24 i 
and carried a decomposed dyke. This lode was very rich in the favor¬ 
able zone, but since the relation of the auriferous lodes to the structure 
of the country was not recognised when it was worked, failure to find 
the continuation of the rich stone, and neglect to prospect for another 
formation, led to the mine being closed down. To the south, the North 
First Chance and the First Chance mines are working the Sulieman Lode 
a hove the 6oo-ft. levels. 
The Victoria United mine, which adjoins on the north, proved a large 
body of payable stone on the eastern anticline at a depth of 1,300 feet. 
This lies about 50 feet west of the Victoria shaft, and the continuation 
of this make of stone should be found if the Britannia shaft be deepened. 
With the shaft put in good order and sunk a further depth of, say, 
300 feet, and cross-cuts opened out east and west at each 100 feet, the 
mine could maintain a large output of stone ; while above the 720-ft. level 
payable makes of stone will be found both east and west of the shaft, 
always providing that work is carried on in the right direction as laid 
out above. 
The mine is well equipped with a suitable plant consisting of winding 
engine, pumping engine with pumps to the 1,040-ft. level, air com¬ 
pressor, Roots blower, five boilers, and 40-head battery with condensing 
engine. A small expenditure on the foundations of the plant would 
put the whole in good working order; as a matter of fact, it is all working 
now, but the foundations have given way in places owing to decay and 
settlement. 
In conclusion, it may be added that from the area held, the yield 
from quartz—exclusive of alluvial—to a depth of 1,000 feet has been 
close upon ^700,000, and this, by no means implies that the ground is 
worked out to that depth. 
[14.J.10.] 
THE PROGRESS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AT 
BALLARAT. 
By E. J. Dunn , F.G.S., late Director , Geological Survey. 
The underground and surface survey now being carried out bv Mr. 
Baragwanath, junior, and his staff, at Ballarat, is making good progress, 
and the results will be of great value in the future development of gold 
mining there. 
Plans and sections of most of the Sebastopol Plateau mines are in 
course of preparation, and the one prominent feature they disclose is that 
a vast sum of money has been uselessly spent in cross-cutting and driving 
levels in unproductive country. 
Profitable mining is only possible in the productive zone of country, 
and it is not until this is realized that the amount of waste'that has taken 
place through mining in barren and utterly hopeless beds becomes apparent. 
The surveys clearly define the productive zone and show its relation to 
the anticlines and synclines, and they will help to prevent similar waste 
in the future. 
Both east and west of the tract of country that has been mined on the 
Plateau are belts of country so far untried, but which offer promising 
fields for prospecting. North of the Kohinoor mine the country is only just 
being opened up, and there is reason to expect favorable results when the 
northward extension of the richly auriferous zone of the Plateau can be 
traced. 
