GODFREY'S CREEK, VICTORIA.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 540, 3 July 1869, Page 4

GODFREY'S CREEK, VICTORIA.

(From the Age. ) The Minister of Mines has received the following report from Mr Couchman, Chief Mining Surveyor : — " In accordance with your instruction? I have the honor to submit the following remarks relative to 'try recent inspection of the new gold field at Godfrey's Creek. Godfrey's Creek is a branch feeder of the Home Creek, which empties itself into the Goulburn River about one mile east of Sloane's Punt, on the road from Yea to Alexandra. The Home Creek trends east of north about five miles from its mouth to the junction of Godfrey's Creek, and the latter bears west of north about six miles to the site of the new discovery The diggings are distant from Sloane's Punt northerly about twelve miles ; from Alexandra north-westerly, about fifteen miles ; and from Mertou, a township on the Longwood and Wood's Poiut road , ! south-westerly about seven miles, The Home and Godfrey's Creek main valleys are from half to one mile in width, they are flanked by rounded grassy hill spurs from one hundred to three hundred feet in height, generally lightly timbered, and running back with steep slopes to the main ranges, which are from seven hundred to one thousand feet in elevation A peculiar feature of Godfrey's Creek is that the lowest valley bed bordering the existing creek is generally confined in width, and is skirted by terraces of drift from ten to twenty feet higher, and that the west side of the main valley has been denuded by the drainage from side tributaries into a succession of low ridges and channels of drift, probably of the pliocene age. The country is of the upper silurian formation. It is much more open than is usual where the Bilurian rocks prevailj and it contains a larger area of land adapted for cultivation. " The township at Godfrey's Creek is situated on the western baae of -.some hi

spurs in the midst of the diggings. The . buildings are of the usual rough kind seen lon all new rushes. They are constructed principally of slabs, shingles and bark ; t the latter especially has been largely used both for sides and roofing. The population of the gold field may be estimated at about four hundred. The gold workings at present developed are situated in or near a tributary gully and one of its branches on the eastern side of Godfrey's Creek. Mr Pennington, the discoverer of the Chin Chin gold field, is said to have been also the first to discover gold here. The first workings are comparatively shallow, and are confined to narrow runs of gold heading from a branch gully, named Stockade Gully, in dry sinking, from fifteen to thirty feet deep. Some distance down this branch has received a short auriferous feeder from the range on its western side, named Nuggety Gully, and at the point of junction the sinking deepens from fifty to seventy feet, and is still dry. The run of gold then follows down to the foot of Stockade Gully, which is in the form of a terrace some fifteen or twenty feet above the main gully. After entering the latter, the run has received the name of the Eureka Lead, and it is here the prospectors' claim is situated. A short distance down this lead the present workings terminate at Golden Point. The outlet into the main valley of Godfrey's Creek is shallow and comparatively poor ground. The whole length of these runs or leads of auriferous drift is about one mile from end to end. In addition to the above, a later discovery has been made of a distinct and apparently more important run of gold named the Working Miners' Lead, in the same main gully, but commencing at a point some distance above the Eureka. This ground has been taken up as a deep lead in claims of large size, allowed under the Beechworth Mining Board by-laws. At the time of my visit the following companies had bottomed their shafts on this lead at depths varying from eighty-five to one hundred feet from the surface : — The Golconda, holding eight men's ground, or seven hundred and twenty feet along the course of the lead ; the Never Can Tell, four hundred and fifty feet ; the Golden Gate, seven hundred and twenty feet ; the Working Miners' one thousand five hundred and thirty feet ; the Ballarat Star, seven hundred and twenty feet ; the Sons of Freedom, seven hundred and twenty feet ; and the Cosmopolitan one thousand four hundred and forty feet. The claims of the seven companies adjoin each other in the order I have named, and they extend over a length of about one and a quarter miles of the lead. The line of the shafts commences at. the upper end, in or near the bed of the gully, and from thence runs on to a terrace of drift some distance from its eastern edge, and about fifteen feet above it (the buildings of the township lie between the shafts on this terrace and the Eureka Lead in the gully), and the line terminates at the last shaft in the main valley of Godfrey's Creek, a little below Golden Point. It is said that two runs of gold have been found in the lead lying side by side, separated only by a nanow bank of reef about twenty feet wide, the one on the eastern side, named the Red Streak, and the other the White Streak, from the different colors of the washdirt. Excepting the Cosmopolitan, each company has driven across the course of the lead from eightysix to one hundred feet, but in no instance is it said has the width of the auriferous drift yet been determined. The thickness of the washdirt varies from one foot to two feet six inches, and the yield in the upper claims is said to be about one ounce to the load, decreasing as the claims extend down the lead to about seven or eight pennyweights to the load. I had no means of personally verifying the actual yields, but my information from the mining managers was checked in several instances by persons who lately worked or partly owned some of the claims, but who have now no money interest in them. In speaking of the character of the sinking, I may observe that the rock formations in the locality are composed almost exclusively of very argillaceous shales, and the drifts in the valleys of stiff retentive ferruginous clays, generally of red or red and white color. There is a remarkable absence of sandy or shingle water-bearing drifts in the whole of the shafts that have yet been bottomed on the gold field. On the Working Miners' (dry) Lead, in the two shafts at the hryer end, water was found about twelve feet from the surface, but by puddling the backing they were sunk with little or no difficulty. In the other shafts ou the same lead, the sinking ' has been through retentive clay down to the washdirt, or immediately above it ; the lower stratum consisting of clay, with ! broken shale, and a little quartz, and this j appears to be the only important waterbearing drift. At one or two of the shafts baling is effected by means of the windlass, and in each of the others by a horsewhip and hide bucket, containing about fifty gallons. The wettest claims on the Working Miners' lead are at the upper end, where the time occupied in baling out the wells is about eight hours in twenty-four ; towards the lower end the water gradually decreases in volume, owing, no doubt, to the draining operations above ; and the time occupied in baling is only about five hours in the twenty-four. The whole of the claims on the gold field have hitherto been worked by manual labor, or by manual labor and horse power combined, and although the employment of light machinery may be advantageous in pumping and raising washdirt on the larger claims, and in puddling it, it is certain that no mining difficulty need be experienced in working out any of the areas at present tested, and shafts may anywhere be readily sunk. As the result of my observations I am of opinion that the above remarks will apply generally to the vicinity of the gold field, and that no unusual mining difficulty will be met with either on account of the depth of the sinking or the flow of water in the drifts. "With regard to the prospects of the gold field, I may remark that the alluvial gold hitherto found appears- to have been derived from auriferous veins, and strings of quartz in the immediate vicinity of the workings, It is finally very nuggety, and but little waterworn, and the leads or gullies appear to fall off in the yields as they are traced downwards. Like other parts of the same district there is very little quartz detritus to be seen anywhere, and I do not therefore think that the quartz veins can be very numerously distributed over the country. It is most likely that they lie in particular belts, and that where these belts occur, patches and isolated leads of payable gold deposits will be found ; and that of the-existing

quartz veins many will prove to be highly auriferous. Prospecting operations have not yet been very much extended in the neighborhood, but I am informed that some valuable quartz veins have been discovered at wide distances apart, and that some important discoveries of alluvial gold are likely to be made at Middle Creek, about two and a half miles distant from the Godfrey's Creek diggings. Owing to the easy nature of the mining operations, the introduction of capital into the district will no doubt rapidly determine its value as a gold field."