Notes on the Area of Intrusive Rocks at Dargo. 143 



The Exhibition mine has been opened out at about half a 

 mile south of the road leading from Waterford to Dargo, 

 and not far from the low saddle on the divide between the 

 Mitchell and Dargo waters. It is on the contact of the 

 quartz diorites with the sediments which are there meta- 

 morphosed into hornfels. The angle of dip of the hornfels 

 beds at the mine varies within short distances on a nearly 

 east and west strike. I found, in examining the workings 

 of this mine, that the gold is in very narrow veins of 

 mineralised quartz not exceeding six inches in width, and in 

 some cases being hardly more than a quartz lining to the 

 partings of the rock. The veins fill narrow fissures passing 

 up through the metamorphosed sediments from the contact 

 planCj and, so far as I could observe, not ])assing down below 

 it into the plutonic rocks. The gold is in small particles, 

 some being so minute as to resemble " gilding." It is not 

 confined to the veins of quartz, but is occasionally found in 

 the hornfels rock in places where that rock is very silicious. 

 Together with the gold are ordinary iron pyrites and galena. 

 There are a number of these very narrow veins within certain 

 limits of about three feet wide, thus defining what in 

 miners' language may be termed the " lode country." At 

 one time it was attempted to work and crush the whole of 

 this width for the sake of the gold contained in the narrow 

 veins and small strings of quartz in the hornfels, but the 

 extreme hardness of the rock and the comparatively small 

 amount of gold caused the attempt to be given up. 



In Plate I. I have given a horizontal section of the mine 

 as I saw it in 1883 in the middle adit, and on the same plate 

 a set of four cross sections of the lode. These will explain 

 better than words some of the features of this mine. Since 

 the time of my visit the mine has been worked from time to 

 time when water was available, with results to which I will 

 now refer. For most of the facts outside of my own know- 

 ledge I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. B. Kelly, J.P., 

 of Dargo, who, as mining registrar, and also as a shareholder 

 in the Exhibition Company, has had opportunity of knowing 

 the whole course of the mining operations from the first. 

 To Mr. Stellwag, of Sale, the legal manager of the company, 

 I have also to express my obligations for freely giving me 

 the information in his possession. 



The Exhibition mine was discovered by the brothers 

 Jorgensen, who are known as enterprising prospectors. To 

 work it the Exhibition Gold-mining Company (No Liability) 



