578 president's address. 



near Glen Innes and at Silent Grove in New England. The 

 quartz veins are really pipe-veins of very irregular thickness, and 

 the bismuth ores occur in them in nests, or in joint-fissures, and 

 associated with arsenical pyrites, molybdenite, wolfram tin and 

 gold. As yet the ore has only been treated by inefficient washing 

 methods, but if smelting appliances were to be introduced, I am 

 of opinion that these reefs would be largely worked. 



Cobalt and Manganese. 



Rich manganese ores with traces of cobalt are found in con- 

 siderable quantity in the Bendemeer district, and ferro- 

 manganese near Bathurst and Goulburn. These deposits will 

 be of future commercial value. Manganese ore containing 

 4 per cent of cobalt occurs at Bungonia, and it has lately been 

 taken up to work for cobalt. 



Chromite. 



Chromic iron associated with serpentine occurs in some 

 abundance near Tamworth and Grafton. There is no local 

 demand for it at present, and it is doubtful if the price of the 

 ore in Europe would cover the cost of raising and shipment. 



Mercury. 



The occurrence of cinnabar near Cudgegong has been known 

 for some years, but the prospecting operations have not yet 

 proved it payable. 



Diamonds. 



Upwards of 10,000 diamonds are stated to have been found 

 in the Colony. These were chiefly obtained from the Tertiary 

 alluvial drifts in the Bingera and Cudgegong districts about 

 the year 1873. Mr. D. Dougherty, who was Manager of the 

 Gwydir Diamond Mining Company, informed me that in 67 

 working days, 1540 diamonds were obtained, and that the yield 

 from the washing of 33 loads of drift was 619 diamonds, from 19 

 loads, 322 diamonds, and the prospecting of lol loads from 24 

 different places produced 104 diamonds, which were nearly 

 all of small size and averaging about one carat grain each, and 



