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Abstract

From 1875 to 1877 Mr. Thureau held a position as Lecturer at the Bendigo (Victoria) School of Mines, of
"Geology as applied to Mining," Mineralogy; also practical
Mining, the Administrative Council of that institution
arranged during each winter for a series of public lectures on Popular Science, and at such he elaborated a series of lectures
upon the hydrothermal origin of the famous Bendigo Quartz
Reefs. He was subsequently elected,
upon unsolicited nominations and recommendations, as a
Fellow of the Geological Society of London, which honourable position he still holds and treasures.
The discovery of silver in the ash or mud, adds, for the
first time, this metal to the list of elementary substances
observed in the materials ejected from volcanoes, and the
addition derived some special interest from the fact of this
ash having come from the greatest volcanic (active) vents of
that great "argentiferous" zone of the Andes. Small as
would be the proportion of silver, it must represent a very
large quantity of that metal ejected during the eruption, in
view of the vast masses of volcanic ash, etc., distributed over
the large area which is indicated by the fall of argentiferous
ashes at a distance of 102 miles from the central crater to
Bahia de Caraguez.
Mr. Thureau states that, if silver, lead, iron, manganese, titanium, chlorium,
mercury and other less important metals occur in volcanic
ash or mud shown by frequent analyses, as derived,
inter alia from the immensely rich argentiferous formations
which that gigantic "vent" cotopaxi protrudes; a similar
occurrence here on a smaller scale, within a well-known
"auriferous zone" is not only feasible, but can be, or is now,
demonstrated to be a fact. The only, and to us most valuable
difference, is, that the South America ejecta expelled the
silver in its ashes, whilst, with our "Iron Blow" the ash or "mud" is still retained within the "dead" vent or closed
fissure, and happily for the colony at large, it is comeatable,
and it can be extracted by future systematic mining operations,
followed by skilful treatment for the rich gold it is reported
same contains.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Thureau, G
Keywords:	Royal Society of Tasmania, Van Diemens Land, VDL, Hobart Town, natural sciences, proceedings, records
Journal or Publication Title:	Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Collections:	Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Additional Information:	In 1843 the Horticultural and Botanical Society of Van Diemen's Land was founded and became the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science in 1844. In 1855 its name changed to Royal Society of Tasmania for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science. In 1911 the name was shortened to Royal Society of Tasmania.
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