PROSPECTING FOR GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 29 April 1931, Page 2

PROSPECTING FOR GOLD

OLD HAND'S ADVICE. FIELDS ON WEST COAST. (Christchurch “Times”'). There is an avenue of work for men who are willing to endure the hard- ! ships of gold prospecting on the West Coast, according to Mr W. H. Lawj rence, who lias had extensive experj ience of prospecting in the South Jsj land since he arrived as a lad at Port I Chalmers in 1809. He has been over the goldfields of Otago and has had j some experience of prospecting in Marlborough and on the West Coast. Mr Lawrence, who has a rich tund of stories of the old days, advises young men that the West Coast offers the best field for prospecting work at the present time. lie states that there is plenty of firewood on the other side of the Alps, a very necessary commodity for campers. Jn Otago he had sometimes to go for miles to get wood J for firing purposes. Another reason ; for giving the West Coast preference is that prospectors in the old days gen- ! erally gave up work in gullies when i they had readied a point where there ( was not enough water for sluicing. L rough gold were found at the bottom | end of those gullies, there was a like- | lihood of the same good luck attending a prospector who worked further up. Waterless, or nearly waterless gullies, were virgin land as far as prospecting was concerned, and there were many places towards the tops of the i hills that had not been touched. Inquiries hmong local residents would elicit the information as to whether rough gold had been found at the lower ends of the gullies. Difficulties of Travel. Mr Lawrence gives as his third reason that fewer prospectors have been over the ground because of the difficulty of travel compared with Otago. Dense bush and wooded hills were not favoured by the old-time prospectors, who, as long as they were getting payable gold on the more accessible land, did not trouble to open tip new country. Prospecting, states Mr Lawrence, requires energy and endurance, without which it would he useless for a young man to make the venture. All the i equipment needed for a start was a pick, shovel, tin dish and a miner's right. Tlic miner's right would enahl • a prospector to travel anywhere except on private properly, of whh-li flier > was not a great deal on the West Coast in view of the area having hemi declared a goldfield. A cradle or sluice box would he necessary only after gold was found, and a choice of these two would he dependent upon the location of the find.