147 
ton at the surface to i\ dwts. per ton near the dyke. At 40 feet deep a 
dyke 1 foot 10 inches was met with cutting through the reef. The quartz 
near the dyke yielded 6 dwts. per ton. A third dyke has been cut about 
60 feet from the surface. These flat dykes extend laterally over a wide 
area, and the top one can be traced about one mile away. That this 
class of dyke exercises a direct influence on the gold contents of the reefs 
they intersect appears to be proved, and Mr. Howitt is engaged in working 
out their relations. 
[Report sent in 20.6.06I. 
THE COCKATOO FLAT RUSH, PARISH OF TCHIRREE. 
By Stanley Hunter . 
The Cockatoo Flat rush is situated in the north-eastern portion of the 
parish of Tchirree, county of Kara Kara. In company with Mr. Withe- 
combe, the original prospector, and several of the miners, I went over the 
claims and made a general examination of the locality, which is at the 
lower end of a sloping plain, dissected by numerous small water-courses 
from 6 feet to 8 feet deep. The sinking is from 45 feet to 48 feet deep, 
through clays, ferruginous sand, and sandy clay, to a big sub-angular 
quartz wash. Many of the quartz masses are more in the form of slabs 
than of boulders. The wash dirt so far tested is from poor to fair, 
but nothing that can be called rich has as yet been found. The largest 
piece of alluvial gold found to date weighed 3J dwts. The bed-rock is 
a green slate, intersected by numerous quartz veins. It is impossible to 
indicate the best position in which to sink future shafts, and this fact, I 
think, is recognised bv those on the field having the best knowledge of 
mining. The outcropping Ordovician rocks are so fair apart that there 
is room for several small leads between them. No defined gutter has 
been proved, and the large sub-angular quartz wash rests on an almost 
perfectly flat bottom. The suggestion that the miners should form a co¬ 
operative party among themselves to try boring operations apparently did 
not find favour with them. Under the circumstances, I cannot make anv 
suggestion regarding future shafts, as I am of opinion that it is one of 
those cases in mining where the element of chance forms the predominant 
feature. 
[.Report sent in 18.6.06.] 
THE BYRON REEF, NEWSTEAD. 
By E. J. Dunn , F.G.S., Director , Geological Survey. 
This mine is about one and a half miles south-westerly from Newstead. 
The locality is interesting, because it represents an island of auriferous 
rocks surrounded bv barren country. 
Apparentlv the beds which occur on this site are the topmost auriferous 
beds of the Castlemaine zone. This is inferred from the fact that no 
alluvial gold has been obtained from the gullies around the Byron mine. 
Quartz fragments are thickly strewn over the little knoll on which the 
shaft has been sunk, and auriferous quartz was exposed at the surface. 
