NOTES OX THE OCCURRENCE OF GOLD IN PRINCE ALBERT. 267 



cof the reefs being- that the quartz is well crystallized, the crystals 

 Jiaving had room to develop. In fact many of the reefs have still 



.a vacant space in the centre. These spaces have subsequently 

 been filled with clay that has been washed down from the surface 

 soil, and as the latter contains particles of gold, these are found 



"deep down in the reefs and have been the cause of considerable 

 misconception. A shaft was sunk on such a reef, and it was stated 

 that gold had been obtained 28 feet cleep by panning-. I took a 

 sample personally at that depth, but instead of treating the whole 

 sample as one, I separated the quartz from the clayey material 

 and crushed and panned each separately, with the result that the 

 former gave no result but the latter yielded some specks of gold. 



Considering the conditions under which the gold is found, it 

 would be strange if some were not washed down into open cracks. 

 The surface soil at the Ganze Kraal locality is seldom more than 



'one foot thick, except where it has accumulated in low places, and 

 •over a considerable area, practicall}' every panful of earth is found 

 to contain some gold, generally as small specks, but occasionally 



:as nuggets. 



A good deal of expense and unnecessary work has thus been 



•carried on, including the sinking of several boreholes, which, 

 however, have served the purpose of finding water in an otherwise 



nearly waterless locality. Two of the boreholes were tested with 

 a steam pump, one for 24 and the other for 12 hours. Each gave 



^a constant supply at the rate of 18,000 gallons a day without being 



-<ixhausted. A considerable amount of water could be raised by 

 means of Acrmotors, wind frequently prevailing at this spot. 



The writer is of opinion that by laying bare the bed rock by 

 removing and washing a strip of soil, the outcrop of the parent 

 reef, from which the rich samples were broken, will be discovered. 



'Considering all the circumstances of the case, as studied on the 

 spot, the most likely direction in which to look for the reef or reefs 

 appears to be to the north of the spot where the best specimens 

 were found on the farm Ganze Kraal. Failing a happy result, 

 other directions should be tried. By taking a wide strip of soil 

 wherever the washing pays and a narrow one where it does not, 

 this work may yield a profit. In any case the gold found will 

 repay part of the expenses. The distribution, appearance and 



•degree of coarseness of the gold found will give valuable informa- 

 tion as to the probable position of the reef, due allowance being 

 made for topographical changes that may have taken place and 



'Consequent secondary concentration. 



The finding of particles of gold, that are not waterworn, does 

 not by any means prove that the parent reef is verv near. The 

 gold was originally protected by quartz, most of which had to be 

 "broken off during transportation, before the former could become 

 waterworn. On examining apparently rough nuggets with a lens, 

 most of them will be found to have their most prominent points 

 somewhat worn. These would be the points that first became ex- 

 ■posed as the quartz was gradually removed. The finding of long 

 -nuggets of rough gold with only the extreme points waterworn 

 rseems to prove that the nuggets were originally protected by quartz 



