are
the remains of rather extensive works, formerly known as the Summer
Hill mine. Here, again, about twenty years ago, rich outcrops of quartz
were gutted out to shallow depths; but there was no reasonable mining,
nothing but the mining which meant following " sight-gold," and
collapse followed. There was at that time a splendid winding and
crushing plant on this mine.
Still
further north, and still on the same range, all is gold-slate country
and lode systems, between volcanic country, to Bolwarrah. Here
commences the area of an immense region of this gold-slate lode
country, known as Bullarook Forest, containing about 40,000 acres
permeated with lode systems, bounded by the Rocky Lead and (Greswick
fields on the west, by Daylesford and Trentham on the north, by
Blackwood on the east, and by Egerton and Gordon on the south. It is
practically unexplored in a mining sense, and its many gold-bearing
lode systems should maintain a great population of miners some day. The
only mining in this vast area is at the Reef Hill mine, on the saddle
of the Main Divide, near the Wombat railway station, dealt with in the
Rocky Lead report, furnished six months ago.*
The
total yield in gold from the Gordon mines, yields obtained in following
down golden situations in quartz lodes that outcropped only, is said to
be equal to about 4-1/2 tons. There has been really no mining worth
mentioning in producing this. The gold was in favoured parts in the
lodes which surface wear had exposed. These exposed parts represented
the higher members in the various parallel systems in gold drainage,
the lower members of which remain for the pick of the miner to come.
These points of favoured deposition are not isolated from each other
(that is as concerns the points on any one line) ; the quartz (of the
lode) between them and the slate country with its wing veins of quartz
on the side of the lode are always more or less gold-bearing, and
therefore I say that the mining of the future will favour treatment in
bulk for low average yield of great widths of country and quartz,
containing portions more favoured by drainage than others. I know that
many extents on the lines of drainage we know as lode lines are
valueless to the gold miner, the line of least resistance having
concentrated their gold to areas north and south of them. I say,
however, that all of our mining centres are on favoured areas, and
that, so far, we have only been mining the outcrops of extra rich lines
in such rich points, brought into existence as the result of local, or,
I should say, detail, arrangement of obstruction to drainage. I know of
one company, at least, in this State that is floundering about on an
apex of country draining into two favoured areas, one north and one
sonth of it. Gordon should experience a revival in mining some day.
There appear to be many thousands of tons of gold-bearing ore remaining
above the water-level equal to more than cost for mining and treatment.
Why cannot the townspeople form a company and set up a 25, at least,
heavy-head mill in the creek below the old Parker's mine ? Tram roads
could be run in all
* Geological Survey of Victoria, Bulletins, No. 3.
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Scribd
