MINING IN NELSON.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1372, 24 February 1912, Page 14

MINING IN NELSON.

■ Bjifaftltheiffliost important'of the indus-, Cries established in the p'roviuco since ,its inception lias been mining. Ever since 18G3,,Sjv.h.0n Isf'old' was.,fji;s,ti,discovered, a large amount of. energy and capital has of the ininoM \v^alth,/of, NelsqnV'aiid by r IBSS the w.hblp western"'fringe' of tho South, Island,.waS; peopled with ' .miners as ' far noutli'••" iis . Jackson's Bay: : " .The West C'oasC;Virtc2a{ling r: \yestla r iid,'has' produced not 50 pcT'cent. bf'the'eold ]iiined l; in' the Dominion! \ Reef tori and its' ''still': one' of 'tho chief 'quartz ' and the'' same area on tho cbast-ia'.famous for its' coal depoEita.." The -Oldest;-alluvial; goldfieltl'is 'Colling;; -woody'in'G'olden'Bay. : Dredging,' as well as shiidiife' aild gbld-wpshing, has been tried -with .success in the ''south-western rivers'™ ? 113 .'■''■ '■ '.' '. :,u *'-■• ''" ' are' fbu'iid 'in considerable 'quantities-in thb' 'district— namely, Bilve^' l "clivpm'e;.ni'iiiiganefe, hematite, and'antimony—and J rel'erence is made ia anbth'er'.'part''of'the utape.i" to-the magnificeiit'ce'meiit .works recently erected at Terakbhe, Golden Bay, : ' by the Golden Bay Cement Works Company, thd supply of limestone ibeing apparently.'inexhaustible.''Thero arb also rich copper deposits 'nt the Bun' Mountain, and Aniseed Valley, but so far a lack of capital has prevented, any great development. Silver ore has ; also }>eeh worked at Collingwood and at; Parapara, in .the same vicinity, there' are j largo dopo<iits of 'hematite, in conju'nctioii'with'coal. Reports '"drawn "up flfty_ years ago by the celebrated'Br. von.'Hochstetter abil Gir Julius Vbn'H.a&st, geologists of wide experiehce.'.disclbsed vision (o the people of the* province; and though to a'largo extent; snys'MT.,Alfred Grace, the mineral Viclics to winch they have referred have jain donnaiit; nevertheless sumcieht'wotk has becn'dohb by,energetic men' bS prbve'that the prophecies of the eeologisfcs "irere Well founded. In tho Gold-en' Bay district exceedingly valuablo deposits':'bF.iron await development. In Mount Pyrin? rich galena, has been discoverbdi J iyhil6 liumo-roiis outcrops of coal and found.on 'the',east,, south, /and west extremities broad expanse -'of the Wnimea and'./Motueka. valleys, 'isWni'-'to 'Verify Von', Hochstetter's prediction''that [within |tho , area defined a'ft : extensivb;co!!,lfield. In tho course' "b'P a, -rejibtt, Dr.;,' JEoehstetter, referring tb'i'the'possibilities-of a coalfield at Bishbpdale, l within a few miles of Nelson towiv'statedHhat various indications led suppose that further south, on tho ontskirts'of tho Waimea Plain, in the direction' of 'Kichmond,. there" were also beds of coal. Dr. Hochslettcr has been proved invariably, to. be, correct in his opinion on milling- possibilities in the Dominion, and operations' whioh •havo been carried but at Brightwater, and the indication, of; the existence of sandstone at Stoke,- Bichmpnd, Hop?,' and Brightwater, or, in pther w:prds, along,'the entire eastem sidq of the.plain, together with the game at the south, and fit.-tho'Baton and''Paiigatotnra to the west,;'3ybuld,£eem to point to. the existenco'jbf'a; largo rcoal: area..,'A bore put downyat, Brightwater'five.o'r six years ogo traversed ,yalterna.te -layers 'of • -sandstone and shale,.which apparently lay'ill almost horizpn.tal.strata,'.and certainly tho results warranted the prosecution of mora extensive investigations. So far, however, no attempts have .been made to work anything' but tub outcrops. Among the.minerals'which have, been found in the Nelson district are asbestos, plumbago, mica, chrome,. hematite, kaolin, oil shale, antimony, . mineral; oil, sandstone, limestone, slate,' ina'rble'i ,and granite.'The stono at proseh't .for thb. construction of the'fibif Wellington Prist,Q'ffice cornea from"Tbnga';Bay, 1 a,,fcw/'miles from Nelson,; arid' is highly spokjen of. ■