12 The Hodghinson Goldfield, Northern Queensland. 



so-called reefs are mineral veins, which become, at the 

 water level, true copper and zinc lodes, with a little gold. 



The mining operations on the Hodgkinson are of the 

 simplest and poorest kind. Few of the claims have been 

 followed to any depth, and only where the stone has proved 

 rich. The reefing has been entirely carried out by a few 

 working men in small parties. It need hardly be said that 

 mining can never be successfully carried out in that way. 

 There was at the time of my visit only one winding and 

 pumping engine on the whole field, and that is only a small 

 one on the Rob Roy claim. There are only two whims 

 erected. In fact, there are no systematic mining operations 

 carried on in this very rich and extensive tract of auriferous 

 quartz. As yet, capital has not been employed on this field, 

 and it may scarcely be said to be prospected. The little 

 quartz that has been extracted has been got out in a slow 

 and most expensive way, for the most part in buckets by 

 hand windlasses, and unless the stone had been really good 

 it never could have kept so many men employed in this 

 way, and with these appliances, for so long a time. There 

 are 13 machines employed on the field, with an aggregate 

 of 155 horse-power, and 121 stamp heads. There are no 

 buddies. One great reason for the small number of 

 appliances is the great expense of cartage to the field. The 

 Hercules crushing mill at Thornborough was brought from 

 the coast almost entirely on pack-horses, at a cost of £40 a 

 ton, though the distance is not seventy miles by road. The 

 most of the carriage is still done by pack-horses. The road 

 is excessively steep on the seaward side of the coast range, 

 and, even where it has been cut, impracticable for drays in 

 wet weather. The expenditure of a small amount of money 

 would easily remedy this. The great want of the field at 

 present appears to be a good road, and with that capital will 

 soon develop its resources. 



As far as experience has taught the miners, the reefs have 

 been found richer at the surface than deeper down. An 

 opinion prevails among the miners that the gold is only 

 found in " shoots," or particular lines of varying direction. 

 Thus the gold in a reef is thought to be restricted to a very 

 limited portion of the stone, and when this " shoot " is lost 

 the reef is often abandoned. It is quite certain that the 

 stone becomes suddenly poor in a great many instances. 

 The miner is not able to expend much money in searching 

 for it again, and thus many good claims are deserted. Some 



