DIVING FOR GOLD

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 April 1927, Page 2

DIVING FOR GOLD

UNDER LAKE WAKATIPU. Gold is won from the earth in many ways, to all of which a certain amount of romance attaches. From sea beaches, from river beds, from mountain sides and from quartz reefs, men are busy retrieving the precious metal. New Zealand has known all the feverish excitement of gold rushes, and fabulous sums have been taken from the goldfields of Otago. But those stirring days when the miners lit their pipes with five-pound notes have disappeared, and the quest for gold is carried in a much more cold-blooded, staid fashion. But romance there will always be wherever gold is, and the attempt of a miner to win gold from the bed of Lake Wakatipu will cause a revival of interest such as that of last year, when the huge Kawarau scheme was inaugurated. As ’ one walks along the shores of the lake from Queenstown, one crosses a creek about every mile. Where the fifth creek, known as Five Mile Creek, flows into the lake, this submarine'quest for gold is taking place. Clad in an up-to-date diving outfit the minei’ descends to the bed of the lake and begins each day his task of retrieving the ore containing the precious metal. It is too early yet to be able to state what are the results of thife venture, which is probably without parallel in the history of gold mining in the world. However, those chiefly concerned in the project are confident that there is plenty of gold to be obtained from the source they are exploiting.