GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22098, 31 October 1933, Page 6

GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ

OFF THE COAST OF NEW GUINEA OLD PROSPECTOR’S DISCOVERY (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, October 30. On an island off the coast of New Guinea an old prospector who has been in that part of the world for over 20 years discovered great quantities of gold-bearing quartz. Owing to lack of capital he was unable to work the ground, but a New Zealander who became interested has now made, this possible. The New Zealander is Mr J. W. Thomson, barrister and solicitor, of Dunedin, who returned to-day by the Mnunganui after a visit to Sydney in connection with the claim. Mr Thomson told a reporter that the island, which was called Misima, was 150 miles from Samarai (New Guinea). It was 21 miles long and nine miles wide. There were huge quartz deposits on the island, he stated, and three other men—one his brother, who had spent nine months altogether on the island—besides the old prospector and himself had shares in the mining leases taken out. The partners had acquired what might be called a mountain of quartz, all of which contained gold and was workable. The field for the most part was covered with virgin jungle, but there were open quarries containing between 300,000 and 400,000 tons of ore available for crushing. This ore assayed an average value of six pennyweights. Twenty bags of samples, about Scwt altogether, had been assayed as payable by the Otago School of Mines. There were other claims in the vicinity and one was paying regularly every month a dividend of Is 6d per £1 share. , There were 30 Europeans on the island and about 2500 blacks, said Mr Thomson. Native labour was used to work the claims, and this could be obtained at 10s per head per week, including beep and tobacco rations. Mr Thomson said that he and his partners controlled all the leases in this locality on the mountain. Consideration was being given to the question of floating a public company, but in the meantime the claim would be worked privately.