78 : REPORT—1862. 
iron-pyrites, common and arsenical (mispickel) ; cassiterite (tin-sand or oxide of 
tin) ; topaz (of the gowttes-d'eau character, blue or colourless) ; garnets, and other 
minerals. 
Much of Otago remains yet to be explored, especially the mountainous western 
portion of the province; but, from the geological structure of those portions of 
the province he personally examined, the author draws or makes the following in- 
ferences, deductions, or predictions :— 
1, That the geological basis of the greater part of Otago consists of auriferous 
metamorphic slates. This refers especially to the great central and western moun- 
tain-ranges; for instance, those which encircle the large interior lakes (Hawea, 
Wanaka, and Wakatip). 
2. That these great mountain-systems are probably the source of the tertiary 
drift so abundantly distributed over the lower parts of the province, which drift 
consists mainly of quartzose and schistose débris. 
3. That this tertiary drift, in both its lignitiferous and more strictly auriferous 
series of beds, will be found much more extensively and largely distributed over the 
province than at present. 
4, That gold is very extensively and largely distributed over the province; and 
that many gold-fields remain to be discovered, especially in the interior; though 
nothing short of actual mining, or “digging,” can determine the localities of 
“ payable gold-fields.” 
5. That the supply of gold is at present practically unlimited; and that the auri- 
ferous resources of Otago are only beginning to be developed, and will only be fully 
developed in the course of many years, by—a. The addition of quartz-mining, and 
others of the skilled branches of gold-mining, to the shallow or “ alluvial digging,” 
to which the miner’s operations are at present mainly confined. This implies a 
greater concentration of attention than at present on the auriferous quartzites, from 
which the drift or alluvial gold has originally been derived, the working whereof, 
should they exist to any extent, is much more likely to yield a permanently remu~ 
nerative employment, and a nein and valuable source of, revenue, than the 
said “ alluvial digging.” 6, The systematic application of improved chemical and 
mechanical, or chemico-mechanical, processes to gold-mining, and the expenditure 
thereon, or application thereto, of suitable capital. ec. The establishment of gold- 
mining as one of the speapstal industrial resources of the province. d. The 
systematic i peal y exploring and experimental parties suitably equipped, 
partly geological and renin partly mining and “digging.” e. The liberal and 
enlightened encouragement of mining and of the miners by the construction of 
rail- and tramways, the opening-up of roads, the building of bridges, the establish- 
ment of townships, the sale of waste lands at suitable prices, the adequate supply 
of fuel by the working of lignite-heds or otherwise, the institution of proper mining 
laws and mining boards, and other measures pertaining strictly to the legislative 
function of the State. 
The following Tables illustrate the comparative prolificness of the Otago gold- 
fields, from their discovery in June 1861 to the end of March 1862 :— 
I, Showing the amount of gold brought to Dunedin by each Government escort 
from the chief gold-fields of Otago (compiled from the Receiving Officer’s 
returns), 
Date of arrival of escort. Tuapeka. | Waitahuna.| Waipori. Total by 
each escort. 
1861 ZS. ozs ozs ozs 
“Vi gel be RAR RA sisiais'? ES hacen | a pet ah Rear aise 480 
99, TOL nm stale duldan oe alates RGEC BN > cstetat’ af vcvekins ¢o 1,462 
PAUP USUI gcse g aticlbahis AUS cme Al hg RR sal eae re 5,056 
September 4 ..,..,..,... TAC) de na ae te gag IRE yes 7,759 
“ wD oe ein eins tas ib 5.43 | ums Ii PrP a SEPT ee SP 11,280 
October 47; or. neremjer atone dy oping bP ag Soe er, A 12,126 
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