QUEST FOR GOLD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 31, 5 August 1933, Page 13

QUEST FOR GOLD

XOT A^ EASY JOB

NAPIER MAN'S SYSTEM

CLOSE TO SNOW-LINE

An interesting description of the extent -of- work necessary before sluieinc for gold can be commenced is contained in, a letter written to a friend by Mr".'A. Hirschtiorn, formerly a ■'~ Napier borough ganger. His claim is on the Baton River, 60 miles west of Nelson, close to tho snow-line of the Mount. Arthur ranges, says the Napier "Daily Telegraph." <' RIVER AND '' TERRACE "There are here two kinds of claims, namely 'river' .and 'terrace,' " states Mr. Hirschhorn. "Dealing with them us written. I will try to give you an idea'of the procedure. First of all the river is pushed over to one side with ■boulders: ■•■brush, and sods, by building a. wall intho centre and bringing ar wing across from the head of the wall to the bank.- The tail is loft open and an opening—by moans of a box—is left in the wing. , .to - : adroit water foi! suieing. The pjart inside the wall to be worked is divided into see- ■ tions ('paddocks') about eight feet long, by building: sod walls, above and below; the wall at the tail to keep the 'tail' water ou^ when the bottom of the fiver. i£ cleaned ■ out, and ihe head wall to keep out the water required for sluicing. The sluice box bridges tho paddock, resting in the sod wall. "Tho river bed is then picked, all boulders being built in stacks on the : bank/while, with a sluicing fork, the medium-sized stones are' dumped in the flowing river and so carried away, thus loaving'the. wash sufficiently light to be carried through the box. The gold is contained'in the sand and shingle . next to the reef. This is shovelled ; into the head of the box." THE SLUICE-BOX. '' Describing-'-' the '■ sluice-boxes, : thcwriter states: "They are 12 inches wide and the sides are. eight inches high, with length.'to suit', Starting from the top, there is a length left plain to feed tho- wash on. Then come four feet of 'Venetian' ripples, i.e., a set of oneinch square : pieces of timber , fitted across'the box, canted forward like a ! Venetian'blmd.: ; The wash is carried over these- ripples, and being set with a high edge forward, a slight vacuum is caused and all heavy material, such as iron, :s3nd, and gold, drops and re • mains in the gap. Then conies a 'false bottom' two feet long. . This is a oneinch board with as ' many one-inch augcred holes as possible, drilled with a slope from tail to head. Here again is caused a vacuum, this time to catch any fine gold the ripples miss. Then comes a 'two feet length of perforated iron, with 3-iii'ch holes to catch "any dust the ripples and false bottom miss. And last of all, there is a bar, one inch high, across tho ycrjr end of the box to catch anything the rest of' tho equipment misses.- ' ' ; ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ LITTLE GOLD LOST. < "With .this- form..of box, it is just, about impossible to lose tho finest of gold. The box is set with a fall of roughly 1 in 30, with a flow of water "of one inch" in tho entile length of the box. ■•' When the reef has been swept absolutely clean, the box is 'run down,' i.e., the' fittings removed and the '.con- ■■ centrates'1 brushed into> a dish which is washed down till only'gold and a,little black-ironsand is left.- Tho latter is removed with a magnet. ■ • "As you will gather, from!-the-term 'terrace' claim,, it is. a. .workjng above tho rivorVi&Uh.fe. bld/iiyor b&dj • a >vcrjy: simple job , providecl.,.ono can lead in sufficient water to carry the wash down to and '.thr-onghf the ; - sluiec-bos. i.-.-AH overburden is' washed into the river, then a box is fitted in a suitable position, the-water,. -through1 .a. race, .. is brought'to' fall over the face'andall one has to do is remove boulders ,and ' large stones. The interesting part of this is the . leading-in of water. For our terrace claim we had to dam a creek and bring the water round a Mil about 50 feet above ground level. "All the. foregoing sounds .an easy job, but believe mo, it is' tl/o hardest work imaginable. No wonder gold is over £6. per ounce! However, I thoroughly,, enjoy It and the. anticipation and hope attached, to each day's work keeps one keen. '''..'.' . "Tho subsidy is 30s per week, and under the mining scheme we are compelled to work in pairs'or more." :