GOLD. 151 



Leclere seems to have been very impressed with the auriferous 



Leclere (1897). TlCh ™ ° f Yunnan - He W»teB as follows (La, 



pp. 445-46) : 



" Gold mines are extremely numerous in the zone of the north 

 and south folds, where, as we have seen, during the miocene period 

 important movements were superposed on the earlier dislocations. 

 The deposits noted in the Chinese lists extend as far south as the 

 Laos, where they have been investigated by M. Marc Bel. (In 

 this region the strike of the rich lodes appears to be perpendicular 

 to the direction of the Red River). The quartz veins have only 

 been opened up on the surface by native exploration. The only 

 actual centre of gold-mining is T'a-lang T'ing near Ssii-mao. 

 It was not visited, but information collected leaves no doubt about 

 the richness in gold of the eastern borders of Tibet and Burma. 



" This view is confirmed by the nature of the conglomerate tertaces 

 which are found over a hundred kilometres down stream from 

 Ta-li where the Blue River (the Yangtze) is called the Kin-cha- 

 kiang (" River of Golden Sands "). The amount of these con- 

 glomerates is very considerable, their thickness often attaining 100 

 metres. A detailed investigation would evidently be necessary to 

 learn their actual values. There are about 500 gold-seekers scat- 

 tered along the banks of the river. During the dry season they 

 treat the sediments resulting from the re-washing of the banks. 

 During the rainy season the industry is pursued on the upper parts 

 of the terraces at the level of the rice fields. By their rudimentary 

 methods they produce at least 1 or 2 decigrammes of gold per 

 day." 



According to Deprat (D., p. 246) : " Gold mines are very numer- 

 ,. . /101 „ ous in the zone of the north and south folds 



of bsu-chanese Tibet. The tributaries of the 

 Yang-tze, such as the Ya-lung (Kin-Ho), come from this region, 

 carrying gold-bearing sands which they drop into the Yangtze, 

 it is from this cause that the rivers derive their names, Kin-hoo 

 or " River of Gold " and Kin-cha-kiang or " River of Golden Sand." 

 The gold is derived quite clearly from the basic rocks of the region, 

 the diorites and diabases, and in this matter I share Leclere's 

 opinion. It is probable that it also comes from the destruction 

 of quartz veins which cross the Ya-lung. Whichever it may be, 

 the gold is found in spangles in the recent river terraces of the 

 Yangtze and even in the sands of its actual bed. (Leclere considers, 



