200 Messrs. Chalmers 8f Hatch — Mashonaland ^ Mataheleland. 



of the belt varies from one to two miles at the western end, to ten 

 in the eastern portion. The chief interest in the district centres 

 in the Penhalonga Eange, a sharp ridge commencing a few miles 

 east of Um tali, and extending six or seven miles towards Masse-Kesse. 

 The backbone of the ridge is a bed of hard banded quartz rock and 

 ironstone, the formation of the range gradually consisting of various 

 metamorphic schists ; in places soft talcose steatitic and chloritic 

 varieties prevail, while in other parts a harder quartz- fel spathic type 

 occurs. Just west of the highest point of the ridge (the Crow's 

 Nest) the formation is broken through by a belt of igneous rock 

 (diabase or dolerite) which forms a cross spur constituting the 

 divide or watershed between the Revue and Umtali Rivers, on the 

 north side of the ridge, and giving rise to the Zambesi on the south 

 side. The principal reefs of the district are the Rezendi and 

 Penhalonga, the latter famous on account of the deposits of 

 chromate of lead in brilliant red crystals, which characterize the 

 best portions of the reef. The Umtali district is among the 

 healthiest as well as one of the most beautiful parts of Mashonaland. 



One of the properties of the Victoria District Gold Mining 

 Company is situated on Yictoria Creek, about twelve miles south 

 of Victoria. The vein strikes N.N.E. and S.S.W., dipping at 

 35 degrees to 45 degrees to the W.N.W., which is opposed to the 

 dip of the schist foliation, which is about 50 degrees east. The 

 walls of the vein are formed by chlorite schist, a rock of wide 

 occurrence in the district. The vein sheet is of irregular or 

 lenticular character, varying considerably in width in different 

 places. The mineralized portion of the vein consists of a band of 

 dark-coloured quartz, brown in the oxidized and hydrated portions, 

 but elsewhere grey. The colour is due to the presence of iron 

 in various combinations, hematite and limonite being the minerals 

 of greatest influence in the colouration of the quartz. Besides 

 these minerals there are also present iron-pyrites, copper-pyrites, 

 malachite, aznrite, and gold. The pay band varies from four to 

 five feet down to a few inches. It is easily distinguished from 

 the unpayable quartz by the difference in colour, the latter 

 being white. The mine has been opened by a main incline shaft 

 down 130 feet, from which drifts have been carried on the 55 and 

 115 feet levels; drifting on the first level amounts to 400 feet, 

 and on the second to 106 feet. 



The Cambrian Reef is situated in the eastern portion of the 

 Victoria gold belt, about 50 miles from Victoria, and close to the 

 Shashi River. The reef consists of a quartz vein in gneiss formation, 

 which towards the Shashi changes to hornblende schist and basic 

 igneous rocks. The strike of the vein is parallel to the foliation 

 of the gneiss, viz. S.E. and N.W. It dips at a high angle to the 

 N.E. The outcrop is bold, forming a rocky kopje apparently 

 indicating a reef of considerable breadth. There is little doubt, 

 however, that the apparent size of the outcrop is increased by the 

 reef having fallen over, away from the dip side, as erosion of the 

 country rock proceeded. The vein-filling material is mainly white 



