Art. XLVII.—On the Occurrence of Native Lead at Collingwood, and its Association with Gold.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 21, 1888, Page 367

Art. XLVII.—On the Occurrence of Native Lead at Collingwood, and its Association with Gold. By William Skey, Analyst to the Geological Survey. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 3rd October, 1888.] (Abstract.) A number of small rounded pieces of a soft malleable substance were forwarded to the Geological Survey Department by Mr. Washbourne, as lead, covered with the carbonate, and upon

some surfaces exhibiting spangles of gold. They have a great scientific interest, owing to the fact that the gold is in actual contact with the lead—often, indeed, completely surrounded by it. The quantity of this substance was too small to allow of a complete analysis being made, but so far as I have tested it the lead appears to be unalloyed with any metal whatsoever. Mr. Washbourne informs me that these plumbiferous nuggets were taken out of a “pothole” under 12ft. of solid earth and gravel. I should state that lead but rarely occurs native, and I am unable to find any record of it having been found either alloyed with gold or containing gold as a separate metal.