GOLD PROSPECTING NEAR WELLING TON.

Evening Post, Volume XXI, Issue 106, 7 May 1881, Page 2

GOLD PROSPECTING NEAR WELLING TON.

SPECIMENS OF GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ FOUND. [bt our special reportbr.J

Messrs. Hewitt, Roberts, and Martin, who recently went out to prospect for gold in the quartz reef situated in the hills close to the Boa, three miles north along the beach from the Happy Valley, returned to town last night. As I stated in a previous report, the party up to Thursday at 1 o'clock had only found " the color" of gold, on .Washing out some coarsely crushed quartz. Further examination of the locality later on afforded more satisfactory . results. On washing ont another panful of pulverised quartz 16 specks of gold were found in tho bottom of the dish. Eunning from the base of the hill to a point below high-water mark are a series of rooks of red and blue slate, in* terspcrsed with white quart*. ¦ In those rook! Hewitt ii positive that he has discovered a "leader" nf gold-bearing quarts, which, if followed up, will ultimately enable the reel to be c'nt. Appociman of quartz broken off this " leader" at a point below high- water mark, shows gold plainly visible to the naked eye. After Bleeping in the Maori whare at night, and being nearly eaten up alive by fleas, tho party early on Friday morning Btarted prospecting inland. Three miles from the sea, at tho top of one of the hills, they discovered a quartz reef cropping out from the surface of the trronnd. To work they went with pick and shovel, and excavated a fair amount of stone to take down to the beach and wash out in pan. While at this work a small pieco of quartz was discovered, in which the gold wa3 clearly visible. Tho stone collected, when washed out in the pan after they returned to the beach, was fonnd to show the color of gold. Hewitt expresses a decided conviction that payable gold exists in this quartz reof", but in the present state of his knowledgo, doolines to hazard any conjecture as to what the ooat will bo of getting at the gold. In otder further fo test the value of what has already been discovered, it would be necessary to sink a soft- at -the. base of , the hill, on the beaon, to catch the "leader" which has been found below high water mark. When tho "loader" had been thus caught, "a driyo" would then have to be put into tho side of the hill, so as to follow the eonrse of the "leader," until tho main roof was cut." Of coureo, to do this wonld involve outlay, so that practically the prospeotora are still only on the threshhold of their undertaking. In the meantime, the specimens of quartz obtained are to be submitted to tho Government chemist for analysis. There are some other prospeoting operations in contemplation, of the results of which I shall Bend you early information.