1869.] 



LE NEVE POSTER — CARATAL GOLD-FIELD. 



339 



Fig. 2. — /Section of 

 Quartz and *' Porphy- 

 ry " Lodes. 



Here I have also shown a lode to the north which was exceedingly 

 rich. The north lode is like the main one in having the greater 

 part of the gold in cavities in the quartz partly filled with brown 

 oxide of iron. 



The Chile main lode has been worked to a depth of about 30 yards. 

 The " country " is decomposed talcose clay- slate. In several of the 

 shafts which have been made on this lode, the " porfiro " or " por- 

 fido" of the miners occurs. This so-called "porphyry," also known 

 at Chile as *' quartzo morado," and " piedra morada," is a reddish, 

 pink, or brown ferruginous hornstone, sometimes becoming jasper. 

 It sometimes contains crystals of iron pyrites, or cavities left by their 

 decomposition. At Chile, as shown in fig. 2, it forms a sort of 

 lode parallel to the white quartz lode, 

 from which it is separated by a few 

 inches of " cascajo." The Chile miners 

 told me that they occasionally found 

 visible gold in it, but too Kttle to pay 

 them to work it. A similar rock (*' por- 

 firo ") is found all over the Caratal dis- 

 trict and is regarded by the miners as a 

 favourable indication for gold. 



A little work has been done on a lode 

 called San Antonio, a short distance from 

 Chile. Two " barrancos," very close to 

 one another, have been sunk upon it, 

 and they show a quartz lode 2 feet 

 thick, which strikes from S. 20° E. to 

 S. 45° E., and dips sharply to the west. 

 The surrounding rock is " cascajo." 

 The lode consists of quartz, with black streaks, iron pyrites, brown 

 oxide of iron, and very fine gold. 



Lying in the basin of the Yguana, like Chile and San Antonio, 

 are the Panama workings. Much work has been done here upon 

 loose blocks of quartz which strew the hillside, and a small opening 

 has been made on the top of the hill upon an east and west lode. 

 This lode is 3 feet wide in places, and dips south. On the opposite 

 side of the valley a flattish lode 2 to 6 feet thick has furnished a 

 good deal of quartz. Quartz has also been found and worked at the 

 Lagunta, near Panama, and at the Independiente, between Panama 

 and Nueva Providencia. 



2. Alluvial or "placer " i)i^^in^s.— Excepting a few places on 

 the banks of the Yuruari, the working of auriferous alluvia has 

 at present been confined to the valley of the Mucupia and its 

 various tributaries, such as the " quebradas," or valleys, known as 

 the Tigre, Peru, Aguinaldo, &c. 



On leaving l!^ueva Providencia by any of the paths to the west, 

 we come upon pit after pit 6 to 10 yards deep ; and although this 

 ground was worked as early as 1857 and 1858, it can be pretty well 

 seen what the diggings were like. The accompanying section (fig. 3) 

 is made up partly from personal observation and partly from in- 



a. '* Cascajo," decomposed 

 clay-slate, b. Quartz lode. 

 c. So-called "porphyry." 



