Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1907.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43072, 23 March 1907, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1907.

7 his above all —to thine own self be true , And it must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

That there is gold in plentiful quantities hidden away in the depths of the Te Aroha mountain, seems to he a generally accepted theory on all sides, and that there is gold near the surface has been frequently demonstrated. But the complexity of the ore in which the gold is contained has always presented a difficulty, owing to the fact of the costliness of extraction. The only exception to j this is the ground worked by Hardy’s Mines Limited,, which has for some years been worked to a profit, until twelve months ago, when it was found advisable to close down. But hopes for the future development of the Te Aroha goldfield are not yet dead by any means, as recent numerous applications for prospecting licenses will show. As a matter of fact, some prospectors are looking for silver rather than gold, but although one and all would hail with delight the striking of a rich reef of gold in the vicinity, yet the discovery of a bountiful mine of a ny metal would be welcome as a boon to the community by reason of the

additional trade that would at once attend such development. And while there is prospecting there J is always hope, and even yet there may be on the hillside, rich patches that only await the finding. The only extensive attempt made in tlm search for gold, beyond the Premier, Cadman, and adjacent mines already discovered, was the driving of the tunnel into the hillside at Waiorongomai, to a distance of considerably over a thousand yards in the hope of striking a reef which was supposed to exist. Disappointment met both this and/the Rev. Joseph Campbell’s “ hyperphorie” treatment, for which an extensive plant was erected, and since that time little interest has been shown in the quest of new discoveries, and the hillside, after being in reality only lightly scratched over, has since been allowed to rest. There is now, we believe, a new process being developed, which is said to yield a far greater percentage of gold than any other known process. It is capable of treating the most complex ores, which are split up into their various components with very little waste, every element being thus yielded as an asset. This process is said to require a suitable flux for one stage of the working, and as such flux is said to be present in large quantities at the Tui, treatment of the complex gold-bearing ores, which are found in other parts of the range, would be a simple matter. There is -one very serious drawback to this process, and it is that the plant required for its carrying out involves an exceptionally heavy outlay, so that its adoption in centres where the precious metal is I more plentiful would be likely to precede its introduction into a district of more uncertain yield. But if such a process is actually available, its introduction into New Zealand will be awaited with interest.