580 w. H. PEmirrrirG o^ the goldpields of 



There are also auriferous lodes here, transverse to the bedding ; 

 one " a nearly vertical reef, consisting of alternate quartz and are- 

 naceous streaks, much decomposed, but presenting the general ap- 

 pearance of a fissure-vein. This lode varies in width from a few 

 inches to several feet, is locally irregular, but upon the whole follows 

 a well-defined course for several hundred yards along the face of 

 the krantz. . . . The stone yields gold at the rate of 18 dwt. 16 gr. 

 to the ton"*. 



/'. Stin further east is "Mount Joker," where the rocks " consist 

 principally of crystalline false-bedded sandstones overlying a series 

 of shales, which, in turn, rest upon another set of similar sand- 

 stones. In the sandstones shales also occur as well as conglo- 

 merates, and freqiient seams of quartz, some of which, where 

 tested, have been found auriferous " t. " Upon Mount Joker a 

 seam of quartz crops out, or it may be two or more seams, 

 as the rugged nature of the ground renders it difficult to trace 

 the line from one prospecting hole to another. The quartz is 

 bluish-white, much broken up at the outcrop, and contains much 

 oxide of iron and some oxide of manganese. It occurs interstrati- 

 fied between an altered shale (almost a schist) below, and sandstone, 

 also highly altered, above. At the base of the sandstone there is 

 generally a coarse auriferous conglomerate, resting direct!}^ upon 

 the quartz, and varying from 6 to 15 inches in thickness. The 

 quartz also varies in its thickness from 2 to 9 inches, the average 

 being about 5 inches." The yield of gold varied from 5 dwt. to 

 4 oz. 18 dwt. per ton, " equal to an average on this seam (or these 

 seams) of very nearly 1 oz. 7 dwt. to the ton" J. 



g'. On the south of Mount Joker is the farm " De Kuilen," where 

 the beds are similar to those at the lower levels of that mountain, viz. 

 shales, sandstones, and shales, with a westerly dip of from 5° to 7°. 

 From here aU along the Spitzkop road only shales are seen, with 

 the exception of intrusive dykes, until near Eoss Hill, a few miles 

 west of the Spitzkop mountain. On De Kuilen '' a quartz reef can 

 be traced from the head of the small gully, under the marshy ground 

 by the road, rising again beyond the flat." Its yield is estimated 

 at little less than an ounce to the ton. Just beyond where the road 

 passes down a steep incline a quartz-reef occurs, with an estimated 

 yield of not less than 1 oz. of gold to the ton§. 



h'. About Eoss Hill the rocks become siliceous in character. 

 Sandstones, cherts, and quartzites, previously seen in the deeper 

 valleys, now come to the surface. Here also chalcedolites are seen, 

 but not in great force. The mines of Eoss Hill are partly in 

 " rotten-reef" and partly in diorite. I have no definite data 

 respecting the gold-veins here, but they must be rich, as three 

 diggers, after working upon them for about two years, took away 

 6000 ounces of gold, chiefly derived, I believe, from quartz-leaders 

 in the " rotten-reef." I have seen fine specimens of gold in quartz 

 from these mines. 



* Eeport, Sept. 1884. t Report, Jan. 1885. 



t Eeport, Jan. 1885. § Eeport, Feb. 1884. 



