this
stone are said to have yielded payable gold. At Pitfield and at
Rokewood, in "the bottom" rock (slate and sandstone), under the
wash-dirt deposits, " cross cracks " are met with into which wash-dirt,
rich in gold, has been deposited. These cracks evidently acted as
natural sluice catchÂments for the gold of the wash-dirt deposits in
their vicinity. The open parts of them vary in length from about 3 feet
to 30 feet or more. Recent investigations favour the idea that they
represent cross lode lines, which have had " track parts " on their
lines near the surface opened by water action. Many a patch of rich
wash-dirt has been hauled from these cracks ; and it appears to me that
they have acted also as lines of catchÂment for the minerals in
solution circulating in the many channels known as north and south lode
lines. At the Jubilee mine the lode is richer or poorer in exact
conformity with the contact of the gold-slate lines and the channels of
circulation in them. These channels are generally quartz lodes, but in
places are mere threads of sulphide or other material. I noticed that
the mullock tip at the Misery Creek cross lode showed evidences of many
sheets of sulphide known to miners as indicators; they occurred in the
coantry that was passed through in getting out the 20 tons of stone
sent to the mill.
This main line of lode and
dyke country, which comes
from Rokewood through Corin-
dhap, is known as the Monarch
line ; at The Frenchmans, 4
miles further to the north, it
is known as the Cockatoo line.
Nothing much has been done
on it further to the north, but
from the formations of a main
parallel line to the Cockatoo,
on a spur range immediately
to the east, a party known as
Hansen's is getting out crush-
ings. The remains of early
efforts are to be seen here
also, and they go to prove that the diggers of the fifties did not miss
much as far as concerns " surface shows." The Hansen's had a crushing
from this line, about three years since, for a return of 4-1/2 dwts. to the ton,
and recently they returned and took out another crushing of 4-1/2 tons for
15 dwts. to the ton. They have another crushing on the surface which appears
to be worth as much, if not more. The formation is depicted in Fig. 7, and
as usual it is associated with dyke material, probably elvan. The gold-slate
is also present, and it is at the point of contact of these layers of slate with the
floors of fractures that the quartz, gold, and sulphide have been deposited,
apparently owing to the stagnation of the circulating fluids at such points.
The gold, as usual in this class of " make," varies from the size of pepper
grains to that of wheat and peas; in some instances it is filigree in form and
in others it is pretty solid. I noticed that the iron sulphide (mundic) is in
closer company with the gold than are the other sulphides ; indeed, I did not
see much of either galena or blende in this field. A little to the north of
Hansen's claim a Mr. Harbridge is beginning work on some formations of
the same line; and here again I noticed that the mineral matter circulating
through the channel in the slate was deposited at points where the circulation
was obstructed as by contact with a floor, which had cut across slates at a
