The Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, June 15, 1933. MINING ACTIVITY.

Grey River Argus, 15 June 1933, Page 4

The Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, June 15, 1933. MINING ACTIVITY.

Partly as the result of the aid to prospecting given by the Government through the Unemployment Board, and more on account of the high prices paid for gold, which, with exchange added, brings the realisable value of the metal up to about £7 per ounce, clear of the export duty of 12s 6d per ounce imposed by the Government, gold mining, which has been a languishing industry on the West Coast is showing still further signs of renewed activity. The new method of placing districts under the charge of competent engineers will be of considerable service to prospectors, many of whom have had little or

no experience in gold seeking and' who, whilst being energetic and anxious to make good, are cramped through the want of the necessary knowledge to aid their judgment in selecting likely auriferous areas in which to work, and as to the best, means of opening up their ground. On the. other hand some supervision is reasonable to assure that men in receipt of the subsidy are observing the regulations under which such subsidies are paid. In the main, prospectors are honest in their punctilious observance of the regulations, but while this will apply to the majority, there are, as in every other walk of life, “slackers” who require to be kept up to the letter of their engagements, in order that the Government, gets what it contracts for. As a result of the watchfulness of the officers placed in charge of operations in one West Coast district already some prospectors have been taken to task for failure in this particular. In the matter of subsidies such as that Io aid prospecting, the Government is looked upon always as “good garni*” and the care exercised by the officers responsible to the Hoard for the proper observation ol these regulations is one means whereby delimpiiiits can be prevented from what would be clearly a corrupt ami reprehensible practice. It is to be regretted that few of the old prospectors remain "whose aid and experience can be utilised. It will be conceded that there was a spirit amongst the old-time gold diggers which is non-existent today and those carrying out the work of prospecting have to call to their aid the aggregations of theoretical knowledge collated by those whose interests in gold mining has opened the door to academic eikication not available to the old generation of pioneer miners and diggers, many of whom appeared to be possessed of a sixth sense which enabled their reasoning to guide them to locating the precious metal. An important factor was the admirable confidence with which the old digger surmounted problems leaving behind Hie foundation on which science has since built its superstructure of knowledge concerning mineralogy. Altered conditions of life have created a different outlook from the old order, and it is feared that thereby much of the philosophy which enabled the old digger to face hardships and difficulties and accept them without any complaint as something 1o overcome, has disappeared and in its place is a supine outlook not prepared to fight obstacles which obtrude to make the. work of the prospector such I that, except in the ease of the optimist, tenacity and purpose dissolves into thin air where the sight of the gold sought for does not make its appearance fairly early in the process of searching. It is gratifying to notice the general tendency there is by investors to find money 1o finance projects where expenditure has to be entailed quite beyond the financial resources of the general run of prospectors. The result of recent activities in this direction has been on the whole more than encouraging and has resulted in several good propositions being developed. Others have so far not been as successful but further development in their case may result, in turning present failure into ultimate success. What is to be feared now is that the unprincipled speculator may be tempted to make the present opportunity one for exploiting the public by foisting on the market what is familiarly known as a '‘wild-cat.” in other words, a proposition of doubtful or no value, into which Hie unwary investor in inviegled to purchase shares and face an inevitable loss. History in this particular may “repeat itself” but with the care now exercised by stock exchanges in admitting new flotations to the quotation lists, investors are less open to become victims of the unscrupulous mining promoter than was the case during some of the booms of years gone by. Another unfavourable feature connected with mining activity is the amount of litigation usually brought about by “jumping,” and plaints for forfeiture of mining privileges on the ground of non-observance of some trifling regulation or quibble which should not be permitted to be brought into conflict with honest intention. What should not lie permitted to weigh is the rigid adherence to a regulation which prescribes the cutting of a trench for so many feet on each side of a peg, whether the peg is growing or not, and so on. It must be conceded that few men pegging out or taking up a mining privilege know the literal meaning and purport of every clause of the Mining Act. True, they have some appreciation of the spirit of the Act and its regulations, but either want of education and ability to comprehend, or a. perfunctory reading of such regulations should not be pelanised by needless expenditure in defending a Court action. It is fortunate that discretionary power is given the goldfields wardens to apply

the regulations, for their wisdom and experience unerringly guides them in. a discriminating separation of the tares from the wheat, and thus assures to the less guileless that they will receive justice from the Court even though their failures to read aright the regulations may involve them in expense.