80 Transactions. 



up. It is probable that wlieu this zone is passed through the ore will become 

 lower grade and refractory, as at Bendigo and ou the Carrick Range. 



(8.) Goffer -veins. 



There are two veins in the district carrying auriferous chalcopyrite — one 

 at Moke Creek, near Queenstown, and one in Reedy Creek, near Waitahuna. 

 I examined the outcrop of the Moke Creek vein, but little can be seen, and 

 no information of importance was obtained. The ore is low grade, and the 

 veins are small and of uncertain ore-content. Under the microscope there 

 is seen to be a good deal of carbonate in the gangue (Plate II, 4), Ulrich 

 described both these veins in 1875, and Rowe later described the Waitahuna 

 vein (see Bibliography). 



(9.) Cinnabar -vein. 



One cinnabar-vein has been located— namelv, the Waitahuna vein, in 

 a gully at the foot of the Waitahuna Hills, half-way between Berwick and 

 Waipori. The vein is a small one, filled with pyritic mullock, which carries 

 bunches and veins of very high-grade cinnabar. The mineral is highly 

 crystalline in the frequent small cavities, the crystal form being prismatic 

 with rhomb ohedral terminations (/•, 1011). 



Cinnabar is frequently found in the alluvial gravels throughout the 

 Waipori district, and there is no doubt that there are other veins of this 

 mineral in the neighbourhood. Such veins might escape detection owing 

 to their small size, and to the soft and perishable nature of the vein- 

 filling. The country is, moreover, unfavourable for the prospecting of 

 such veins, being largely worn down into rolling foothills covered with 

 tussock. 



A good deal of alluvial cinnabar has also been found in the Nevis and 

 Nokomai district, and a vein doubtless exists there also, although none has 

 yet been found. 



(10.) Fault- fractures and Barren Quartz Reefs. 



The occurrences described under this head have, as far as can be seen, 

 no economic value. 



Fault - fractures. — The faults and crush-zones which extend through 

 the goldfield are occasionally mineralised, and carry a few grains or more 

 of gold to the ton. One of these occurs about three miles to the east of 

 Bendigo, running about north-west and south-east.* In several places on 

 the line of the fault prospecting-work has been carried on, and a little 

 payable work done, but the irregular and very low-grade nature of the 

 formation caused operations to be soon suspended. The workings disclose 

 a belt of crushed schist traversed by small irregular veins of quartz. 



Green's reef, at Ophir, described by Ulricht and by Park,} is another 

 instance of this type. Some years ago it gave a good return to its sole 

 prospector. The occurrence of gold at Green's reef is cited by McKay as 

 an instance of the occurrence of free gold in the schist.§ 



Ulrich has suggested that these " lode-formations " will, if developed, 

 lead to a simple defined vein in depth. I i It is much more probable that 



* Park. Bull. No. 5. X.Z.G.S.. p. 56. 

 t " Handbook of New Zealand Mines." 1887, p. 75. 

 + Park. Bull. No. 2, N.Z.G.S., p. i'J. 



§ McKay, '• Gold-deposits of New Zealand " (Wellington, 1903), p. 07. 

 •-^ Ulrich, " Geology of Otago," 1875. |). 185. 



