points
around Moonambel at which works on the outcrops of lodes have revealed
gold-bearing stone ; but, as on numerous other fields of our State, the
quartz mining stage has barely commenced. To the south of this locality
are ranges permeated with quartz lodes of the class running north and
south, and. no doubt, also "cross" lodes : and, crossing the valley of
the Warrenmaug, we come to the ranges around Pereydale. Here, at a part
known as Donkey Hill, numerous efforts have been made to open "
makes,"' which show on the outcrops of the lodes ; the returns vary
from a few pennyweights to ounces of gold per ton. Some of these works
date back for 40 years or more, and none of the works were taken beyond
the "tight" points bounding each "make," on the assumption that the
lode had " cut out." As elsewhere on the field, dyke material is
associated with all lodes. In more than one place 1 saw evidence
leading me to suppose that judicious loaming would locate cross lodes.
This cross lode feature has only been recognised of late years in this
field, and I have no doubt that many discoveries of rich deposits of
gold, at points where north-and-south lodes intersect other smaller
channels in the slate country, await the careful loaming of such
masters of this art as the Wright family at Moonambel, and the
O'Donoghue family at Pereydale.
On
the Donkey Hill range remains of old works are to be seen on an
extensive well-defined lode formation, running nearly north and south,
and known as the Perseverance. Here a "make" of the long, narrow kind
was followed in open cutting for some hundreds of feet; it yielded
1/2-oz. stone, and a tunnel was then put in 700 feet, to allow of about
100 feet of backs being stoped. I noticed that this formation is as
usual, but one in a group of lodes, and that it has been formed on the
higher side of the slope of an arch in the corrugated beds. The pitch
of all the lodes inspected during this visit appears to be to the
south, at an angle of about 40° from the horizontal; and. if so, their
golden "makes"—though each has apparently a pitch'to the north—are in
n. series which pitches to the south. I noticed that the pitch on the
lines of gold-bearing deposits in many fields is on the following rule,
viz.:—That while the pitch of an individual "make" and its gold is to
the north, the whole series of consecutive " makes" pitches to the
south.
The
Perseverance Company had a large mill at work, and must have crushed
many thousands of tons of quartz, judging by the size of its sand-heap,
which is now being carefully handled by Mr. Doepel, of Maryborough, in
cyanide vats. Many other lines of lodes in the vicinity of the
Perseverance works have received a little attention, for yields varying
between ounces and pennyweights to the ton, and in all of them
stilphides (principally of lead) were conspicuous.
Following
this group of lodes to the south, and crossing a spur of the main
range, we reach the old works of the Fiddler's Creek Company. As at the
Perseverance mine, the lode which has received attention has been
formed on the western slope of an arch in the rocks ; and there does
not appear to be any displacement of its line at the points where it
intersects those later fractures known as slide and cross-course
breaks. It has the dyke material associated with it, as elsewhere. The wrorks
were confined to one thick "make" of quartz, averaging 4, feet in
width, in which were stored great quantities of sulphides of lead,
iron, zinc, and copper. They were plentifully distributed through the
stone, which contained gold to the value of, it is said. 4 ozs. to the
ton of lode. This was followed down for about 170 feet, until the water
became too troublesome for the appliances in use, and a company,
organized by Mr. Ware Copeland, of Ballarat, and backed by
