GOLD IN DEMAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20924, 14 July 1931, Page 6

GOLD IN DEMAND.

ENCOURAGING .MINING. SCOPE FOR MORE ACTIVITY kICHES STILL LIE HIDDEN.

BY F.C.R.

It is somewhat remarkable that in Now Zealand, where goldmining was once the chief industry apart from agriculture, so little attention is now paid to the winning of precious motals. Gold is probably the only material that has not depreciated in value or in demand since the present world-wide depression commenced. We need gold now more than over, and although this is not the time when mining speculation should be encouraged or could bo stimulated by the working, say, of low-grade minerals on a large scale, there is every reason to believe that something can bo done to find work and wages for a considerable number of men by seeking the riches which still lie hidden in our auriferous country. Since New Zealand was first settled by Europeans gold to the value of over £94,000,000 has been won. Of this huge sum .60 per cent, has been taken from alluvial deposits and 40 per cent, from quartz reefs and lodes. The four great mining districts of the past, and of the present, too, are Auckland, with a yield of about £30,000,000, all'from quartz; Otago, over £31,000,000, mostly from alluvial; Westland, over £26,000,000, two-thirds from alluvial and one-third from reefs; and Marlborough and Nelson, about £7,000,000, mostly from alluvial workings. Seeking New Gold Deposits. Although it has to bo recognised that tho bulk of the alluvial gold was taken from Nature's accumulations over vast periods of time in river beds, glacial drifts and old, sea beaches, it cannot be said that the old-time miners exhausted all the deposits of this precious metal. Nor can > it be said with truth that all tho golden reefs have already been discovered and worked. In the fastnesses of the Southern mountains and in the densely-forested hills of Auckland's quartz mining country bonanzas still lie hidden and might yet be found by some lucky individual or party. They will not be found, however, unless they are looked for and no one can promise that they will be found. But all through Otago and Westland, through Marlborough and Nelson, there are places where men can win a living wage and, in some cases a respectable wage by working alluvial deposits in creeks and gullies, in old terraces and on the beaches of glacial rivers, away back in the mountains. It is while working- on known auriferous ground that new and perhaps rich deposits of gold might be found.

To give some idea of the extent of auriferous country in Ne.w Zealand will show what a field there is still for the prospector. In the South Island it was estimated some time ago that 13,000,000 acres contained auriferous gravels and cements and gold-bearing quartz reefs, the greatest areas being in Westland and Otago. The auriferous and argentiferous reefing country of the Auckland district ■ covers nearly 1000 square miles. It has to be acknowledged that much of New Zealand's unworked auriferous country is wild in the extreme, consisting of rugged, forest-clad mountains on the west side of the South Island, from Preservation Inlet to the worked-out fields of Hokitika, with high plateaux _ and glacial gravels far removed from civilised conveniences. In Otago there is the high inland schist and slate country. Stewart Island offers prospects and so do certain parts of Nelson and Marlborough. On the Hauraki Peninsula there are many opportunities' for the prospector to find 'new lodes, although this district has been well examined.

Helping Prospectors. How can the Government and the local authorities best help those who wish to search for and work for gold ? The Government, through its Mines Department, can in the first- instance collect from its filed reports all the information regarding the possibilities of different districts. It can • offer rewards for the discovery _of new mines or new fields. It can give free Ijcenses to would-be miners. The local authorities in mining districts can also gather much valuable information regarding favourable localities for mining, and old miners can help in the same direction. If this class of information was put into print in the shape of a simple pamphlet it would help the prospector immensely. It may be disappointing to eager gold seekers but it is a fact that searching for gold in wild, country is only for the strong and well-equipped parties. The Government can help this class of worker with transport facilities and food rations and with information from its geological and mining officials. The most immediate results. in gold mining will come from experienced mining men on well-known goldfields. In many of the old mines of the Thames* Coromandel, Ohinemuri and other districts there are small leaders, and stringers rich enough" to give good workers a few pounds a week. There are surface deposits too small to be worked by companies paying wages or hampered by the restrictions of mining regulations. It may need some organisation to collect and make known this class of information, but it could be done at no great expense by officers who are doing very little at the present time. Long as the various mines in the Auckland district have been worked, there is always the chance of finding a rich patch. It must not be forgotten that the famous Legges reef in the old Hauraki was discovered by a tributor when the mine was closed, and tributors have been responsible for many other important discoveries. The encouragement of tributors would be a very important step in the stimulation of iiylividual gold mining. Prospecting for gold either in new country or in old mines is not for the ignorant or the incapable. In the former case it may be said that the good prospector is born and not made, while working in known ground requires skill, energy and perserverance.