QUEST FOR GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 17 November 1931, Page 6

QUEST FOR GOLD

HELP BY THE STATE.

WORKLKSS AS PROSPECTORS

WELLINGTON, November 15.

I-t would append that the Dominion is about to witness a remarkable revival iu gold-mining. During the past few weeks the offices o'f the Mines Department throughout New Zealand have been besieged by men who have offered their services as prospectors under the schemes which are being subsidised by the Mines Department and the Unemployment Board, as a means of relieving unemployment. * , . A- reporter who made some enquiries learned that many unemployed men today are of a self-reliant and indepen- , dent character, and would welcome the chance to engage in the free life of a prospector for gold, rather than do northing in the cities. Men, once prosperous contractors, builders, clerks, schoolmasters, and followers of many other callings,, have expressed their wi ingness to go out into the bush in tents, and seek % gold. Goldmining is a free and independent existence, it costs very little to live in a tent, and miners ; can further lighten the cost of living by replenishing the larder with game. Already 100 prospectors, subsidised by the Mines Department, are busily engaged, and a similar number have been granted assistance by the Unemployment Board. Many of these volunteer prospectors, are doing quite well. A RICH STRIKE. Away yup in the Tokatea range, about nine, to ten miles north of Ooro- ■ jhandel, there is a man with a family of seventeen, who has been prospecting in the bush in mountainous country, with the- assistance of the Mines Department, for the past twelve months. That theparty is doing well is proved by the fact that a number of assays sent by them to the Thames School of (Mines showed an average of over £ll per ton. The party . recently put' three tons of quartz through an old four-in-hand battery for a return equal to about ■JGI2 per ton. The quest for gold has always exercised a powerful fascination for mankind. No one knows where the precious metal lies hidden. “You never know what’s in front of the pick, old colonial miners will tell you; and the Cornish miner has a saying: “'Where t ’e be, there ’e be.” I To illustrate how ; easy it is for a Lminer to miss striking a rich vein of I gold, it is only neoessary to state that ! recently a stringer containing gold of I good value was discovered by an experienced prospector in the Tokatea reef, about four miles from Coromandel. A remarkable thing about this discovery was that less than 10 feev. away three was evidence that another prospector, fully forty years ago,, had delved into ■ the face of the hillside without discovering anything of value A SELF-RELIANT RaCE.

Gold-miners are independent by nature. 'Some of the tributers, whileworking in one of the old mines in Coromandel for some eight months, recently declined, to be a burden on the relief fund.

With an army of prospectors scouring the hills and valleys of the Dominion for gold, it is to be hoped that another Waihi mine may be discovered Gold is at a premium at present, and nothing would help to solve New Zear land’s financial problems so much as the discovery'"ot another Waihi. At Waihi township, there are practically no unemployed, which goes to show the. value of even one good goldmine. ' As both the Government, and the Unemployment Board realise that gold prospecting affords a splendid means of relieving unemployment, it can be •taken .for ,gr rented that every effort will be made to set to work the army of prospectors who are offering the r services from 'Russell to the Bluff. The men want work, and New Zealand wants gold. . , ■■ ■