THE NEW GOLD FIND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17782, 16 May 1921, Page 4

THE NEW GOLD FIND.

30URNEY TO THE REEF. ROADLESS AND ROUGH. .TOWNSHIP SITE SELECTED.. [3T TELEGRAPH. —OWN CGHBESPOKDEKT.I CHRTSTCHTTECH. Saturday. The Greymouth Chamber of Commerce has decided to assist the Blackwater Miners' Association in its endeavour to have a road put through from Waiita, or Snowy Creek, to the recently-f - ander reef, which is reported to be verv rich, in the Reefton district. Financial assistance was also assured. The new township, which will be laid out bv the Public Works and Lands Departments in connection with the find, will be 800 ft above sea level. The holders of the rights are verv sanguine, 'and the find is considered to b» of even greater importance in qualit-v &nd quantity than the Reefton finds in the early eighties. The price set on the claim by the holders is £100,000 in cash and £50,000 in paid-up shares. A prominent mining expert gives an interesting account of his trip from Waiuta to the Alexander River, where the gold reef is situated. Leaving Waiuta earlv in the afternoon with Mr. McVicar, the owner of the claim, and following blazed lines, he reached Alexander River at 7 p.m. On the river bank were the two camps, one a log cabin, and the other a canvas tent, each holding a party of four men. Next morning Mr. Hurley, who discovered the find.' took the visitors alxrafc 300 ft. up the river, and the 1700 ft. climb then commenced. After an hour and twentv minutes they reached the ridge arid struck the reef, where the moss was torn up and the reef exposed. It is from 4ft. to 7ft. wide. The line of the reef was followed for a mile and a-quarter, and was found to be all gold-bearing. Fourteen chains east they visited another reef 14ft. wide, carrying gold. While the party was at dinner on the third day a forlorn figure appeared, greatly distressed and struggling under the weight of a 401b. pack. The stranger had been lost on his way to the reef, and had spent two days in the bush in snow and rain. He had been sent out by a syndicate to peg out ground. He was in a very exhausted condition, and could speak only with difficulty.