28 
visiting this locality at regular periods, mentions that 26 years ago there were 
twenty miners at work on this portion of the field, and that for some years 
previous to the suspension of operations the net income from his interests 
in the mines was over £400 per annum. He expresses the opinion that several 
of the mines would now be working and paying but for the fact that the 
owners of two, prior to the disposal of them, “salted” the faces. This, he 
adds, was at about the time of the exhaustion of the first shoot, when most 
of the mines were languishing and in need of capital to sink and prospect below 
water-level. The effect of the discovery of the salting was that capital was 
withheld, and the mines were forced to close. Excepting that occasional small 
crushings have been taken from various parts of the old stopes, no work has 
been done since. 
Little can now be seen of the structure of the reefs, but from the state¬ 
ments of Messrs. Ross and Thomas it would appear that they make on blocks 
or bulges of “ buck ” quartz which are connected by narrow strips laminated 
with green—known as velvety—slate. The narrow portions have proved 
the richer and more consistent producers of gold, a fair percentage of which 
was contained in the slate itself. 
At the south end of the workings on these reefs several large nuggets, 
known as Munro’s find, have been found in Nuggety Gully, two or three chains 
above where it crosses the Maryborough road. The heaviest, Mr. Ross states, 
weighed 43 ounces. The gully is only a few chains in length, and has been 
worked to where it junctions with Back Creek in Mr. Ross’ property. The 
last machine of wash puddled from the gully contained 15 ounces of gold. 
The matrix of this gold would appear to be the above-mentioned reefs, 
but it is said that the appearance and quality of the alluvial gold were quite 
different to those of the reef gold. It is possible, however, that the source 
was an indicator or a dyke'. Indicators, it is said, have been found in other 
parts of the field, and may exist here. A dyke crosses the gully near where 
the largest nugget was found. It has been prospected unsuccessfully for gold. 
Tunnel Hill Reef. 
About 1 mile west of the township is the Tunnel Hill reef. It has been 
worked over half a mile in length in an open cut, a tunnel, and shallow shafts, 
the deepest of which is said to be 85 feet. It is 45 feet thick where exposed 
in the tunnel, which was driven, so it is said, in 1861. It is formed on a slide 
striking about N. 12° W., and dipping 65° easterly. The quartz as seen here 
is fractured and iron-stained, and contains pieces of slate and dabs of white 
clay, around and in which, Mr. Gane informs me, most of the gold is generally 
found. Very little work has been done from the tunnel. A level on the wall 
or slide—winch is in the centre of the reef—has been driven about 20 feet 
south. From the end of this there is a drive 20 feet long, and then a cut 7 feet 
north and south. The quartz from the north and'South drives yielded 6 dwt. 
of gold per ton, and that from the west drive 4J dwt. per ton. Two samples 
of the resultant sand, Mr. Gane states, were treated by the Mines Department, 
and assayed 4 dwt. and 5 dwt. per ton. 
To the south of the tunnel there are several shafts on the reef, and the bulk 
of the stone drawn from them is said to have been more than payable. The 
last of the outcrop in this direction is seen in an open cut about 300 feet from 
the tunnel. Here the reef is spurry, and has been worked for over 100 feet 
in length. Results of the crushings, which residents state were often rich, 
were contained in the Talbot Leader, the files of which, unfortunately, were 
burned when the printing office was destroyed by fire. 
