well defined, ground 350ft. by 400ft., trial crushing, 58 tons for
170oz. The Homeward Bound No. 1 South, 10 men’s ground, 500ft. by
400ft., with equally good prospects. The Waterfall Nos. 2 and 1 North on
a grand reef about 2ft. 6in. in thickness, the latter claim also shewing
a good cross line of reef dipping south into the ground of the
Waterfall, P.C., 500ft. by 400ft., one of the best claims on the field,
having a splendidly defined reef from 18in. to 2ft. in thickness running
right through the ground, which has prospected remarkably well on both
the north and south boundaries, thereby proving its permanency, and
which crushed 85 tons for 336ozs. of gold, value £3 11s. 10d. per ounce,
the highest price yet realised for any gold discovered on the field.
This claim has a shaft down 80ft. on the underlay, and they are now
putting in levels preparatory to stoping out, and to shew the estimation
in which this property is held, the land to the eastward has been
blocked off, notwithstanding that they will have to sink over 200ft. to
cut the reef, and a shaft 70ft. in depth put down, the shareholders
working night and day.
On the south boundary of the Waterfall comes No. 1, “The Ayrshire,” ten
men’s ground, belonging to a Townsville Company, land 500ft. by 400ft;
No. 2, “The Surprise,” four men’s ground, 200ft. by 400ft., also Nos. 3,
4, and 5, and then “The Pride of the Hills,” P.C., 350ft. by 400ft., and
Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Notwithstanding the change of names this is really the one line of reef
as I traced the outcrop for miles through the Homeward Bound, Waterfall,
&c., and have no hesitation in saying that it will turn out one of the
best lines discovered on the field, the reef throughout being of fair
thickness, the stone crushing well, and the gold of excellent quality.
I also visited the Ross Shire line on which several claims have been
taken up, all showing good prospects, which will, in my opinion, turn
out well as it becomes more developed, and I shall watch with interest
the returns of the trial crushing from the P.C. now going through the
mill.
Some little distance below the Ross Shire is the Upper Twelve-mile,
around which many claims are at work, of which I heard very favorable
accounts, but not having time to visit them cannot speak definitely as
to their prospects, as I intend to confine my description to those
claims which came under my own personal observation, and of which I can
speak with some degree of confidence.
On Monday, accompanied by host M‘Cabe, I went out in a southeasterly
direction, visiting the “Waratah,” which had been passed by for months
as a “Buck Reef,” but in which the fortunate prospector is now obtaining
good gold; then across to the Harp of Erin, a grand line, the trial
crushing of 96 tons from the P.C. having realised 586ozs., on which many
claims are being worked, shewing splendid prospects, and from there to
the Baal Gammon, on Gorge Creek. This reef was found in most peculiar
country on the banks of the above creek, in the midst of a bed of sand
which covers the reef for a depth of about eight feet, and shewing on
the surface very little indication of the treasure lying immediately
below.
The reef itself lies nearly as flat as a table with scarcely any dip
observable, and is worked on the paddocking system, the sand being first
cleared away, then about two feet of mullocky stone forming the hanging
wall, and the reef lies clear for working, the stone being taken out
very easily; and a large body is now lying at grass awaiting its turn to
go through the mill, which should pay a handsome dividend to the
shareholders.
From thence we proceeded across to the celebrated Croydon King line and
went down the prospecting claim to the bottom of the underlay, the claim
being systematically worked under the supervision of a practical
manager. The reef is large, well defined, and carries good stone, a
large quantity being now ready for raising, showing gold freely, and
crushings from this line have gone as high as 27ozs. to the ton.
Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 North have all opened out along the line of reef, a
lot of work having been done and some grand heaps of stone stacked ready
for the machine, whilst a lot of about 50 tons from No. 2, which went
through at the time of my visit, realised 14½ozs. per ton, another 100
tons of equal quality being ready for the stampers. No. 1 also, has over
400 tons at grass, estimated to go fully 10ozs.
This line is also blocked off from end to end, one shaft being down
about 70ft., and from all appearances will prove a very valuable
property.
I also paid a visit to “The Richmond,” lying east of the “Croydon King,”
and found it to be a grand reef about 2ft. in thickness, situate about
one-third of the way up a large bluff range and dipping easterly into
the hill, shewing splendid prospects along the face right through the
P.C. and No. 1 North, some specimens that were shewn to me being fairly
dazzling in their richness, and I should not be at all surprised to see
this line turn out almost as well as anything on the field.
The “Mountain Maid” and “Babe” lines lying parallel to each other on the
short-cut to Table-top were also visited, and although not crushing a
very high average per ton still they have a wide reef, which renders it
unnecessary to do any dead work in taking out the stone, so that they
are fairly valuable properties, and will, no doubt, improve at a depth.
I also had a look at the “Ironclad” and “Mark Twain” P.C., a crushing of
95 tons from the former realised 254ozs., and from the latter 174 tons
turned out 324ozs., the reef averaging from 2ft. to 5ft. in thickness
and going down perpendicularly, so that there is not much likelihood of
the claim being worked out in a hurry.
The “Croydon Queen” is also a main line of reef, some saying it is
identical with the Croydon King, and if such is the case it extends for
miles and must prove one of the backbones of the field, as the P.C.
crushed 200 tons for 787ozs., whilst many of the numbers also have given
good returns, causing the line to be blocked off for a considerable
distance, on which claims sinking is vigorously proceeded with. Last,
but certainly not least of the claims I visited is the “Iguana Hill,” a
splendid property judging from all appearances, situate on the border of
the township and just above the Company’s mill, to which the stone could
be conveyed at a minimum cost by means of a tramway. There is an immense
quantity of stone in sight, the shaft being down about 170 feet on the
underlay with a grand reef varying from two to five feet in thickness,
showing gold freely, the country being easily worked, which materially
reduces the cost of raising stone and makes this particular claim, from
its proximity to the mill, body of stone, and other advantages, in my
opinion, one of the most valuable mining properties in the North.
Appended are the returns of the crushings from various claims to the
date of my visit.
CROYDON GOLD RETURNS.
Complete returns of the crushings from the Croydon Reefs, from the
opening of the field to the end of August, 1887:--
CROYDON QUARTZ-CRUSHING COMPANY’S MILL.
DATE. CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
1887.
January 3 Caledonia No. 1 E. 136 630 0
14 Highland Mary 183 460 0
20 Caledonia P.C. 154 1,073 0
25 Highland Mary, No. 18 153 328 0
February 5 Sir Garnet 176 525 0
12 Lady Mary P.C. 164 824 0
15 Harp of Erin P.C. 96 586 19
22 Come at Last 140 98 8
March 11 Iguana Hill P.C. 254 685 8
April 1 Alice 360 484 17
5 Better Luck P.C. 46 160 0
6 Day Dawn 30½ 51 0
9 Iguana Hill, No. 1 E. 65 196 16
13 Croydon Queen, No. 9 S. 44 56 6
15 Highland Mary, No. 1 N. 69 105 0
20 Burns’ Croydon Queen 15 61 19
25 Lady Mary (surface) 33 47 19
28 Miners’ Right, No. 1 21½ 29 3
29 Highland Mary, No 2 S. 211 831 5
May 6 Better Luck, No. 1 E. 55 55 18
10 Little Wonder 11 14 0
10 Lady Norah 12 37 1
13 Lady Mary, No. 1 201 1,180 0
13 Salamander 40 31 0
23 Frost’s Claim, Springs 19 28 0
27 Sir Garnet 150 348 18
28 Just in Time, No. 1 E. 63 112 14
28 Alice, No. 2 S. 10 16 11
29 Post Hole 36 227 17
June 8 Black Snake 40 190 0
8 Miners’ Right P.C. 30 38 8
10 Croydon Queen P.C. 200 787 3
11 Alice, No. 1 N. 25 45 3
17 Nancy Lee P.C. 30 28 3
21 Lady Mary, No. 1 S. 25 27 19
23 Post Hole 6½ 8 5
26 Lady Mary P.C. 279 535 1
28 Banner of Freedom,
No. 1 S. 24 22 7
July 14 Chance P.C. 45 131 5
15 Just in Time. No. 1 W. 62 61 17
16 Morgan’s (surface) 10 21 0
--------- ------ ----
Total 3,724½ 11,183 10
Average--3oz. 0dwt. 1½gr.
BIBBY’S MACHINE.
DATE. CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
1886
December 9 Mountain Maid P.C. 187 245 0
1887
January 3 Mountain Maid No. 1 S. 74 169 0
7 Sovereign P.C. 58 214 7
12 Stephen’s (surface) 16 62 17
18 Alice No. 1 (surface) 121 140 19
24 Pride of the Hills 78 93 5
28 Post Hole 42 547 14
February 8 Iron Duke, P.C. 122 253 9
17 Croydon Queen No. 2 S. 98 666 4
24 Mountain Maid No. 1 N. 107 177 12
March 9 Phœnix P.C. 54 106 5
9 True Blue P.C. 53 77 5
April 25 Homeward Bound No.
1 and 2 S. 95 262 9
May 3 Sir Walter, P.C. 100 673 5
8 Waterfall, P. C. 85 335 15
17 Sir Patrick, P. C. 56 75 0
17 True Blue No. 1 S. 54 136 0
18 Caledonia (surface) 9 26 12
23 Rainbow No. 3 8 5 5
23 Haythorn’s (surface) 14 13 0
24 Chance, P.C. 28 28 0
27 Homeward Bound, P.C. 58 171 0
June 3 Rainbow No. 1 N. 104 101 1
9 Lady Catherine, P.C. 87 52 2
20 Banner of Freedom, P.C. 137 122 17
22 Babe, P.C. 96 102 7
25 Mountain Maid No. 3 N. 86 68 13
July 2 President, P.C. 44 62 17
2 Sunset, P.C. 162 125 0
30 Babe No. 2 S. 16 18 16
30 Babe No. 1 S. 55 55 5
August 8 Mountain Maid No. 5 N. 115 156 5
20 Golden Gate P.C. 214 183 16
----- ----- ----
Total 2,633 5,529 2
Average--2oz. 2dwt.
BYCE’S MACHINE.
DATE. CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
1887.
July 1 Croydon King (surface) 12 25 0
6 Croydon King (Pogg’s
surface) 24 240 0
10 Just-in-Time, P.C. 104 228 0
25 Sovereign No. 1 W. 74 628 0
August 5 Glengarry 156 437 0
20 Croydon King No. 2 N. 54 758 12
Blankstongs from
Croydon Queen P.C. 6 30 0
---- ----- ----
Total 430 2,346 12
Average--5oz. 9dwt. 3gr.
SPENT’S MACHINE.
DATE. CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
1887.
April 7 Dan’s P.A. 6 39 10
May Queen 15½ 34 8
Harp of Erin No. 1 14 17 14
Whorman’s P.A. 6½ 14 8
Rivers’ P.A. 11½ 18 14
Highland Mary (surface) 300 268 10
Mark Twain P.C. 174 327 0
Kregg’s P.A. 6 12 10
Cooper’s P.A. 36 77 0
Dan’s P.A. 37 32 0
Break of Day 22½ 81 10
Emperor P.C. 22½ 81 10
Foultons P.A. 15 13 0
Ironclad, P.C. 95 254 0
Mark Twain No. 1 N. 24½ 26 9
Dan’s P.A. 22 9 10
Babe No. 1 N. 80 71 0
Woldts P.A. 3 6 0
Kelmers 13 27 0
Problem P.C. 108 300 0
Taylors P.A. 6 3 5
Golden Gate No. 1 N. 80 85 0
London P.C. 22 24 0
Wards P.A. 13 49 0
----- ----- ---
Total 1,133 1,872 9
Average--1oz. 13dwt.
CROYDON STONE CRUSHED AT GEORGE TOWN.
DATE. CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
Baal Gammon 18.15 238 2
Croydon King (surface) 6.10 25 17
Croydon King 2 0 32 8
Croydon King No. 2 N. 10 0 165 0
Golden Gate P.C. 8 0 34 9
Croydon King No. 3 N. 41 0 731 19
Croydon King P.C. 10 0 276 0
Croydon King No. 1 N. 10 0 245 0
----- ----- ---
Total 99.5 1,781 15
Average--17oz. 15dwt.
CRUSHED AT CHARTERS TOWERS.
CLAIM. YIELD.
TONS. OZS. DWT.
Croydon P.C. 8 33 0
GRAND TOTAL.
STONE. YIELD. AVERAGE.
TONS CWT. OZ. DWT. OZ. DWT. GR.
8,019 15 23,713 8 2 16 15
ASSAYED VALUE PER OUNCE OF GOLD FROM VARIOUS CLAIMS.
Highland Mary, No. 1 S. £2 11 4
Lady Mary, P.C. 2 10 10
Miners’ Right, No. 1 N. 2 0 10
Post Hole 2 5 8
Highland May, No. 2 S. 2 15 11
Better Luck, No. 1 E. 2 19 2
Little Wonder 2 12 7
Lady Norah 3 1 11
Lady Mary No. 1 2 12 6
Salamander 2 18 6
Sir Garnet 2 11 5
Just-in-Time, No. 2 E. 2 13 4
Croydon Queen P.C. 2 14 7
Black Snake 0 14 5
Miners’ Right, P.C. 1 13 2
Lady Mary No. 1 S. (surface) 2 12 5
Nancy Lee, P.C. 2 18 6
Banner of Freedom 2 18 1
Chance, P.C. 2 19 7
Homeward Bound, No. 1 N. 3 6 10
Sir Walter 2 11 0
Waterfall, P.C. 3 11 10
Mark Twain, P.C. 3 5 0
True Blue, No. 1 S. 3 2 4
St. Patrick 3 4 4
Homeward Bound, P.C. 3 4 4
Mountain Maid 3 2 0
Babe No. 2 S. 3 4 1
Babe No. 1 S. 3 6 11
Croydon Queen, No. 2 1 19 2
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