108 



xvM for others to try experiments in critical nfTnirg of this kind. Tlie 

 people of Tasmania ought to have learnt hy this time that in mining matters 

 it was cheaper to profit by the experience of others, thaa to hny tlieir own. 

 Mr. .Stephens remarked, in conclusion, that a, good deal of misapprehension 

 prevailed as to the ])er centago of gold required to constitute a ' paying' 

 reef. It depended, of course, entirely upon the cost of extraction, and this 

 varied according to the size of the reef, the facilities for quarrying the quartz ; 

 the chemical conditions attending the distribution of the gold, kc. &c. In some 

 mines in Victoria a yield of 'Sdwt to the ton paid a handsome dividend ; in 

 others, where the quartz was known to contain gold at the late of several 

 ounces to the ton the work had to be abandoned on account of the diflftculty 

 and cost of extraction. What would be the average yield of the princi])al reefs 

 of Fingal was not yet known, nor what projjortion of the returns would be ab- 

 soi'bed by the workmg expenses ; but there was every reason to suppose 

 that the quartz, which is already known to contain more or less gold, will 

 yield remunerative returns to skilful and judicious mani]nilation. 



A vote of thanks having been accorded to J\lr. Abbott and Mr. Stephens, 

 and also to the donors of presentations, the meeting broke up. 



