Book Description

Excerpt from Geological Survey of the Cargo Gold-Field Owing to the lengthy period which has elapsed since mining operations, of an important nature, have been conducted at Cargo, the underground workings were not accessible during the geological examination of this field in December, 1913. For this reason the value of the present report is considerably limited, inasmuch as, in the absence of knowledge gained by a study of the geological features as exposed in the mining excavations, it has been based, necessarily, upon a geological examination of the surface, of small surface openings, and of spoil heaps, as also upon a knowledge of the literature dealing with the field from 1870 to the present, and upon records of operations supplied by Messrs. John McMahon and M.Hennessy, of Cargo. From a careful study of all the available lines of evidence, it would appear that the failure of mining in this district, up to the present, has lain, not so much in the absence of gold itself from the reefs, as in, first, the narrowness of and lack of definiteness in the gold-bearing channels themselves; second, the patchy nature of the pay ore; and third, the difficulty experienced in treating the sulphides with which the gold is intimately associated below the oxidised zone. Communication with Sydney is maintained partly by rail and partly by road, the distance from Sydney to Orange by rail being about 195 miles, and thence to Cargo by road, being 23 1/2 miles. The road is very hilly, a rise of 1,000 feet being experienced in the first 8 miles from Cargo towards the Orange plateau; nevertheless the surface is hard and fairly even. History.- Access has not been had to the literature dealing with the discovery of the field, and passing references only are made to the field itself in both the "Industrial Progress" of New South Wales for the year 1870, and the Parliamentary Papers of 1873-4. An interesting and instructive article, however, by Mr. Mining Registrar Hutton, dealing with Cargo, appears in Mines and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales for 1875, and in the general absence of other valuable and authoritative statements with respect to the field prior to 1875, it has been deemed advisable to reproduce, herewith, the Registrar's note in full, as being an epitome of the early history of the district: - "The most prominent feature of the Cargo Gold-field is the Ironclad Range, which is of considerable height, about 600 feet, and runs nearly south-south-east and north-north-west. This range seems to have been the feeder of the gold-field, as on it all the principal reefs are situated, and in nearly all the ravines leading therefrom gold in payable quantities has been found." "The gullies on the eastern side which have been worked with good results are as follows: - First, Long Gully, which was the first place rushed on this field, and which supported a mining population of from 100 to 500 miners for nearly two years. The next on the same side of the range is Township Gully, which was opened about the same time as Long Gully; it was also highly remunerative, one of the leads running down the centre of Cargo-street. The next was Graveyard Gully, which paid well for working." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com