Park. — Occurrence of Native Lead. 403 



Art. XLIX. — Notes on the Occurrence of Native Lead at 



Parapara, Gollingwood. 



By Professor James Park, F.G.S., Director, Otago Univer- 

 sity School of Mines. 



[Read before the Otago Institute, 8th July, 1902.'] 



During a geological survey of Collin gwood County in 1887 I 

 was informed by some miners of the occurrence of lead 

 globules in the gold drifts in their claims, the quantity in 

 some cases being said to be so great as to seriously inter- 

 fere with the recovery of the gold on account of the ripples 

 in the sluice-boxes becoming choked with the lead. The 

 prevailing belief among the miners then, and now, was that 

 the lead was ordinary shot, which had been used by sports- 

 men in the chase after native game in bygone days. This 

 explanation seemed to me insufficient to account for the 

 large quantities of lead obtained at the periodical " wash- 

 up " ; and in that year, at my request, Mr. H. P. Wash- 

 bourn, of Parapara, forwarded a sample to the Geological 

 Survey Department at Wellington for examination. The 

 sample was submitted to the late Mr. William Skey, Govern- 

 ment Analyst, who reported that it was native lead. 



In a paper read before the Wellington Philosophical So- 

 ciety, Mr. Skey stated that the lead globules were coated with 

 a thin incrustation of lead-carbonate, while some exhibited 

 spangles of gold upon some surfaces. He added, "They 

 have a great scientific interest, owing to the fact that the 

 gold is in actual contact with the lead, often, indeed, ac- 

 tually surrounding it." The sample submitted to Mr. Skev 

 was unfortunately very small, but, so far as it could be 

 tested, he stated that the lead appeared to be unalloyed with 

 any metal whatsoever.* 



For some years past the Parapara Hydraulic and Sluicing 

 Company (Limited), of London, has been carrying on opera- 

 tions at Parapara, principally in the old Glengyle and Hit 

 or Miss alluvial claims. Mr. William Beetham, the local 

 managing director, in the course of a conversation with me 

 last February in Nelson, mentioned the trouble and extra 

 labour often occasioned at the periodical " clean-up " by the 

 presence of round shot-like globules of lead which collected 

 in the ripples with the gold. The lead, he said, occurred 

 in considerable quantities, and as an approximate estimate 

 he thought about 251b. was obtained for every 100 oz. of 



* Trans, and Proc. N.Z. Inst., 1888, vol. xxi., p. 368. 



