OBSERVATIONS ON THE OCCURRENCE OF (iOLI', KTO. 



141 



OBSERVATIONS ON OCCURRENCE OE 

 GOLD AT ''MOUNT MORGAN," 

 NEAR ROCKHAMPTON. 



BY 



Hon. a. C. GREGORY, C.M.G., F.R.G.S., Etc. 



{Bead on the 12th Se_ptemher, 1884). 



CoxsiDEHABLK iiitei'est liaving been excited b}' reports of the 

 discovery of gold under exceptional conditions at " Mount 

 Morgan,'' in the Dee Ranges, near Rockhanipton, it niay be 

 useful to give a description of the actual character of the ore in 

 which the gold has been found, and also of the conditions 

 necessary to its economic treatment 



The veinstone, or ore, lias the general appearance of an 

 irregular mass of cellular quartz, the cavities of which are tilled 

 with oxide of iron, with onlj a small quantity of visible gold 

 irregularly distributed. On examining the oxide of iron under a 

 microscope, after it has been subjected to pressure and friction, 

 numerous very minute particles of gold are seen. 



The condition of the quartz is crystalline, and in the usual 

 forms common to the ordinary aqueous deposits of metalliferous 

 veins, and the cavities which are now filled with oxide of iron, 

 show by their structure, that they were oi'iginally occupied by 

 crystals of sulphide of iron (or iron pyrites). There is no trace 

 of an}' action of heat or of alteration by the contiguity of 

 volcanic I'ocks as has been surmised by some, the condition of 

 the stone clearly indicating that it has originally been a true 

 metalliferous vein which has been decomposed by atmospheric 

 action, the component parts chiefly consisting of auriferous iion 

 ])yrites, with a gangue of quartz. The structure of the quartz 

 would lead to the inference that the specimens had been taken 



