ODDS’N’SODS — The gold that got away

During the 1930s, I was employed as a smoke tester at a large non-ferrous smelter, where custom ore was ground, sampled and stockpiled until a sufficient supply was on hand for treatment.

Notwithstanding my duties as smoke tester, I was soon instructed to check various stages of the smelting process to determine how some gold was being lost. Everything checked out, however, and we were unable to account for the lost metal.

As a last resort, security guards were stationed in the gold melting room and searched all personnel leaving the plant. But the gold loss continued.

One day, a tradesman making a minor repair discovered a small pile of granular gold covered with dust. A thorough search of the plant revealed many other stashes — about 9 oz. for every day the guards were on duty.

There were only three employees with access to the section where much of the lost gold was found, and they were promptly replaced. Management also demanded the return of its metal and reminded the three men that spectrographic analysis could identify the gold as stolen. In addition, the men’s homes were visited by company inspectors who tore up concrete floors and drilled holes in beams, searching for signs of the stolen metal. Still, none of the missing gold was ever found.

Some years later, following my return from the Second World War, an old friend and I speculated on the mysterious disappearance of that gold. I surmised that one or all three of the suspects were living a life of leisure in some warm climate.

My friend said he doubted that they were and, when I questioned him further, claimed to know where the gold was. He then produced an old jam tin filled with rust-colored sand. He handed me a wee sample from the tin.

With skepticism I examined it. Using a gold pan and a garden hose, I panned it crudely and, to my surprise, the process revealed fine crumbs of gold.

The metal had been mixed with sand that was then smuggled out of the plant somehow, likely in a lunch pail.

Some time later, a past executive of the company stated that the gold had been found under the brick work in one of the furnaces. His explanation was probably fabricated to save the company the embarrassment of its ineffectiveness in apprehending the culprits.

The man who produced that wee bit of gold has since died, and it is doubtful the full story will ever come to light.

— The author resides in Gibsons, B.C.