WAIHI GOLD AREA.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 103, 3 May 1929, Page 8

WAIHI GOLD AREA.

HISTORY AND POSSIBILITIES. MAYOR'S APPEAL TO MINISTER. Figures quoted by the Mayor of Waihi, Mr. W. M. Wallnutt, recently gave the Minister of Mines, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, a clear idea of what the Waihi mine has meant, and still means, to the Waihi town and district. Mr. Wallnutt said the Waihi Mine had now been worked for some 40 years. It had employed from 500 to 1000 men, to whom wages totalling about £7,000,000, had been paid. At the present time it was paying £150,000 in wages, annually, and the total tonnage of ore produced was 7,400,000, and the gold yielded was worth some £10,000,000. Its early history showed that the mine had been condemned by "experts," said Mr. Wallnutt. It was now a' mine of 15 levels, was 1900 ft deep ai\d contained in all 19 lodes. The Waihi Gold Mining Company, said Mr. Wallnutt, was directly responsible for the birth of Waihi, and had a great deal to do with the prosperity of Paeroa. It had introduced population into waste places of the district, with the result that they had some 50,000 acres of promising farm lands, adding to the wealth of the country. A curious feature of the Waihi goldfield was its isolation. Between three and four miles to the west there was a belt of country about 25 miles long, extending from Maratoto in the north to Waiorongomai in the south, along which there was a great number of gold-bear-ing areas, notably Maratoto, Komata, Waitekauri, Owharoa, Karangahake and Waiorongomai. What were they, to think? Was the Martha Hill an island off the coast of Waitekauri, or were there other Martha hills buried under great accumulations of more recent volcanic matter? No person could begin to comprehend the wonderful possibilities of the geological occurrence during thousands of years. When No. 4 shaft was being sunk in the Waihi Mine many flatly-dipping seams were met with, containing carbonaceous matter, indicating surface conditions of great age, and this at a depth of 1000 feet below sea level —a wonderful diecove ry. "The question is," said Mr. Wallnutt, "are we to rest satisfied that the vVaihi Mine is the only gold-bearing centre, or should we look for others? Mining men may differ, but an effort should also be made to prove whether there is an extension of the Edward lode going south, and an extension of the Martha lode going north-east." He suggested that the whole problem would be a proper one for the best geological and mining brains of the Dominion. If the Minister would initiate this movement, he would be doing a big thing. The potentialities, which were very great, might have far-reaching effects, contributing to the benefit of the whole district, and possibly opening up a wonderful vista of prosperity and industry.