GOLD AT KAWARAU

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 January 1933, Page 5

GOLD AT KAWARAU

SENSATIONAL STORIES.

DUNEDIN. January 11

A report has been in circulation during the past day or two of a sensational strike of gold in claims at Kawarait Gorge. Returns of 40oz for a day’s work have been mentioned, but these can hardly be substantiated in fadt. Nevertheless the yields for the past three days from Bell and Kilgour and Bell and Hooper’s claims, have easily eclipsed anything previously won by these parties. The daily yields vary, and while they are said to range as high as 19oz for a day’s work, the daily average for the week can reliably be stated to be from 9oz to lloz.

At the moment both tunnels are being driven through very rich ground. In Bell and Hooper’s claim the tunnel is in some 400 feet, and 210 feet of this drive penetrates a very rich wash. In Bell and Kilgour’s tunnel the distance driven is 59 feet more, with up to 200 feet of very rich ground. The whole area indeed' contains a great deal of gold, and when a large stone is struck on the bottom, the wash in the shelter of it is virtually studded with gold.

The bottom in both tunnels is still running level, disclosing an area remarkable both for its width and richness. From the lay of the stones it seems that the lead has come out of the river, and-with the stones, lying as it were down-stream, and the gold found in the shelter of them on the down-stream side, the miners surmise that the tendency of the lead is with the run of the river. If the wash in both claims were to cut out at the present time, which is highly unlikely, in each case the miners would still have wonderfully rich properties in the areas already proved. There are further reports of a rich strike on the other extremity of the Cromwell Flat, namely, on the Clutha at Deadman’s Point, where several dfredges operated. w|th great profit many years ago. While some encouraging prospects are being taken out on the fringe of the dipping reef there is as yet nothing to create a rush. The Government party engaged on the geophysical survey is operating on the Cromwell Flat, radiating from areas held by Bell and Hooper and Bell and Kilgour. They are equipped with modern apparatus for defining leads, particularly of black sand.