Molyneux Gold.

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXIII, Issue 3249, 6 February 1933, Page 5

Molyneux Gold.

COMBINED APPEAL FOR THE LAKES SCHEME. Another campaign in the direction of urging the Government to proceed at once with the erection of weijrs at the outlet of Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, <-was carried out last week. It opened at Alexandra, at the intstance of that great enthusiast in the work, Mr A. Ashworth, where a public meeting was held on Thursday, and was followed by others at C lycle on I- riday, and Cromwell on Saturday. Herewith we give a detailed report ofi the first meeting at Alexandra, which conveys the text of what happened at the following meetings. ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING AT ALEXANDRA. About eighty attended the meeting, called for Thursday evening, in the Town Hall, Alexandra, when an unanimous resolution was passed calling on the Government to piocced with the erection of weirs at Lakes Hawea and Wanaka for the purpose of recovering some of the great wealth of gold which is known to exist at the bottom of the mighty Molyneux. His Worship the Mayor (Mr Win. Bringans) occupied the chair, and associated with him on the stage were Messrs A. Ashworth (sponsor of the scheme), James Ritchie (Chairman of the Vincent County Council and Vincent Mining Executive), J. Roberts (Mayor of Cromwell), J. Burrows (Certifying Officer), Charles Weaver (Vincent County Council, and an experienced dredge miner), H. E. Stevens (Dunstan Times, Clyde), and H. J. Werner (Chairman of the Alexandra Mining Association). An apology was received from Mr J. E. Munro (Cromwell Argus). A wire was received from Mr W. A. Bodkin, M.P., inticating that he had asked the Government, by a question in the House of Representatives, when they intended going on with the project, and Mr Bodkin wished the' meeting success.

Mr Bringans said the meeting had been called for the purpose of urging on the Government the necessity of going on with the weirs at the Lakes. It was now seven months since the first meeting of business men had been called in Alexandra. A great deal of work had been done by those interested in that time, but, as far as getting the scheme approved was concerned, they -were no further ahead. They viewed the scheme, not from a local point of view, Central Otago would benefit certainly, but from the interests of the whole Dominion, which would benefit materially. The unfortunate part was that mining claims were being applied for by dredging companies. The Magistrate was compelled to administer the .Act as it stood, and he had no authority to turn down the claims, if they were in order. They had no funds to fight the claims with, and the only way was to go to the Government and have the whole matter reviewed from there. The meeting had been called so that something definite could be done. Mr Bringans called on Mr Ritchie to speak. Mr Eitchie said that when he received the invitation to attend the meeting he was a little doubtful, limes were hard, and the Unemployment Board did not pay anything towards their travelling expenses. However, Mr Roberts and Mr Burrows had decided to attend, and so they were there. The object was a worthy one. They had been on the job for nine months endeavouring to get the Mining Department to remove several areas from the operations of the Mining Act. Mr Jessop had visited the district, and Mr Ritchie believed that a great deal of good would accrue from his visit. The chief trouble was that when the men began to prospect, as soon as gold was found all and sundry flocked to that part and pegged off claims. The Unemployment Board had no standing in the Court. The Mining Executive had been successful in stopping the granting of a mining claim between Cromwell and Clyde, but merely because there were irregularities in the application. What happens then is that somebody else turns round and pegs off the river for the next Court day. The Magistrate was powerless to listen to any arguments put up, as he had to administer the Act as it stood. The Mining Executive had told Mr Jessup that they would refuse to place any more men unless the Boaiul .took some action. The Executive was employing over (500 men, and the Yin- > cent County Council was £IOOO continually out of pocket in paying the wages. They knew the Unemployment Board could not carry on without the assistance of the Executive. Mr Jessop ;sa*v an area where 20 or 30 men had been prospecting, which ivas now pegged off by four individuals. If this was allowed to go on, instead of taking tone or two thousand men, they Averc not going to encourage them -if there was no area, for them to work on. Mr Ritchie said he had one area along the yiver in mind which should be reserved wholly and solely for unemployed men, and the Avholc river from Qnccnsbury to Beaumont should be resciwed by the Government, and the Aveirs erected. It was absolutely impossible for any dredge to the gold in the crevices up to a foot ami eighteen inches deep. This gold could not be secured unless the river was dry, and they ™uld dry it. The Board could find t l,e money and put on unemployed men to do the work. No other expenditure the Board could muter take would show the profit that this work would do. /rue meeting should send a resolution thermistor, and thereby assist the Yinc't-'Ut Mining Executive in its endeavour.? to get the river reserved ( V r -the miners: There were nnll.ons of wf/i o+‘ gold in those riveis, pounds’ aa uni' u h” which no could get. would not all but they dul no all get gold in -18(33. W nch i-la.m on the Cromwell Flat wa* urn. the only rich claim that would be unearthed. There avhs a lead of gold from Valiev to Bt. Bathans, and the pros--pects' so far had been excellent ah this v!i rca. Boring was the only way to lost this ***» and the Cromwell m 'Vo work apiwa;Je4 to the average m-

dividual more than did mining, especially if he was getting a few colours. The visit of Mr Jcssop and the Hon. Mr Hamilton had done more to arouse interest in the scheme than could otherwise have been done. Mr Ritchie said he was pleased to see that the interest in the river scheme was being kept alive. Mr Roberts said it gave him great pleasure, on behalf of the Cromwell Borough Council, to be present at this meeting, in the interests of damming Lakes Ilawea and Wanaka. The success of the province of Otago in the early days had been greatly due to the amount of gold won in Central Otago. More gold could be won than ever had been won before. They all knew the two claims on the Cromwell Flat, those of Messrs Bell and Kilgour and Messrs Hooper and Bell. If it had not been for the assistance of the Unemploy; ment Board that night this gold would still have been hidden in the earth.

They had hundreds of men who were anxious for work and could not get it. It was the worst thing that could be brought about in New' Zealand that they should have men working only one day a week, as they were doing in the cities. According to Professor Park, the rich load across the Cromwell Flat came out at Dead Man’s Point, and good prospects were being obtained at that Point. If the river could be lowered, there was plenty of gold to be secured. Their mining experts had said that the Hawea Lake could be dammed by sandbagging. The Wanaka Lake, however, was a bigger proposition. The people of Cromwell were behind this scheme. Dunedin and other cities were trying to pour men into the district to find work. They would hold a meeting in Cromwell at an early date to assist in having the scheme outlined by Mr Ashworth put into effect. Mr Stevens said they all realised the fact that only one thing was going to save Central Otago, in particular, and New Zealand as a whole, and that was gold mining. He was afraid the Government might allow the scheme to drop, so it behoved those present to do their best in its interests. Mr Charles Weaver said that when the unemployment scheme was first mooted he was a little doubtful where they were going to find areas for so many men. The matter was still one which required a great deal of thought. The Unemployment Board were going to take the matter of dredging claims up, but they found that they had no authority. He had maintained from experience gained in the past that a great deal of the gold was not recoverable by bucket dredging methods. In their application for a claim in the Gorge, a Company had stated that they had been working continuously. The speaker had proved that this claim had not been worked since 1927. That application had been held up, which gave the Mining Association a little time to breathe. Mr Hamilton and i»i.r Jessep had visited the district, and It had been explained to them that if men were put out and found gold, others would immediately peg off the ground. If dredges were brought from Malay, which were second-hand junk, New Zealand would got nothing out of that. The Kawarau Company proposed to spend £125,000 in damming the Kawarau, and they had already spent £IOO,OOO. If a private company was prepared to spend that large amount, surely it was a good proopsition for the Government to spend £IOO,OOO in damming the rest of the river from Quecnsbury to Beaumont, where unemployed men would be given work. The dams would be of great assistance to the district, apart from mining, as the whole of the Ilawea Flat could be irrigated. If they put men on to mining it would raise their broken spirits and they would do three times the amount of work and become better citizens. Under the present system they had no encouragement. The idea of holding the meeting was to allow those present to put their weight at the back of the scheme. They could not have dredging and individual mining carried'on together, as it was impossible and would only result in litigation. If the dams were reported on unfavourably, then let the dredging companies have it by all means. Mr Weaver said he would ask those present to support the project before the meeting. The money to be expended would be all spent in New Zealand, and they should all go for this one project. Mr Werner said this scheme had been supported right through by the Alexandra Mining Association. Mr Ritchie had been one of the promoters of the first mining association at Cromwell. By the attendance of Mr Roberts, Cromwell were displaying their interest in the scheme. He would like to see more interest taken by the business people of Alexandra. At the present time, prospecting parties were out in all directions, and all were reported as doing better than they had done in the past. There were 1 hundreds of men in Dunedin wanting to come to the goldfields, and it was hoped to find areas for them to come to. There was

!i possibility ot fitting boring plants, an<l they should have one to prospect a number of areas around this district. If they could find places to put all the men, desirous of doing so, on, it "would be one of the mining problems solved. Mr Ritchie said that Mr Jessop had stated that if we could get through the depression without impairing the manhood of New Zealand, we would have accomplished a good deal. They were receiving applications from men all over the Domigiou wishing to come to Central Otago. If men ,went away from Central Otago to any other part of the Dominion they would be worse off. By damming the Lakes the Government had a chance of giving something more j than the dole to the unemployed.

j Mr Roberts said that Professor I ; ark, one of the greatest Authorities 011 mining in itetv Zealand, had told him that the fiat between Alexandra and Clyde I would prove just as rich as the Cromwell Plat.

Mr Ashworth said lie had been inter- | es.ted b» the scheme for some time. 1 The ('on\m.Guy had taken the initiative in (he sche.me 0/ damming Lakes Ilawea. ami -SVaaa/Ku. but gyCct apathy Jjad been displayed by Vim people yi

Dunedin. Dunedin was going to benefit far more than any of the Central Otago towns. Every citizen in Dunedin was favourable to the scheme, but no one would take the initiative. Their opportunity was now. Gobi was the one crop that was wanted. If they looked at any other crop, what did they find? Superabundance! But gold was wanted in cverv country. Lake Wakatipu had been dammed, and the Manuherikia dam would account for a big amount of the water in that river. The largest part of the task had been done, and it was not a big job for the Government to dam the other two Lakes. There were sixty-eight thous-

and unemployed men in New Zealand in the middle of summer. How many would there be in the winter ? The Parliamentarians wished to get the men away from the cities, to save trouble. They should look further and giro these men a chance to get something more than the dole. Even if it cost £120,000 to put the weirs in, more money was wasted in three months in the cities than would put’the dams in. They would command 14,000 acres of land on the Hawea Flat that was waiting for water, and a big part of that land was Crown lands. Legitimate dredging could still go on in the future. Their object at the present time was not to got gold out of the ground, but they were holding the claims to got gold out of other fellows’ pockets by speculation. One of tlie claims for which protection had been applied for was granted n 1922. It had boon worked from November, 1926, to July, 1927. They had secured 500 ounces of gold in that time, but was that legitimate mining? Were they not within their rights in objecting to this? They desired to mine that area as it: should be mined. The river could be cleaned up systematically and well. The individual miner would work that ground and secure a lot of gold. When the task got too heavy or too deep, twelve or so could combine and work it together. Machinery would be needed, but wo liau streams on all the hills, and electric power was there to be used m the future. If they could dewater the river to 500 or 600 heads that area could be mined. Mr Ashworth said he had worked in the Shotover when it was bare of water, and lie would say that no dredge ever invented would work the rock bottom of that river. Ho asked his listeners to imagine the business that would accrue from the successful exploitation of the scheme. They would get more gold in one day out of those crevices than lias yet been won on the Cromwell Flat. They should impress on the Government the necessity of going on with the work. Mr Ashworth then moved the following motion:— “That this public meeting of residents of Alexandra and surrounding districts, held in the Town Hall, Alexandra, on February 2, urge on the Government and the Unemployment Board the vital necessity of at once proceeding with the erection of weirs at Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, in order to have at least the Hawea weir completed before the winter, thus enabling the unemployed miners to find what we confidently believe would be highly remunerative work; and we further strongly urge that the areas already defined by the Vincent Mining Executive be removed from the operations of the Act.” The motion was seconded by Mr Stevens and carried unanimously. It was decided that copies bo forwarded to the Member for the District, the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Unemployment, Hie Returned Soldiers’ Association, Dunedin; tlie Chamber of Commerce, Dunedin, and the. Dunedin Expansion League. A vote of thanks to the chair closed an enthusiastic meeting.

AT CROMWELL

The attendance at the Croinuell meeting was disappointing. The town had been well placarded with notices of t«e meeting, hut the attendance, apart from the speakers, totalled only 2i>. A fair sprinkling- of these were Ijjusi-ness-people, but the majority were recent lv-ar rived miners. The speakers werel the Mayor (Mr C. \V. R Roberts), Messrs \V. Bringans (Mayor of Alexandra), A. Ashworth. f Ritchie. C. Weaver, and C; C. .Sanders. Motions urging- the Government to reserve irom the "Mining .Act areas defined, and to proceed with the weirs were canned. The said areas include the Clutha river from Queensherry to Beaumont, areas at Matakanm. Ophir. along- the south hank of the Kawarau. and other small areas. Asked specially as to the defined areas to he reserved from the Mining- .Vet in accordance with the motion, Mr James Ritchie, did not mention that on the Cromwell Flat. One area of two and a-half miles on the south side of the Kawarau was stated. Further 'reference to the matter will be made, next issue.