Wartime gold cache 'found' in Papua New Guinea

A wartime gold cache worth hundreds of millions of dollars may have been found on a remote mountaintop in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland province.

Troops and police have been sent to verify the claim and protect the find from poachers, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

Senior government staff were told a cache of up to 10 tonnes of gold, allegedly unearthed and processed by the Japanese during World War II, had been amassed in a mountain cave.

The PNG Government, facing ongoing budget deficits, was reportedly excited at the find.