Mt. Deddick Lode. 
The main shaft is on the east side of the river and close to the bank 
and is 60 feet deep. There are copper pyrites and galena in the lode 
material which was only touched in the shaft. 
Crossing the river near this shaft is a well marked lode, carrying 
galena in quartz veins and about i foot to ift. 6in. thick with about 3 inches 
of galena. 
The country rock of the whole field is grano-diorite. Quartz veins 
are well marked and persistent in this country. The best galena deposits 
occur in quartz veins along the course of faults. Along these faults one 
wall is usually very well marked, while the opposite wall is not so well 
defined. 
Even the casual examination shows that a great deal of indiscriminate 
work has been done on this field and that the money expended has not 
resulted in qpening up the lodes to any great extent. So far the work 
done merely shows what the lodes are like near the surface where they are 
oxidized, but in no> case have the lodes been opened up at sufficient depths 
to show what they are like where protected from atmospheric conditions. It 
is a safe rule in all such cases to endeavour to break into such lodes below 
water-level, where they have not been subjected for enormous periods to 
the oxidising and leaching effects of the atmosphere. At Mt. Deddick 
this could be accomplished by attacking the lodes at as low levels as possible 
and by sinking shafts instead of tunnelling. The operations so- far carried 
on suffice to show that faults occur in the grano-diorite “country” that covers 
a wide area on the east side of the Snowy River and extends for a mile 
on the west side of the river. In these faults lode material has formed, 
generally of quartz and galena. Copper pyrites, iron pyrites, arsenical 
pyrites, &c., are also present in many cases though they do not all occur 
together. The faults appear to be of a persistent nature as the lodes are 
traceable very distinctly on the surface and for long distances. In some 
cases the walls of the lodes are mineralized and in depth such enlargements 
may carry valuable ore. 
In (places the galena in the lodes thickens out to 18 inches or 2 feet in 
width in the surface workings already opened. With a fair amount of 
silver and lead such a width as 1 foot of galena would be payable at 
present prices. 
On the whole the aspect of the field is encouraging. The country rock 
(grano-diorite) is one in which the lodes are likely to continue to great 
depths. The lodes are traceable for considerable lengths and they are 
formed in rifts in the granitic rock. There has been movement and conse¬ 
quently there were spaces formed along the fissure wider in some parts, 
narrower in others. Besides this, the country rock itself is mineralized, 
and at lower depths valuable ore may form in such a way. There are 
many lodes in the granitic rock but only a few have so far been opened 
even to a slight extent. The lodes have not been tested below water-level 
when they can be seen in their best condition. Where the surface openings 
have been made very promising ore has been found. It is one of the 
features of silver lead lodes that they occasionally expand into “ bonanzas ” 
and these may eventually be found to occur. So far only thin lodes are 
exposed, but these may improve in depth. 
