BY W. FRYAR, ESQ. 131 
ton of stone, and the difficulty and cost of extraction very 
much less than in the case of gold from auriferous quartz, 
it will be seen that with any reasonable quantity of ore 
there should be no difficulty in working these mines at a 
handsome profit. Indeed the British public have apparently 
arrived at this same conclusion, for we find that a company, 
with a capital of £400,000, has been formed in London to 
work these mines, and, by recent reports, a manager, with 
some of the necessary plant and appliances, has already 
arrived and operations will shortly be, if they have not 
already been, commenced. 
Bismuth and zinc ores have also been found in small 
quantities in the neighbourhood, but the ore most recently 
brought under notice 1s a compound of cobalt nickel and 
manganese ; all of value in the arts and manufactures of the 
world, although the last mentioned has been found in 
quantity at Gladstone and has not been worth working on 
its own account. Whilst, however, under the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of the colony, it may be valueless when found 
unassociated with more valuable minerals and perhaps in a 
refractory state, that is no reason why, when obtained as a 
residual or by-product in the extraction of such minerals, it 
may not be a very considerable element in the gross returns 
of the undertaking. 
Touching the value of the other constituents mentioned, 
there can be no question, whilst the minor accompaniments, 
such as arsenic and sulphur, may or may not be turned to 
account. 
The reef or lode of this ore now being opened is situated 
on one of the spurs near the heads of Wide Bay Creek, 
and between the tributaries of that watercourse known as 
Fat Hen Creek and Copper Mine Creek. This spur slopes 
away from the place where the mine has been opened in a 
northerly direction, and is probably 1,000 to 1,200 feet 
above the valley and may be nearly 2,000 feet above sea 
level, although having been unaware, when leaving Bris- 
bane, that I would be in that or any similar locality, I was 
not provided with an aneroid, and consequently speak from 
very imperfect data. The crown of the hill known as Mount 
Clara is alittle to the south of the mine, and the outcrop of 
the reef runs along the eastern slope not far from the top 
