574 W. H. PEXNIXG OiS"" THE GOLDFIELDS OF 



.* 



It is of a different character — a creamy-wlaite compact quartz -reef, 

 from 4 to 6 feet wide, dipping E. 70' and striking E. of Is"., whilst 

 the sti^atified rocks here strike I^.E., a difference of upwards of 

 30 degrees. 



cl. Still skirting the granite, but now in a northerly direction, we 

 come to the " Caledonia Eeef," on the southern or right-hand bank 

 of the Kaap Eiver. The rocks here are schists, shales, cherts, 

 and quartzites, nearly vertical and striking iST.l^.'W. by Is". In 

 one place, upon an isolated hill some 700 or 800 feet above the 

 river, the reef was exposed. It is a seam of quartz, which may or 

 may not be exactly in the bedding, in close contiguity to a large 

 dyke of trap-rock. 



The " Caledonia Eeef " apparently strikes with the strata, and is 

 a vein of grey quartz, slightly honeycombed, the cavities generally 

 filled with limonite and sometimes enclosing crystals of carbonate 

 of copper and other minerals. The vein passes down vertically, 

 varies from 12 to 18 inches in width, and is auriferous throughout. 



Although this reef strikes almost, or quite, in the same direction 

 as the schists, I am inclined to regard it as a true vein rather than 

 as a seam or bed, because there are smaller veins, or " leaders," 

 branching from it with a different direction ; also because there is, 

 on the west side, another reef of quartz, greatly resembling that of 

 Moodie's Eeef and following a somewhat transverse direction. As 

 both cannot coincide with the local strike, one, at least, must be a 

 true vein ; of the two, I think, for the reasons given, that one is 

 the Caledonian reef. The other reef " gave a prospect of coarse 

 gold upon being simply crushed and washed " on the ground. 



e. Some 7 or 8 miles due north from the Caledonia Eeef, the 

 rocks on two other gold-bearing properties were found to " consist 

 of siliceous beds so highly altered and contorted as to have been, in 

 part, converted into jasper. Further east, and probably higher 

 in the series, shales come in, then another series of hard grey 

 schists ; the same strike, "W.JN'.W., and the same vertical position 

 being still maintained. These old stratified rocks are traversed by 

 dykes of diorite and other plutonic rocks in various directions"*. 



Just west of KafBr Spruit a seam has been opened of '• grey 

 quartz, much stained by oxide of iron. This vein can be followed for 

 a considerable distance, striking W.N'.W. — it is almost vertical, but 

 hades slightly to the eastward. It is 18 or 20 inches wide, and 

 carries gold, as tested, in the proportion of 2 oz. 1 dwt. 1 gr. to the 

 ton of 2240 lbs. Two other trials of the same stone gave a mean 

 yield of 1 oz. 15 dwt. 14 grs. to the ton. 



" To the west of the above lode are some leaders of black quartz, 

 which gave 'good prospects' of gold. On the east side of Kaffir 

 Spruit is a vein of grey quartz, 18-24 inches wide, apparently a 

 continuation of the above lode, being just in the line, and having the 

 same width and direction t" . This is evidently an interstratified 

 seam, being coincident with the shales in dip and direction of 

 strike. 



* The author's Eeport, Nov. 1884. t Eeport, lSo\. 1884. 



