142 
ments i and 2 of section K. The ground now worked is approximately 
20 chains in length, and the lead is from 1 to i| chains, wide. The gold 
does not appear to be confined to a defined “ run,” but as far as 
proved, occurs in patches on the bed-rock, which is from 14 to 20 feet 
from the surface. The sinking is generally through clay, and the sides 
of the shafts stand well without timber. Two men can bottom a shaft 
in two days. There are about 80 men on the field, and all the ground 
has been taken up in claims. The “bottom” consists of Ordovician slates 
and sandstones, with quartz veins. All the gold is said to be water- 
worn, but a small fragment which I purchased was rough. It certainly 
appears to be of local origin. It is said that “ specimen ” gold—gold with, 
quartz attached—does not occur. The gold, which is worth £4 per oz., is 
generally fine, and the heaviest piece yet found weighed 2 dwts. Accord¬ 
ing to the miners on the field, the amount of gold obtained in the claims 
is not great, but I gathered that all the men working on the lead are 
making wages, and some are doing considerably better. A load of wash- 
dirt yields from 6 to 16 dwts. of gold. The wash-dirt varies from 1 foot to 
a few inches in thickness, and the stones in it are generally angular and sub- 
angular. It is puddled in a. trough; then cradled, and panned off. At 
present there is sufficient water in the creeik for these operations, and there 
are two large dams within a short distance of the claims. At the time of 
my visit the ground to the west was being prospected to find if the lead 
takes a westerly turn, instead of continuing down the creek past the old 
workings. The result, however, was not encouraging, as the holes bottomed 
at shallow depths. Even should the lead not extend westward, it is 
quite possible that runs of alluvial gold may join it from the flat and 
slightly inclined ground in allotments to 'the west (Nos. 1 and 2 of sec¬ 
tion K). 
A few notes on the geology of the country immediatelv surrounding 
the workings are added. The bed-rock appears to consist of Ordovician 
slates and sandstones. No fossils were noted in the area under review, 
but about four miles to the north, Lower Ordovician (Lancefield division) 
graptolites were found in the slates. Around Dunollv the Ordovician 
rocks have been slightly metamorphosed. Most of the slates are silky, 
micaceous, and spotted, and there are also light bluish greasy slates and 
black and reddish slates. The sandstones are micaceous and hard. They 
are of various colours, and hne to> medium in texture. A considerable 
amount of dark red ferruginous rock, locally termed bloodstone, occurs,, 
and fragments of it were frequently noted on the old alluvial waste- 
heaps in some of the gullies. 
The strata generally strike N. 15 deg. W., and dip either E. or W. 
Quartz, as veins, spurs and reefs up to 3 and 4 feel thick, is common. A 
little more than quarter of a mile westward from Patchy Flat, in a cut¬ 
ting on the Dunolly-Maryborough railway line, there is a dyke 3 feet 
wide, striking nearly E. and W. The dyke is decomposed to a brown 
sandy mass. It nmv be granitic, but is more probably one of the diorite 
series. The Ordovician strata at the dyke show faulting. Veins of 
quartz run through tile dyke in various directions, and are of more recent 
age than those in the Ordovician rocks. I am not aware whether any such 
dykes have been worked in this district, but this one appears to be worth 
prospecting. At its intersection with a favorable band of country rock 
it may prove auriferous. 
As the Ordovician rocks weather away they liberate much quartz and 
form clay, sandy clay, and loam. About 20 chains south-eastward from 
the Patchy Flat workings, the Ordovician rocks strike from N. to N. 10 
deg. W., and dip easterly at 70 deg. They are mostly slates, and are 
