Applications For Salvaging Gold Refused

Press, Volume C, Issue 29501, 1 May 1961, Page 20

Applications For Salvaging Gold Refused

(New Zealand Preu Association)

INVERCARGILL, April 30. Twenty-eight applications to salvage the reputed £1,000,000 worth of gold in the almost 100-year-old wreck of the clipper General Grant at the Auckland Islands have been refused by the Lands and Survey Department. A spokesman for the department said in Invercargill that it now seemed fairly certain no more licences to salvage the gold would be issued. The decision, taken at a high level, was because of the dangers involved in getting to the wreck of the clipper. Since the General Grant, bound from Victoria to London, sailed into a caye on the island on the night of May 14, 1866, nine known expeditions have tried to retrieve the vessel’s cargo of gold, but all have failed and in many cases many lives have been lost. Only a few of the expeditions have been successful, in reaching the Auckland Islands which are 289 miles south of Bluff. To occupy that part of the island near the wreck, application has to be made to the Lands and Survey Department office at Invercargill, which administers the uninhabited area. To salvage the remains of the wreck, if It can be found, the permission of the Marine Department has to be obtained. The story of the wreck has

been published in British, European and American newspapers. The British Broadcasting Commission even put a short feature programme on the subject on the air for its home listeners. The ultimate result of all this publicity was chaos for the Lands and Survey office at Invercargill. One week in early February, the office received 28 applications to occupy land at Auckland Islands close to the wreck. Adventurers These came from salvage companies and adventurers with boats in Britain, Canada and Germany. A newspaper syndicate even made application. The Marine Department must also have received applications, because it wrote to the Invercargill office saying that it should inform the applicants of the hazardous nature of the Auckland Islands coastline. The island was in an exposed area with tremendous seas throughout the year, the department said. Changes along the coastline and rapid erosion took place all the time and these facts alone pointed to the extreme probability that the almost 100-year-old remains of the General Grant would have disintegrated long ago. The department also said that the cavern where the wreck was reputed to be would undoubtedly have been completely eroded years ago under such conditions. The applicants were informed of these conditions

and after this the Lands Settlement Board of the department. sitting in Wellington, declined all of the applications.

It now appears that no-one will be allowed to go to that part of the island where the wreck is reputed to be. No Permission The General Grant’s manifest showed that her cargo included 2470 ounces of gold, 170 packages of “sundries.” thought to be mainly the fruits of labour of several dozen goldminers on their way home, and nine tons of "spelter,” which is thought to have contained 46 per cent, of gold. The gold could be extracted from this by a difficult chemical process.

It has been said that with the “sundries” and “spelter,” the treasure would possibly amount to £1,000,000 on present day prices.

The last expedition to hold licence over the wreck area was a London syndicate. This made an attempt in 1956-57, which ended in disaster on the coyage out from England when the ship ran aground in Portuguese Timor, north of Australia.

The lease of this syndicate was cancelled last year.