[CHAPTER II]
[GOLD PROSPECTING]
Ignorance of prospectors—Chapter specially addressed to the inexperienced—Valuable finds mostly accidents—Best way to obtain elementary knowledge—An assaying experience—What a prospector should know—Usual geological conditions of most minerals—Unwise to follow theories blindly—Instances of unlikely occurrences of gold—Importance of examining outcrops—Curious matrices for gold—Alluvial and reef gold—Hints to prospectors—Prospecting for alluvial gold—Tin dish—Dry blowing—Size of prospecting shaft—Intricacy of deep leads—How to recognise true bottom—Gold bearing “gutters”—Difference in working shallow and wet ground.
pp. 13-21
[CHAPTER III]
[LODE OR REEF PROSPECTING]
Likeliest localities for reefs—Similarity of indications of minerals—Where first prospecting is done—A practical example—Ironstone “blows”—Their true origin—Igneous theory untenable—Usual trend of lodes in Australia—Exceptions to the rule—Instances of rich deposits apart from lodes—Sinuosity of lodes—How to trace lodes demonstrated—Examine all indications—How to recognise gold, silver, copper, tin—How to ascertain their value—Caution in sinking—Where to prospect in case of parallel lodes—Usual underlie in Australia—Size of prospecting shaft—Tip for mullock—How to distinguish gold from pyrites or mica—Estimating value from prospect—How to pan—An amalgamating assay method—Author’s device when antimony present—Battery, best test—Silver and tin indications—Lode tin, stream tin, difficulty of recognising tin—Lode tin always near granite—Minerals often mistaken for tin—How to discriminate—Tin in Westralia.
pp. 22-33