THE QUARTZ-REEFS AT THE PALMER.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1940, 24 October 1874, Page 2

THE QUARTZ-REEFS AT THE PALMER.

In a recent issue we published a report, taken from the " Cooktown Herald" of 26 th October, of a monster meeting of miners and men of business, held at the Palmer, under the presidency of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brisbane, who was at the time on a tour through Northern Queensland, at which resolutions were passed, with a general intention of deprecating any further rush to the Palmer gold-field at present. One of these resolutions (the fourth) was as follows :— "That the quartz-reefs (of the Palmer) are not being worked, and cannot be worked so as to afford lucrative employment until machinery is on the ground." We now publish a report on the Palmer reefs, taken from the same paper, and it will be seen that there is a striking similarity between the present positiou of the reefing industry of the new country and its situation as it was on the Ihan^ahua shortly after the discovery of the reefs there, and when the district was at about the same stage of development the Palmer quartz fields are now. A consideration of the present condition Of the loangahua and Lyell reef districts, and the prospective value of the Palmer reefs as described by the correspondent of the " Cooktown Herald," will lead to a comparison between the two, and on the whole the Inannahua will have the best of any impartial opinion. If our northern contemporary can boast of an apparent length of fifty miles of country containing reefs to be proved to be payable in the future, we can point to at least forty miles of country as the crow flics — namely, from the head of the Big River in the Little Grey, or even from Rainy Creek, to the northern boundary of the Lyell district — which is literally studded with payable auriferous quartz. Estimates of the probable yield of golden stone before a first crushing are utterly valueless, even when made by men who have a life-long experience in such matters, therefore if the shareholders spoken of by Our contemporary's correspondent as likely to be "woefully disappointed if their stone only goes three or four ounces to the ton," do not meet with a more grievous breakdown in their great expectations, by reason of their paddocks only averaging one ounce, they will not have much reason to complain. It would take a great many drawbacks to prevent quartz yielding 4oz to a ton giving good dividends ; at all events the ownership of stone containing such a per centage of gold, has rareiy been the cause of giving rise to distressing anticipations, such a3 those troubling the miners at the Palmer. All >wing for this over-sanguine estimation of the value of the quartz at a place where not a single ton lias ever been crushed, Ihe report of our contemporary is fairly and seemingly impartially written, and we give it with confidence as containing an accurate and truthful description of the Palmer goldfield as it is. With regard to the want of machinery, it must be admited that the absence of crushing power is a serious impediment to the development of every newly discovered reefing district. The Inangahua and Palmer both suffer alike in this respect, the difference being that the former has some three years the start of the latter. Subjoined is the report which appeared in our contemporary's column* a3 a leading article. We have " opened out " the communication for the sake of convenience owing to its great length : — "In our issue of the 19th instant we published the opinions of a highly practical judge of gold-fields as to th© alluvial ground at present opened, we now give the same gentleman's views of the reefs — Having heard and read a great deal about the Palmer reefs, 1 made it my business when on the field to see as many as I could visit, and to get as much information as possible about them. There is no doubt whatever that the Palmer goldfield will be, at some future period, the largest refining district in Australia. Apparently payable reefs are to be found ever an area of at least fifty miles in length, extending from the head of Cradle Creek and the old Jessop's Gully past the left hand branch and Gregory's Gully out to the Mitchell watershed. Claims are now hems: worked on Cradle Creek, all around Gregory's Gully, at Purdie's Ca up, and I believe in one .or two places on the new rush, and those who at the present time, with rations at famine prices, and alluvial gold to be had, are content, to occupy quartz claims, show their confidence in the value of the ground they hold, as it can hardly cost less than L.IOO to hold one man's ground from this until the firs,t crushing. It is provable this calculation only has kept many persons from taking up reef claims, for there are good claims to be got on every side by any one who wants them, and if there were any certainty of getcing a crushing within any moderate time, there ought to be a rush for the reefs, as the prospects are certainly good enough to warrant it. " ONLY FOUR OUNCES. " I cannot pretend, however, to value the Palmer stone, to say how many ounces per ton each reef is likely to go. Every miner knows that there ai a two

classes of stone which are likely to deceive you — the one in which you can see little gold, but which crushes well, and sometimes gives a surprising return; and the other that white quartz, in which you can see most, if not all of the gold. Now the Palmer stone is of the latter description — a pure white stone, with no other mineral except the gold, and a very little iron pyrites or galena, aad it is jast possible that in raising the stone the miner may see all that is in it, and that in calculating that the inside of a block of stone is as good as the outside, he may be mistaken. I do not mean to insinuate any doubt of the majority of the claims now held being on payable stone, as after making every allowance for the character of the stone, I saw quite enough gold to convince me that most of the paddocks were payable, but most of the shareholders will be woefully disappointed if their stone only goas three or four ounces per ton, and yet, in my opinion, they would not be justified in reckoning on a larger yield until they have had some proof of the character of the stone by a trial crushing of twenty tons or so from the claim. g-DOLLYING. "It is advanced as a proof of the richness of those reefs, that the shareholders are able to keep themselves by dollying, but against this it miy be urged' that they do not dolly the stone as it comes, but pick the beat, and on Gympie, hundreds of ounces were frequently raised in a bucket of stone, and crushed with a mortar before machinery was on -the ground. In fact the Gympie reefs were far richer in specimens than the Palmer reefs, and the average yield of the stone cannot be determined until machinery is on the ground. There are, however, quite enough claims, whose richness is beyond dispute, to keep one machine going, if it could be got up there, and if rations could be got for the men required to work the claims. While there may be some uncertainty as to whether all the claims taken up will realise the expectations of their owners, there are four or five which show enough gold visible in the stone to satisfy anyone, . the only doubt being whether they are simply rich or very rich. I am sorry to say that, judging from present appearances, there is very little chance of any quartz-crush-ing machinery being at work within 12 M months from date. The wet season is V fast approaching, and if machinery is not on the ground before its commencement, it cannot be brought up before May „or J une next, and the high rates of carriage and difficulty of procuring rations for men employed, will prsvent anything being done at the present time. THE "CRTJSBXAL" TEST. "I am afraid that it will require a good many years lo fully develope the Palmer reefs, as until machinery is abundant on the field, the cost of carting will absorb a large proportion of the gold. I mentioned just now that there were reefs being worked on Candle. Creek and Jessop's Gully. . Well, it will not be of the slightest use to those reefers if a machine i 3 placed at Gregory's Gully, which is twenty miles away across country, nor would a machine there be available for claims at Purdie's Camp or at the New rush ; yet Gregory's Gully ia the principal reehng centre, and of course is likely to get the first machine. Even a cartage of three or four miles in that country would probably have to be paid for at the rate of one ounce per ton, so that even if the atone is moderately rich, the profits of the reefers will not be very great during the first one or two years ofworking. These are the points for consideration when you are thinking of working a reef on the Palmer. You can easily get a reef with a larger amount of gold than is reported payable on other fields, but the question i 3 whether, after allowing for the high price of living^and labor, crushing and carting, it is payable ou the Palmer. 1 think myself that a man ought to feel pretty sure of getting five ounces per ton before taking up a claim at the present time, or, after paying at Palmer prices for all the work, and hanging on for a longtime, and .through great difficulties, he might perhaps find that what would be reckoned a good crushing elsewhere, left him in debt up there. : IN" THE VISTA OF TIME. "Of the ultimate success of the district as a reefing field, I have no doubt whatever, and 1 hope sincerely that the W pioneers of the reefers may be able to hold their own until rations, carting, and crushing are as cheap as elsewhere, and then they will have made their piles. It will be very difficult with present rates of carriage, &c, to get any southern men to put machinery on the ground. The best chance would be for the Palmer miners to unite and subscribe their own money to do it. I have some hope that this may yet be done. A rich leader was found the other day afc Purdie's Gamp, and others are said to be found on the new rush. From the character of the gold got in Oakey and Stoney creeks, and their tributaries, it is very probable that leaders or reefs with extremely rich patches will be found in that locality, and if a few good specimen claims are opened, out of which the holders can crush two or three thousand pounds with a mortar as they did at Gympie, they would then probably place their own machinery on the ground. To sum up, the Palmer reefs are sufficiently rich to pay any man who can afford to take one up and hold it (for two or three years perhaps) until the good times comes, but a man who has hot got money or patience to wait had better devote himself to the alluvial for the present, as it is impossible to say when a crushing machine will be on the ground, or what cost of carting may be, and as for waiting for southern capitalists to start the work, I am' of opinion that the Palme? men will have to depend .on themselves, alone. It might perhaps be expected that the storekeepers (who have made a pretty I good thing out of diggers) would assist to put a machine on the field, but I am afraid, that the expectation would be in; vain." The use of litho-fracteur is being introduced in the Inangahua district, "The news from the Caledonian, Larry's, continues most encouraging. Stone is now being raised carrying gold more plentifully than ever, some of the specimens being quite' nuggetty. We (" Eerald," 20th Oct.) are not aware that any arrangement has been concluded with' the directors of No. 2 South to crush at their battery, but in the event of a parcel of stone being put through immediately after crashing for No. 2 is concluded it would result in scrip attaining a high figure in' the Caledonian, and beneficially affect other interests on the same line.