PROSPECTING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4470, 22 September 1922, Page 1

PROSPECTING.

MINING ENGINEERS IMPRESSIONS At the August meeting of the Chamber of Commerce the subject of prospecting was discussed and it was decided to write to Mi; John McCpmbie, now of Auckland, and ask him to forward information pertaining to prospecting operations in this district At the meeting on Tuesday evening last the Chamber received a very interesting letter from Mn McComibic, who stated,. inter alia: “Complying with your request I append the following, which is a summary of my experience during a period pf fifty-five years on various goldfields, and it may assist ypu to resuscitate the goldmining industry on the Ohinemuri goldfields. Within the abovementioned period I have had an all-round turn at everything that appertains to goldmining, ,and, therefore, il can reasonably claim to have a fair knowledge of the subject. “Prospectors, like poets, are born, and you can as easily manufacture a si,lk purse out of a sow’s ear as make a cpmpetient prospector out of an ordinary individual. In proof of this, I lhave pever known an organised prospecting party to make any gold discoveries worthy pf mention,, because they are invariably made up of men who are not acquainted with the alphabet of the business. All the gold finds of any consequence throughout Australasia have been made by men 'put on their own hook,’ as the saying goes—men who could rup up a trail of gold to its source as easily as a dog can follow the scent of a. herring. Prospectors in New Zealand are very heavily handicapped when .they are endeavouring to explore a broken country, clothed with an impenetrable forest, and if I were asked three times what is the first necessity towards hastening the development pf our mineral resources I would reply three times Tracks! Tracks ! Tracks ! Although a great many ’old.-timers’ have passed out to the 'Great Beyond,’ there are still in our midst a number of men who wolud start prospecting to-morrow but for the inducement being insufficient, and no efforts are being made by the Government ofl th.e day to bring about the desired alterations. As a rule the bona fide prospector is out on his own account, for Che very love of the game, and he rarely if ever applies to the Government for monetary assistance. What he does want, however, is set down briefly hereunder: Throw opep for public competition the whole of the auriferous country that is now being held for speculative and upon which the present occupiers have no intentions of carrying out developments Form pack-horse tracks thvougn every belt of inaccessible country jßhat is known to be gold bearing—either by geological survey or otherwise. All prospecting claims should be tied on to some fixed pbint, namely, defined creek, trig station, or some other, well-known landmark. Protection should be limited to one month, and, if vacated for more than ’one month, the claim should be deemed to be abandoned. The necessity for this is obvious, because there are innumerable prospecting claims scattered over the Haur,aki Goldfields where the boundaries have not been defined, and where it is possible for the owners to ‘ring’ such claims in anywhere within a radius of five miles. Little or no work has been done upon a good many of those claims, and their existence has a most deterrent effect on the legitimate who is always at a loss to know whether he is poaching bn other people’s preserves or not. “Grant prospectors, free of all costs, the first right to an area of 100 acres around the place where he has discovered payable ore, and, at the same time,, give him, free of all cost, the first call on the nearest machine site, as well as water power and timber rights. Insert in the Mining Act r clause which will prevent legal juggling from depriving him of such privileges. This would be necessar*because on every goldfield there is an army of ‘sharks’ ,who will do no prospecting .themselves, but are pasfe« masters in the art of ‘shepherding,’ which, enables them to take a mean advantage by outpacing the prospectors every time in the matter of obtaining titles. “Give the prospector by way of reward a sum of money payable halfyearly for, say, ten years, and base the amount of such payment on the bullion output from the mines which he has virtually created. The money placed upon the Estimates from time to time, for the assistance of gold* mining is only available for mines that are established and the ‘nomadic’ prospector has no claim upon it either directly or indirectly. Nevertheless, this is the type of man to whom we are indebted for all tlhe important gold discoveries made throughout Australasia during the past 70 years, and he should be encouraged in every possible way. “A sum of money should be placed annually at .the disposal ’of the Mines Department to provide genuine prospectors with a camp outfit, as well as food, together with a supply of ordinary mining requisites. All applications for assistance should in the first instance be submitted to the local Inspector of Mines for his report. MINING LEASES. "The present system of granting goldmining leases indiscriminately has a most injurious effect on legitimate goldmining, and some amende ments should be introduced .without any further delay. During the goldmining ‘boom,’ which commenced early in the year 1895, the whole of the Hauraki Peninsula was marked off in

claims* and it took an army of surveyors about two years tp define the boundaries. At that time I repeatedly •heard unscrupulous men boast of their ability to float anything from a boulder bank to a flax swamp, lode or no lode, and the only thing requif ite to enable them to carry out the swindle was a title signed by the warden of the goldfields. Since then I have visited and examined several blocks covering a surface area of many square miles tihat were marked off in separate areas averaging 100 acres each and floated into companies in Auckland and elsewhere during the ‘boom’ era. No, there is not a lode, or the semblance of a lode, or a bit of country favourable to the existence of a lode, in the whole of the territory referred to. These claims could be very properly termed ‘wild cats,’ and the Mines Department should take the necessary steps to wind up this business. The warden should have the power to refuse the granting pf a lease to any man, or party of men, wihb cannot prove that the ground they are applying for is marked off on the line of a known lode system, or that they have a lode exposed to view within their own boundaries. This would undoubtedly check the flotation of ‘bogus’ concerns, and it would give those who are honestly endeavouring to exploit legitimate shows a chance to obtain the capital necessary for that purpose. GOLDFIELDS TIMBER. “The most noticeable feature ou the goldfields, to-day is the wholesale manner in which the ranges are being denuded pf their forest covering by the pastoral lease holders. One of the clauses in the lease provides that all trees having a trunk diameter of 24 inches and upwards shall be left standing. This clause would be laugnable if it were not for its utter imbecility, because there is not a ghost of a hope of saving standing trees when they are swept by the fierce blaze which always accompanies a bush fire, and they might just as well be chopped down in the first instance. If the authorities are really desirous of saving any pf the timber for goldmining or other purposes, then let them reserve large clumps of bush of not less than 500 acres in extent, and these clumps will become a valuable national asset in the near future. MINING RENTS'. “The wardens, as well as the various local borough and county councils, are fully alive to the fact that the rents for mining leases are by far top high; and considerable reductions have been made during the last two years. The charge for the first year’s rent is 2s 6d per acre, with an annual rise of 2s 6d per acre, and the maximum rent is 7s 6d per acre per annum. The fee simple of the land is not worth the money, and Is per acre per annum would be a reasonable charge. “Very often the question is asked, why should goldmining be favoured more than any other branch of industry ? My reply is, because the goldminer, creates wealth which had no previous existence, and which has a recognised standard value all over the world. Every ounce of gold produced from the bowels of the eartn adds, in round numbers, the sum of £4 to our purchasing power, and hence the reason goldmining shpuld be fostered by the Government of the country.’’ The Chamber decided to write and thank Mr McCombie for the information supplied, and that consideration of his report shpuld stand over for discussion until next meeting. Invitations are to be sent to representative mining men to attend the meeting, and it is hoped that some definite scheme of forming a prospecting party will be put forward.