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Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond

Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
98                           Australian Diamonds.
popularly known as the " Big River." According to Pro­fessor Liversidge, of Sydney, the Diamond-bearing deposits are situated in a kind of basin, about four miles long and three miles wide, hemmed in by hills on all sides save on the north. The Diamonds occur in Tertiary and Pleistocene drifts, as in the Cudgegong Field. The old river-drift rests upon rocks of Devonian or Carboniferous age, and is partially covered by a capping of basalt. In some places the materials of the drift are compacted together into a conglomerate, so that the mode of occurrence of Diamonds at Bingara strikingly resembles that at Mudgee. The minerals composing the gravels are also generally similar in the two cases, though points of difference are not want­ing. One of the best indications of the presence of the Diamond, according to the Bingara miners, is a black Tourmaline, known locally as "Jetstone." Some of the Diamonds are clear and colourless, others have a pale straw-tint : all are of small size, the largest yet known weighing about eight grains. According to an examination of some of the Bingara drift, by the Gwydir Mining Com­pany, a ton of " stuff" yields on an average twenty Dia­monds. Up to August 26th, 1873, the Eaglehawk claim had produced 1,680 Diamonds ; but as the aggregate weighed only 803 grains troy, the very small size of the average stone is sufficiently apparent The general weight of the Diamonds of New South Wales ranges from 1/8 to 1-1/2 carat per stone, but, though small, they are extremely hard and brilliant. The Australian Diamond Company's claim is situated about six miles S.W. of Bingara.
Considerable interest has been recently aroused by the remarkable results obtained at the Monte Christo mine, in the Bingara Diamond Fields. This mine is situated on a hill, about 750 feet above the Gwydir River, which is four
Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond Page of 366 Sec. II, Ch. 3: The Australian Diamond
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