auriferous
alluvial deposits in the world; the gold occurs in the tertiary
alluvial deposits, and in conglomerates in the coal measures the
precious metal has also been found in paying quantities. At Clough's
Gully the conglomerate is being worked and yields from 1 to 15
pennyweights per ton, and nuggets of 5 ounces are occasionally found.
Queensland.—The
colony of Queensland lies to the north of New South Wales. Here
thirty-one hundred square miles of auriferous alluvial and quartz
ground were worked upon in 1876. The gold-fields occur on both sides of
the main dividing range which separates the eastern and western waters,
and on the spurs of the range which forms the water-shed to the Gulf of
Carpentaria.
Charter's
Towers fields are situated about the centre of the eastern portion of
the colony. There are several small alluvial deposits, but the
principal industry is that of gold-quartz mining.
In the Gympie district extensive quartz-mining is carried on, and some alluvial gold has been found in the Marengo gullies.
Gold
quartz is mined in the Normanby region, but alluvial gold is sparsely
distributed, the deposits not paying the cost of labor.
South Australia.—In
South Australia gold is found in nearly every part of the colony, but
the deposits are of very limited size. The bed of the river Torrens has
yielded small quantities. The deposits of Barossa are said to resemble
geologically and topographically Ben-digo and other Victorian fields
where the basaltic lava is absent. The principal deposit is probably of
older pliocene age. The main lead in Spike's Gully shows a drift
varying from twenty to a hundred feet in depth. In this drift, which
consists of quartz pebbles, boulders, and ferruginous conglomerate, the
gold is water-worn. The topography of the country is favorable for the
construction of reservoirs at small expense, and sluicing could be
