this
junction rich stone should be met with, provided the point of junctior
is not too far below the point of entry of the golden drainage from the
slate layers responsible for all the gold in this mine. I noticed the
faces here had widths of ore varying from a foot or so to 10 or 12
feet, and that they are composed of quartz in places, but more
frequently principally of slate. This slate contained many Vertical
veins, an inch or so wide, of quartz, the whole forming a network, as
it were, of minor points of obstruction to the concentration of the
gold of the liquids circulating very slowly through the mass. I noted
that the gold here is, as usual in the lodes of these parts, in grains
of about the fineness of pepper, and appears to have been deposited in
about equal quantities with sulphides, which have in numbers of
instances been removed in part. The yields vary between 5 and 15 dwts.
Of course, situations met with occasionally are equal to 20 ounces to
the ton; but the mining system followed aims for a general average
rather than for pickingand choosing. On the eastern side of the creek
(the Victory is immediately west of it) is the Crescent lode, a
so-called vertical formation going down in the trough of the corrugated
rock layers. Its quartz " makes " are in lens form, as usual, and
associated with its line is a dyke intrusion. The lode, the slate, and
the dyke stuff are all black with graphite, and the work is as dirty as
in a coal mine. I have noticed this feature in the " country " of
several other lode-systems in this field, but in none is it as much in
evidence as here. The company has worked large quantities of ore from a
low-grade situation outcropping on the range, and it is now driving
from the creek level on the line of the lode below this worked
situation. This Crescent lode is the main line of an extensive system
of lodes, of which the Victory is one—those on the eastern side of the
Crescent not being opened yet. There is a lot of sulphide in the black
country, but yields in gold so far have not been large ; the average
from outcrop works in slate permeated with veins and small " makes "
of quartz is set down at 2 dwts. per ton, from a width of 40 feet. Even less would pay in bulk handling.
The
Victory shaft is being sunk another 100 feet to test the quartz near
the junction of the " makes " there. A cross-cnt east to the Crescent
formation from the new level to be openedisalsomooted. In the meantime,
driving south on the course of the lode is being pushed on in the
Crescent, with a view to locating one of the many favoured situations
that are to be found along and down this main line of mineral
concentration.
From the Crescent and Victory mines west about a mile is
