WASHING FOR GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 28 May 1931, Page 2

WASHING FOR GOLD

MATERIAL FROM OTAGO. HUTT RIVER SCENE. ’ HIGH YIELD SECURED. (Wellington Dominion). The unusual spectacle of a miner washing for gold with a pan in the Butt River Was witnessed by an interested gathering at tii© works of the Wellington. Cement Rip© Company, MnlUng', on Saturday, Tito material containing the precious metal h a d been brought from Otago for testing purposes, and although further tests are to be made at the Dominion Laboratory, the preliminary results were considered .very .satisfactory, ; Brought to Wellington at the suggestion of the Mines Department, a ton of cement conglomerate from the workings of the Garden Crescent Goldmining Company, nea r Lawrence, wqs put through the .crusher and samples secured for further investigations.

Tije process was watched by Mr A. H, Kimbell, Under-Secretary of Mines, Dr P. Marshall, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Mr IV, Donovan, Dominion Analyst, and Mr J, R. Smythe, manager of the Golden Crescent Company, Vast deposits of the c e ment conglomerate are to be found near the Golden Crescent Company’s workings, and it is estimated that the company itself h,ns 413,000,000 cubicyards of gold-bearing materia) on which to work. So impressed ha s the Mines Department been with the discoveries, that it hag given financial assistance in the carrying out of investigations since 1928, and -it believes that if the cost of crushing c a » be made to work out ait. level which will allow of the profitable recovery of gold, one of the biggest recoveries in the gold-mining industry for many years will he brought about. One pan-full of conglomerate, admittedly taken from a rich goldbearing part of the deposits, produced an amount of gold which surprised the Government experts on Saturday, about one pennyweight and a lmlf being secured at estimate. The objects offftbe experiment were to find out the cost- of crushing, the time required to put through a ton, and the gold content. Samples were taken by the Dominion Analyst, and tests will be made upon them. Only about two minutes was required to crush the conglomerate, and Mr Smythe, who lias been, a miner all bis life, washed a pan-full in the river nearby.

A tunWel 600 ft. long has been driven UriO the by the company. The sample- washed on Saturday was taken from the open face of the tunnel, but the richest material is believed to be contained in the lower strata. Quantities taken from there +o a height of Ift. and crushed at the Thames School of Mines, show a gold content of six ounces to the ton. It is estimated that the deposits contain many millions of pounds’ worth of gold. Tile Minister of Mines, Hon. A. J. Murdoch, has interested himself in the proposition, and it is anticipated -that its results will be highly satisfactory.