ICY GOLD TRAILS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 162, 11 July 1934, Page 5

ICY GOLD TRAILS.

BY ROAD AND 'PLANE. CANADA'S LATEST RUSH. SOME RICH YIELDS. I (By a Special Correspondent.) VICTORIA (British Columbia). By aeroplane over the snow-covered bills and by the long winter trail from Haines, Alaska, men are hurrying to the north-western corner of British Columbia, lured by gold. Placer diggings of phenomenal richness have been reported on Squaw Creek, a 10-mile tributary of the Tatshenshini Kiver, which meets the Alsek Biver in Canadian territory and flows out to Dry Bay, in the Alaska Panhandle. Operations last season in search of nugget and coarse gold, although limited to a few Indians and whites, averaged 25/ per yard with gold at its old price of £4 per ounce. The £7 price now offered by the United States Government increases the prospective rewards. Gold was first discovered on Squaw Creek in 1927. According to Dr. Joseph T. Mandy, Provincial Government resident engineer for the Atlin district, it was found by Paddy Duncan, a Kluksbu Indian. With the exception of a Mr. Muncaster, a mining engineer, and his j wife and a few whites who came in during the 1932 season, the area has been mined by Indians in a comparatively haphazard manner. The largest nugget discovered, Dr. Mandy says, was valued at £44. Nuggets running from £4 to £2G are not uncommon. Last Season's Yields. This potentially rich area is a pocket of British Columbia, formed by the Yukon immediately to the north and the Alaska Panhandle to the south. It can be reached bv way of Haines, on the Lynn Canal, below Skagway, over a road and trail some 140 miles long.

Small parties of men arc now snowshoeing over that difficult trail in an endeavour to be on the ground when the snow melts. Those supplied with greater means are going through to Carcross and hiring aeroplanes there to transport them to a frozen landing field near Stanley, a collection of two or three huts dignified by a name, close- to Squaw Creek. ! Mrs. Muncaster is the only white i woman in the district. In anticipation - I of mining activity, the British Columbia I Government has appointed her deputymining recorder for the district. Mr. Muncaster has just sent out a map showing the locations and operations of last season. In 1933, he says, in the descriptive matter accompanying his diagram, only 2000 yards of gravel were washed, but a conservative estimate of the gold recovery is £2400. On the Discovery claim, wlijcli Paddy Duncan and two partners operated by s hand methods for a few weeks, £1400 was taken. Extensive Prospecting. j On number one above Discovery, three white men won £240 from 150 yards. They have their sluice boxes in shape and are all ready for this season's operations. They are now backed by a strong Victoria syndicate and have flown in to the ground to do additional staking. Three men working on No. 3 above Discovery took out £240 in 00 days, Mr. Muncaster reports. Other claims on the creek also paid handsomely, running from 4/ a yard to as high as £3. Dr. Mandy's geological report on the territory, submitted to the Government, advised extensive prospecting not only of other virgin creeks, but of the lode , gold possibilities. Numerous quartz veins cut Squaw Cresk, and lie says much \ of the gold is of local origin.—(N.A.N.A.)