GOLD

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 105, 20 May 1937, Page 6

GOLD

What It Means To U» Wool, mutton and butter, the three great' buttresses of - New Zealand's; financial edifiee, are well supplemented by others, not the least of which is gold, the dream metal of the alchemist ; the talisman which- could sweep away our national debt at » stroke. How much are we doing to call up this potent genie from his magic caves? — in plain English, to develop that great natiiral product which is acceptable - to -all peoples at all times? One genuirie attempt to win rich rewards from our dormant resources is signalised by the registratibn of Greenland Gold, Ltd., which is seeking to place the whole of its. issue of 35,OOU contribuiing ehares before making its fnll effort in developing the Mount Greenland Mine, near Ross. . | It is not usual- to find in a mining prospectus very conservative estimates of tonnage of ore reserves and their value, but in Greenland Gold, Ltd., that has been done. The prospectus states that the proved-ore block above No. 2 leyel is 300 feet long, by. 10 feet wide and assumes that the average value may be 10 pennyweights of gold per ton. Whereas the latest Annual Mines Statemeiit (1935-36), page 15, under tbe caption Westland County-— Bierwirths Gold Reefs -Ltd., states that the company had during the year proved an ore body 400 feet in length, and of an average width of 16 feet. A five-stamp battery crushed 391 tons of ore, which yielded 329 ounces 18dwt of gold by amalgamation only ; and the total quantity of gold won since tho commencement of operations is 3,949 ounces 5dwt, 5gr. valued at £17,577. Greenland Gold, Ltd., pitqjoseu v. crush 400 tons per fortnight, and its present ore reserve of not less than 25,000 tons will supply ore at the rate for 2£ years, while the mine is, of course, having developed in it further ore reserves. The world' s gold production in • 1930 was 35 million tine ounces, of this tbe British Empire providing more than half; the TJnion of South Africa contributing 11 1-3 million, Canada nearly 32 million, South Rhodesia fourfiftEs of a million,' and India and New Guinea each about one-third of a million. New Zealand came last with almost one-sixth of a million ounces. We ought to be able to improve our quota in New Zealand, for we possess two great auriferous areas, the Andersite Country in-tfie North lsland, and the Great Reefton Gold Belt running along the West Coast. Ihe auriferous slates, etc., in this zone are known to gjeologists as the "Greenland Series" (P.B. A.)