137 
The “ La Mascotte ” reef is typical of the reefs of the Wedderburn 
field. It is a body of quartz ranging between 2 and 4 feet in thickness. 
It has a westerly dip varying from 62 deg. to 72 deg. and a strike of 
N. 5 deg. W. The hanging wall is clean and well defined, but the foot- 
wall is very irregular and penetrated at frequent intervals by “ droppers ’ 
or quartz veins falling into the foot-wall country. The country intersected 
by the reef is much metamorphosed by the underlying granite; and at the 
La Mascotte Mine the beds are almost vertical or slightly inclined to the 
east—that is, the country and reef intersect at an angle of about 30 deg. 
As is frequently the case with reefs of this description the auriferous 
portions appear to occur in bunches, or short shoots, due probably to the 
nature of the country rock with which the reef happens to be in contact. 
In the case of the La Mascotte reef, however, I was unable to observe any 
of the carbon-bearing schists which seem to have influenced the deposition 
of gold in so many other of the auriferous reefs in the Wedderburn 
district. A noticeable feature in the La Mascotte reef is that where the 
gold occurs we have a “ shoulder ” in the wall of the reef caused by the 
reef changing its underlie from 63 deg. W. to 72 deg. W. In other places 
I have noticed such an occurrence to be favorable to the deposition of gold, 
and it may be the case here. If another make of gold should be found it 
should afford some valuable information for comparison. 
Unfortunately it very frequently occurs in these mines, that, when the 
gold is lost, prospecting is carried on in a very disorganized way, a rise 
being put up in. one place, a winze sunk in another, and so on in a dis¬ 
connected manner, the result being that the mine is closed down without 
having received a fair trial. 
As a business proposition the testing of the La Mascotte ” Mine is a 
simple one. The shaft at present down 42 feet should be continued to 
75 feet. At 42 feet and at 75 feet, levels should be extended on the reef 
at least 30 feet in both directions, and the levels connected by a rise or 
winze. At a favorable point a cross-cut should be put out both east and 
west to guard against any formation being missed. If, by such work, gold 
should not be struck, nor very favorable indications disclosed, it would, in 
my opinion, be well for a small party to discontinue operations. 
An estimate of such work could be obtained from the mine manager, 
and should not prove high as the ground is soft and stands well without 
timber. 
[Report sent in 1.12.05 •] 
BURKE’S FLAT AND WEHLA. 
By E. J. Dunn , Director , Geological Survey , Victoria. 
Fone’s Reef. 
This old mining locality is situate about ten miles in a N.E. direction 
from Bealiba. The principal reef worked here, and known as Fone’s 
reef, was discovered in 1862. The country rock is Ordovician and of 
favorable aspect for gold. The soil is red, and the slate and sand 
stones are of pink and yellow colours near the surface, and. they appear 
to belong to the Castlemaine zone, but no fossils have been obtained, 
so that the true horizon cannot be determined. The strike of the country 
is N., and its dip at the outcrop of the reef is W. at 52 deg. The strike 
