101 



material of considerable extent (]:)orphyi'y ancl diabase tufta) 

 were also found there. 



MINERAL PROSPJilCTS ANJ) WATER SUPPLY. 

 From the foregoing account of the widespread occurrence of 

 metamorphic rocks it will be readily and rightly concluded that 

 this country is of a Jiiqlili/ promising meialliferous character. An 

 auriferous area extends from the Fraser Range northwards to the 

 Hampton Plains, and as belts of the same material most probably 

 border the granitic elevation between the Hampton Plains and 

 Yilgarn to the south and north, this same formation will be 

 found to extend as far as the latter country. 



The area to N. and N.E. of Lake Lefroy, however, had the 

 most promising appearance to me, and I may safely say that the 

 country round Mount Monger will yet be famous as a goldfield. 

 Northwards again, between Mount Kenneth and the Cannino- 

 Hills, the same promising signs for the presence of precious 

 metals were observable. It is a spur of the belt of metamorphic 

 rocks extending northwards from Yilgarn. There, as well as 

 further northwards towards the Murchison District, the gold- 

 bearing character of this formation is known, and there is little 

 doubt that it will prove so all along this belt of metamorphic rocks. 

 In regard to the granitic country, there is no likelihood of 

 minerals or metals being found there, but as these- probably re- 

 present the hard lower portions of this formation which will, no 

 doubt, be overlaid by softer metamorphic granites formino- the 

 transition to the true metamorphic schists of this area, there is 

 if these be found, a chance of encountering also metalliferous 

 veins in them. Unfortunately the prevalence of the abundant 

 covering of sands and loams encompasses these over-lying softer 

 portions and renders prospecting for them almost impossible. 



Water. — The uncertainty, however, of obtaining valuable 

 water-supplies presents a less pleasant outlook. In the northern 

 poi'tion of this section there is a fair amount of water, although 

 sometimes brackish, to be obtained by shallow sinking in the 

 alluvials. The settlers of the north-eastern district have already 

 been successful in this respect, and this will be the only prac- 

 ticable method for that purpose. In the southern portion, how- 

 ever, though having a higher annual rainfall than the northern, 

 the conditions for obtaining water in the alluvial deposits are 

 less favourable, but as there are a number of granite bosses 

 which afibrd favourable sites for constructing dams, this method 

 will liave to be applied, in addition to sinking wells in the 

 immediate vicinity of these rocks, where water will often be 

 found stored in subterranean receptacles formed by the granites. 

 In the whole of this section there is, of course, not the slio-htest 

 chance of obtaining water on the artesian principle. 

 II 



