Alexandra Times at KellyGang 2/6/1868 (6)
Along the line of the original prospecting claim the ground is being thoroughly worked, and there is still a considerable amount of gold being obtained. There are at present upwards of 300 men along this line. At right angles to the Palestine lead there are Paddy's Gully, Scotchman's Gully, and several others in which excellent prospects have been obtained from the surface to the bed rock; but at present the water is scarce, and the miners are busy making dams and erecting puddling machines. Upwards of twenty of such machines are now completed.
The miners are very sanguine as to the future prospects of the locality, and it is fully expected that as soon as there is a supply of water, the yield of gold from these gullies alone will be equal to that of the palmiest days of Ghin Ghin. The Palestine Creek is being worked for a distance of a mile and a-half. At the top of the creek the lead disappears, and at the bottom of the creek it has been followed into a swamp, where from the abundance of water it becomes unworkable. There are numerous creeks of similar aspect in the neighbourhood, which, however, have been very indifferently prospected. The impression is that there is yet a large quantity of payable alluvial ground around Chin Ghin, that will ere long give employment to a large population.
Several important quartz reefs have been lately discovered within a quarter or half-a-mile of Ghin Ghin township, and from the prospects already obtained they promise to become of considerable importance. A trial crushing of five tons from the City of Melbourne prospecting claim yielded 3 ozs. I dwt. to the ton. The reef in this claim was followed from the surface to a depth of thirty feet. Another shaft at a distance of fifty feet was sunk in which the reef was cut at a depth of sixty-four feet; a third shaft at a further distance of thirty yards has also been sunk, striking the reef at ninety feet.
The trial crushing, as above stated, was taken equally from those three shafts, and this may be considered a fair average of the roof, which is at present fourteen inches thick. A distinct parallel reef has been ? ? claim, from which, good ? prospects have been obtained.
From the Providence Reef, a quarter of a mile distant from the City of Melbourne Reef, twenty tons of stone have been raised, and will be crushed in a few days. The quartz is hard and white, but shows gold in the solid. Adjoining this claim are situated the Iron Duke, the Queen, the James I, the Elizabeth, and the Edinburgh claims, in which shafts are now being put down. The St. Patrick Reef is again at work, and shows good stone.
The reefing interest in this place is suffering greatly from the want of a crushing machine, the cartage to the nearest machine, which is at Yea, being £l per ton; adding to this 18s. per ton for carting the stone, the expense becomes so great as to prevent the proper testing of many of the claims now opened-besides during the winter months the road to Yea will be quite impassable, as the Goulburn River must be twice crossed. Parties who make it their business to erect machinery, might find it to their advantage to visit Ghin Ghin, as there appears to be an excellent opening for the erection of a plant of crushing machinery at that place.
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