Search For Gold In

The Solomons

From Our Own Correspondent

Honiara, June 20.

MR. J. C. GROVER, of Sydney, newly appointed Senior Geologist to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Government, expects to leave shortly on a geological survey expedition to the mountainous area which extends behind the Guadalcanal coastline, north-east of Point Cruz. He hopes to make a de tailed survey of the Gold Ridge area as well as investigating the Sutakiki and Sutakana areas near Lion’s Head Moun tain. He will probably return by way of the head waters of the Tenaru River.

It was in the area between the coast and Lion’s Head that a scientific expe dition, led by an Austrian, was attacked by hostile villagers towards the end of the last century. Some members of this expedition were killed, including their leader. The samples which the survivors of that expedition took back to Germany were not assayed until 1929, and promis ing results were obtained from the assays.

Sutakiki and Sutakana were declared mining areas before the war, and some gold was recovered there, but the swiftness of the rivers, and the speed with which they come down in flood, made mining on any large scale impracticable in the areas then being worked.

The Fiji 1950 Civil List has been pub lished by the Fiji Government Printer.

Copies are available at the Government Press. The price is 4/-.

A party of Methodist Missionaries in Papua and New Guinea, left their stations in early July and under the leadership of the Rev. E. Clarke and the Rev. G. Young, will make a survey of NG Central Highlands areas with the idea of establishing Methodist Missions there.