GREENSTONE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1870, 2 October 1913, Page 5

GREENSTONE

COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. WEST COAST VENTURE. Mr. Francis J. Wallis, of Sydney, who is a director of New Zealand Greenstone, Ltd., is at present visiting Wclliiijjton in connection with the affairs and interests of his company. A keen Australian man of business, Mr. Wallis's business talk is mostly citations of facts and figures, devoid of rhetorical flourish. Ho came over chiefly to satisfy himself concerning the actual prospects of this greenstone enterprise; and, having examined the 5496 acres of property the Company holds on the West Coast, ho has made a report to his co-directors in Sydney. It is obvious that ho is now quietly enthusiastic and content, and ho is ready-enough to talk soberly 011-tho general matter.

"The public, you see, runs easily to confusions, and the name of my Company seems rather to have led some people astray. What is most commonly known as greenstone—the nephrite so largely used by jewellers—is merely a by-product of ours, valuable enough in it-self, but in.llo degree-essential to the success of our undertaking. We are out to deal with big matters in a big way, and it is 011 the serpentine that wo depend—tho green and grey decorative building-stono of which we hold virtually a world's monopoly for commercial purposes. It is true that there are small deposits of serpentine elsewhere. There is a small deposit in for instance ; but tho amount of stono available anywhere outside our property is so very trivial that we need not consider it. I have personally 110 .doubt jit all about the exceptional beauty and value of serpentino. It is far more dnrablo than marble, and it does not 'pock.' It is exceedingly tough, and still quite easy to work. Marble is not suitable for external uses, owing to that pocking habit and its other characteristic vices; but serpentine is suited absolutely. At tho risk of tiresome reiteration, I must insist 011 tho beauty, the singular and appealing beauty, of serpentine, a beauty infinite in its variations. Noting this beauty, I must confess to a great _ surprise when I discover that so little ornamental stone has been used in Now Zealand. In your public buildings you do not yet display the confident decorative sense and effective good tasto of tho Australians; but wo liavo already a very big demand from Australia for the stone, and I' dare say that New Zealand will fall into lino before long. This stono should appeal to your national sentiment. It is uniquo, a thing of your own. Not only is the serpentino found elsewhere available in trifling-quantities, but it falls very far behind your stono in decorative value."

Having said so much, Mr. Wallis was pressed for a definite statement relative to the commercial possibilities and promiso of hife enterprise.

"I admit," said Mr. Wallis, "that of late- it has frequently been suggested that it is not stated as clearly as it might bo what profit the company expects to derive, from its operations. So far wo liavo been content to state that tho by-products alone will probably return a sum adequate to cover the whole of our working costs. 'However, since you seem to think that investors may reasonably expect a more exact estimate, I am ready ■to say -what I honestly can. Perhaps I had .better take you into our confidence a bit. Our chief product is, as I liavo already told you, serpentine. Our engineer's estimate of the cost of production to us shows that wo can ship tho stone for £3 per ton f.0.b., Greymouth; and that, I may say, is an outside estimate of cost. Let mo go oil and try to show you what that means. , Tho' specific gravity of this New Zealand greenstone —I am referring throughout to the serpentine—would probably work out at about fourteen cubic feet to tho ton. The usual thickness of tho stono used for decorative purposes as in tho case of marble, is three-quarters of an inch. Polished marble for this purpose is usually sold at so much per super foot, aiul- polished serpentine will work out at about ono' hundred and ninetysix super feet per cubic ton. Now then; I am careful to keep this estimate of profits down. Assuming that tho engineer's liberal estimate of £3 a ton cost f.0.b., proves to be below the actual cost to us, wo will put. on" an extra couple,of pounds and reckon that cost at £o per ton. This would make tho approximate cost of quarrying and transport to us about- sixpence per super foot. The. extremo estimate of the cost of cutting and polishing is' four shillings per super foot. So we ara-iv'e-at a total cost to the company of four and sixpence per super foot for the polished stone. I am assured by unbiassed experts that if we sell polished serpentine at seven and sixpence per super foot wo shall bo selling a highly decorative and most artistic stone at a lower prico than has ever before been possible, when duty on the imported' article is taken into consideration. Now, 7s. 6d. per super foot should yield a profit to tho companv of 3s. per super foot. There aro 195' super feet to the ton; so that the lowest possible, profit on ono ton of polished serpentine works out at 5885.—£29 Bs. Tho board of directors is assured that not only is there an immediate demand, but that orders to the extent of at least four hundred tons a week might not unreasonably be anticipated. This would only entail our working four clear shifts weekly, as the ropeway delivers ono hundred tons every eight hours. The profit should, therefore, work out at £29 Ss. multiplied by 400 per week. I leave you to do tho sum. The specific gravity of our decorative stone is somewhat heavier than marble. The best Italian decorative stono will average about 14.6 cubic feet to the cubic ton. Tho above calculation as to profit can-be drastically cut down to 12 cubic feet, which is much less than actual weight; even then on a basis of only 168 super feot, tho profits would show as £25 4s. per ton. Reduce this if you like by half, and the dividends would bo splendid even on a much larger capital. Tho cutting and sawing being run by water-power from Lynch's Creek, should, moreover, make the cutting costs well within the estimate.

" I should like, if I may," Mr. Wallis continued, "to remove one or two doubts or misconceptions that seem still to linger here and there. In tho first place, as to the character of serpentine. It is tough, as I havo said, but it is easy to work, and it is absolutely not brittle. It resists almost any impact or strain. It is to all intents and purposes imperishable. It is the finest decorative building-stone T know, and, its possibilities are endless. One Wellington resident, who is a large shareholder of ours, recently returned from a trip to Europe. He tonic specimens of our serpentine with him, and they wore not particularly 'good specimens. But he has been able to tell the Board that there is an absolutely assured market in Europe for. this product-. Ho reneived his information from European architects of standing, dealers in marble, and other people well qualified to speak on the subject-. " Personally, I have no doubt whatever about t-iie success of this project-, and I havo proved my faith in the busi-ness-man's most practical way._ As our Xow Zealand advisory committee we have Jir. AValter Clifford, of Christolutrch, Mr. Percy .A. Ehvorthy, of Timaru, and Mr. J. W. Hannan, of Grcymotith. Tlieso gentleman, 1 feel sure, have as much confidence in our enterprise as I have. AVliy, tho jewellers' greenstone is a. lu-urodust, 6old_

by tlie pound weight, and wo have one man in Hamburg earnestly inviting us to supply him with fifty tons a year! I have been looking into this matter earnestly for weeks and months, trying to find.somo weak spot in it, and I can't. I don't see how we can go wrong."