HIDDEN GOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 21, 25 January 1934, Page 8

HIDDEN GOLD.

POSSIBLE WEALTH.

ACTION BY GOVERNMENT. ROAD OUT OF WORRIES ? (By Telegraph.—Special to " Star.") IX VERCARGILL, this day. Further gold developments of an outstanding nature are likely to take place on Otago and Southland gold-bearing country. Within the last few days an area of about eight miles in length has been exempted from the operation of the Mining Act, because a promising goldfield is believed to exist under the land, and it is intended to prove it before making it available for. mining. It is also understood that another lead has been discovered running across Cromwell Flat, to which there was a rush last winter, when the Bell-Hooper and Bell-Kilgour parties made spectacular strikes.

During his tour of the goldfields of Central Otago, from which gold worth £30,000,000 was won in the early days, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, saw the latest developments, and had explained to him by Dr. E. Marsden, the Director of Scientific and Industrial Research, the methods,employed for detecting gold-bearing wash. The Prime Minister was greatly impressed with the potentialities of golil mining as a means of assisting NewZealawl through its present difficulties, and has publicly acknowledged the value of the application of science to assist the practical knowledge of the miner. Two Old River Beds.

When the Bell-Hooper and Bell-Kil-gour strikes were made at Cromweil Flat, it was correctly presumed that the old river bed had been located, but it was not known until the Prime Minister went there that there are two old river beds on the flat. It is understood that the Prime Minister was told that a geophysical survey had reveale'l two leads across the flat, which will prove of value to those who have proved their claims. The additional lead is believed to be an older river bed than the one found last year, and is on a slightly higher level than that mined on the Bell-Kilgour and Bell-Hooper properties. It is understood that a party of miners has obtained highly payable values in a back lead, and that gold is less angular and less water-worn than that in the present Bell-Kilgour lead or at Kawarau. The new lead does not run through, the land at present under irrigation. Avoiding Trouble. Interviewed last evening concerning the exemption of the large area of land south-west of Waikaia, the Prime Minister said that this action had been taken because the Geological Department had indicated the possibility of a I goldfield existing under this land, and | it was desired to confirm this opinion iby a geophysical survey. The action of I exempting the land from the Mining Act was - intended to prevent a repeti- ' tion cf the conditions which arose at Cromwell last year, when, in many cases, 6mall areas which, were difficult to work on account of the depth, of. the lead and the trouble involved in obtaining water had been pegged out. If the Waikaia area wae shown to be genuine, it could be subdivided into sections suitable for economic working, and oould then be offered by tender. That matter rested with the Minister of Mines, although the results which had determined the Government's attitude had arisen from the activities of the Scientific and Industrial Research Department, which was under the control of the Prime Minister. Speaking of the future development of geophysical survey, the Prime Minister said that the present intention was to use this as an adjunct to, and part of, the geological survey branch of the Department for assisting in determining the geological structure of the country, including those parts likely to be gold-bearing. Private Work.

Private work would be undertaken for outside companies at cost, provided that tliat work fitted in with the general geological piiogramftie, and would he carried on until the establishment of private, genuine and sufficientlyequipped geophysical survey companies, When the work was to be carried out for private companies, the geophysical survey party would be considered to be the servant of the companv concerned, and information obtained while working for the company, and on its own area, would be the property of the company concerned.