Solomons Gold
p. 52 · Read in the full issue
Search Goes On Despite Many Difficulties
f I ''HE search for gold is still proceeding in the Solomon Islands.
The consensus of expert opinion is that beyond any doubt there is highly payable gold in Guadalcanal; but that no worth while field is likely to be developed until there is brought into existence a company with financial resources and influence enough to overcome the enormous ob stacles, which are described as “both natural and official.”
The gold is in the ranges of Guadal canal; anything from 5 to 25 miles from the coast, amid dense jungle which is in fested with malarial mosquitoes. The prospects in places are very rich, but it is necessary to trace back the gold to the area from which it is shed; and to do this an enormous amount of heavy work is required in removing undergrowth and making tracks.
Communication is a problem. No enter prise could hope to do very much unless it were strong enough to provide its own vessel for transport from Tulagi; or.
alternatively, establish on Guadalcanal a camp big enough to provide the amenities of civilization. Roads or some other method of transport are vital. Carriage now is by natives who, of course, must be fed adequately and the cost of transporting foodstuffs is heavy.
Labour is another problem. The vari ous parties which have sought gold in Guadalcanal have not found it easy to organize an adequate labour force.
Some prospectors recently there com plain of the indifference of officials. There is nominally a Mining Board at Tulagi which is supposed to deal with mining matters. But it is said to be purely a nominal concern with little knowledge of the existing mining laws, little interest in same, and an uncompromising determina tion to see that every letter of every haras sing regulation is fully observed.
Recent visitors express surprise at this official attitude. The Solomons territory, being wholly dependent upon copra, has been suffering a period of economic stag nation. The development of a gold indus try would materially alter the outlook. In the circumstances surprise is expressed that the officials do not offer more encour agement to gold prospectors. Papua, in similar circumstances, gives every possible encouragement to prospectors.
The Pratten interests long ago aban doned their investigations in the group; but a local syndicate known as “the Big Six,” who hold rights over what is be lieved to be valuable areas, is still carrying on. It is understood to be working in association with a Sydney syndicate called the Pioneer Gold Co., and on behalf of the latter a well-known mining engineer, Mr.
Ault, has been carrying on an energetic and useful survey. He has been on Guadalcanal for some time, and was re cently in Sydney obtaining new equipment for a further investigation.
There is little doubt that somewhere in Guadalcanal, in the ranges at the back of Berande, there is a rich goldfield; and if only a tithe of the Australian capital that has been wasted on Fijian speculation had been spent in the Solomons Group, a dis covery of importance probably would have been made by now.
There is a singular similarity between the early history of the Morobe goldfields in New Guinea and what is going on now in the Solomons. Competent men are con vinced that the gold is there and, in spite of great natural difficulties, they are con tinuing the search. A very rich reward awaits the successful prospector.