MINING

Hokitika Guardian, 23 June 1933, Page 8

MINING

AT THE WILBERFORCE; PROSPECTING PART REPORT. CHRISTOHURGH. June 22: On bohalf: of . the Unemployment Board' a. ,statement has been ~ made concerning, thee gold prospecting expedition- recently.-, .dispatched into the Wilberforce area by the, hoard. , : It wae . represented > • to s fhe Unemployment Board-last.year by the Christeburch-■ Unemployment Committee and by tile Ashburton- Unemployment Committee that the 1 head-’ waters of . the Wilberfore river warranted.prospecting for !gold<>- The board investigated the proposal an’d- found-'-that, although the area Had-, received, spasmodic attention from prospectors- from 1882; when goldbearing . quartz was -; first discovered there- by Mr C, g. McGregor until; 1910, who,, Mr ’ Galiari -and a party were driving on- u-' continuation, of. Fiddes reef , and prom ’sing, prospects *** were .obtained- at various points, the area {had never been fully tested. Mr J. F. Downey, - inspector- of: mines, in; his publication Quartz'Reefs of the West Cast, -stated' that' this.;.field deseryed more vig-:voU3 ; and’ thorough' testing than it - had- received: Tile country, containing - the- rfibffc was' all welt above the snow line and could be' worked- for only a small part of the year, and its isolation rendered the maintenance, of supplies difficult. '• These* -'fftctottsf}and- the consequent expense' of ! prospecting operations, wer© no doubt* the Yitorrent ffifliiencesy which' depriv<vl the .field of fuller investigation% private prospectors; Twenty-seven years- ago an investigation was madeby Mr Macintosh Ml, fi. former director, of the New Zealand Geological Survey, who indicated the deairaliility of amplifying and extending in greater detail, at a later date the general examination made by him..

EXPEDITION'S OBJECTS. This had l not; been done until'March of this year,, when- the Unempfoyment: Boaifl, in; the prosecution' of its. goldr mining scheme for unemployed; ■ decided' to dispatch an , expedition, pro-pc-riy manned and equipped; The. object of the, expedition was primarily tp", test .the possibility 1 of opening* up. reefs for the absorption of unemployed, and incidentally properly to map artel' record; its .investigations for '.the guidance of future projects. The expedition was .organitqd through • the Ashburton County .Council.', It left - Ashburton on Marbli* 13; and returned" there- on Maiy 23; . When Weather com ditjors on the . high country put' a step to further work'. During that time, under arduous- conditions; the Wilberforce watershed' wjji's/'testedi and ;fh,fi.„nici.n, mißef.Mised' zon©.tisatg<k, tHor ©uglily' foStt’d;.;. and mapped' .from Mount'. H'arman to the. Mathias* watershed, a total, distance, of 15-miles: j \- The' technical, mining survey, work.: was' carried out, by an: experienced mining engineer - included in': the pM* fiopnel, and-tlic-general direction of*.the expedition was, in the:-, hands of an em - h-ineer on IqahTrpnivllie Public Works [Department. All food supplies','"stores', 'and, equipment were pitrcha,-ed on tile be^fiyterms', by' the-' Ashburton; County,. Council ;on behalf of- .the'. TJnertiploy-: .moiit Board. The’ average cost; : fbr each m'au,for,food was less than ]3s.;6d a week, and tlie- thanks'of- thefibbapd: were due to the epunty council 'forn'ts , clqre. 'attention to' economical 1 buying which macl© such a low figure possible: '*■ . *■. v i-.''"M

, COST OF THE PARTY. - ' In its capacity as a* getuogical' sui*' vey, party .the. expedition iliad* eo'St.y less than, wag usually the case'. Aft. finieaqs of giving empkiymeht to the unemployed wlih constituted' its fuhk and file, its usefulness- was ufaqueßtidn-, pd. As an investigatory project ;* to; determine the poscjibility".of etltablikßing yeqf mining for'larger number pf uheinployed it' had been well , Worth While. . ; • .. The location and extent of tlie mineralised zone had been , mapped and- : recorded, and a starting point provided for any private 1 enterprise that* might follow. It had been shown that 1 thero, was a definite origin for the-wide, spread traces of gold; other than* reefsj east*,.of the main divide, and’ a lead had’been given to future operations to the south and north that' were' mostlikely to repay further attention. Samples of ore from re'efe, and: goki-bearing wash -from the river' beds, which were taken in* a-* thorough manner, were being assayed in the Dominion laboratory, and- when these results were collated, the board would be in a position to consider the question of continuing the work in the spring.

't:nd i'<r tuapeka tMOUTfIi : DUNEDIN, June 21. Further particulars are to hand t°n- - cerhing the : recently.reported gold. | find at Tuapeka mooith. A party, -of: throe prospectors—Messrs Wit 1 -Damson; Me Tver, and Walker d-iscOvered a, -lead of gold, showing excellent prospects oni: tho lower reaches, of the Molyneux river. The kqd, which is! about five feet. in width, is .presumably 1 an old crook feed .and is about a mile in length. -A dish prospect from the; top of the wash Tevealcd a gold ' content of 12 S a cubic yard. • While the' presence of water in • the rtigde' it Impossible to undertake development work without mono' adequate' applito deal with, the water, it-Be prb# poetbra repoa’t that go’d can be seen, glfcming in the lowef levels..-of : '‘thewash. The has, applied 'for min-1

;.s V t it t ing rights tovering a .claim of 17 acres which : ( they. intend to work by mcan.-, ,of Can .hydraulic pumping plant. Jt.-is further stated that the whole'of the area, involved is. covered' by existing- , rights .or b>3- been pegged- out.,, ... , .