment, and has always realised the expectations of the owners. That the
hill contains gold in payable quantities is unquestionable, but to prove this, it is unnecessary to exaggerate
the value of the claims already opened, or to describe them in such a way as to give them a fictitious value.
It may be stated that a claim had produced quartz which yielded ten, fifteen, or twenty ounces of gold to the
ton, and yet the stone from which that was obtained, by a careful selection, may not average an ounce, and
the gross value of all the gold obtained may not be within fifty per cent, of the cost of procuring it; the
richest patches have been most frequently discovered in claims that, as a whole, have proved of an inferior
value. Witness the Louisa reef, the Wentworth, the Rushworth, and many others. Nothing has tended to the
injury of the gold-fields, and the unsettlement of the mining population, more than the exaggerated reports
of their riches that have been so frequently circulated -- partly from interested motives, sometimes from
ignorance, often from a love of the marvellous, but more generally from a combination of all three. In New
South Wales the gold is so universally distributed, that few gold fields offer any advantage over their
fellows, and none are yet exhausted. From the Curryjong following the crest of the range half a mile brings
us to the Donkey reef in a line with the great reef on the opposite range to the southward; this reef,
although the first discovered, has yet to repay the labour and material expended upon it; three distinct
formations cross it stretching to the north-east, all intersected by the fissure containing the reef, the most
southerly nearest the crest corresponds, in some degree, with that of the great reef, but the schists are less
metaliferous although there is a greater abundance of iron pyrites ; the second with that of the Curryjong;
and the third is a decomposed micaeous schist previously altered, and containing much iron. In this
formation, which occupies an elevated flat, numerous springs have hastened the decomposition of the
surface rock to a considerable depth. The quartz varies with the character of the schists and granites, the
latter being somewhat coarser than in the neighbouring ranges.
The five companies nearest the crest of the ridge have sunk shafts to the respective depths of 125, 60, 55,
80, and 120 feet, and so far none have succeeded in reaching a payable reef: their labours extend over a
period of nearly two years, -- leaders and veins as usual traversed the schists, and enticed the miners
to persevere in their undertaking. These claims exhaust the first formation. In the net you first arrive at the
claim of Messrs. King and Co. Here schists of a lighter shade partake of the character of those at the
Curryjong, and contain veins and agglomerations of metallic sulphurets, but in a diminished quantity.
The miners followed a small leader through the schists for sixty feet downwards, when they encountered a
mass of quartz two feet thick, which produced a few tons, and an average yield of six ounces of gold per
ton. It however soon contracted in width, until it again became a narrow streak - to the bitter disappointment
of the proprietors. On examination they discovered that they were only separated from a valuable reef by a
few inches of slate, which they had been sinking alongside of for some distance. This again proves the
expediency of cross drives when sinking for a reef. The company are now going back on their work, and,
by means of stages, removing the rich lode thus happily discovered; it is estimated to be worth six ounces
per ton.
The next claim is on the verge of the formation. Here the miners have been long sinking through a poor
white reef, and, at a depth of 135 feet, have at last reached quartz of more promise. In the succeeding
claim, at a depth of seventy feet, no payable reef has been obtained. Its neighbour, at a depth of eighty
feet, reached a narrow reef which promises to pay for crushing.
We are now at the claim of Mosley and Rheese, one of the most promising on the reef. The miners carried
payable quartz down with them from the surface to the depth of eighty feet, in which a considerable
decomposition has taken place, caused by the action of the neighbouring springs ; the sulphurets are
replaced to some extent by oxides, from which a quantity of gold could be obtained by washing. There is
here a large pile of auriferous quartz at grass which is expected to yield from five to six ounces of gold per
ton. Lower down a little payable surface quartz has been obtained from the grass downward for a few feet,
but the influx of water has retarded the operations of the miner, and opposed a barrier to his deeper
explorations. Much work has been done, as far as I could learn, without remuneration. There are many
parallel reefs in this hill which have not been yet explored, and which may possibly be as rich as any in the
vicinity. It is only to a combination of capital and labour that they will yield their treasures; the risk attending
such enterprises is too great for men wholly dependent upon the labour of their hands for the bread they
eat.