RICH GOLD REEF

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1931, Page 7

RICH GOLD REEF

FOUND AT COROMANDEL.

'HEAVY yield EXrECTED. Quartz, heavily impregnated with gold, has been found at Coromandel on the foot wall of the large Tokotea reef, and arrangements have been made by a new company, known as the Mount Tokotea Mineral Fertiliser Co., to crush and treat the ore. In ordinary circumstances a yield of -loz to the ton is considered reasonably payable, but it is expected that a much larger yield will be obtained from the newlydiscovered reef. According to Air W. W. Adams, of JAuckland, the quartz coming to hand brings back memories of the days when the Thames and Coromandel mines were famous throughout the world. The leader strikes into the main reef, and Air Adams states that the indications are a. facsimile of those which led up to 'the early Caledonia and other finds. In general mining practice it is considered a good indication- for two reefs to junction, and in this instance the specimen leader is striking directly into the junction of the West and East Tokotea reefs, where the sulphide content is 28 per cent., copper, lead and bleiide being present in payable quantities. .Sulphides of this nature were closely associated with all tile large bonanza patches found on t|ie Coromandel peninsula, but in former days these valuable metals were not extracted from the ore, as no processes were available to deal with them. The Thkotea Company has for its objective the extraction of everything of value in the ore, and the process proposed to be adopted will produce large quantities of by-product sulphuric acid. This in turn will enable superphosphate and other fertilisers to be produced at a low figure. At least one ga.s company is contemplating the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia, which is only possible when sulphuric acid is obtainable at a very low cost. This need whl be supplied by the company. Ammoniated super is becoming one of the Dominion's most valuable fertilisers, and when its cost is reduced will be used in very large quantities. At present sulphate of ammonia and brimstone, from which the Dominion’s requirements are manufactured, are imported from abroad. Brimstone to the value of something like a quarter of a million pounds annually is imported ky the Dominion. 'When the company’s operations are in full swing these requirements will be supplied by New Zealand workmen. * The fact of operating the reefs on a wholesale scale, and the co-ordinating of the extraction of the base metals and chemicals, should make the proposition a ■ payable one, regardless of the amount of golcV ivort.