GOLD DISCOVERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 September 1933, Page 6

GOLD DISCOVERY

CENTRAL OTAGO “RUSH”

[per press association.]

DUNEDIN, September 4.

It is reported that another minor gold rush is pending in the Matakanui district, Central Otago, where payable wash has been discovered by a syndicate of six lately. There has been a general scurry for claims, and pegging has been carried out far and wide on all sides of the site of the old Mount Morgan Sluicing Company claim, and it is reported that interest in the locality is quickening every day.

The rise of this new field followed the discovery of rich alluvial wash at Mt. Morgan by a syndicate who have been working in the vicinity for a long time. Mr. J. H. Fulton, a member of the syndicate, states that the actual spot was a claim which was worked continuously for about fifteen years by the Mount Morgan Coippany early in the present century. Encouraged by the fact that this Company secured an average return of from 1/- to 2/- per cubic yard from the wash, the syndicate decided to prospect the claim again. A shaft was sunk in the middle of a large flat which makes up the bulk of the 127 acres controlled by the syndicate, and by the time they had gone down 27 feet, they had found two washes, one of which* was three feet thick. The returns in this particular spot indicate a yield of £B/15/3 per cubic yard, but Mr. Fulton emphasised the fact that there was no suggestion that the field would average even a fraction of that yield, although there was sufficient evidence on the claim at present to justify a claim that it was one of the richest alluvial deposits in Central Otago. STERLING SPECULATION RUGBY, September 2. The newspapers states that apart from the strength of the French franc upon which the present day price of gold is officially based, the price of the metal is being affected by hoarding. Private buyers are prepared to pay more for gold than can be obtained either from the Bank of France or from any other Central Bank. During the last week some £900,000 worth of gold has been offered in the open market, the whole of which has been taken for the Continent. The “Manchester Guardian’s” Financial Editor says: “Chiefly on account of seasonal demands and speculative selling, sterling continues to depreciate in the terms of gold currency, and any further fall in the LondonParis rate will be followed by additional rises in the price of gold. This price, for the time being, at any rate, is governed by the buying rate for the metal fixed by the Bank of France apart from the additional premiums which the hoarders are willing to pay. No support has been given to the pound sterling by the Exchange Equalisation Fund since the end of last week. Should the authorities intervene, the outlook would be complete ly changed. Those speculators who have been selling sterling, would be forced to cover their commitments, thus producing a reaction in the price of the metal.