80 THE MINERALS OF TASMANIA. 



sea in Wales, and in Leinster in Ireland. That in Angle- 

 sea is reported to have been of large dimensions, and was 

 locally known as " bluestone." The intimate mixture 

 occurring in Ireland has been termed " an argentiferous 

 galenitic-blende," and has been named kilmacooite. It 

 generally contains, however, not only lead and zinc as sul- 

 phide, but also, subordinately and in variable proportion, 

 sulphides of iron, copper and antimony with silver, and 

 thus is an exact counterpart of the Tasmanian ores. It 

 has been stated that large quantities of this ore were raised 

 from the Kilmacoo lode in the Connary Mine (" On an. 

 Argentiferous Gallenitic Blende at Avoca," by C. R. C. 

 Tichborne, LL.D., Pro. Roy. Soc. Dublin, Vol. IV., 1885). 



The earliest recorded discovery of galenite in this island 

 was apparently one of an unimportant nature made at 

 Norfolk Plains in 1851 (Pro. Roy. Soc. Tas., 1851), and it 

 was many years aftsrwards that practical mining for 

 silver-lead commenced. The first was at the Penguin, about 

 1870, which was followed by the Bischoff Silver-Lead Com- 

 pany in 1876, and about 1880 mining operations of a simi- 

 lar nature were commenced at the Scamander .River. 

 Assays from the mixed argentiferous minerals obtained in 

 the mine at the last locality gave variable returns up to as 

 high as 200 oz. of silver per ton, and a bulk test of about 

 50 tons produced at the rate of 32 oz. to the ton, with a 

 fair proportion of lead. In the authorised Catalogue of the 

 International Exhibition, Tasmanian Section, 1851, the 

 item " Galena " occurs, reported by Dr. J. Milligan as 

 occurring in mountain limestone at Franklin River. The 

 more important discovery of the existence of galenite at 

 Mt. Zeehan on the West Coast was made by Frank Long 

 on the 8th of December, 1882 (Tilley, " The Wild West of 

 Tasmania," 1891), but mining for this mineral did not 

 commence until about five years later. 



The principal localities for the occurrence of galenite 

 are : — Zeehan ; Dundas ; Ben Lomond ; Bischoff ; Mt. 

 Claude ; Dove River ; Heazlewood ; Mt. Lyell ; Mt. Black ; 

 Mt. Tyndall ; Mt. Pelion ; Penguin : Forth ; Henty River ; 

 Lake Dora; Mt. Read; Dial Range; Mt. Farrell ; Magnet. 



132. Garnet Group (Silicate of Various Bases). 



This group includes a considerable number of species 

 with a constant crystallographic habit, belonging to the 

 cubic system. They occur in rhombic dodecahedra, cosite- 

 trahedra, as well as sometimes massive and granular. The 

 lustre is vitreous to resinous. Colour varies from almost 



