GOLD IN TARANAKI.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 166, 23 November 1868, Page 2

GOLD IN TARANAKI.

(From the Taranaki Herald, Nov. 14.0 bince we first mooted the subject some aew months Bince of the advi«ability of prospecting the mountain ranges of this province,! to ascertain if gold existed in them, there mas been quite a mania for gold seeking, whjieh hiis innoculated the very children of the place, who go seeking water-worn quartz on t;be. banks of the rivers. Much good has resulted' from all this we are happy to say, for not only has it been the means of discovering that we have quartz in every respect similar to that found at Shortland, but that it contains gold likewise. During the past week we have been shown a rich specimen of gold bearing quarlz by Mr Wright, who assures us that it has been in his possession for over four years without his knowledge, and only by accident he came across it lately. Hearing so much about gold, he showed it to a friend, who at once declared the same to be the " right stuff." Mr Wright tells us that his son found this piece of quartz when out on an expedition under Colonel Mulock to the .White Cliffs, buTiiot thinking it of tiny value at the time, merely brought it with several other pieces as a curiosity. The quartz shown us w.ould yield, we should imagine, between fifteen to twenty ounces to the ton. ( Mr Wright's son and a party have proceeded to the White Cliffs, and will eadeavour to fdis-

coTer the place where he picked up the quartz some four years since. One of the party (Mr P. Wilson) organised by Mr R. Hughes, for prospecting the Kaitake ranges returned to town on Saturday last bringing with him several specimens of 1 quartz. We understand the party sunk « shaft about thirteen feet deep, and then came upon a quartz reef, which was between three and four feet in thickness, but were then stopped by water coming iv. Although the stuff is only what may be called the casing of the reef, yet it is sufficiently indicative to raise hopeful anticipations as to their future success in finding gold-bearing quartz. Mr Hughes proceeded to the ranges on Thursday last, and returned to town yesterday. He states that the stuff in the shaft has splendid indications of being gold-bearing, and all that is wanted is a drive made lower down so as to let the water off, and enable the prospectors to ] get at the bottom, where some promiiing veins are visible. The shaft has been sunk three feet lower than when Mr P. Wilson came in last week, but the party have had to abandon it from not having the necessary gear for draining o2 the water. The last few days the party have been making a drive in a reef a little below where Mr Ford's party left off. The stone is, we believe, as white as alabaster, with small blue veins and occasionally a line of yellow or the colour of iron-mould running through it. Messrs Coad and McLean are quite sanguine as to the result, and believe that gold will be found in this re*f.