NUGGET WORTH £80

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 235, 17 September 1936, Page 7

NUGGET WORTH £80

Subsidised Gold Miner’s Discovery

FIND ON VIRGIN GROUND

(By Telegraph—Preu Association.)

BLENHEIM, Sept. 16.

A nugget weighing 12oz. 3dwt. was discovered yesterday afternoon in the Wakamarina district by Mr. W. G. Watson, one of the miners working there under the subsidised scheme. With gold at present fetching just short of £7 an ounce, the nugget should be worth about £BO. Mr. Watson also discovered a few smaller pieces, including one nugget weighing Udwt.

Wakamarina Valley and its offshoots have been prospected and mined extensively for many years, particularly since the subsidised scheme came into operation. At pr<% ent there are between 50 and 60 men working in the district. Mr. Watson’s find is the largest that has been made under the scheme in Marlborough, and as it was recovered on virgin ground, hopes are held that it will lead to further success. The nugget was obtained through ground sluicing operations. About a year ago a 9oz. nugget was found at Mahakipawa by an assisted prospector, Mr. F. Sutton, aud some time previously a 4}oz. nugget was discovered in Wakamarina by a subsidy man. There have also been one or two nuggets of about 4oz. found by men working under the scheme at Onamalutu in recent years.