SEARCH FOR GOLD

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 30

SEARCH FOR GOLD

The financial depression has focussed attention on the gold mining industry, and. it is stated that there are more fossickers and prospectors “ out ” searching for the precious metal than for years. Applications to the Warden’s Courts in Otago and on the West Coast have shown a great increase this year. Lack of capital is retarding the development of big projects, but small parties on. the Coast are reported to be doing quite well prospecting up the various river beds. The autumn just over has been the driest on the Coast for many years, and the unusually low state of the rivers lias encouraged many small parties to go out fossicking. A Greymouth paper says that not a few men are to-day making a much better living from working the blacksand beaches on the Coast than if they were doing relief work on the roads at 9s per day. Blacksand has always been present on the beaches washed by the Tasman. Unlike sluicing or dredging undertakings, practically no capital is needed for blacksanding—only a few shillings—while special knowledge is not necessary. As for the reward, it is stated that between 18s and 25s per man per tide may easily be earned. In his time Mr Charles Watson, now caretaker of the Greymouth Trotting Club’s' property, has made not a few pounds by blacksanding, and a number of young men, now profitably engaged on the beaches around Greymouth, have him to thank for the information and assistance which enabled them to take the trail of the blacksand. “ Men who do not understand blacksanding might tlrink there is a lot in it,” said Mr Watson, “ but it is the simplest thing going. I will guarantee that if I went out to-morrow on the North Beach, while the present weather conditions hold, I would make not less than 18s per tide. There are two tides each day, of course, but to work each would mean a night shift. The blacksand is always there, but after had weather there may be a considerable layer of shingle deposited by the sea on top of it. The prevailing spell of fine weather makes conditions ideal, as the beach is stripped of shingle, and the blacksand is easily accessible. One evening after tea, when I was working up Barrytown way, a mate and I went to the beach and carried blacksand up to our box in sugar bags. Another man worked the box, and the result was that we had 30s worth of gold in a very short period. On another occasion some years ago I got £9 for two tides.

“ From the North Tip to Barrytown gold is to be found. So long as fine weather keeps up, and the blacksand is clear, there is no reason for any man, who is prepared to work, to be afraid of making less than 18s per tide. Not one inch of the blacksand will be found unpayable,” he said. He instanced the case of two young men who came from the Napier district after the earthquake. He assisted them to make a box. They left for the beach, and joined in with two other men between the Nine-mile and Ten-mile, where they are still located. They had since visited Greymouth for food supplies, and exhibited 12dwts of gold. Their earnings were ranging from 18s to 25s each per tide. Asked to give some idea of the process adopted by blacksanders, Mr Watson said that the first real requirement was a wooden box. The size varied, according to the inclination of the user, but a suitable size would be a box 18 inches wide and four feet long, although some were only half that length. An iron plate, resting on battens, was placed in the box, having a size sufficient to cover the top of the latter, and in the iron were punched a number of holes about the size of the head of a six-inch nail. Under the plate, and about an inch or two below it, was placed a piece of ordinary plush. The sand was sprinkled on to the plate, a stream of water running on to it at the same time, and the water washed away the bigger material, leaving the blacksand to filter through the holes on to the plush in the box underneath. The water was usually carried from the sea in kerosene tins and thrown on to the plate from a small tin or pannikin. In order to give the necessary fall, the box was propped up at one end at a fairly steep angle, wooden legs being affixed to one end of the box to keep it raised. The total cost of the outfit was only five or six shillings, including the timber.