306 rsocEEDisres or the seologtcal societt. [April "24, 



Professor Thompson's analysis "vroiild agree well with the former 

 portion of the miexoscopic determination ; hnt the soluble portion is 

 rather difficnlt to nnderstand. there being no appearance of a highly 

 hydrated silicate in the rock. 



Be this as it may. axonnd llonnt Wheeler, ■vri.thin a radius of a 

 mile the serpentine is traversed by auriferous reefs, whilst the ex- 

 tension of the same band of serpentine over a large area beyond 

 this contains no parallel to the auriferous area round the above- 

 mentioned hill. 



Some 30 yards from the bluff face of the Mount, the serpentine 

 was found to contain gold sufficient in quantity to pay for mining 

 to a depth of 20 feet below the surface ; gold was also found even 

 to a depth of SO feet, but not in remunerative quantities. This was 

 known as '* Block's Claim ; '" and it affords additional ground for 

 believing that the intrusion of Mount "Wheeler was an active cause 

 in the mineralization of the countiy around it. 



In the Cape-Hiver district, the influence of this class of felsite 

 dykes is particularly marked : and it was whilst in the preparation 

 of a detailed map of this gold-field that the practical value of these 

 conditions was first realized by myself. 



A plan of one of these dykes, which occupy the whole of Paddy's 

 and Sharper's Gully, and cross Golden and l^uggety Gullies at their 

 richest points, is here reproduced (Fig. 16) from the published map 

 of the Cape Gold-field, in order to afford a crucial example of this 

 mode of gold production. 



At the intersection of this dyke with the quartzites and mica- 

 slates of the metamorphic series, a fine example of a friction-breccia 

 is seen on a steep hill- slope about one third of a mile from the 

 junction of Paddy's Gully with the Ennning Creek, up to its junc- 

 tion with Golden GuUy. 



The gold found in Paddy and Sharper's Gullies was either in the 

 form of losely aggregated fine gold, forming spongy nuggets, or 

 very fine dust, the material adhering to which was a more or less 

 decomposed form of the felsite. 



The detritus of this formed the " wash-dirt," and the rock itself 

 the " bottom," or " bed rock," of those miners who were fortimate 

 enough to obtain claims in either of these rich gullies. 



Large patches of soil on the slopes leading to these watercourses, 

 and on the watershed between Golden and ]S"uggety Gullies, were 

 leased for " surfacing,'' the ciiaraeter of the gold and rock being the 

 same in all these cases.* 



* The analysis of Paddy' s-GttiHt gold, by Mr. E. Smith, gave : — 



G-old 92-800 



Silver 6*774 



Copper 0-048 



Lead 0-048 



Bismtitli traces 



Iroii 0-014 



99-684 



