QUEST FOR GOLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21223, 1 July 1932, Page 18

QUEST FOR GOLD.

FIELDS IN AUSTRALIA.

RECENT MILD RUSHES

[from our own correspondent.]

MELBOURNE. June 22,

A prospector at Bocca Flat in the Wedderburn district of Victoria the other day found a 7oz. nugget and a mild rush set in. It wa;j not a rush of the Roaring Days, but it represents a phase pi Aus-

tralian life which has been more frequeut of late, since prospecting has become popular as a panacea for unemployment. The last gres.t gold rush in Victoria was

to the Poseidon field near Dunolly • in 1906, when a 9030z. nugget was found and was followed by several others each worth more than £IOOO. Then the Poseidon field was swarmed over by old hands and new ones, and fabulous finds were recorded almost every day.

But although the Roaring Days aro done, there have been small rushes during the past two years. The largest were at Waanyarra and Tarnagulla, where some sensational finds were made. Only in March last a 2\)oz. nugget caused a migration to Waanyarra, and this was followed by a 560z. lump and other smaller ones. The Waanyarra finds came out of an old garden which had never been touched in the Roaring Days. The Mining Act prohibits operations within 100 ft. of a residence or in cultivated land. Tho owner of this garden always kept it in cultivation and lived on the premises. Then one day he ceased ;:o live there. As many as 200 men seized the opportunity and most of them reaped some sort of a reward.

The sensational find of Olson and Stagg at Combicnbar, East Gippsland, did not produce what ::nay be termed a rush. Although the prospectors crushed out 61oz. to the ton, th:; country was too rcmoto and too difficult for the average fossicker. A few parties went down there, but only one apart from the original prospectors achieved any success. In November of last year a 650z. nugget started a rush to Tarnagulla. Other rushes occurred in tlw vicinity of Jnglewood and Moliagul, where conditions have been fairly good, Tho most disappointing of the rushes was that io Moonambel, where a small nugget was reported to have been found.

There were stories about this district that it had nisver been fully exploited, and about 150 people invaded the field. Most of tliem were sustenance men. The gold was found on a side , road and all claims were pegged on the roads. The proprietors of the adjacent land wanted £2 10s for each claim pegged on theh> property, but few had the money. Those who could afford to go in failed to find anything, and since no gold was discovered anywhere else the field dwindled.

Many small rushes have occurred in Ballarat arid liendigo in the last two years. None of the finds has been sensational, but ,jold is being won all the time.

The mining authorities receivn these movements with equanimity. The Director of Geological (Survey, Mr. Baragwanath, said to-day that the only hope for the gold mining irdustry was for big mines to start operations. The yield would never bo great from prospecting alono.