Getting Gold | Page 7

and
"reef" or lode gold, for that there is a difference in origin in many
occurrences, is, I think, provable. I hold, and hold strongly, that true
alluvial gold is not always derived from the disintegration of lodes or
reefs. For instance, the "Welcome Nugget" certainly never came from a
reef. No such mass of gold, or anything approaching it, has ever yet
been taken from a quartz matrix. It was found at Bakery Hill, Ballarat,
in 1858, weight 2195 ozs., and sold for 10,500 pounds. This was above
its actual value.
The "Welcome Stranger," a still larger mass of gold, was found
amongst the roots of a tree at Dunolly, Victoria, in 1869, by two
starved out "fossickers" named Deeson and Oates. The weight of this,
the largest authenticated nugget ever found was 2268 1/2 ozs., and it
was sold for 10,000 pounds, but it was rendered useless as a specimen
by the finders, who spent a night burning it to remove the adhering
quartz.
But the ordinary digger neither hopes nor expects to unearth such

treasures as these. He is content to gather together by means of
puddling machine, cradle, long tom, or even puddling tub and tin dish,
the scales, specks, dust, and occasional small nuggets ordinarily met
with in alluvial "washes."
Having sunk to the "wash," or "drift," the digger, by means of one or
more of the appliances mentioned above, proceeds to separate the gold
from the clay and gravel in which it is found. Of course in large alluvial
claims, where capital is employed, such appliances are superseded by
steam puddles, buddles, and other machinery, and sometimes mercury
is used to amalgamate the gold when very fine. Hydraulicing is the
cheapest form of alluvial mining, but can only be profitably carried out
where extensive drifts, which can be worked as quarry faces, and
unlimited water exist in the same neighbourhood. When such
conditions obtain a few grains of gold to the yard or ton will pay
handsomely.
Lode or reef mining, is a more expensive and complicated process,
requiring much skill and capital. First, let me explain what a lode really
is. The American term is "ledge," and it is not inappropriate or
inexpressive. Imagine then a ledge, or kerbstone, continuing to
unknown depths in the earth at any angle varying from perpendicular to
nearly horizontal. This kerbstone is totally distinct from the rocks
which enclose it; those on one side may be slate, on the other,
sandstone; but the lode, separated usually by a small band of soft
material known to miners as "casing," or fluccan," preserves always an
independent existence, and in many instances is practically bottomless
so far as human exploration is concerned.
There are, however, reefs or lodes which are not persistent in depth.
Sometimes the lode formation is found only in the upper and newer
strata, and cuts out when, say, the basic rocks (such as granite, etc.) are
reached. Again, there is a form of lode known among miners as a
"gash" vein. It is sometimes met with in the older crystalline slates,
particularly when the lode runs conformably with the cleavage of the
rock.
Much ignorance is displayed on the subject of lode formation and the

deposition of metals therein, even by mining men of long experience.
Many still insist that lodes, particularly those containing gold, are of
igneous origin, and point to the black and brown ferro-manganic
outcrops in confirmation. It must be admitted that often the upper
portions of a lode present a strong appearance of fire agency, but
exactly the same appearance can be caused by oxidation of iron and
manganese in water.
It may now be accepted as a proven fact that no true lode has been
formed, or its metals deposited except by aqueous action. That is to say,
the bulk of the lode and all its metalliferous contents were once held in
solution in subterranean waters, which were ejected by geysers or
simply filtered into fissures formed either by the shrinkage of the
earth's crust in process of cooling or by volcanic force.
It is not contended that the effect of the internal fires had no influence
on the formation of metalliferous veins, indeed, it is certain that they
had, but the action was what is termed hydrothermal (hot water); and
such action we may see in progress to-day in New Zealand, where hot
springs stream or spout above the surface, when the silica and lime
impregnated water, reduced in heat and released from pressure, begins
forthwith to deposit the minerals previously held in solution. Hence the
formation of the wondrous Pink and White Terrace, destroyed by
volcanic action some eight years since, which grew almost while you
watched; so rapidly was the silica deposited that a dead beetle or ti-tree
twig left