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The Bruce Reef. 
The Bruce reef occurs 12 chains to the south of the Northern Star 
reef. It has been worked to a small extent by means of a tunnel and a 
shallow shaft further up the hill to the west. The strike of the reef is 
E. 10 deg. N., and the dip almost vertical. The reef is from 1 to 2 feet 
thick; at the shaft a block of it, 20 feet long and 30 feet deep, has been 
stoped. 
The Lyre-Bird Reef. 
This reef, which is about 1 foot thick, lies i\ miles due south of the 
Green’s Creek battery, on a branch of Larsen’s Creek. Its height above 
sea-level is approximately 2,900 feet. The divide at the crest between the 
battery and this reef is 300 feet higher. A shaft, 45 feet deep, has been 
sunk, and here the quartz was stoped for a length of 45 feet. About 3J 
chains away, another shaft has been sunk to a depth of 70 feet, and 40 
tons of quartz, reported to have yielded 1 oz. of gold to the ton, has been 
stoped. 
The latest crushing was 23J tons of quartz from the 40-ft. shaft. This 
yielded, according to the prospector, Mr. Raymond Murtagh, at the rate of 
1 oz. of gold per ton. The gold is worth ^£3 16s. 5d. per oz. It costs 
ns. per ton to pack this ore to the battery, which is about ij miles distant. 
The reef continues towards the hill. Some of the first crushings are said to 
have yielded from ij to 3J ozs. of gold per ton of ore. 
The Mountain Gift and White Quartz Reefs. 
This reef is about \ mile to the east of the Lyre-Bird reef, and the 
White Quartz reef is about 1 mile to the south of the Lyre-Bird reef. 
Each of these formerly had a battery, and considerable work was done on 
them, but the batteries have been removed and the mines are deserted. The 
Mountain Gift reef, Mr. Murtagh informs me, is about 1 ft. 6 in. thick, 
and it yielded about 1 oz. of gold per ton of ore. The first crushing from 
this reef is stated to have yielded 22 ozs. of gold per ton of ore, and a 
large quantity was treated. 
McKay’s Creek Workings. 
About 6 miles eastward from the battery on Green’s Creek is McKay’s 
Creek, where reefs were worked for several years. McKay’s Creek is a 
southern tributary 1 of the Dark River. The batterv here is idle on account 
of the cost of crushing the quartz in this remote spot. 
Nothing would do more to promote mining in this district, which in¬ 
cludes the alluvial resources of the Mitta Mitta River up to Wombat 
Creek, than a road for wheeled traffic from McMahon’s Creek to the Dark 
River (8 miles) and onwards to the junction of Toak’s Creek, about 10 miles 
further up, or 18 miles in all. 
The expenditure of a few hundred pounds would render available a 
tract of auriferous country that at present is suffering from undeserved 
neglect. Besides the auriferous tract noticed above, there are others close 
b> that were not visited, but which would be greatly benefited by being 
made more accessible. The few miners along the Mitta Mitta River have 
to pack their provisions and tools from 20 to 30 miles, and this is a serious 
drawback. 
[.Report sent in 23rd March, igo6.'\ 
