18 
At the surface the reef is split into two branches, each about 2 feet thick. The 
strike of the western branch is N. 20° W., and the dip about vertical. The 
country rock consists of yellow and grey slate and sahdstone, and the soil is 
red in colour. A dyke, apparently a lamprophyre, occurs in connexion with 
this reef, but it is much decomposed. Payable stone is said to have been 
followed to the bottom of the shaft. 
About \\ miles from Bealiba, on the railway line to Dunolly, a group of 
auriferous reefs*has been worked, including the George, Post Office, Break o’ 
Day, Cairns and Cross reefs. They are reputed to have been payable, 
but were w T orked only to water-level, less than 100 feet from the surface. 
The gold is said to be exceedingly fine and difficult to save, except by 
cyanide. 
At Moonlight, lying about 1J miles in a south-western direction from 
Bealiba, the rocks are sandstones metamorphosed through their proximity to 
granitg. They strike W. 10° N. On the north side of the gully a large bulge 
of quartz, 10 feet to 12 feet across, occurs in the reef, which strikes about north 
and south. Moonlight Gully was worked for alluvial gold down to Puzzle 
Plat, and specimens of quartz and gold were numerous. These were, no doubt, 
derived from Moonlight reef, which crosses the head of the gully and runs for 
a considerable distance, but has only been worked in a small way. Billy 
Nutt’s reef, which is nearer Bealiba, strikes N. 20° E. and dips 85° E. It has 
been worked for a length of 200 yards, and to a depth of 50 feet, with payable 
results. 
Alluvial mining has been carried on more extensively than quartz mining 
at Bealiba. The principal lead starts about due west of Kingower, and crosses 
the main road from Bealiba to Dunolly at 1 \ miles from the former town ; at 
Bald Hill Elat the lead sweeps round south of Bealiba and runs south-westerly 
to Puzzle Elat, and on to Liverpool Elat. This lead is of Older Pliocene age, 
and is a high-level lead, running through a series of hills until Puzzle Elat is 
reached. Various branch leads run into the main lead. Where the old lead 
has been cut through by recent gullies, gold should be found, but search 
for it has been hindered by the quantity of water met with in these 
flat gullies. 
At Puzzle Elat a striking feature is the large size and well-rounded character 
of the quartz boulders in the washdirt, some up to 3 cwt., some still heavier. 
This lead has a length of 13 or 14 miles, hence the well-rounded condition of 
the boulders and pebbles. Liverpool Flat is about half a mile below Puzzle 
Elat, and much of the lead between the Dyo places is unworked, the reason, 
it is stated, being the quantity of water to be dealt with. At Liverpool Elat 
several holes have been bottomed, and the washdirt taken out at a profit. 
The slimes from the washdirt were worked over by Chinamen two or three 
times, and still they are profitable to treat by cyanide. This indicates the 
extremely fine subdivision of the gold. Gold occurs in the headings as high 
as 10 feet above bedrock. The conditions that exist at this lower end of the 
lead are such that the headings, sands, silts, clays (pug), &c., that occur, 
covering, up the washdirt, and also the pipeclay bottom, are well 
worth careful trials to ascertain whether there is sufficient fine gold 
present to pay for cyaniding. There are great quantities of the finer 
materials to be dealt with, if only sufficient fine gold could be proved to exist 
in them. 
Beyond Liverpool Elat the lead appears to expand, aaid in Cahill's paddock 
the workings cease. One of these shafts, which bottomed at 113 feet deep, 
is said to have vielded 3 dwt. of gold to the load, but the water was too strong 
for the appliances used. 
