I look upon Abosu as an eastern outlier of the greater Takwa ridge. But
although the hill preserves the normal direction the reef lies almost at
right angles to it, crossing the upper end and striking from north 40?
west to south 40? east. I am unable to divine what caused this curious
dislocation. The gold matrix is still the Takwa gneiss, rarely showing
visible metal. Possibly the present diggings have struck only a large
branch or a break.
Here mining-operations have been extensive, and about 1,800 tons of rich
stuff have already been brought to bank. The diggings begin with an open
cut of 110 feet; this leads to a tunnel in the rock partly timbered, by
which the lode with a dip of 41? is bisected. Eastward from the tunnel a
gallery has been driven 147 feet along the vein, and westwards there is a
similar passage of 202 feet. About 140 feet on either side of the tunnel
two rises, one 16, the other 12 feet long, are being driven up the slope
of the reef. On the hill-side above the tunnel a shaft 80 feet deep has
been sunk, but it has not struck the vein: for some peculiar reason the
bottom is made broader than the top; and the mining-captain has a shrewd
idea that, like the native pits of similar form, it may end by 'caving
in.
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