ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF KILKIVAN. 129 
ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF KIL- 
KIVAN, WIDE BAY, AND ON THE 
RECENT DISCOVERY OF COBALT ORE 
IN THAT DISTRICT; 
BY 
W. FRYAR, Esg., GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR OF MINES, 
(Read on the 6th August.) 
THE metal cobalt is scarcely known to Queenslanders as a 
metal. We have all seen it or heard of it as a pigment, 
and have witnessed its effects in the hands of the artist and 
painter, in the colouring of porcelain and other earthenware, 
and perhaps more frequently in the varied shades of colour 
infused into glass. But in the normal condition of a 
metallic ore it has not up to the present time enriched the 
colony ; for, although small quantities, traces, so to speak, 
have been found in some ores, it does not appear to have 
occurred, even to the sanguine mind of the prospector or 
speculator, that, in any case, there has been sufficient found 
to give so much as an appreciable addition to the value, 
estimated on other considerations, of the discovery. 
The neighbourhood of Kilkivan, however, adds to its 
already varied laurels in the production of minerals, by 
presenting a possession unique, not only for Queens- 
land, but so far as the entire Australian continent is 
concerned, and probably in some essential particulars 
unsurpassed anywhere. It may be mentioned thaf the 
immediate locality has been found to be rich in nearly 
all the precious and useful metals. The gold of the “ Rise 
and Shine,” the ‘Long Tunnel,” the ‘ Black Snake,” and 
other lines of reef at various divergent points, has from 
time to time aroused the energy and raised the hope of the 
prospector, and its discovery stimulated the enterprise of 
the hardy miner, attracted the attention of the investor, 
and, in many cases, excited the cupidity of the speculator. 
Goid has, however, been obtained both from the alluvium 
and quartz reefs of the neighbourhood, and occasionally, as 
K 
