Why a Discovery Paradox? A Paradox is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics. We present two examples of significant discoveries of high-grade gold deposits in areas with a long history of minor production but clear indications of the right characteristics to host much larger deposits. It requires technical skill to see through the fog of the past, as well as persistence and funding over many years in a failed project before a discovery can be made.The authors are well acquainted with the examples presented which both have long and erratic histories and demonstrate that the Paradox can be resolved leading to significant discoveries. CITATION: Vigar, A, Dale, P and Prendergast, K, 2019. Discovery paradox and case studies Cracow and Kainantu, in Proceedings PACRIM 2019, pp 336340 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).