QUEST FOR GOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23205, 26 November 1938, Page 14

QUEST FOR GOLD

reef; on west coast government party ROUGH, BUGGED COUNTRY —4 /' SYSTEMATIC METHODS rby telegraph—own correspondent] GREY MOUTII, Friday Over a large area of rough and rugged country at an altitude of between 3000 and 4000 ft. in the almost impenetrable bush of tho Paparoa rango on tho west coast a systematic testing of a gold-bearing reef is being carried out by tho mining section of the employment division of the Department of Labour. Some time ago a mineral lode or mineral-impregnated reef, which at the moment is unproved and which may be largo or small, was discovered by an old prospector, Mr. Albert Fiddes, at the head of Moonlight Creek, near Atarau, 23 miles from Greymouth. It is this reef and its strong, outcrops which are being tested. Only when the results of tho tests are known toll the department be in a position to determine whether further expenditure of public money is warranted on development work in the area. The Method ol Testing

The work of testing involves the uncovering of the reef at regular distances along the surface of the ground and cross-cutting by means of trenches. Samples of tho quartz are then taken from a depth of from two to six feet and are sent to the School of Mines at Reef ton for assay. Tho whole of the area round Moonlight Creek has been looked on for rnarfy years as a possible rich goldproducing area and it is known that in its earlier history the field has produced many tons of the precious metal. Only in recent years from a near by area of a quarter of an acre four men extracted about £4OOO worth of gold after a few weeks' work. Early Days Recalled Many years ago when gold was first discovered in the Blackball district parties of prospectors made their way up through Atarau to the Moonlight field. In their search they spread over a wide area of country. Because of the dense bush, however, the work was not easy. As a result many of the prospectors preferred to work tho creeks around Moonlight, where some fortunes were made.

At Anderson's Flat, half-way to the head of Moonlight, a fair-sized township soon spriang up and flourished until a few years before the Great War. Huge heaps of tailings throughout this area to-day speak* volumes for the industry of th<* old-time prospectors. Men who have worked there believe to-day that although every available piece of ground orb the flats has been worked over probably more than once, the original supply of gold has never been tapped and that an extensive gold-producing body has yet to be located in the high country. Very Wet District

The men engaged in the work are handicapped by the fact that the area is a particularly wet one, the rainfall being much heavier than in many other districts of the "West Coast. Not the least of their difficulties arises from the necessity for all supplies to be transported 16 miles from Atarau by bridle track. None but capable men are being employed by the department.