GOLD IN GREENSTONE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1871, 3 October 1913, Page 8

GOLD IN GREENSTONE.

:— AN ENTERPRISE THAT PROMISES BIG THINGS. "toJEW Zealanders seem to have caught -11 from the Maoris a curious demotion or attachment to greenstone jewellery and ornaments. There is nothing to bo deplored in tlio fact, 6inco the stone is singularly beautiful, and has a character all its own. But if Maorilanders knew more about greenstone they would not be so apt to misunderstand tho prospects and proposals of the company known as' New Zealand Greenstone. Limited. That company regards jewellers' greenstone as a mere by-product, or side-line; and though the side-line is verv vahiablo, it sinks into insignificance when it is compared with the serpentine which is the company's chief product. There are rich deposits of nephrite, the jeweller's stone, on the 5496 acres of the company's property; but there is an inexhaustiblo supply of serpentine; and as the New Zealand serpentine is almost unquestionably the most beautiful decorative buildinystono on our planet tho demand is likely >to bo inexhaustiblo too. _ _ Thefe is a sense in which New Zeahas been too prosperous. Men have found it so easy to make money and live fatly that comfort has sometimes Hunted in them the keen edge of their enterprise. In no other way can the long neglect of the magnificent serpentine deposits on the West Coast be • explained. Thero lies the stone, unique, accessible, virtually tho world's whole supply of one superb product. Serpentine ought long ago to have become familiar to us in our business premises and public buildings; but even now very few people in New Zealand have ever heard of serpentine. It is a tough stone, but easy to work. It take 9 a permanent high polish, and is of infinito variety of figure and tone, the colours ranging from a pure cool green to a clear effulgent grey. It is for practical purposes imperishable, not brittle, very difficult to smash or crack. It is rooro distinctively - beautiful than marble, vastly more durable than marble, excellently suited for external uses (which marble is not), and it has none of marble's characteristic vices. Working only four eight-hour shifts ft week, the company can deliver four hundred tons of serpentine at Groymoutn. One ton of serpentina cuts up into 190 feet super of tho polished _ stono. io produce and deliver that finished product will cost tho compnay on an outside .estimate, 4s Gd. a foot; and if tho company sells at 7s. Cd. per foot, it will bo the cheapest decorative stono of its class ever offered to the building trade. So that the company s proht on a ton of stone, at this most conservative estimate will he about .£2!) Bs., and thero is a demand for four hundred tons a week virtually in view. Serpentine is going to become a national industry. New Zealand Greenstone, Limited, has its headquarters In Australia; but it has excellent nnmes on its Now Zealand directorate and advisory committee—Mr. Walter Clifford, of Christchurch; Mr. Percy A. Elwortliy, of Timnrn; Mr. J. W. flannan, of Greymontli'. Most of the pioneer work on tho property has already been done; tho power-house is being erected, tho road is made, modern machinery of the most effective and approved type has been ordered. The company will be ablo to start active operations on a permanent basis very soon. It can scarcely bo too soon; for tho demand for the stone, oven on the little that is BO far known of its qualities, is already great and insistent. Australians have excellent taste in buildings, and ther. are enthusiasts of serpentine. The great I/uroi pean architects and builders that have seen the stone are every whit as keen. The possibilities of tho trade seem to bo ii jilmcjt l.imitlcej;