Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1932 THE WINNING OF GOLD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 246, 16 September 1932, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1932 THE WINNING OF GOLD.

Lack of employment in tlieii’ regular walk of life lias sent numbers of New Zealanders in the search for gold. Hard though the life of a prospector may be, men have faced it willingly, and some have been well rewarded for their enterprise. Activity in gold mining has been most pronounced in recent months, and unemployed have been encouraged by Die Unemployment Board to turn to this branch of work which is highly profitable if success can be achieved, for gold is assured of a definite market with a value to-day of a little less than £6. According to a recent statement by Mr J. S. Jessep, deputy-chairman of the Unemployment Board, there are 16U0 men engaged in prospecting for gold under the Board’s scheme. They are subsidised to the extent" of 15s a week _ for single men and 30s for married men, and if they are without tools an advance may be made through a county council, in whose district the men are prospecting, to purchase equipment, the cost beingrecovered from the gold subsequently won. Another scheme the Board has devised gives assistance by means of wages subsidies to syndicates or companies that are developing new fields or reefs with registered unemployed. The men work full time and part of their wages is paid by the Board, the companies giving an undertaking to repay the subsidies if their ventures are successful. Otherwise, there is no obligation to do so. Half the men engaged under the Unemployment Board’s scheme are in Central Otago which, up to 1930, had produced gold to the value of £31,050,081 since records were first taken in 1857. In that period the value of the precious metal won within the Dominion was £94,458,512. At a conference held in Dunedin, this week, the Under-Secre-tary for Mines (Mr Kimbell) stated that the export of gold in June last represented £IOO,OOO in value. It was, he said, the largest amount recorded for a single month for many years, and on that basis the export for the year would reach beyond £1,000,000. For the first seven months of this year gold to the value of £555,379 has been exported from New Zealand, a figure closely approximating that for the twelve months of 1931, £581,032, and eclipsing that of 1930, £550,678. If the gold exported this year reaches £1,000,000 in value, it will be the first occasion since 1919, when the amount was £1,334,405. Mr Kimbell, however, believes that if the gold mining areas are properly tested the export would in two years’ time reach to £2,000,000 annually. A revival of gold mining on sound lines would mean a great deal for New Zealand. The purpose of the conference, in which business men participated, was to safeguard the industry. The views _ of people interested in the mining industry were that if “unwise companies’’ were floated the public would lose confidence, and it was urged, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, that a board of competent people should he set up—apparently by the Government —to give recognition to any reputable mining proposition. Mr Kimbell. in reply, pointed to the difficulties and ex-

pressed doubt whether the Government would undertake the responsibility of checking the data in prospectuses. He suggested the appointment of a qualified engineer by the Chamber of of Commerce and the Stock Exchange to examine proposals. Mr Kimbell also expressed the Department’s concern that companies should be floated before testingwas carried out. This point has also been emphasised by Professor Park, of Dunedin, as a prelude to the commencement of operations. It was essential, lie said, that a qualified engineer should examine areas before unemployed men were placed thereon. A definite plan was required to avoid the waste of public money; otherwise, it would be better, he said, to construct tracks to inaccessible parts of the fiord country to enable prospectors to work independently, and to continue roading to open the land for settlement. It will be agreed that any revival of gold mining on a large scale should be undertaken on the soundest basis in the national interests.