KAWARAU GOLD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 2994, 4 February 1926, Page 2

KAWARAU GOLD.

BIG SCHEME TO EXPOSE RIVEIt BED.

AX ENGINEER’S OPINION.

On behalf of two Sydney companies interested in gqldmining at the Kawarau, Mr. G. L. D. James, an engineer who has covered the greater part of the globe in the exercise of his profession, has been making an examination of the Kawarau River, and the country round about Lake W'akatipu. Mr. James, when asked his opinion on the project that is exercising so many minds, said that lie thought it. fully justified, on the ground of the large quantity of rough gold which had been won from the river by the primitive methods employed in the past, and that which had been puddled out when the water had been low. He thought there was a good chance of the results exceeding the most optimistic reports of the field which had appeared from time to time. He also fully concurred with the Minister of Mines that there should be some unity of effort by the companies concerned if the best results were to be achieved as it was patent that the goldbearing wash in the bed of the river should be dealt with in the most adequate and up-to-date manner, which could scarcely be the case if every little company operated separately. “Certain parts of the Kawarau were worked some 25 years ago in a maner which to-day would only be considered as a prospect. They worked with small, light bucket dredges, lifting about a hatful of stuff at a time, and if they struck a boulder, the buckets were usually stripped off. They must have heavier and more powerful plant to-day, and such plant —different sets might be needed to suit the varying character of the river bed —could only he purchased and worked by the organisation of the companies concerned. As to the geological formation of the country about the Kawarau, he said, there was evidence that at a remote period the country was laid down flat, by sedimentary deposits, for there were certainly remains which indicated that, the country thereabout was at one time submerged beneath a lake or sea. This had been lilted by some upheaval of granite stratus, until the Remarkables were thrown up to a height of 7000 feet above sea level. In that upheaval the sedimentary beds were fractured, and in the course of time the lakes and gorges through which rivers now flowed, were formed. The wear of time, glacial action, ami river and rain erosion had, between tlieni) worn and ground the sides of these gorges and washed the dirt down into the river bed, in precisely the same manner as was adopted in the washing of spoil for gold extraction. Naturally, the lighter spoil had been carried away down the river, whilst the heavier deposits, just as naturally sunk to the holes, crevices, and pockets in the bed of the mountain stream.

The Kawarau, lie explained, extends for a length of 32 miles, and runs through a series of gorges, the sides of some being of clear vertical rock, 100 to 150 feet in height, whilst in others the gorges widen out, permitting the formation of shingle beaches and flats. The actual character of the bed of flic river has not yet been determined, and until such time as the dam is closed, and the water shut off, the bed cannot be examined satisfactorily nor can the engineers decide the precise nature of the plant needed to deal with the spoil.

Mr. James, who went all over the works, considers that they will be ready to 'close the dam before March, but when it is closed will depend on seasonal conditions. The idea is to catch the lake (Wakatipu) at its lowest, and then, by means of the dam, make it hold as much water all the year round as it does in the llod season—early summer.