Between Lake Austin and Mount Magnet, where the next rich patch of 
diggings are situated, the country does not present such an auriferous appearance, 
as most of the rocks are intrusive granite, often overlaid by desert sandstone, but 
there are one or two small patches of promising country. 
The distance between these two points is about 35 miles by road; but this 
might be considerably reduced if a proper road were cut. 
Mount Magnet. 
The Mt. Magnet diggings are situated a few miles to the South and West of 
West Mt. Magnet, which hill is principally composed of Metamorpliic rocks, capped 
by a flat top of desert sandstone. 
The rocks strike mostly a little West of North, dipping to the Westward; 
they are slate, dolomite, talcose schist, and ferruginous jaspery quartzite, all of 
which are very decomposed. 
The reefs follow much the same strike as the rocks, and dip also to the West¬ 
ward. They are small but well-defined, and in some places appear to carry gold 
pretty well through the stone. The quartz is mostly white and rather greasy, with 
ferruginous stains and yellow clay partings, but nothing very rich has been found 
in the reefing line on this part, of the field except a large nmlloeky mass, 
which is not a true reef, but a mass of decomposed talehose schist through which 
there are a number of small ferruginous quartz veins, the whole mass carrying 
fine gold. On the surface here a small but very rich patch of alluvium was 
worked all along the side of a large ferruginous quartzite bar. 
All the alluvial work here has been surfacing, these patches being worked, • 
where a mixture of quartz and ironstone was found scattered over the surface. 
The auriferous nature of this patch of country has apparently a certain con¬ 
nection with a large ferruginous dyke which lies close to the YVestward of the | 
workings, and which does not follow the exact strike of the country. A very 
great deal of gold has l>eeu obtained from this claim by simply puddling and 
washing the decomposed I'ock, whilst the stone has been reserved for crushing. 
This seems to he an extremely rich deposit, and the gold will probably be found to 
go down associated with iron pyrites, and should pay very well, considering the 
richness and quantity of the gold-bearing stone and the ease with which it can be 
worked. 
On this field, as a rule, the rich patches are met with at the intersections, of 
the quartz reefs, with the ferruginous bars or with other quartz reefs, but gold has. 
also been found in ferruginous caleite, and in barren-looking white quartz in 
granite country. 
There is a great variety of stone on this field, and the reefs are of two or 
three totally different classes, but as they are, as a rule, rich, and do not seem to he 
troubled with faults, there should he no difficulty in working them. 
Water . 
The field, as a whole, is well watered, and, as a rule, the water is good, the 
only exception being near the Salt Lakes; but even there, if a well is sunk a short 
distance away, the water is found to be fresh. 
At the island in Austin’s Lake there is nothing but salt water, and at Cue 
even inferior water was not obtainable nearer the surface than 100 feet. 
In most of the mines good water has been struck at considerably under 100 
feet, and if a supply is to be found at all, it will be found along these lines of 
fissure. 
There is no immediate prospect of the water question standing in the way of 
the development of this field, as it has of so many others in this Colony ; but the 
