NEW GUINEA GOLD

Evening Star, Issue 20371, 31 December 1929, Page 11

NEW GUINEA GOLD

THE MINER'S LIFE ALL WORK, NO PAY “ Miners working on their own account in the New Guinea goldfields are not doing too well, and many have returned disappointed,” said Mr James Delaney, a New Zealand miner, wellknown in Waihi, who has returned to the dominion for three months’ rest after two years’ prospecting in the Edie Creek district. An export prospector (states an exchange), Mr Delaney is under contract to the Russia Asiatic Gold Mining Company, a .British organisation, registered in Sydney. Under the terms of his contract, Mr Delaney is forbidden to disclose for publication the results of his labours, but in an interview he gave some interesting details concerning the work that is being carried on in New Guinea. The cost of living is tremendously high. Mr Delaney says a miner cannot live .for less than £l2 to £l4 a month, without luxuries, so that men who go to New Guinea must have plenty of capital if they are to succeed. Everything is expensive .because of the cost or transportation. The nearest port to the field which Mr Delaney is prospecting is Salamoa, a township” with only a few hundred inhabitants, and not more than twenty shops. Since the rush for gold set in the town has developed rapidly, having sprung up from practically nothing in two yearsi ARRIVAL BY PLANE. Two aeroplanes carry passengers and supplies into the interior. They tty high over rugged, mountainous country to a village called Whau, fifty miles distant by air. Prior to the establishment of the air service the journey occupied about ‘ ten days, all supplies being packed on mules. Lying within an almost impregnable basin of mountains, the pioneers met with most disheartening difficulties, but to-day conditions are much more tolerable. On arrival at Whau passengers alight and set out on the four hours’ climb to the miring settlement, which is situated at a height of 7,000 ft on Mount Edie. About one hundred people live at Whau, and at the summit there are some fifty men engaged in the industry. Freight is charged at the rate of 9d per pound on all goods carried by aeroplane. For the exhausting climb up the slopes a charge of 3d per pound is made by those who conduct the mule

transport. Supplies arc expensive to purchase, and the additional charge of Is per pound for transportation makes living a problem. Luxuries are out of the question. Whisky, for instance, is £1 a bottle and even at that price the quality often leaves much to be desired. Beer is sold at the impossible price of 6s a bottle. “And it is a thirsty climate,” observed Mr Delaney, who added that life on the Mount Edie field was all work and no play. His only diversion in two years had been a small bet on the Melbourne Cup! MINING ON A BIG SCALE. The Bulolo River, into which runs the Edie Creek, has been surveyed for the purpose of establishing a plant to generate electricity. Mr Delaney says that his company intends to do things on a big scale if the results justify the expenditure. The company, which has over £5,000,000 capital at its command, will carry on mining by the most modern scientific methods. At present the system employed by those operating the field is the rather antiquated one of boxes and nozzles. However, some beautiful specimens of gold have been found, many of the nuggets having bands of gold a quarter of an inch thick together with a fair amount of silver. The soil and sandstone on the hilltops is loose and broken, as though it has been greatly agitated by seismic disturbances. Mr Delaney felt half a dozen earthquakes during his residence on Mount Edie. They were earthquakes of a severity unknown in New Zealand, one, about four months ago, being particularly strong. Most of Mr Delaney’s prospecting is carried on in difficult circumstances, on the denselywooded slopes and tops of hills, Tho trees are not tall, but they grow close together, and their shallow rots are so near to the surface that they interlace a few inches below the covering of thick, springy moss. Trench digging in this country is difficult, as the roots have to be cut hrough. Trees frequently fall because they have no tap roots. RECRUITING PAPUANS. Mr Delaney employs a gang of Papuans to do the labouring work. These hoys have been gathered by European recruiters, who move about among the villages, trading axes, Jew’s harps, and tobacco to the lului, or head man of each village, for a group of Papuan boys. The boys are taken away by the recruiter, who in turn is paid from £lO to £2-5 for each labourer. The transfer effected, the boy must work for his master for two years at' the rate of 10s a month. His boss must, of course, maintain him and supply tobacco free. Mr Delaney says some of the boys are happy. Those who have to work at an altitude of 7,000 ft find the salubrious climate of Mount’ Edie a trifle chilly, and they complain a good deal They are willing enough workers under shpervision. Several lodes have been discovered by Mr Delaney. The work is arduous, since it entails endless climbing over rugged, broken country, all hills and boulder-strewn valleys. The gold found is not of a high quality. Its market price is about £2 6s 'an ounce. A miner would need to win three ounces a day to pay expenses. The goldfield is in the seventh degree of latitude south. “On Mount Edie it is very pleasant,” said Mr Delaney. “ 1 could compare the climate to a perpetual Auckland summer, except that it rains for a time every day.”-