BIG NUGGET.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 January 1931, Page 2

BIG NUGGET.

GOLD IN AUSTRALIA.

A PROSPECTINC BOOM.

SYDNEY, January 22

Larkinville, the name given to the scene of a miniature gold rush in West Australia, sprung into great prominence last week when a youth named l.arcombc unearthed a slug which is worth a little more than jCoOOii Larkinville is in a well-known gold belt, and it is recorded as a fact that a former prospector went within two feet of the “Golden Eagle,” the name given to this great nugget. What a gamble this prospecting business is!. Here there is the case of a boy striking rich while his father, working a nearby claim, has also unearthed several smaller nuggests. Many other men in the same locality have not shown colour.

it is not difficult to imagine the yell

of delight that escaped from young Larcombe when he made his memorable discovery—the largest nugget ever found ill a country which has produced cuoriiiotls miUeriii wealth. All the diggers ran quickly to the spot and foiitid tlie lad staggering about with a inassive piece of gold ill his arms. At on Co tliefc were wild guesses as to the weight of the nugget, and great disappointment was expressed when it was found that there were no scale capable of weighing it. It was then decided to balance it on a pole with a bag of sugar. This was done and the nugget easily swung the bag of sugar into the air. This gave the crowd a rough idea of the weight, and calculations were ma le as to the value. These calculations hovered round the £4030 mark—which was just £IOOO too litt’e. Even the unsucees.su 1 diggers joined in the general merriment of the camp. The first to congratulate the hoy was a prospector who had abandoned the claim a week or so before. His sportsmanship has already been rewarded.

REVIVAL OF MINING

3r It is felt that Australia is on the eve of a great revival in gold mining. s - Experts say that there is more gold ?r to lie won than lias been won—and the total of gold already secured in the e> Commonwealth is staggering. In the past it has been found that revivals follow a depression, such as the country is passing through to-day. All the mining revivals in Victoria have oc‘s curved in times of industrial depresie sion. This has been due, in a large measure to the fact that so many men bend their efforts to the discovery oi gold when all else fails. l * A big committee has been appointed 1 " to secure a revival of gold mining in d the famous Bnllarat district of Vio--11 • tafia, One old dredge master finds •1 about £IOOO worth of gold each year, b ancl his methods are somewhat hapi* hazard, indicating the possibilities of r well-directed, effort. He claims to have won £20,000 i n2O years with the help 1 of his son and one or two old men. I There is a proposal to work ‘'Little * Bendigo,” which up to 25 years ago bad yielded two tons of gold. It is suggested that such places should be | worked on a grand scale by a big | company, but there are still many areas suitable for the small prospector who should have no difficulty in earning a comfortable living. A feature about nuggets in Victoria is that while ■ they have been found all over the auriferous areas they have been far more plentiful in the area, bounded by Ballarat on the south, Wedderburn on ' the north, Tarnagulla on the east, and Ararat on the west. Nearly all the big nuggets have been found in this area. The “Welcome Stranger” nugget was found in theis area an inch under the surface. Its value was about £16,000 — a nice fortune to come upon accidentally. Yet it was about 18 years after the goldfield came into being that it was discovered. A RICH REEF. The gold 'fever has also extended to New South Wales. In the heart of the hills north of Tumut, between Canberra and Wagga, more than 100 claims have been pegged around a rich reef, which lias been found at Splinters Creek. Tumut is an old town, and one particular reef there was remarkably rich during the short time that it lasted. Now the chance blow of a pick has revealed y j another rich reef about twelve inches j away from that previously worked. Working an abandoned mine, two brothers found gold in a little more than a fortnight that was worth £BOO. It is now suggested that the unemployed who are engaged on relief work should be organised into a prospecting army and sent out to the various goldfields of the State. So far Australia has-produced gold worth £825,000,000, and when the Minister for Internal Affairs introduced the Gold Bounty Bill into the House of Representatives he said it was estimated that there were at least £60,000.000 awaiting discovery. Another idea is that each State shoukl organise companies witli s a capital of £2.000,000 each to work t: systematically the know gold fields. s Will the year 1931 he another 1891—- 1 Australia’s richest gold year? (