GOLD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 224, 16 May 1932, Page 7

GOLD

VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTORS TEXTBOOK BY EXPERT One of the results of the ahandonment by Great Britain of the gold standard has heen a sharp rise of the value of gold in terms of sterling and currencies based on sterling. This, in turn has not only re-awakened inter- . est in gold-mining and prospeeting, it has also made a great deal of goldbearing country capahle of profitable working which with gold at par, was not possible. In botli Australia and New Zealand governments have provided speeial as- ' sistanee for prospectors as a means of taking them out of the ranks of the unemployed and affording them an opportunity for useful productive work- — and what could be more useful in times like these than a profitable gold find? Many men in both coun'tries have taken advantage of the assistance offered and become prospectors, large numbers of them without any knowledge or previous experience of the fascinating game. To help such men 'practically, and also those old hands whose knowledge may be rusty, or confined to one class of country a new edition of "Prospeeting for Gold" by Ion L. Idxfies^, an experienced Australian prospector and xniner, has been issued. "Prospeeting for Gold," to which eight new chaptei-s have been added, is a most comprehensive handbook on the art of prospeeting and mining for the prospector. A perusal of Mr. Idriess' pages demonstrates the width of his knowledge, both of gold-xnining and of men. He has written in a chatty, readable style which should be clear to the least familiar with either books or his subject. fft is obvious that he feels the fascination of the quest, but he has nevertheless succeeded in makj ing his pages thoroughly practical j and informative. J The autlxor has roaxxied every State ; of Australia, Torres Straits, and the 1 South Pacific Islands, seeking gold, ! tin, platinum, and osmiridium. He has f been a "gouger" at White Cliffs and I Lightning Ridge Opal Fields, always | depenclent on his own resources and I working "on his own." For years he ' xnade a decent living at the game (with gold only half the value it is now) but not until he had the experi'ence gained by years of prospeeting and learning differ'ent methods of work under varying conditions on many fields. Little wonder then that this hook of practical instruction for both experienced and inexperiexxced men should have xnet with the heartiest approval of the Australian and New Zealand mining world, and of Ameriean, Canadian, and South Afri- ' caxx miners as well. The additional ehapters deal with reef xxxixxing and the extra chapter on cleaning up old lxattery sites is paclced with valuable hints in a condensed form that, enlarged, would xnake a hook in itself. Primarily written for the Australian prospector and of Australian conditions, Mr. Idriess' book will also he a valuable aid to the gold-seeker in New Zealand because in many respects the conditions in which gold oecurs are constant and what is true of one field ixx one country is also true of a field of similar type in another. The author recognising that no man in the world has a monopoly of experience oxx any subject, has gone to great trouble to xnake sure that the reader has the latest and best experience on every phase of mining of which he writes. Where he has found that the experience of otbers exceeded his own, he has been given pex-mission to insert that experience. Hence, nearly every Mines Department in Australia has contributed to some phase of work in this book. To the Mines Department of New Zealand he is also indebted for help. New Zealand is recognised as the home of hydraulic sluicing and when the author found that the hydraulic elevators tbei'e were superior in lifting capacity to those he had operated himfeelf, he immediately wrote to the New Zealand Mines Departxxxent for a description, which was readily given. The new hand rniner going out equipped with the Third Edition of "Prospeeting for Gold" will have not only the author's practical experience, but the condensed experience of the Mines Departments of Australia and New Zealand as well. — "Prospeeting For Gold," is pulxlished by Angus axid Robertson, Sydney, at 5/-. Our copy from the publishers.