SPECIMENS OF GOLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19126, 18 September 1925, Page 11

SPECIMENS OF GOLD.

DISPLAY IN QUEEN STREET.

KAWARAU AND TRIBUTARIES.

Gold, coarse and fine, was displayed in Messrs. R. K. Smith and Company's window in Queen Street yesterday to convince a somewhat hesitant public that the hopes that are centred upon the Kawarau River in Otago have substantial foundation and doubtless to assist the sale of shares in subsidiary companies. The yellow metal drew people to the window as a candle attracts the moths. ' Old and young, rich and poor, gazed at the nuggets and flakes and grains in fascinated fashion because gold nev6r loses its charm. The bigger nuggets, one of which must have given a thrill to the fossicker who got it, caught tha eye and many people thought that their brightness meant. exceptional • value, but all the gold in the window was of the same grade. The brightness of the nuggets was due to their treatment with acid and the dull and almost coppery appearance of other specimen partly to their having been carried in leather bags. All told, there were 25 samples, eight of which were obtained from the banks of the Kawarau River, and therefore from certain of the 126 claims held under the Kawarau scheme, during a few.weeks.in the winter when tho river dropped much lower than the normal winter level. The reason why the river, which is fed' by Lake Wakatipu, drops "in winter is that moisture accumulates in the form 5 of ice and snow on the surrounding mountains instead of flowing into the lake. Hence, when the dam now under construction is in use, it is expected that it will be possible to stop the flow out. of the lake for longer periods in winter than in summer. Then the claims along the river will be worked. Of course the river will not be completely dry because several streams, the Snotover, the Arrow,, the Nevis, the Gentle Annie and the Roaring Meg are tributaries accounting for one-twentieth of the total' volume. A reduction of nineteen-twentieths, however, is regarded as more than sufficient to enable the banks and bed to be exploited, although keen debates on the subject took plate at the window during , the day, "old-timers" sometimes stoutly contesting the claims made by interested parties. Claims axe to-day being worked .on the Shotover and Arrow if not on the other tributaries by miners and the gold they have taken is held to be one of the guarantees that the Kawarau is rich. Seventeen of the samples on view came from tributary streams. These were bought from various miners and fossickers who, one gathers, can always be ..relied upon to have a nugget or two about them. "Of course, there, is nothing surprising," said a prospector of other days, "in getting nuggets in that country, but' wheu it comes to sluicing or dredging the whole question. is what the cost' is. < The Kawarau is a gamble—perhaps a good gamble."