GOLD FOUND IN LABRADOR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18818, 6 July 1923, Page 10

GOLD FOUND IN LABRADOR

THE KLONDIKE OUTRIVALLED. From Canadian flies recently to hand, there are judications of a discovery of a wonderful goldfield in Labrador, which, if reports are correct, will rival, if not surpass, the mad rush to the Klondyke, amd to California in ’49. The situation of the gold-bearing territory is some 600 miles north of St. Johns, Newfoundland, iu the Ungava district of Labrador. The tract of country lies along the banks of the Big Brook River which empties into the sea at Stag Harbour. The circumstances surrounding the discovery were unusual, for the discoverer, H. C. Bellew, a prominent Montreal lumber dealer, was not looking for gold, but had gone to Labrador to inspect a tract of spruce lumber which he contemplated buying. The discovery was made last year just before the region became closed by ice floes until spring, making further investigation impossible, but not before many samples of gravel from a widely separated area were taken out and assayed, all of them proving to contain a startling per centage of gold. Finding the spruce to be of no commercial value, he began inspect ing the soil and was struck by the character of the deposit along the banks of Big Brook River. Bellew had been in Klondike aud knew something about alluvial gold and gathered about 25 pounds of the gravel and brought it back with him He sent the sample to Ledoux ana Co., Inc., of New York, lor assay. The following is their report;. Certificate of analysis.— ‘‘The sample of gra-vel, weighing 25 pounds two ounces, marked ’Labrador,’ and submitted to us for analysis, contains gold 5 ounces.” Naturally Bellew guarded his secret with great care, but returned to Labrador and staked out his claim along the banks of Black Duck Creek, l-’umiliak River and Big Brook River. More than 600 claims have already been staked out, one of them by the discoverer—Bellew—comprising 22,100 acres. The Government at the present time is making preparations to handle a gold rush and police are being trained to get into the new area the minute Chat the ice breaks. Compared to the inaccessible fields in the Klondike, the approximate nearness of the newly-discovered mines leads the government officials to look with actual fear on the expected rush from Canada when tmice goes out, early in May. Many of the old time Klondikers are packing up their kits and digging out their tools from obscurity in preparation for boarding the first steamer which leaves St. John's as soon as the weather permits. Many St. John’s people have also taken out claims at the land office in the New foundiand capital. When the news of Mr. Bellew’s discovery got abroad over the city, crowds of people besieged the office. They staked their claims from a poor map of Labrador which gave not the slightest hint of the country's topography. It was subsequently discovered' that some of the claims bought are located high on the top of the mountains and of course are as useful to their owners as an acre of the blue sky. The gold to be found in Labrador is placer gold—the poor man’s gold the gold of the Klondyke and California. It is called the poor man’s gold because no machinery is required to mine it. A simple sluice box made of rough boards, a rocker or cradle sometimes known as the "Chinese Tom,” a pick and shovel roughly represents the equipment. Any intelligent man can learn to use the devices efficiently in a few days. So far no cable news has come to hand confirming the development of this goldfield, although, if there is anything sensational in the discovery, news may now be expected dally. Mining engineers of national repute have been on the ground and have declared that the tremendous possibilities of Labrador gold will grip the world within six months. Of the existence of gold there, there cannot be any question whatever. The many samples that were brought out before the winter set in ran excessively high, in some, instances to thousands of dollars a ton, where a process of concentration bad been going on for countless generations through the washing down of the sloping surfaces." The future developments will no doubt be awaited with the kenest interest. Some thirty years have elapsed since the famous Klondyke rush stirred the imagination of the world, and attracted thousands of men from every quarter of the earth in search of the precious metal. Further reports win be awaited with the utmost interest.