THE ROMANCE OF GOLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13875, 8 October 1908, Page 7

THE ROMANCE OF GOLD.

COROMANDEL FORESHORE. WORKING BENEATH THE SEA. SCOPE EOR EXTENDED OPERATIONS. No. V. : FROM OUR SPECIAL MINING REPORTER. Coromandkij,- Wednesday. An' extensive mud flat, on the extremities of which a couple of abandoned shafts stand full of water; a long expanse of quartzstrewn beach, out of which there dip into tho sea a dozen or moro reefs of various sizes; and at the end, on a, conspicuous peninsula ridge, jutting out from the middle of the eastern shore of Coromandel, is l'reeee's Point. At the extremity of the ridge I found, on the occasion of my visit, that the Tangiaro Gold Mining Company are going in for a little prospecting work. Mi-. Bremner, who is in charge, me through. From the tip on tho surface I could follow the course of a reef outcropping on tho beach and going down below the sea. Some fair prospects were got from this outcrop, and the work in hand now consists of driving seawards to cut it at a depth of 65 ft. Tho drive was in 50ft when I was there, penetrating good, congenial country. It had still some 20ft to go before intersecting the lode seen on tho shore. Another drive was proceeding hillward to cut what is known as Bremner's lead. In this drive the country was also good, and tho ground, curiously enough, wetter than in tho seaward (hive. Tho company's property takes in a large area, including all tho old I'recce's Point claim, on the south, and' running round the north-western beach for a considerable distance, where it takes in the Golden Shore area, on which a. shaft is sunk for over 100 ft, and now abandoned. From general observation, I am led to the opinion that the present operations in tho Tangiaro property are on too small a scale. The pump is a miniature affair, and, though capable of dealing with all water met with so far, would not stand a much greater strain. Hoisting gear was being fixed up wheal was there, but this was of by no means powerful enough capacity to deal with any permanent work below. • During tho present prospecting operations, doubtless, tho plant and facilities generally are adequate, but there is a much wider scope for the Tangiaro mine, and ono would like to see this fact taken advantage of for the good of tho district.

BENEATH THE MUD FLAT. This brings me to what I may term the fourth of the mining propositions which present themselves on the oldest of our goldfields. It is obvious that between Preece's Point and the northern shore, where the Hauraki group, of mines are situated, a score or so of reefs are trending. They'can be traced from high water to low water, and the majority of them appear to be running towards either the Coromandel Wharf, or the Hauraki. A large mud flat, practically free from water at low tide, runs eastward from Preece's Point to the lower township, and beneath that-mud flat there will, in all probability, at ,some future date, be mining operations proceeding. Given the requisite machinery and pumps it would be a comparatively simple matter to put in a . crosscut from, say, the Tangiaro property to thi) opposite shore. This would penetrate at? least one claim' in the flat {the Gladys) in which it is known that reefs giving good values exist. On this latter ground, which adjoins the Tangiaro and' runs for half a mile towards the township, a shaft was sunk 92ft by an English company, and, just as the reefs traced from inland were cut, tho ground. was abandoned. The history of the Golden Shore claim, farther along the beach towards Preece's Point, is much the same. Most of the reefs trending from this northwestern beach into the sea have given prospects of gold on test, and that their values seaward are the most likely to be good has been proved by the workings in the two shafts mentioned, as well as by the fact that those driven on into the hill have not given encouraging enough results in that direction. Colours of gold have been found in two of these sea-going lodes, near Preeee's Point, on the Tangiaro ground, ahd very coarse gold can be got by panning off the sand on portions of the beach. The latter is simply smothered in quartz boulders, evidently cast up by the sea, and on an isolated patch of hill just off from the shore I saw the outcrop of a reef 28ft wide of solid quartz, and lying in a good channel of country. The Gladys and Tangiaro, between them, are in the right position, geographically, to lest the seaward reefs from this beach, and exploration of them, judging by their trend, might lead to the discovery in a crosscut of a junction of lodes beneath the centre of the mud flat. Old miners take kindly to the idea* here stated. The ore in these reefs, it should' be remarked, has be (hi shown to carry more evenly disseminated values than is usually the case at Coromandel.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. Time did not allow the visiting of any more of the mines that are being worked, such as the Hataaki Freeholds, the Coromandel, and orle. or two others. I both saw and heard of prospectors who aro pegging away in, the effort to unearth fresh treasure. It wys to bo gathered that the general opinion in Coiomandel is that deep level sinking must be undertaken to place the field on a permanent footing. I have pointed out that such operations are about to bo started in the Old Kapanga, and that it is desirable that a move should be made in the same direction in the Hauraki and adjoining areas. These, with the more thorough development of the Tokatea group of mines, and the exploitation of the- foreshore reef systems, would inevitably cause a, filip to be given to the mining industry that . would place Commanded once more in the list of well-to-do and prosperous mining .centres. If investors could themselves see the field they would realise at a glance that what was said at the outset of this series of articles is truenamely, that work at Coromandel is on 1 too small a scale, and that its possibilities warrant much larger expenditure of money, and the opening of much ground that is now locked up. ' -