GOLD ON ISLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 257, 31 October 1933, Page 5

GOLD ON ISLAND.

MOUNTAIN OF QUARTZ OLD PROSPECTOR'S FIND. NEW ZEAIANDER'S INTEREST. On an island off the coast of New Guinea, an old prospector, who has been in that part of the world for over twentyyears, discovered great quantities of gold-bearing quartz. Owing to lack of capital he was unable to work the ground, but a New Zealander who became interested has now made this possible. The New Zealander is Mr. J. W. Thomson, who returned to Wellington veeterday by the Maunganui after a visit to Sydney in connection with tne claim.

Mr. Thomson told a "Post" representative that the island, which is called Misima, is 150 miles from Samarai, New Guinea. It is twenty-one miles long and nine miles wide. There are huge quartz deposits on the island, he stated, and three other men—one his brother, who had spent nine months altogether on the island—besides the old prospector and himself, had shares in the mining leases taken out. The partners had acquired what might be called a mountain of quartz, all of which contained gold and was workable. The field for the most part was covered with virgin jungle, but there were open quarries containing between 300,000 and 400,000 tons of ore available for crushing. This ore assayed an average value of six pennyweights. Twenty large bags of samples—about Bcwt altogether—Bad been assayed as payable by the Otago School of Mines. There were other claims in the vicinity, and one was paying regularly every month a dividend of 1/6 per £ share. There were thirty Europeans on the island, and about 2500 blacks, said Mr. Thomson. Native labour was used to work the claims.