Is There Gold In "Them Thar Hills"?

"Them Thar Hills"?

Seven Years' Search in the Salomons

(Contributed) STILL another gold-mining epidemic seems likely to brgak out on Guadal canal Island which, over the past seven or eight years, has been visited by numerous mining engineers, near-engi neers and not so near ones, with rather lamentable results.

No doubt, all those share-holders who have not had sufficient injections of gold mining virus are ready to believe that there is some truth in the old hackneyed saying that “ a gold mine is a hole in the ground, and the owner is a nar”. At any rate, Guadalcanal does seem to have been a better place in which to sink gold rather than sink for it.

Still, all this by no means condemns the field, for there is surely gold “in them thar hills and rivers”, and New Guinea ites might please note that it is none of your 50% muck. Samples recently sent

south proved 96% pure; so that, if there is not sufficient to allay Uncle Sam’s aloof ness towards us over the little matter of war-debts, at least we can say “Thank God we are pure”. I mean, our gold is.

The gekko in the treacle seems to be in devising a means to fish the gold out of the treacherous boulder-strewn streams, which are subject to sudden and dangerous floods from the mountains in the near back-ground.

One mining engineer, a couple of years ago, hatched out a plan all his own to overcome this. It was to cost just the bare £30,000; but, apparently, his share-holders were suffering from stricture of the purse, or want of confidence, or something; so they sent along another M.E., of slightly more tonnage, to look it over, and he con demned the scheme first peep—and “fhoof” went another ton of optimism.

The field was then deserted, and all leases cancelled, and the jungle reigned supreme.

But not for long; for, soon after, up bobbed still another mining engineer. This lime, all the way from Western Australia where they should know something about gold-mining. Anyhow, he brought with him all the usual assurances as to his qualifications, and the “bogins of boodle” he represented—just a mere million and a half of English capital in this case— which is just pining to be poured into the Sorvohio River.

He states that if he gets the concessions he has asked for there will be 1,000 men on the field inside 12 months.

Alas, our Gold-mining Regulations were apparently framed rather with the idea of preventing than encouraging mining; and. though sane regulations have been pro mised for years, the office boy or whoever it is that attends to our little matters in Fiji, does not seem to have completed his prolonged siesta. The result is that mining matters here are in a glorious state of muddle and the drunk who asked “is this Pitt Street or Chrisamus?” was a para gon of lucidity in comparison.

However, thank God for Chamberlain and his efforts to regenerate sanity! And may some of it trickle this far!

Meanwhile, from the talk going round, copra planters on Guadalcanal are becom ing perturbed as to the possibility of see ing their holdings pouring through the sluice-boxes into the blue Pacific. Not that it would matter a row of pins, in view of the copra market outlook; but they would feel happier if assured that the share holders in the talked of II millions show were the same group which dominates the vegetable oil combine. In that case, it would be a game of “Take and Put”—that is. they might take all the “cream” of the copra industry, but they would put it back into the Sorvohio, which would be some consolation.

Tulagi, 20/8/1938.