GOLD BOOM IN CANADA

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1934, Page 16

GOLD BOOM IN CANADA

HIGH PRICES THE CAUSE. MANY MINES TO RE-OPEN. Ottawa, Oct. 20. The high prices prevailing for gold have resulted in the biggest Canadian gold boom since the famous Yukon days, and new mines are being exploited in many of the provinces, notably Ontario. Old mines, abandoned as unpayable propositions, are being re-opened, as ore bodies of lower gold content can now be worked economically. Although Canada’s output of gold for the six months ended last June was 1 per cent, under the 1933 figures, the value of the production increased by no less than 33 per cent. Figures just issued for August indicate that production and values will both soar during the next six months. August figures for Ontario showed an increased output of 14,167 ounces as compared with July. Since the beginning of the year (eight months) 1,361,103 ounces of gold have been won from this province. There are now nine gold-producing mines in north-western Ontario where there were only two or three a few months ago. Some of the mines produce very little at present but are expected to develop considerably. It is not only in Ontario that the gold boom is taking place. British Columbia mines, the oldest of all, have been given a new lease of life, and mining camps, long deserted, are springing up again like mushrooms. During the last six years Manitoba has also come into the picture as an important producer and new mines are being exploited in the north. Northern Quebec is also sharing in the gold revival. Canada’s gold rush of 1934 is every bit as romantic and blood-stirring as the olden days when prospectors fought their way by foot and canoe across mountains and rivers. To-day they wing theii' way in a fraction of the time to stake claims by aeroplane. The aeroplane is playing a great part in the development of new areas and in transporting the precious metal to civilisation. Using the ah', miners are now able to prospect for much longer periods before the “freeze-up.” Literally thousands of men have been given employment by the mining revival. New companies are being formed almost daily and millions of dollars are being distributed in dividends.