Gemencheh (District of Johol) Negri Sembilan
This is a brief geological note by L.C. Isnard, a French civil mining engineer, describing the gold-bearing geology of the Gemencheh district in Negri Sembilan and its place within a larger auriferous uplift traversing the Malayan peninsula (p. 167).
Summary
Isnard traces a single gold-bearing geological uplift running from the Malacca colony through Gemencheh, the Muar and Serting river valleys, and into Pahang, arguing that the peninsula’s gold deposits are not confined to one state but span three (p. 168). He documents specific workings at Chendras, where Malay miners had sunk 150-foot shafts without tools or pumps, and at Ulu Gedoh, where a syndicate’s shallow excavations showed increasing gold richness with depth (pp. 169–170). He distinguishes two vein systems—an older E–W set and a younger N–S set crossing at near right angles—and attributes the alluvial gold to the disintegration of the more decomposed E–W veins (p. 169). The note closes with a call for government road investment and for future mining companies to undertake serious prospecting, which he believes will reveal riches the peninsula has not yet seen (p. 170).