STREETS OF GOLD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 252, 16 June 1932, Page 6

STREETS OF GOLD

CITY'S FOUNDATION ROCK FORMATION OF TYPE WHICH HAS YIELDED THE METAL SOME PROMISING SPECIMENS At one time there were people in other lands who were prepared to believe that the streets of Melbourne were paved with gold. Nobody would listen to such a story nowadays, but at least it is true that Melbourne is built on a rock formation of type which elsewhere has yielded gold in plenty. Indeed, it has been proved that the gold-bearing formation extends from Templestowe, through Studley Park, Collingwood, Richmond, and Prahran, to the Esplanade at St. Kilda. At various points along the route promising colours and specimens have been obtained. llad it not been for the fact that the area was closely settled at a comparatively early date, it is within the bounds of possibility that a busy field might have been established. This is by no means strange when one remembers that from its most easterly sources in the Baw Baw ranges to the coast, the land adjoining the Yarra River has been found to be auriferous, and the sands of every- tributary have yielded gold. Right through Warrandyte, Warburton, McMahon's, McVeigh's, and on to Wood's Point there have been notable gold-fields. Among the tributaries of the Yarra one need only mention such places as Queenstown and Diamond Creek, in the Plenty Ranges, and the Emerald Goldfield, on Woori Yalloek Creek, which was a hive of industry in 1859. As far back as 1862. Mr. Brough Smyth, _ who was a great authority on gold-mining, declared that it was undoubted that every tide washed a small quanity of gold from the Yarra River into liobson's Bay. That he was not alone in his belief in the auriferous nature of the country is proved by the numerous attempts which have been made to work the bed of the river. Gold-bearing Lead In the early sixties Mr. C. F. Nichols who had had an extensive experience of mining, particularly at Ballarat, directed attention to the nature of the bed of the Yarra near Richmond, and suggested that it was frobable that a gold-bearing lead would be found in the neighbourhood. This statement aroused a great deal of interest. Commenting on the subject, Brough Smyth says:— "All the available lands in the valley were applied for under leasing regulations, and a shaft was sunk at considerable expense. Nothing definite, however, was ascertained, though at a critical period in the affairs of the company gold was found in the bottom of the shaft." There was, however; reason to doubt the origin of the "find," for Brough Smyth says.— -"In the sample shown to me I noticed a fine crystal with the edges scarcely worn and a ragged piece which had been cut with a sharp instrument. No doubt the sample was washed from dirt taken from the shaft; but the sample I saw was remarkable!" Writing in the Ballarat "Star" of February 23, 1862, and again on May 29, 1862, Mr. C. F. Nicholls said that he had eonfirmed his opinion of the auriferous nature of the country by finding a coarse speck of gold in the gravel on the high ground at Studley Park and by an examination of the bedrock or slate reefs forming the south bank of the Yarra and the reef cropping out on the edge of the basaltic flat on the opposite side of the river. His opinion that there were deep leads near Melbourne received further corroboration from an accidental examination of a cutting on the south side of the Chapel street bridge. Mr. Nicholls ascertained that the bluestone (basaltic rock) has been quarried to a depth of about 30 feet without showing any indication of giving out. No Mere Hypothesis The contention that gold is obtain•able beneath Melbourne does not, however, depend on mere hypothesis. There are numerous well-authenticat-ed reports of the discovery of gold in various parts of the metropolis. In the 'sixties, gold was found in the alluvial drifts of North Melbourne, at Flagstaff Hill; in a sawpit at Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne), at St. Kilda, on the footpath "in Hoddle Street, in gravel brought from Studley Park, at the Greville Street (now Prahran) railway station, at Chambers' foundry, at Prahran; on Batman's Hill, on Richmond Hill, and near the Hawthorn railway cutting. When sinking the cellar at Mr. Hancock's house, at Hawthorn, a workman found gold. The same man also found gold when cutting a drain on Colonel Anderson's land, on the opposite side of the river. The gold from Hancock's cellar was found in soft white pipeclay, and in seams or pockets in the usual bed of slate rock. It was coarse and heavy, and it weighed 3dwt or 4dwt, being sojrl to Mr. Davies, a gold broker, in Elizabeth Street. About the same time a shaft was sunk on the basaltic flats at Collingwood, and bottomed at 130ft on a greenish slate reef similar to the gravel pits slate reef at Ballarat. In every one of nine dishes washes, gold was found. The subsequent history of the mine at Collingwood, however, is lost in the mists of obscurity. The most notable discovery on the outskirts of the city was made at Templestowe, in 1864. About a mile west of the township a quartz reef 2ft thick was found at a depth of 160ft. This yielded as much as 30oz to the ton, but after considerable work the lead was lost, and it has never been found. The auriferous portions of this reef also contained antimony. Farther west near Koonung Creek at Booroondarra, on the south side of the Yarra, P. H. Smith procured gold from a reef 2ft wide. This yield was up to loz to the ton, but in this place also the lead was lost. Proved Beyond Doubt That gold lies even in the heart of the city has been proved beyond doubt. Some 30 years ago, when the foundations were being excavated for Craig, Williamson's building near the Flinders Street corner of Elizabeth Street, a small quantity was discovered. Another discovery was made aoout the same time in the Jolimont railway cutting. Iii 1851 a girl picked up a 3oz slug in Swanston Street, but it is possible that it had been lost by some digger celebrating his success on the goldfields. Five years ago a sensation was occasioned by the finding of gold beneath the wreckage of an old building which was being de-

• molished at Fitzroy. Many claims were pegged out, but the "rush' came to a sudden end when mining experts declared that the gold was merely from a dentist's surgery which had been situated in the building for many years. In 1894,- also the Mines Department investigated reports of discoveries at Moonee Ponds, at Blackburn, and in Merri Creek, near the Pentridge Stockade. The reports of the official inspectors were, however, distinctly sceptical in tone„ Other cpntres where gold has been found are Ringwood, Croydon, and Balwyn. Experienced miners have often cast longing eyes on the dyke which outcrops at Alexandra Avenue and traverses the bed of the Yarra, but there is no record to show that this promising formation was ever tested. A similar dyke exists at St. Kilda Junction, running beneath the Junction Hotel. Expert investigation has shown that the site on which the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club's building stands at St. Kilda bears promising indications of the presence of gold. Gold-seekers, however, are advised not to attempt to turn Melbourne upside down. It has been established by eomprehjensiv'e geological investigation that if gold does exist beneath Melbourne it will be found in payable quantities only in deep leads, and even that is problematical. T1 ere is however, something provoking in th. thought of evil times, vyet built on a foundation of gold reefs. n °