OCCURRENCE OF PRECIOUS STONES IN N.S.W. 251 
Garnets of good colour are not uncommon in the Broken Hill 
district. Broken Hill silver ores often show abundance of bright 
red garnets. Mr. Geological Surveyor Jaquet! is of opinion that 
these garnets were derived from the walls of the lodes rather 
than formed in situ from mineral-bearing waters. 
Garnets of good colour are also found plentifully in the sands 
of some creeks at Poolamacca. Mr. Brougham of Poolamacca 
Station, has had some very fine stones cut. The blacks here- 
abouts are adepts at washing the sands for garnets, and I may 
add adepts too in gauging the value of a stone.” 
ZIRCON. 
Tn dealing with sapphire I had occasion to mention the presence 
of zircon, both at Tumberumba and Berrima. I have also collected 
zircon in the sluicing-boxes at Araluen, and amongst the alluvial 
tin-stone of the Emmaville district. I have had stones cut by 
. Mr. Murfin, from Berrima and Tumberumba. These would be 
called hyacinths. I have not noticed the peculiar opalescence 
that zircon sometimes shows, in any of our gems. All the stones I 
tried before the blowpipe lost their colour on heating. There is 
an abundance of zircon in the auriferous drifts and alluvial tin 
deposits, but even good stones have so little commercial value 
that the miner cannot afford time to save them. This is rather 
a pity, for after all, the zircon is a lovely gem with a magnificent 
lustre that should entitle it to be highly prized. The best 
Stones hitherto found come from Hanging Rock, near Nundle, 
where for some time they were believed, by the miners to be 
diamonds, 
1 Geology of the Broken Hill Lode and Barrier Ranges Mineral Field, 
by J. B. Jaquet, Sydney, Government Printer, 1894. 
? Almandine garnet (derived from older rocks) has been described from 
the Hawkesbury Sandstones near Sydney, by Mr. Henry Smith. They 
are small and not plentiful, indeed they are so rare that I am not aware 
that any collector has succeeded in getting a single ounce of the garnets 
together. Lee 
