Lost Gold launched in Nelson

Gold nuggets (pictured right), a hand-drawn treasure map and 33-year-old audio of an old gold searcher all featured at the book's launch at Nelson’s Suter Art Gallery on Sunday evening.

The event, organised by Craig Potton Publishing and Page & Blackmore, celebrated publication of Paul Bensemann’s book “Lost Gold. The 100-year searchfor the gold reef of Northwest Nelson”. It drew visitors from around the top of the South Island and as far south as Christchurch.

Investigative author Nicky Hager and Craig Potton Publishing’s Executive Director and Publisher Robbie Burton spoke of the decades of work by the author in uncovering details of the secret search.

Bensemann, a former Nelson Mail and NZ Press Association reporter, showed the audience samples of gold he had found in the Nelson area, old maps and also a slideshow of photographs collected in his more than 35 years of research.