A RICH DISCOVERY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10597, 28 October 1910, Page 1

A RICH DISCOVERY.

NEW ZEALANDER'S GOOD FOR- -■■ ~ • TtJNE.

Recently a newspaper paiagiaph announced the discoveiy in Papua of a gigantic eoopei lode, said to be neaily a mile in length, and with an exposed outcrop of o\,ei 200tt. The fortunate discovered were a pait> of piospectois, consistmg'ot Messis G and A Chmtie (of Cookcown), H. E. Rust, J' 1 G.S., and R C.-Macpheison, of New Zealand. The last-named js a fuend ol Mi Chas. Maepheison, of the railway service at Oamaiu, and in a letter to him gives a veiy inteiesting account of the discovery and pievious happenings in Papua. He \intcs. 'I 1 cached Papua some few weeks safelj, after a veiy uneventful Jouiney. My first lmpicssions ol the place were not cxhilaiating. it looked veiyiocky, hilly, bauen countrv, with several tin shanties along the v.sitei Poit seat of Government. Howcvci, when I got ashoic the appealancc of things imploded A place ol nbout 700 white inhabitants, with houses going up in every dncction, new hotels hall elected, I and a," lot of temporary business places gave indications of a move of some sort. The place uas-ciowdod out with young iellows of all cieeds tin owing their monej around. Gambling was life cveiiwhoie, and bets ranging horn £JO to LIOOO could be had in anj ol the hazaid schools. Some of these young lellows weie losing £3OO and £4OO at a sitting, and I set mj&elt the question, 'Where does all'-this money come from?' Not from plantations, for none of these are on a paying basis yet. Mining was th« only alternative, and I was right. Monej is being made hand over fist bj a lot of these follows by going out prOSr pecting on the copperfields, taking up a claim of 10 or 20 acres, partially developing it and then selling it to Melbourne speculators ".'.for sums ranging from £SOO to £IOOO cash. The vendors won't do another tap until that money is all gambled or drunk; and then out they go again. Any of the local stores will stock and outfit a good man for anything up to £'2oo on credit. 1 decided to chuck' all ideas of working oh a plantation and so I tunied~my atf tention to mining. As luck "had it j ' came over on the boat from Melbournd 1 w r ith a w-ell-known geologist and mining expert, H. E. Hirst, F.G.S., etc. He was over to spy out the land whilst working as geologist for the Papuan Government, but when he saw the state of affairs he decided not to tie .himself up to the Government for some time,, and after a bit of talk he and I decided to go on the fields tof gethef. .Well, .later on we ran across two bid'prospectors''lie knew, who have been here for some years and have done well. They decided to joint Hirst for old time sake. With a strong party pit' four and eight niggers we have been scouring the fields and have struck it very rich for a start. Struck an extra--ordinarily large and rich copper and siU ver lede right between the respective properties of two -big; London mining companies. Our lode is 170 feet hi width, about 30 feet in depth (visible)' and about three miles long. It is hf far the largest lode discovered in Av.sf tralasia so far." Describing the claim Mr Macpherson ; writes:—"The thing ii a good spec, and we expect to get all the money in Sydney and Melbourne without any trouble,' as Papuan copi per mines are making a name for them-: selves there. Our claim will go all the quicker because we are only 17 mile? from Port. Moresby, and that by the only decent road in Papua: no great development or waiting is required, the •river water has exposed half of the lode face already and we can get 1000 tons pre out in six months: with hardly any shaft to speak of while the dry season is on and no water in the creek."