1 1 8 Mines and Mineral Statistics. 
The order of the formations may be stated as follows 
Post Tertiary 
Tertiary or Cainozoic ... 
Secondary or Mesozoic ... 
Primary or Palaeozoic ... 
The above classification must, to a certain extent, be considered 
only provisional ; it cannot be otherwise until the mutual relation 
of the various members of each formation has been ascertained by 
actual survey. 
KncE^fT. 
Under the term Recent are included all those deposits of gravel, 
sand, loam and mud, which are accumulating at the present time. 
Such are the loam and clay of surface soils, resulting from the 
decomposition and disintegration of the underlying or neighbour- 
ing rocks ; the sand and gravel swept along by running streams ; 
the earthy mud and dehris spread over swampy and low-lying 
lands by floods ; and the ever-shifting shingle-bcaches and sand- 
dunes piled along the sea-coast by the action of both waves and 
Avind. As Avould be expected, amongst these various accumula- 
tions are found mingled remains of animals and plants of species 
now living, with human bones, mogos or stone tomahawks, bone 
needles, flint chips, and other implements of the aboriginal tribes 
no^y fast dying out. 
The economic importance of the recent deposits is very great. 
In them gold was fli’st discovered, and, up to the 2)i’esent time, 
they have been a source of employment to thousands of gold- 
miners. Ill New England they have also afforded the chief sup- 
ply of the alluvial or stream tin ore, which, during the past three 
years, has become such an increasingly valuable addition to our 
mineral exports. A description of the various modes of occur- 
rence of the stream tin will be found in my Eeport (1S73) on the 
Geology of the Tin-bearing Country near Inverell. Through the 
courtesy of the Surveyor General, Mr. P. P. Adams, under whose 
directions my geological examination of that part of New England 
M'as conducted, the various descriptions both of stream and lode- 
tin ores, which I then obtained, are now exhibited. But, whilst 
these represent the mineral products of the Inverell district, we 
have also a number of good samples, especially of stream tin, col- 
lected by Mr. George Gower, Mining Registrar, from the mines 
of Vegetable Creek ; and these have been supplemented by others 
obtained by Mr. J, H. Butchart, from various parts of New 
( Recent. 
*" \Rleistocene. 
C Rliocene. 
■ " I Miocene. 
Tr lassie ? 
C Permian. 
) Carhoniferoiis. 
’“1 Devonian. 
C Tipper Silurian. 
