ELLITSON AND PARTY’S CLAIM AT WARRANDYTE. 
By D. ]. Mahony, M.Sc., F.G.S. 
Messrs. Ellitson and party are at work on a dyke formation about one 
mile north-east of the township of Warrandyte and just to the north of 
the section marked J. Thompson’s pre-emptive right. The claim is situated 
on top of a ridge which runs north-west towards the Yarra, which is about 
a quarter of a mile distant. On the top of the ridge, and running in the 
same direction as it, are two parallel dykes about ioo yards apart. They 
are hidden by soil except where there have been mining operations, but 
they can be traced for fully a mile by old workings. I had no time to 
go further, but the formation is said to have been proved auriferous over 
a distance of 4b miles. The rock which the dykes have penetrated is 
Silurian and consists of sandstones and slates folded into synclines and 
anticlines which strike about N. 15 0 E. The beds at the mine dip east¬ 
ward at a smaller angle than the dyke, which dips in the same direction 
at about 50° and strikes N. 30° W. The dykes cut across the beds 
both in dip and. strike. The more important and continuous dyke is the 
western; probably they join underground. 
For some distance from the river mining operations of very consider¬ 
able extent were formerly carried on along the line. The alluvium on the 
river side has been worked for gold evidently derived from the dyke, and 
the dyke itself has been followed by tunnels and shafts. The subsidence 
of the surface along the line indicates that a large quantity of material 
has been removed from below, and the extqnt of the operations shows that 
the results obtained must have been payable. Forbes (Progress Report 
No. IX., 1898, page 47) says that “ the dyke has been worked over 
100 feet on the underlie from the top of the hill towards the river for 
a yield of 5 dwt. per ton. A smaller dyke to the east gave 2J dwt. per 
ton. . . 1,500 tons crushed locally averaged 2} to 3 dwt. per ton.” 
Alluvial gold has been worked in the gullies on both sides of the ridge and 
at the present time a number of men are at work on the small creek close 
to the main coach road to Ringwood (Sec. 3, Parish of Warrandyte). 
Ellitson and party are making use of an old shaft and drive said to 
have been made over 20 years ago. The ground stands well and does not 
require timbering. The shaft is 120 feet deep and is situated about 
160 feet to the east of the main or western dyke, which dips towards it. 
From the bottom a. crosscut intersects the dyke at 80 feet from the shaft. 
Drives have been made to follow the dyke north and south but at the time 
of my visit the northern drive was blocked up. The southern drive is 
about 70 feet in length and has a bearing of N. 20° W. The dyke varies 
from 4ft. pin. to 5ft. pin. in width; the walls are well defined and 
slickensided in places. The dyke material is soft and felspathic and very 
easily broken out; it is greyish white in colour and full of little cubes 
of pyrites and leaders of secondary quartz. The quartz is rather cellular 
and easily breaks into small pieces. Mr.. Ellitson showed me a number of 
specimens containing free gold which is of the irregular hackly type and 
has no trace of crystalline form. The quartz also- carries some bournonite. 
The veins are generally narrow, ranging up to 2 inches thick. Some 
specimens of the dyke were chosen for assay, representing as far as possible 
an average sample of the formation; the result was 2 dwt. 6 gr. of gold per 
ton. The concentrates from three dishes of dyke material, consisting mostlv 
of pyrites, gave 5 oz. 5 dwt. 7 gr. of gold per ton; something over 3 dwt. 
