NEW GOLD DISCOVERY

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10896, 10 May 1921, Page 3

NEW GOLD DISCOVERY

EXTRAVACAHT CLAIMS MINISTER FOR MINUS AND INSPECTOR’S REPORT. PINE SURFACE PROSPECT. In a Press Association telegram, which was sent from Reei'ton on April 22nd, 1921, it was stated that Mr Downey, Inspector of Mines, confirmed the richness of the quartz which had been discovered in the above locality, samples brought to Reeftoh having assayed over 100 oz to the ,£on. That message also stated that Mr Downey considered the find the richest stone got south of the line. The Minister for Mines (Hon. G. J. Anderson) 'has eince received a written report also as to the Press Association message referred to, and he is advised that the inspector gave, no official communication to the Press, and that the extravagant statements which were attributed to him that the quartz was worth 100 oz of gold, to the ton, and that the find contained the richest stone south of the line, were not made by him. The Inspector of Mines' report indicates that in one lode the gold shows freelv in the qnartz within the limits to which the lode 'has been exposed, and that as a surface prospect the find ap-l-ears to be a promising one: but before any opinion can be authoritatively expressed as to the permanency of the field, the quartz lodes will require to be developed and the continuity of the lode system proved. With a view to ascertaining more fully what the position is, the Minister for Mines has instructed the Director of Geological Survey (Mr P- G. Morgan) to proceed to the locality and investigate the area where the discovery was made, as a preliminary step to reporting thereon to the Government. It has also been stated in the press that the Geological Survey “held a view that quartz did not exist where it is now found.” That statement, like many others, is also incorrect, as the Geologi cal Survey has mapped rocks likely to carry quartz lodes in the locality of the Alexander discovery, and the map appears in the Geological Survey Bulletin, No. 18. new series. It is-is also stated in that bulletin that alluvial gold and quartz lodes occur in the vicinityIt may not be generally known that the Mines Department has since November, 1919, been paying 'a subsidy, under the regulations issued under the Mining Acts, to the Blackwater Miners’ Association, as a contribution towards the expense involved in employing prospectors to prospect the locality where the new find was made. This discovery should undoubtedly have the 'effect of stimulating other prospectors to go out in virgin regions to prospect for minerals; and, as in the case of this discovery, such prospectors will find the information which is obtainable in the bulletins issued by the Geological Survey of material assistance to them in carrying out their operations.