THE NEW GOLD FIND.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 May 1921, Page 7

THE NEW GOLD FIND.

JOURNEY TO THE REEF.

Christchurch, May 14.

The Greymouth Chamber of Commerce has decided to assist the Blackwater Miners’ Association in its endeavor to have a road put through from Wahita, or Snowy Creek, to the recently-found Alexander reef, which is reported to be very rich, in the Reefton district. Financial assistance was also assured. The new township, which will be laid out by the Public Works and Lands Departments in connection with the find, will be 800 ft. above sea level.

The holders of the rights are very sanguine, and the find is considered to be of even greater importance in quality and quantity than the Reefton finds in the early eighties. The price set on £hc claim by the holders is £lOO,OOO in cash and £50,000 in paid-up shares. A prominent mining expert gives an interesting account of his trip from Waiuta to the Alexander River, where the gold reef is situated. Leaving Waiuta early in the afternoon with Mr. McVicar, the owner of the claim, and following blazed lines, he reached Alexander River at 7 p.m. On the river bank were the two camps, one a log cabin, and the other a canvas tent, each holding a party of four men. Next morning Mr. Hurley, who discovered the find, took the visitors about 300 ft. up the river, and the 1700 ft. clim'b then commenced. After an hour and twenty minutes they reached the ridge and struck the reef, where the moss was torn up and the reef exposed. It is from 4ft. to 7ft. wide. The line of the reef was followed for a mile and a-quarter, and was found to be all gold-bearing. Fourteen chains east they visited another reef 14ft. wide, carrying gold. While the party was at dinner on the third day a forlorn figure appeared, greatly distressed and struggling under the weight, of a 401 b pack. The stranger had been lost on his way to the reef, and had spent two days in the bush in snow and rain. ■He had been sent out by a syndicate to peg out ground. He was in a very exhausted condition, and , could a>o»k only with difficult J