THE MINERALS OF TASMANIA. • // 



the Montana Aliue, Zeehan. Diamonds have been shown 

 as from the Mount Donaldson district, Pieman River; but 

 the reported find needs confirmation. Osmiridium occurs 

 in association with gold at the Savage River and other locali- 

 ties north of the Pieman, and, in small particles, near the 

 Blue Tier, Beaconsfield. This alloy has been extensively 

 sought for recently for the iridium contents, but v.'ith*only 

 scant success as regards quantity. Native iron is known 

 from tv;o recorded meteorites; the first obtained at the Blue 

 Tier, and the second, a small but veritable specimen, from 

 the Castray River. (Proc. Royal Soc, Tas., 1901.) Tel- 

 lurides are not actually known to occur, but the refining of 

 bismuth from the Shepherd and Murphy Mine, Bell Mount, 

 reveals the fact that tellurium occurred as a contamination. 

 It is, therefore, reasonable to anticipate the discovery of tel- 

 luride of this metal. In the sulphides the majority of those 

 usually encountered in metalliferous localities are abundant, 

 with several of exceptional occurrence, sucH as dufrenosite, 

 huascolite, stromicyerite, zinkenite, and jamiesonite. Stan- 

 nite is mined as an ore at the Oonah Mine, Zeehan, where 

 it is occasionally found intermixed with bismuthenite, a 

 most unusual association. Fahlerz, or tetrahedrite, is re- 

 markably abundant, often highly argentiferous, such as that 

 mined' at the Curtin and Davis Mine, near Ringville. where 

 it frequently assays several hundreds of ounces of silver 

 to the ton ; w^hile specimens have been obtained at the 

 Hercules Mine assaying as high as 3000 ounces. At the 

 Pleazlewood, a richly-nickeliferous variety of pentlandite 

 occurs, which has been named heazlewoodite. Bornite of. 

 most beautiful colouration is commonly found in the Mount 

 Lyell district, and stibnite only occurs in the auriferous 

 reefs of the Lefroy district. Tennantite is said to occur at 

 the Mount Lyell Mine, associated with cupriferous pyrite 

 and chalcopyrite. On the North-East Dundas field, com- 

 pound sulphides of unrecognised species are occasionally met 

 with. They are homogeneous interchanges of the elements 

 S, As, Bi, Cu, Fe, and Pb, with more or less Ag and Au. 

 A remarkably fine example was obtained at the No. 1 

 Curtin and Davis Mine, in the form of an interwoven group 

 of large prismatic crystals, longitudinally striate. This, on 

 analysis, proved to be a sulphide of bismuth and antimony, 

 with small proportions of iron and copper. To this I pro- 

 pose to apply the specific name of histrixite (porcupine ore). 

 The metallic minerals of this portion of the State are well 

 worthy of study. At Mounts Reid and Murchison are 

 enormous deposits of the mixed sulphides of Fe, P, Zn, 

 and Cu — all more or less auriferous (sometimes to a high 



