141 
The district has been reported on by Messrs. E. J. Dunn/ O. A. L. 
Whitelaw, * 2 and Jas Stirling. 3 In Mr. Stirling’s plan the site of the rush 
is marked Newer Pliocene resting on granite, and he shows Ordovician 
strata about 50 chains to the north and about the same distance to the 
south. 
The main workings at Crump’s lead are not more than 10 chains in 
length. From the gully at the end of the lead the country rises to the north 
and west and slopes past Little’s claim to a broad gently sloping granite 
ridge covered with from 2 feet to 6 feet of detritus. There does not 
appear to be a distinct lead. North or north-west of Crump’s lead patches 
of coarse gold occur on the bed rock. 
The question of the origin of the gold must now be considered. Mr. 
Little prospected a reef in the granite in the locality and it yielded a little 
fine gold. However, all the alluvial gold has been coarse. The quartz 
reefs in the surrounding Ordovician rocks have been very rich and yielded 
large masses of gold. On Mr. Stirling’s map the Matrix or McEvoy’s 
reef is shown about 3J miles to the north-west, and with such a bearing 
that its continuation would pass close to Crump’s lead. Large masses of 
gold were found in the reef and in the detritus from it. Nuggets weighing 
810 ozs., 805 ozs., and 782 ozs. are recorded, while Mr. Whitelaw records 
that gold to the value of ^2.600 was removed from the reef in a few 
hours at a depth of 54 feet from the surface. No doubt the Ordovician 
rocks were once continuous over the site of the lead and they contained 
quartz reefs. As they weathered away, the gold from the reefs would be 
left behind. This seems the most probable theory to account for the gold. 
When the present rush began, an attempt was, made to trace the lead 
up the hill. Perhaps too holes from 3 to 6 feet deep were sunk altogether, 
but no gold was obtained. In spite of this I do not consider that the 
place has yet been thoroughly prospected. Perhaps the best method would 
be to make parallel trenches across the direction of the supposed lead, but 
even then rich patches of gold and nuggets might easily be missed. 
To the south-east, on the side of the valley opposite to Crump’s lead, 
and at about the same level, there is similar ground and this does not seem 
to have been prospected. 
[>Report sent in 31.7.05 .] 
THE NEW RUSH AT PATCHY FLAT, NEAR DUNOLLY. 
By IF. H. Ferguson. 
The new rush at Patchy Flat is situated about two miles S.S.E. of 
the township of Dunolly, and is about 630 feet above sea-level. The 
ground is portion of a lead which was worked a number of years ago. 
When the alluvial deposits along the creek and gullies running into it 
were worked, the site of the present rush was missed, and it was found tc 
be auriferous only about a month ago. 
The old workings are shown on Mr. S. Hunter’s geological sketch map 
of the parish of Dunolly. They are to the east of, and close to, allot¬ 
to Notes on the Rheola Gold-field. Quart. Kept. Dept. Mines, Viet., 30th June, 1890. 
( 2 ) Geological Survey of the parish of Moliagul. Geol. Surv., Viet., Prog. Rept. No. XI., 1899. 
(3) Report on the Mining Features of portion of the Moliagul and Dunolly Districts. Geol. Surv. 
Viet., Monthly Prog. Rept. No. 3, 1899. 
