PA11T 2.] 
King: Gold-fields of S.-E. Wj/ndd. 
35 
Two samples from auriferous surface soil near Dayvallah have been assayed by mv 
colleague Mr. Tween, one of which, as will be seen, is very near Nicholson’s specimen, while 
the second is richer. 
Carats. 
C. grains. 
No. 1, Gold 
93-00 
= 22 
1 Fineness. 
Silver 
7-00 
= 
No. 2, Gold 
90-00 
= 21 
2£ Fineness. 
Silver 
8'6 7 
= 
Neither of these three assays comes up to the quality of the dust obtained by Nicholson 
in 1831 from the Malabar low country, which varied from 94‘53 to 99'22 in the percentage 
of pure gold. 
When the matrix gold is analysed a very different result is obtained showing a consider¬ 
able falling off in the fineness of the ore. There is also a much greater disparity between it 
and the alluvial gold than is usually displayed between the two kinds in Australia, or even 
in California; though the percentage of pure gold in the Wynad ore is nearly the same as in 
that of the latter country. 
Mr. Tween has supplied mo with the following assays 
1. 2. 
Skull Reef- Monarch 
Reef. 
Gold ... 87-07 Gold ... 82-69 
Silver ... 32-93 Silver ... 11'32 
and these according to the scale of fineness make the ore of— 
Carats. C. grains. 
Skull Reef ... ... ... ... 15 3 Fine. 
Monarch Reef ... ... ... ... 19 2f „ 
Mixed sample ... ... ... ... 20 2| ,, 
An ounce troy of the mixed sample, taking the mint price of standard gold at £3-17-101, 
would be worth £3-13-6j-, or about Rs. 36-12-2. 
The sample from the Skull Keef is remarkably poor, and if it be a fair average (which 
I do not think it is, as 1 have seen gold at times in the richest part of the lode having a 
much better color than that of the amalgamated sample tried), it would reduce any- calcula¬ 
tion as to the return of this reef by nearly one-third. The specimen from the Monarch Reef 
is only from one crushing of four pounds of stone; and cannot be considered as so fair a 
sample of gold right across the lode which was the case with that taken from the Skull. The 
mixed sample is from amalgamated ore taken from six reefs; and it may be taken as an 
average for Wvnad gold as far as it has been yet tried. It is very probable that the fineness 
of the gold in the different reefs will vary just as frequently^ as it is known to do in other 
auriferous countries. 
3. 
Mixed 
sample. 
Gold ... 86-86 
Silver ... 10-96 
As is usual in most gold regions, the precious metal occurs here in the reefs or large 
„ ,, lodes, in the leaders and spurs, and in the ‘ casing’ or nondescript 
Mode of occurrence of gold. _ _ L ° 1 
rock lining or casing these. 
In leaders and small veins. 
The ore of the leaders and casing is mostly visible, and is what is technically called 
' coarse goldthat is, it occurs as small segregations in the in¬ 
terstices of the quartz, or of the assembled cubical crystals of what 
is now limonite, or even in the interior of these cubes. It is also very often visible in the 
unaltered iron-pyrites which is not quite so frequently seen in the leaders as its pseudomorph 
limonite. A very common mineral in the casing of some of the leaders is pyrolusite, in 
which also the gold is often visible. The blue-black variety of pyrolusite occurs also with 
the gold visible at times. 
