or
otherwise. It is on account of the presence of payable gold in this "
mullocky" lode stuff that I am led to* think that the mullock heaps of
the old mines are worth treatment, there being much of this class of
ore in each heap.
Before
the formation of the present company, Mr. Wearmonth and his mates put
through 500 tons for returns averaging 5dwt. 4gr. to the ton. I noted
how defined is the lode formation, as it descends almost vertically, in
old works near the company's prospecting whim shaft. It is composed of
decomposed dyke material, with layers of gold-slate, the whole being
permeated with exceedingly thin veins of sulphide and quartz, the
latter increasing in proportion nearer the walls. Passing into the
wall country at 100 feet down, are veins of quartz up to 6 inches
thick. There appears here to be about 200 feet in depth of oxidized
lode. Below this the country is, of course, black in colour, highly
charged with sulphide, but the lode material, judging by the colour and
loose nature of the many heaps from deep workings about, appears to be
of a favorable class, even to 1,500 feet down, and trials by dish from
these heaps showed free gold.
Past
mining here appears to have been devoted to the actual quartz
formations rather than to the mixture of thin quartz veins (in many
instances but an eighth of an inch wide) with slate and dyke material.
Trials
of material in the old heaps, brought from a depth of 400 feet, and
well in the sulphide country, are said to have yielded gold equal to
from ^ oz. to 1 oz. to the ton. Considering the great extent of the
deposit, and its easy milling nature, there should be a profit on the
mining and milling of large quantities of it, even on an average yield
of 3 dwts. to the ton.
The
company evidently means business, and the formations in its area are, I
was informed, to receive a thorough trial. A successful issue here
would mean mining activity for at least ten miles along this course of
gold concentration we know as the " Stawell main line of reefs."
As
with all other gold-fields in Victoria, a full statement cannot be
obtained of quartz crushed, gold obtained, or dividends paid since the
commencement of Stawell quartz mining. From published records and
other sources, however, it appears that at least 500,000 tons of quartz
have been crushed for about 600,000 ozs. of gold, and the dividends
total about £1,270,000.
The
deposition of gold in Stawell was richest near the junction of the flat
lodes with the main channel of drainage (the leg lode) ; the farther
from this junction the poorer the stone, excepting at the junction of
other minor vertical drainage lines, which came down on to the flat
lodes further in towards the centre of the arch.
I
also visited the Bolangum ranges, about 25 miles to the north-east of
Stawell, and on the road to St. Arnaud. Here, lode systems in low
ranges of slate and sandstone outcrop in association with the
inevitable dyke material. The rock-beds have been corrugated in much
the same manner as at Stawell, the lines of the arches running
north-west; but the greater twist strain imparted while this crumpling
was in progress gave the crack lines (as showing on and near the
surface) a direction slightly more to the north-east. These lines, with
the fillings of lodes and dyke material, descend nearly vertical,
underlying a little to the east or west, according to their positions
relative to the arches in the corrugated strata. Surface mining has
been carried on in different parts of these ranges for many years, but
only recently has any mining been attempted likely to lead to
profitable results. The Kingston Company, having acquired from the
former owner, Mr, Kingston, a lode formation that has yielded payable
