Mount Morgan Gold Mine. 349 



from the surface in the deepest part. Within this area the 

 material consisted of fine and coarse siliceous sand, some of the 

 beds so incoherent that the sand ran freely ; other beds were 

 more clayey. The beds were hig'hly inclined, very irregiilar in 

 extent and varied much in thickness within short distances ; 

 but were less inclined, though still very irregular in the north- 

 west portion of the area. 



Some of these beds of sand were of light gi'ey colour, but most 

 were stained with oxide of iron, and towards the outer edge the 

 beds w^ere of brilliant reds, yellows, purple, and nearly black in 

 some cases from a high percentage of iron and manganese oxides. 

 In section, some of these beds were fan-shaped, as observed by 

 Dr. Jack. A highly-ferruginous belt formed the outer margin 

 of the area, represented in places by bands of limonite that 

 attained a thickness of twenty feet in places. The greatest 

 development of limonite was just north of the shaft. In the 

 south-east portion of the area limonite was also strongly repre- 

 sented. The limonite was of light brown colour, very hard, and 

 contained grains of quartz scattered through the mass. Before 

 the surface was cut up by mining the area occupied by secondary 

 ore was plainly defined by a distinct, and in places very strong, 

 outcrop of ferruginous material. Limonite formed a conspicuous 

 featm-e at the siu-face, projecting 10 or 12 feet above the ground 

 in places. It did not occur in a solid vein, but in irregTilar more 

 or less spherical blocks with botryoidal or stalaetitic surface, 

 and up to a ton in weight. Some of the limonite was light and 

 frothy, stained black from manganese oxide, or most brilliantly 

 iridescent. Generally there was a selvage of sandy material 

 resting directly on the cellular siliceous ore, then the limonite. 

 This selvage ranged from a few inches to many feet in thick- 

 ness. In places this sand was spangled wdth fine particles of 

 scaly gold. Where the portion corresponding to the stem of 

 the funnel was it consisted of blocks of limonite bedded in red 

 clay. It was the marvellous richness of this secondary ore that 

 established the fame of Mt. Morgan, and that supplied many 

 millions' worth of gold within a few years. Morgan's first trench 

 was in this class of ore. Immense quantities of ore from this 

 portion of the mine gave 8 to 10 ozs. of gold per ton. Some of 

 the sandy beds yielded up to hundreds of ounces per ton. The 



