120 
In tlin neiglibourhood of Eedcap the limestone beds, as shown by quartzites 
interstratified with them, strike west-north-west and dip at high angles to north-nort - 
east. In this district many thick beds of coarse conglomerate are mtcrbedded wit 
the limestones and quartzites. _ , .i, fV, 
Between Zillraanton and Dargalong Camp, which lies about six miles to the sout , 
a thick bed of limestone is first crossed on the left bank of Stockman s Creek. or 
next two miles the track crosses grits, highly altered coarse conglomerates, and tine 
shales, the grits being recognisable without hesitation as of the Mount ion JP®- 
these succeed mica-schists, with a few interstratified beds of altered Mount Albion 
grits. In about a mile the mica-schists pass into gneiss, and ultimately into micaceo 
granite. Bor two miles further the track crosses granite country with numerous quartz 
reefs. At the end of the two miles mica-schist recommences, and in it, near the junctio 
of the granite, arc the silver lodes of the Delaney or Dargalong group. _ 
There is no question in my mind of the continuity of the whole series of stratified 
rocks met with between Mount Albion and Zillmanton. The grits met with throughout 
the whole series are so characteristic and so peculiar that these rocks must have been 
laid down during the continuance of almost identical physical conditions, or, m otne 
words, during a single geological period. The purely mechanical character ot the 
deposits to the east of Mount Lucy is, however, in strong contrast to the conditio 
which must have prevailed during the deposition of the limestones north-west of Moun 
Lucy. But the interbedding of the Mount Albion grits with Chillagoe bm 
stones shows that the regions east and west of Mount Lucy, althoug i orming i 
horizons, belong to the same geological period. In the absence, or a mos cn ire a. s i 
of detailed mapping, it is difficult at present to be certain of the relative ages 
horizons, but from what dips have been observed I lean to the opinion that the calca 
horizon is higher than the purely mechanical. , • infn 
The limestones are generally semi-crystalline or crystalline in texture, passing 
white marbles, and yield few and very imperfect organic remains. Near the y 
Mine I obtained some specimens of Corals and Encrinite stems but from their sta e ot 
preservation I do not think that the most expert Paleontologist could determine e 
genus or species. Similar fossils wore obtained from the quartzites associated wit 
limestones near Zillmanton, but in no more recognisable condition. A section o 
fossiliferous rock shows, under the microscope, that some crysta me caespar 
entangled in the silica skeleton, but reveals no trace of organisms. 1 am strongs 
inclined to believe that the Chillagoe Limestones will prove to be continuous with t 
immense beds of limestone extending from the Mitchell, near its junction with Lime 
stone Creek, through Palmerville, across the Palmer, and along the Palmervillo a 
Cooktown Eoad. I have elsewhere* given my reasons for believing in the identity o • 
strata of the Palmer and Hodgkinson Gold Pields, and I think there is every probability 
that the Chillagoe and Mount Albion Beds will prove to belong to the same senes, 
may be observed that the Mitchell and Palmer Limestone bears a very marked lithologica 
resmblance to the limestones of Chillagoe, and that the only fossils as 7®* fec®^ 
from the former belong to the same two classes as those obtained from the latte 
viz. Corals and Encrinites-and are in the same unsatisfactory condition, ihe iim 
stones of both regions, as well as the associated strata, present orga 
remains, a most striking contrast to the Devonian Limestones _ of the Broken B 
and the Burdekin, both of which teem with Corals and Brachiopods in perfect p 
servation. — ^ 
» I’reliminary Report by R.L. J. on Limestone District, part of the Palmer Gold Field. Brisbane . 
by Authority : 1888, p. 1. 
