162 THE MINERALS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



and other copper ores, notably in the Wellington and Adelong 

 districts ; it is reported with tin in the clifl's at Eden, and with 

 native arsenic at Solferino. 



In alluvial deposits gold is associated in New South "Wales with 

 a very large number of minerals ; and it is remarkable that certain 

 of them such as platinum, osmo-iridium, sapphire, ruby, oriental 

 emerald, and diamond, have not yet been found in situ. Amongst 

 the others we have tinstone, titaniferous iron, magnetic iron, 

 chromic iron, brookite, rutile, anatase, emerald, beryl, topaz, zircon, 

 hyacinth, spinelle, garnet, red and brown haematite, pyrites, binoxide 

 of manganese, galena, blende, tourmaline, magnesite, and many more 

 of less value. 



The alluvial deposits are of various ages, but none of them 

 probably are older than late Tertiary age, and are often deeply 

 buried by overflows of igneous rocks. 



Gold is found in small quantities in the tin-drifts of New 

 England, especialy in the older drifts, conglomerates or "cements" as 

 they are termed by the miners. 



The Rev. W. B. Clarke mentions that gold is found at the mouth 

 of the Richmond River distributed in the sand and covering 

 pebbles on the sea beach — a similar distribution is found in the 

 sand of Shell Harbour. Other spots give similar indications, and 

 some specimens of gold were brought up from the sea-bottom by 

 the sounding apparatus of H. M.S. "Herald" off Port Macquarie. 



Distribution. — From the fact that gold is so widely scattered 

 over nearly the whole of New South Wales, it would be almost an 

 endless task to attempt to enumerate the names of all the localities 

 at which it has been found, it must therefore suffice to refer you 

 to the names of the principal gold fields, already cited in the 

 tables which show the proportion of silver contained by gold from 

 various parts of the Colony, and to the mineral map published by 

 the Government, which roughly shows the approximate area of the 

 various gold fields. 



Amount. — The total quantity of gold as recorded in the Govern- 

 ment returns from 1851 to 1874 was 8,205,232.598 ozs., and the 

 value £30,536,246 10s. 6d. A model in the form of a huge 

 parallelopipedon, measuring 6 ft. 6 inches square in the base and 

 having a height of 11*1 feet, representing this amount of gold, is 

 now at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, — the calculation 

 for the above dimensions being based on the assumption that the 

 average specific gravity of the gold was 17 '5. 



The Discovery of Gold. — It is beyond my province to express 

 any opinion upon the long disputed question as to who was the 

 original discoverer of gold in Australia ; but it may not be out of 

 place to quote certain statements which have been made from time 

 to time, so that each may judge for himself. 



