THE REPORTED GOLD DISCO VERY AT PATETERE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8066, 6 October 1887, Page 5

THE REPORTED GOLD DISCO VERY AT PATETERE.

STATEMENT OF ME. F. D. RICH. A statement camo from Cambridge a few days ago that gold had been discovered at Patetere, and as Mr. F. D. Rich, the manager of the Thames Valley Land Company's property, was in town yesterday, a reporter from the Herald interviewed him on the subject. Mr. Rich stated : —I had nothing to do with the report which reached you from Cambridge ; that originated from some of the men who are working at Patetere, as I shall show you. Hearing that Mr. Fraser was testing some stuff from Mr. J. B. Smith's place at Waitoa, I went over and took a small sample. When I returned to Patetere, 1 took from a place a small distance under the surface some stuff which exactly resembled what I got from Mr. Fraser, and which was found to contain gold. I put some of each into a piece of paper, and sent them to the Bank of New Zealand, where they were tested, and they were reported to be exaotly the same, and both to contain gold. The test, being of such a small quantity, was of little value, except as showing that tho stuff from Patetaro was to some extent auriferous. I also had a piece of rock tested, which also was found to contain gold. Some men who are working at Patetere, and who saw me taking the stuff, commenced to fossick around, and they made the statements which reached Cambridge. I have not seen gold from wash prospects, I have now brought to Auckland fourteen samples taken from holes sunk at different points on the estate. One point is near the Putururu junction, another close to Lichfield, and the others away to the eastward, covering an estate of perhaps 30,000 acres. Four of those samples are stone similar to what was reported to be auriferous, and tho other ten are washdirt similar to that tested from Waitoa. These will bo tested thoroughly at the Bank of New Zealand, and in a short time trials will be made on a much more extended scale. These are the facts so far as Patetere is concerned.