HUNT FOR GOLD

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18147, 9 August 1924, Page 14

HUNT FOR GOLD

A: GREAT OTAGO SCHEME PROSPECTS, PROPHECIES, ANE PAST EVENTS. (speciAi.lt .TTBirrzs. POB "thb pbbsb.") (By Bowyang.) ''' ' . With little in the way of publicity during its late stages there has beei prepared a scheme that may put New Zealand again among the foremost golu producing countries of the world. The reference is,to the Kawarau gola mining scheme, as it is.called, ami these lines are penned in view of the approach of the time when the optimist or the pessimist, «s tho case may be. will have the satisfaction of saying "1 told you so, ' success or failure having resulted. In six or sever, months at the outside, it is anticipated, tlio necesfsary works will hare been constructed, and the public r.re doubtless interested to hear more of possibilities that, if they become realities, will surely stand out as one of the most important and romantic developments in the Dominion's history.

A Lost Perspective.

There is something fitting about the possession bv Otago of the river en which a number of the old mining brigade are setting their hopes of a last glorious victory over the elements that protect the coveted metal from man's greedy hand. For it was gold that '•'made" Otsigo, as Otagans know, but su-e inclined to forget. It was gold, plentiful and in places easily worked, .that lured to the south the adventurous from all parts of the colony, from Australia, and from the Homeland. It was gold (or the finding of it) that Jed to those feverish "rushes" that leave set--1 tlements a'most deserted after a night's excited talk and preparation; and it was gold that drew to places of age-long silence men in sudden thousands, who shattered the stillness with the labour and laughter of miners in camp. In those days it was gold in itn natural state that enriched many men beyond their dreams, and it was the hunger for more of it that often left them, bereft of all they had possessed. And it was on gold that Otago was built —a foundation resembling tho popular conception of the roading oeheme of a Jew's Heaven. World's Bicnest Biver. How have tlie mighty fallen, from tie romantio to tlie commonplace, from • the extraordinary to the everyday! - Now the "Central," as we call the Otago hinterland, once the El Dorado ' i. of the gold seeker (and! the merchant), has here and:there a sluicingt.claim that usually, p4ys well those.wiip work it, and an occasional rocks: a lonely cradle! But-mostly iS is a; / place of fruit and dairy farms—^mainly' .'. a., success .in consequence o£ irrigation ;; that includes the Government's great "; scheme—of sheep (and rabbit) runs. As irrigation is "extended it will grow. :■'■ to be even more prosperous, no doubt :: Bui in the meantime it lacks the colour ', that it once..possessedj-and that is the. "\ magic colour- of ■ gold'- when deposits rfce found .to be'rtcfi.- HoWever, through I oentr.il Otago, for rthictyrtwo turbulent A miles, sweeps the! Kawarau, said to bo! >;" the richest river in the, world.. ,:.The records show that nineteen and .ai half million pounds' worth . .of gold has been notified as removed ;'*'. from the river since 1887. How much. j:- w-as taken out before that year, "<f. and how much since, by y Chinese! ahd .others who sent ' most '}■ of, their findings directly. out of the. 'country, it is impossible to estimate with anything like accuracy,- but the ' 'figure is generally phtoed at round iuoout ten millions. In the opinion ol . many of the mining, fraternity and k :rHhowe with: academic pretensions to 1 authority, the people who hope to win .-.an even larger contribution to thej ■.-. world- s gold .from the Kawarau are, ••v strange its ifc'mayseeni at first, glance, justified" in .their optimism. "If TneyJCan Lower.Hor.'V , ••': Some six months ago'the writer had ■I-.;.- an opportunity of-meeting in their otvn' •.' .strongholds a number of representa- .' •tivesj' of thomimng-itype/ cal as he was inclined to, be, he wastimpressed with the belief jand supporting arguments-put forward ,by those who champion the scheme. He . : "was J -given instances , of large sums; taken from'the river banks at, times • when the water has been .exceptionally * lqyr;He. met people, who.have a secret . piace at which they are prepared'to ~ wait for nights when a drop is expect>. ' ed. Thi3 usually occurs suddenly, and •when it takes .place .those people waste no time in gathering in the reward of their patience. At the cost of comfort, in icy water, and at some: risk, they have won as much.as £2oo.worth oV gold in an hour. "Ah! if they can only lower her a few ftet and keep hev down for a bit!" So spoke one oldminer who knows the river from long dredging experience. ■■■ Not Suited to Dredging,' Thirty years or so back—at the periods "of "the dredging booms—the Kawa?au Kiver was dredged cmergetically; rso 1 the' experts aver, ppwerful been ithe Lady Banfiirly •WjSi^:"a'quarter of ; a'TnilK6ii in world's .record linie;' and 'it 'is- further . de-o^ri^.;Qiat'-the;.Bipgt.powerful dredge .jworldf coiiidv with the crevices- that are' the peculiarity of the riVer's: 'oaiik and bottom; formation. 4fßet'-it-is in -these iilterstiees that the Biigbtji iiches of the river ; .lie, whether to\be.;wen and wrought "sovereignj or to stay forever hidden bVvtbfe''river'B waters, perhaps will bv Bfi6"VTJa next six or seven months. J. Scientist's Staggering Calculation. ,-" ; Sir; : JnUns von Haast, .the famous Bcien'tis'tr who gave' particular attention to'* this part of the world in the •arly days, had a theory that during the glacial period the mountains near the great Clutha Valley were ground down from glaciers thousands of feet • »bove. He held that every ounce of the pulverised matter must have.passed through the valley drained by the river; and he showed by. a.calculation that, if the material in "the' interstices averaged a grain to the : ton, ..there*.must be many thousands of tons of gold, in the river bed! ~ . . - Can any appreciable portion of this colossal wealth be tapped? * The Ka-

warau Gold Mining Syndicate (compos ed, W the way, of some of Dunedin'. most successful'men)/thinks it can be: the claim-holders presumably think so; the Departments of Mines and Publh Workß think so, judging by the supporv they are giving the scheme after exhaustive investigation; and all the time Nature may be. smiling up her slecvv (if she wears one) at the fancifu dreams of greedy man. Who knows' At anv rate, it is going to be a bravr attempt, and one that should comment itself for sympathy to all who admin enterprise. ■> _ - - Past .Visionaries. , • How is this gold fortress to be at tacked? _, , .. The idea is not new. That man o. manv parts, Sir Julius Vogel, and Mi Vincent Pvke were among those who Jong ago realised the wealth that lay m the Kawarau, and gave consideration tc means of winning it from the bed. Butheir plan was on different and much more costlv lines than that now pro posed. However, even the presenl scheme had its advocates twenty year: or so ago, Messrs J. Orchiston and C. Pvnkc, of Otago, being its earnest sup porters. But the public were apathetic and thev remained so until, late ii 1922, Mr E. J. Ilea, A.0.5.M., came up on the scene. The Man Behind the Schemes. Mr lies is a man who is ready to take unorthodox lines if the orthodox do not suit his purposes, as he showed by a wonderful piece of engineering that cap tured the popular imagination. Attempts to dam the Kawarau for purposes of irrigation in the Cromwell district had taken-place periodically for something like twelve years withou'. success. Mr lies accomplished the feat in a few short months, and his work, in spite of some other engineers' gloomy ■predictions, stood one of. .the severest floods in.the Central's history. He became known as "the man who dammed the Kawarau," and the man who dammed the Kawarau has, in popular opinion, a very fair chance of mining the Kawarau. A Simple Explanation. Lake Wakatipu, widely known as the lake on the shores of which the scenic resort of Queenstown nestles, is. the source of the Kawarau. The water that pours into -the river from this area of 120 square miles will be periodically shut out and released under the scheme. And about three, and a half miles below the source-another of'the .river's main feeders, the ■■ Shotov.er, will also be dammed twenty : 'five miles from its junction, with the Kawarau. Stony sluice gates, similar to those used in the Assuan dam and many of* India's rivers, will be used to hold back the water at the lake, the intention being to dam it for a month or two at a time. In this connexion it is worth noting that last winter it was estimated that the storage available in the lake would have permitted it to be dammed for four months', and the outlet is to be enlarged by the destruction of existing obstacles to.the rapid egresa- of the waters. If things work out according to plan, the Kawarau will be lowered by its average depth of from 40ft to 50f it is simply' a creek. For a long time, it is thought, this creek will be worked most thoroughly j with primitive' implements—the pick and shovel, the cradle and the tin dish. How the ClaimrHpJders iStaiid. <The syndicate-has .'split the length, of '"'c river into 128 claims each of a; quai. r of a mile. The total liability of each claim-holder is £IOOO, but those 'connected with the scheme (whether justified or not I am not prepared to say) are confident that it will be unnecessary to call up anything like the full amount. Out of tho purchase money,-will; come an equal contribution to the, cost of the dam, to maintenance charges, etc., and there is something socialistic about the provision that the expense of "clearing up" a claim as a tail race is treated will be borne equally, by all holders, .although there will be s'ome claims that will need comparatively little attention of this nature. The; shareholder will be allowed iSs per day working expenses for each labourer employed, and after-that the" syndicate will take 20 per cent, of the gold won. Some of those who early bought a full' claim are' now subdividing -their holdings, and it isreported that already t-h.ere are fprtunates whoso chance of a fortune will cost' them'nothing; they having sold half their claims for the aniount they paid for the whole. :■'•"'■■■.£ Anticipating a Prophet. •' Thinking over the prospects of this-" scheme the other dt.iy, I recalled Julius Yokel's book "Anno Domini 2O0O," in which his pet'scheme of diverting the Kawarau into the Mataura is unfolded. Those who have read the work may remember Mr Fitzhcrbert's fortune was dissipated in an attempt to win the river's gold (his children had only "a paltry" £3020 a year-each after his death), and how. whence had departed j (let us-charitably hone) to the City ol Golden Streets, the riches were at last uncovered:—-. At a quarter nast one-o'clock the guns pealed forth, and'loud as wa.the noise they made, it seemed trilling compared with the cheers which ran up and down the river from .bath banks from the throats of countless thousands' of spectators. The announcement of success occasioned almost delirious, joy. It seemed a.\ i'f .every person in the vast crowd had ah individual"interest in the undertaking. The telephone soon announced that at" a turn in the river about seven miles from the-lake what appeared, to be a large pool of fine :gold w;is uncovered. Even as the news became circulated there appeared in the middle of the river, right opposite Lady Taieri's stand, a faint yellow glow beneath tlie Water. Gradually it grew brighter am: hriglitcr, until «t length to the eyctv of the fascinated beholders there appeared a long, irregular fissure ol about 25ft in length by about six or seven in width which appeared to be filled with gold. Some 'of the company now rushed forward, and, '■■<■■' amidst the deafening cheers of the onlookers, dug out into boxes, which had been- prepared for the purpose, shovelfuls »f gold. Fresh boxes were sent for, but the gold appeared to be inexhaustible. Each box held oOOOoz. and supposing the gold to be nearly pure, fifty boxes would represent the value of a million sterling. Five hundred boxes were filled, and still the pool opposite Hilda was not emptied, «nd it was reported two equally rich receptacles" were being draincdjin other parts. Guards oi -Volunteer forces were told off to pro-•.tect-the gold until it could be placed . ■■ in. safety. "Will sotaiethiiig of the kind be witnessed in Anno Domini 1925 ? The gok is there, surely enough, and if it can be uncovered there will certainly be great doings, even if not quite so colourful as those pictured by Sir Julius.