96 



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ecoiKiiiiic value iicctu'riug iii N'ictoria ; i^d) cDlk'ctiou (if sjn'ciiiK'Hs of ImildiuL; ami nfiiaiiu'iital 

 stoiu's ; (/'J luoilel.s uf principal iiiig't^ets ot'gokl found in Victoria. ; (/) specimens of minerals and 

 rocks occurring in countries outside Victoria ; (g) .<;eologi(^al ma]is antl mining maps, plans, and 

 ]iliotogra]ihs, illustrative of the geology and mining features of Victoria ; (//) model of tlic Long 

 Tunuel mine at Walhalla. 



MINING IN VICTORIA. 



By James Stirling, Government Geologist. 



Althougli territorially Victoria is the smallest state in Australasia, covering an area of 87,889 square miles, 

 yet its variety of physical features, climatic conditions, soils, &c. , anil more especially the proved stability of its 

 splendid auriferous resources, render it at once the premier colony of the continent. When it is stated that 

 since the early gold discoveries in l.S.")l-2 no less a sum than £'246,4(X),()1)0 has been won — the bulk of this from a 

 relatively small portion of the proveil auriferous area — and that the gold-mining industry is only approaching a 

 condition of permanaucy, through a better knowledge of auriferous matrices, economic methods of mining and treating 

 the ore, it will not be difficult to realize how important a factor the mineral wealth, l)oth actual and potential, has 

 been, and will continue to be, in stimulating all other forms of production. Not only in the highest altitudes, over 

 6,000 feet aliove sea-level ; in the deep recesses of the valleys, only a few feet above sea-level ; liut at deptlis of over 

 3,000 feet from the surface — or 2,(KK) feet below sea-level — are mining operations being profitably carried on. New 

 discoveries in the depth of the dense forest-clad mountainous areas, as tracks are l>eing cut into their secluded recesses, 

 are constantly l>eing made. Deep leads, concealed beneath extensive basaltic flows, are being traced over hmidreds 

 of miles of territory by boring operations. And as the areas over which the metallic suljstances are extended, and 

 the methods of productions cheapened, together with a constantly increasing feeling of greater stability in the mineral 

 resources as fields for investment, so will the progress and prosperity of the colon)' proceed pari passu witli the 

 development of its gold-mining industry. 



Gold-bearing Formations. 



The principal gold-bearing formations, covering one-half of the entire area, consist of Silurian slates and sand- 

 stones, which have been intruded upon by plutonic rocks, such as granite, porphyry, diorite, <fec., and wliich are 

 overlain in the western portion of the colony by extensive lava flows — the basalts of Tertiary age. Roughly s])eaking, 



