NEW INDUSTRY PROPOSED

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28260, 24 April 1957, Page 17

NEW INDUSTRY PROPOSED

Titanium From Ironsands

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 23.

Proposals for a new industry lie behind investigations which are being made of ironsands at Taharoa, on the southern shore of Kawhia Harbour. Fletcher Holdings, Ltd., and the Kaiser-Fraser steel interests in the United States are believed to be interested in the project, for the extraction of titanium. Several years’ intensive investigation will be necessary but, if established, the enterprise is expected to involve an outlay of several millions of pounds and to rank in importance with the Kawerau paper and pulp industry. When asked to comment on the intentions of Fletcher Holdings, Ltd., the chairman of directors (Sir James Fletcher) said he had nothing to say. Asked whether he had been consulted on the matter, the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr E. H. Halstead) said that preliminary information he had received was' promising for the establishment of a titanium industry in the Kawhia district. However, he was awaiting a complete report from the promoters and was not in a position to say anything more. Titanium is used largely in manufacturing supersonic aircraft and is almost as keenly sought as uranium.

Its value to the aircraft industry is that it is tougher than steel and weighs half as much, and has a higher melting point than most other metals.

Negotiations for prospecting rights have taken place at Taharoa between representatives of the industrial concerns involved and the Maoris who own the Taharoa sandhills. It is believed that an application for a prospector’s licence is likely to come before the Maori Land Court next month.