IRON DEPOSITS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 38, 8 November 1907, Page 9

IRON DEPOSITS IN NEW ZEALAND.

CAN THEY HE PROFITABLY DEVELOPED. MR. TEMPLE'S WET BLANKET. Sir, —Howovcr commendable and necessary it may b6 to institute .the most searching enquiry regarding the pros, and cons, of any proposed industrial undertaking ;■■ before entering actively thereon, it is also essential that critics, beforo tendering opinions, should be fairly accurate in all matters relating to the subject criticised. I was therefore surprised and disappointed on porusing your representative's report of an interview with Mr. Temple (a gentleman described in your issue of October 23 as an "expert engineer and a competent metallurgical chemist") to find many loose, in fact, inaccurate statements. Ho says, "Samples of the Para Para ore were taken to England some time ago, and were very favourably reported upon. .They proved to bo excellent samples of brown hematite. . . . and there is nothing in their composition to seriously retard their treatment. Tho percentage of phosphorus in these ores, however, is slightly high." ' Professor Black, of 'Duncdiri, pronounced the Para Para ore as being particularly free from sulphur and phosphorus, and Professor Newberry, of Melbourne, examined the ore specially for these .compounds, and failed to find either. Where does Mr. Temple get his "slightly high" percentage? If, as no says, there is nothing in their composition to' seriously retard their treatment, what is his object in dragging in the "cold-rotten" and "hot-rotten" effects of phosphorus and sulphur .in iron ores ? The analysis enclosed, taken from official sources, surely 'demonstrates that neither of these disturbing elements oxist, even "slightly high," in' the Para Para ores j but probably the most convincing proof oh that point is the fact that the oro has been run through an ordinary founder's cupola without the slightest trouble, produced 50 per cent, of metal, which was puddled, rolled into rods and bars, and proved under tho forge hammer neither cold not hot-rotten, but superior to any English or Swedish iron imported. T have samples of this iron 1 now in my possession, which can bo seen, and tested if necessary, by anyone interested. Mr. Temple further informs your representative that a modern blast furnaco of the minimum size would eat up 100 tons of oro every 24 hours, and a little furthor on ho makes the following statement: "Thismeans that a small blast furnace of the kind T havo indicated, with an output of .from 750 to 1000 tons weekly"! Tho Para Para ore, as I have shown, contains 50 per cent, of' metal, so that tho small furnace, 'eating up 100 tons every 2i hours, would yield 50 tons of metal daily, or 350 tons weekly. It now rests with Mr. Tomplo to show you and your readers how he proposes to extract. tho greater out of tho lessor quantity.. Such inaccurate statements lniidd by'a'gentleman whom you designato an "expert" aro likely to croato a doubt upon tho wholo.'interview, and lead to a suspicion that there must bo some motive inducing such nocdless depreciation.

I will now take Mr.-Temple's.figures showing tlio quantity of metals imported' into New Zealand . during.. l ( J05:-r-Pig.. iron 6743 tons, steel bars 17,539 tons, sheets 4842 tons! steel rails (tho tonnage of tin's important itom, for ' some' reason not very clear, is omitted, but the quantity must he considerable), stool plates 1800 tons—making' a total of 30,924 tons. -Mr. Temple, however, gives the quantity the furnnco would ho ablo to treat as 27,282 tons. Now tako this expert's own figures all roipid, and it must naturally occur to most readers that thoro should bo no difficulty in keeping his minimum blast furnace ablaze all the ypnr round, inasmuch as 1 have shown that the capacity of his furnace is only 350 tons of metal, daily, or 18,250' tons annually. It necessarily follows that it would take 18 months to produce the quantity of metal ho assures, us could.be treated, viz., 27,282 tons. If steel rails are included, as well as much of the machinery imported—to say nothing of shipbuilding (and why not build ships?)—an immense addition could be shown for the work a furnace jwould have to do, and instead of a minimum a maximum-sized ' furnace would probably bo required to cope with requirements. I recognise Mr. Temple does' not anticipate that New Zealand is likely to cease progressing beyond 1905,- and why he should bo so pessimistic regarding our progress in iron-making is just a little puzzling. Laying no claim to 'what is generally understood as export knowledge in iron metallurgy and its industrial relations, still I have been so intimately connected with tho mineral deposits nt the Para Para for the past half-century that I do claim to have some little commonsense understanding of'the position.—l am, etc., H. M. WEBSTER. Nelson, Nov. 4, 1907.