SEARCH FOR GOLD

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXX, Issue 8450, 8 April 1933, Page 2

SEARCH FOR GOLD

SOUTH ISLAND POSSIBILITIES ROOM FOR EXPLORATION AN EXPERT'S IMPRESSIONS Mr H. R. Young, A.M.lnst. C.liJ., M.A. Inst.M.E., following an inspection of alluvial, dredging and reefing areas on the West Coast, has contributed some information to the London “Mining World” about gold mining in New Zealand.

There is still scope for gold, dredg-

ing on a large scale, says Mr Young. What is really required, he writes, is a prospecting company with ample capital and equipped with the latest type of boring plant, and the gold contents of each bore accurately and carefully registered. Alluvial areas can be readily and simply obtained, and, provided areas are proved and thoroughly bored, gold mining need not be more risky than an ordinary commercial proposition, also provided that dredging areas are secured away from the effect of destructive floods—a great bugbear to gold dredging operations in the past. REEF MINING With regard to reef mining on the West Coast, the reefs are largely of the fissure vein type occurring in the slate country and subject to expansion and contraction in width as when mined in depth. From the old township of Lyell these reefs extend to the Mokihinui River near the coast, a distance of at least 20 miles. These reefs outcrop, and are gold bearing at various points, but no systematic testing in depth or by diamond drill has yet been carried out. At the southern end the United Alpin Company at Lyell worked the reefs successfully for many years. Again, in the Reefton district there is surely room for diamond drill exploration between the old Big River mine and the old Progress mine on the reefs which are known to exist there. These remarks also apply to areas in the Auckland district and in Otago which are still to be tested by the latest type of scientific exploration.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION Before embarking on a prospecting campaign, Mr Young advises that a representative of mining interests should spend some months in making himself acquainted with local mining conditions and regulations by a visit to the mining fields. New Zealand is blessed with a temperate climate, absence of extreme conditions in winter, and usually plenty of clean water and mining timber handy to the fields; and while the geological conditions are often broken and disturbed, the author contends that there is room for thorough prospecting and exploration under "modern conditions with ample capital.