GOLD DISCOVERY IN THE WELLINGTON PROVINCE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1083, 14 September 1869, Page 2

GOLD DISCOVERY IN THE WELLINGTON PROVINCE.

(tfromthe "Evening Post," Sept. 11.) A'T^ast'l^e'' have something tangible in reference to gold within this province. That gold has beuti i.mri'J at Taupo has long been asserted ; but as T .-titpp i? i.qne,,qf, tions ofthe country nut open to prospector^, the. belief has not unnatural]/ gained! grpuntfj that probably distance.. lent enchantment to; the vie w. It will be remembered that some little time ago the Wanganui Times had a very mysterious announcement about thef discovery of a gold field mi this Province, which was to eclipse anything , previously discovered in New Zealand. The announcement had its origin in some sfpe| cimens which had been brought in by Cap* tain McDonnell, but which were tljen siiownr to as few persons as possible. ' Captainf M'Donnell is now out obtaining morS specimens; and ia the meantime news of the furor at Napier about the gold in, the Kaimanawa Ranges having reached Wangaritti, has induced certain parties there to forward the following letter to the Superinten- . dent: — . . ' ': . Wanganui, Sept. 91 869." We, the undersigned members of a gold prospecting committee, appointed at" a public meeting held in Wanganui in May, 1868, submit to your Honor's notice four specimens of gold-bearing quartz?, which, were discovered by Captain William M'Donnell and Christo-pher Bracken, in a gully near and running into 1 the Kai- ' ' manawa Range, and believed to be in' the Province of Wellington. Having reason, to believe that a payable goldfield has been discovered, we hereby claim for and on behalf of Captain M'Donnell and. Christopher Bracken the reward which the Provincial Government has provided or may provide for such discovery within the province ; but that such reward remain over until further discoveries, which are now being prosecuted, shall establish the fact that a payable goldfield exists, ,; , , It has, come within the knowledge, of claimants that a prospecting party, acting on information derived from our prospectors, is on the point of setting out from v Napier for the Kaimanawa range ; and lest that party should put in % prior claim and thus deprive v the first discoverers, of their just rights, "we have thought proper at this time to make application for the reward. The prospectors, whom we hive named, feel confident that rich quartz veins exist in this province, where they have been prospecting, and they have gone back to the locality for the purpose of producing sufficient evidence to warrant the opening of the field. The next specimens brought dojira by the prospectors, which we expect will be. larger and more numerous than the ones now sent to your honor, shall be forwarded to Wellington immediately after the arrival of the Wanganui. — We are, &c, , : • John Ballance, . . Thomas F. M'Donogh,; J. W. Robinson. Immediately on receiving this letter,. Dr. Featherston requested Mr. Skey to make an analysis of the four specimens sent. The following is a copy thereof: — - Three of these samples are richly auriferous ; the other (the white quarfcz), , is non-auriferous. ...','., The gold is crystalline, and seems very similar to the gold from the Thames Dig- • gingsi' Itr appears associated with rutile. Wm. Skey, - , f; , Analysist. . M We have reason to believe that the official formality of the language in which this report is clothed really implies thai the ..dig- ■ gings at Kaimanawa are likely to prove of the most valuable character, second to none yet found in this Colony. . . The Kaimanawa Ranges run across the boundary line of the Wellington and Auckland Provinces, near to Taupo, and about mid-way between the East and West Coasts. They are very easily reached from Napier, the route from Wanganui being comparatively difficult. When the news of there being gold in these ranges was telegraphed from Napier a week ago, Dr. Feathers ton immediately requested Mr. Ormond to treat with the native owners for liberty "to prospect and mine. We have not heard the result; but we, yaij under any circumstances date the analysis of Mr. Skey as the commencement ,of;a great change for the better— both politically in reference to the Maori question, and commercially in reference to the certainty of there being gold fields in this Province.