86 THE MINERALS OF TASMANIA. 



At Middlesex gold has been found associated with car- 

 bonate of bismuth, a peculiarity not known to exist at any 

 other locality in the island. In the vicinity of the Pieman 

 River district the auriferous drifts often contain a com- 

 paratively large quantity of osmiridium— Badger Plain, 

 near the Savage River, being a noted locality. In the 

 stanniferous drift near Branxholm small flakes of gold are 

 often met with, but not in sufficient quantity to render it 

 of any economic importance. Much of the alluvial gold 

 obtained on the Lisle field is often coated with a dark, 

 almost black, substance, which is apparently ferro-man- 

 ganese. Gold occurs sparingly in a soft siliceous tufa of a 

 yellowish-brown colour, in a body of considerable extent in 

 connection with an igneous rock at the Castray River. In 

 the same formation grains of iridium are often met with, 

 and numerous fine grains of titaniferous iron. At Mt. 

 Stourmont, about 4 miles from Black Bluff, Middlesex, a 

 peculiar filiform variety of gold has been obtained in small 

 seams traversing a siliceous rock. 



At the Tasmania Mine, Beaconsfield, various metallic 

 minerals occur disseminated throughout the quartz reef, 

 including tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, and 

 pyrite. The gangue also contains a large quantity of the 

 carbonates of magnesia, lime, and iron, probably in the 

 form of dolomite, siderite, and calcite. At the Lisle 

 alluvial field small specks of gold have been detected in the 

 blocks of the solid sandstone which occurs in and about 

 the auriferous detritus. At the Black Bluff, Middlesex, 

 gold has been discovered embedded in micaceous hematite. 

 Some very rich specimens have been exhibited from this 

 locality. The gangue is apparently a rubbly quartz. A 

 thin seiam of greenishv-coloured batchelorite, extremely 

 rich in gold, has been mined on the footwall of cupriferous 

 pyrites at the Mt). Lyell Mine. At the Hercules Mine, 

 Mt. Read, zinciferous lead ores, rich in both gold and 

 silver, have been exported for metallurgical treatment. 



Regarding the occurrence of gold in the Mt. Lyell 

 Company's workings, Mr. R. Sticht kindly supplies the 

 following note:—'' The Mt. Lyell ore-body as a whole has 

 been getting lower and lower in gold contents with the 

 depth of the workings, but to our astonishment we found 

 a local enrichment in gold a few months ago, which is 

 unique enough perhaps to be mentioned when referring 

 to the subject of gold in the Catalogue. The occurrence 

 is in the ordinary mine run of Mt. Lyell pyrites, as 

 enriched by fahl-ore. On the whole the conjunction of 



