Ironsand Deposits Being Tested In The Dominion

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 49, 4 February 1949, Page 4

Ironsand Deposits Being Tested In The Dominion

Good progress is being made at the Dominion Laboratary by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research with research work in preparation for alrge-scale tests being made by a branch of the State Iron and Steel Department for using the extensive deposits of ironsands in New Zealand. From these ironsand concentrates the department is hopeful of extracting raw material for industry on an economic basis.

Tests have indicated that some of the highest grade sands are on the North Taranaki coast, particularly in a narrow belt a little more than a mile south-west of the mouth of the Waiwakaiho River, near Fitzroy, New Plymouth. It is estimated that this area holds 500,000 tons of concentrate in a total quantity of 1,120,000 tons of ironsands—obviously a large potential source of raw materials for New Zealand requirements. While a successful extraction process would provide a much needed source of raw materials, it has yet to be determined if the ironsands would make the Dominion self-suf-ficient in iron and steel, a factor which would depend also largely on whether sands qf similar high grade would again be placed by the action of wind, tide and river. Research into the economic recovery of the metals has to. date proved disappointing, but recent experimental methods and the progress made in metallurgical research give every hope that the present investigations will prove successful.