183 
At time of my visit all workings on the Armagh reef were inaccessible, 
but Messrs. Williams and Young, who accompanied me over the ground, 
supplied me with the following data: —The reef was stoped to 7 a depth of 
about 80 feet irregularly over a length of 700 or 800 feet, and the value 
of the stone was reported as fair quality. 
In a shaft sunk to a depth of 100 feet by Williams and party, a 
make of stone passed under water level at 100 feet. Mr. Williams 
informed me that at that place the formation consisted of two walls, nearly 
vertical, 15 feet apart, with makes of quartz crossing from wall to wall 
and pitching to the north. 
South of Williams’ shaft (sunk about 30 years ago) a large shaft 
was noticed. Mr. E. J. Alexander, at present manager of the Guildford 
Deep Leads Company Limited, but formerly of this locality, informed 
me that this shaft was sunk to a depth of 150 feet in very hard country; 
but beyond cross-cutting to the lode above water level, in the neighbour¬ 
hood of old workings, nothing further was done. Mr. Alexander informed 
me that the crushings from large bodies of stone yielded from 7 to 
13 dwt. of gold to the ton. 
Krause, in his report on the Creswick field* states that the “ Armagh 
reef is a lode from 2 to 6 feet thick at the outcrop, but diminishes in size 
downwards. The greatest depth to which the reef has been worked is less 
than 100 feet. It dips westwards at from 50 deg. to 75 deg. with the 
slate rock, while a number of veins, from 3 to 10 inches thick, dip easterly 
under low angles from 15 deg. to 30 deg. towards the main lode.” 
Mr. Alexander states that there were still large bodies of quartz left in 
the bottom of the old workings. 
Owing to- the subsidences near the old stopes, good dips could not be 
obtained. In the main shaft a section at the surface shows a dip of 60 
deg- west. One feature o-f the strata from this shaft was its remarkable 
hardness, and even now, after 30 years’ exposure, the slates still retain 
angular edges. Two probable causes suggest themselves as to the reason 
of this; one is that the strata has been indurated, and the other that 
faulting has brought into closer proximity to the surface strata which were 
formerly deeper. 
The workings of the Alice Maud reef occur on a parallel ridge about 
1,000 feet west of the Armagh line. Little work has been done on this line, 
which, in a section exposed in a gully to the north and pointed out to me by 
Mr. Williams, consists of a mass of crushed strata about 20 feet in width, 
and lying between hard sandstone country on either side. A shaft sunk on 
the crown of the hill is said to have reached a depth of 50 feet. About 
30 years ago- a patch of rich specimens was obtained near this shaft by a 
man named Bell. West of this line of reef the surface of the hill has 
been ploughed and sluiced, 5 and rich yields have been reported. 
There can be no doubt but that the alluvial shed from this belt of 
country has been exceptionally rich, and the northern extension of the line 
passes through the famous Madame Berrv mine. As to the nature of the 
gold occurrence, very little information can be obtained, but, from the 
specimens reported, it appears as if the deposits partook of the nature of 
indicator veins, i.e., smaller bodies of quartz in which concentration of 
gold values has occurred, while the larger portions of the reefs may be 
barren. 
* 
Prog, Kept, Geol. Surv., Viet,, No, IV. 
