OUR MINERAL WEALTH

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 115, 8 February 1919, Page 8

OUR MINERAL WEALTH

IRON SMELTING AND OIL BORING DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS : -EXPERT OPINIONS ' •The Industries Comiiiittec of Parlia;''inent yisterdny heard a large quantity '•' ■'of very , interesting evidence regarding '..the mineral wealth of New Zealand and' • • the' prospects' of its development. , Jtr. H. J. H. Bloiv, Under-Secretary for Minbsj gave/evidence as to the present '■ state of tho Government'leases of land - . containing 'iroii' ore "deposits at Parapara, •v'Wa'shburii, ( o'ri'd : Ohekaka. He did not think that' anything wns being"-done .on Hi.them -just now-, as- they ware under pro- • flection-; until peace- was- declared. Tho . ' leases were , held by people resident-in the Dominion, and there was no reason " /.'for believing that they were only iiomin"'*Mly held by residents and actually' held by people outside the country. Questioned as "to the value of tho de- . .posits from .the point of. -yJew. of-manu-■'fscturing and .induf.j via! - .development, • Mr. Blow sflid tliat in 1873 Mr. E. J. Binns, P.Q.5.,-«f'.iraafetl the. (Quantity of ..jfon Qte .in tjie leases at, 53,(100,COO toils. '"Dr.. Bel!,' in, GbOgvjrihical. Bulletin No. 3,- 1907, estimated that the'' Washburn ■Block contained: >23,000,000 tons,'but he gave no precisk figures for.tlie'.Taraparn and Onakiika Blocks, but said that lie ■ 'thought tlint'the total ore iii frifcht in the 4 .-three blocks.was probably -04,000,000 tons. . ' Mr. Morgan, present Director of Geologi'cal Survey* supported Dr'. Bell's estimate " so far as the Washburn Block was con- . cerned, -and generally"' concurred in Dr. • .v-Hell's : .other. view?;- so' that the committee might take it that he confirmed the total..estimate of G;l,000,000 tons. '.As regarded the quality of tile ore, Dr. Bell had had analyses made, and had come to the conclusion "that the. ore would yield'about 45 per cent, of metallic iron. Other sampling had' been done since 'drives were put in, and the results had been eimilnr. The ore was not free from ""ph'osphorus and sulphur,' and, in f#ct, for some purposes. the -percentage of [wospborus was ratlict" liigh. In reply to a questiop from Mr. Luke, Mr. Blow said tlint the/nearest State coal suitable for the smelting of the ore ivas that at Greymouth.' Formidable Competition, the'chairman: The Newcastle works .'. would, make a very formidable competi- : tor it tho State took up the.business of .-'developing 1 the blocks. The freight . from rarapara . to .Auckland., or ' I) lined in would. bo -nearly as high 'as tlie ' freight from New"'castle. ''He thought, 1 however,- that in view of the fact that second ; grade ore would/one day be valuable owing to the v-exhanstion of deposits of-first-grade ores, i .the Government - would be well advised to retain the' blocks'Mf' they came into its-'hands, again. • lii the~coiirso of his-general statement, Mr...1310v' said .that- the present, protection would expire»on the day that peace was declared. ' " . ' Frank-Reed, Inspecting Engineer of. Mines,'also gave evidence. He said that no place 'could handier than Parapara \ .... for-the actual extraction of tho. ore. . With'regard to harbour facilities,, lie said i that .the 'quarry would_ be. practically on | the. water's edge, or .within a quarter, of ] ft mile of it. ■ Golden Bay vyis • • yep* i ■ shallow, though fairly well protected, and i the shallowness would mean that a pretty ; long wharf «r iettv would have to be con- - 6tructed,- He. thought, it'would be pos- . ■si bio to lVork Golden Bay practically in s .Jail weathers. • . , Time Not Ripe. , , ■ In Mr. deed's opinion it would not be l'- opportune for many-yoai's to work tllo - -iron deposits. of New Zealand. The de- 1 ■•mands of the country were too small tcj . -iwarr'ant the.erection of blast furnaces .J • and steel- works.- The New Zealand demand would not keep them working for half.;the year,.and it was'out of the quea- 1 ■•dion -for-New- Zealand,', with its . cost of -production, to compete in the markets i abroad. .:. .. - , ..Taranaki-Iron. oand. . '■ •The" chairman questioned Mr.'lleed as i to' the practicability of'smelting the mag- ' -"netifi iron sand of Taranaki fyr cominer- < iCial profit.. ' Mr.'-Reed" said that a process had been ' evolved for treating and smelting the -< iron sand. Tho users of the process had ] had the.ifuriiace lit ./and going on sev- < , ~eral occasions, while he'was present, and ' '-YonVeach- occasion"an • Mproved -product -j been obtained. Perfection'had not • • yet''been ..attained,-however, The defect ' ;'jup.„,tp the present'had been-that'the "I'class" of pig-iron varied between white J .[iand'-'grey. White pig-iron was practic : t ' iilfy steel,- and was too hard for. work- 8 ing in a. maohine.. The fault was in con--'i nection ..with - the' furnace, b.ut since his ■■Ijirisit'. matters had been very much imt(proyed.' . : ' He that- in a few .j 7 !imofith|. it'would be 1 possible to produce ( -SSSrkStalilo'pig-iron.. Ta--jifaSski "«buld ,/s ibt;;'' however, • produce a j marketable pig-iron at a price to coin- j f-peto with;- imported pig-iron at pre-war ,j '•fences.' : f'He dia not think that the expertiSnenters in Taranaki had produced very ■jnany tons of grey iron altogether, and , they had spent .£40,000. , 6 ■' Production of Oil. 'J > Mr. Keed said.that,he had prepared 1 jfL. list of subjects for inviestigatioii in s connection '-with'- tho mineral industries t ot;New;Zealand.;. With regard to oil, he « Uaid that in New Zealand twenty-five c holes, the deepest of which was 5271 6 'iieet; had beeii bored; > and tho'. best re- « ,-r6Hlt': obtained rhid'.'been the securing of c - [MBoaiilliou of cm de oi 1 from threo \ ivhich .had' now greatly * in -output: .'Although the re- t ■'^sults" in generajl had been' negative it i |could not be said that, the operations e 'should lie condemned, or that the drill- t l ing should bo stopped, for throughout the t .world, it. had been, proved that a great c ■ of unsuccessful wells wero v before, a payable supply was ob- t 'talned. •• t i The prospects for the obtaining of oil s vErom' shale in New Zealand wero much r ibetter. .. To support ; the oil-shale indus- s "try would bo well warranted.' There 1 ;;was no doubt of . the quality of the-Oi'o- v -piiki stale; and if-the Orepuki Company d could get, say, <£55,000, it could carry j on'witnout Govornment assistance. It s would be too much of a guess to givo an g estimate of tho cost of production, but i if. the-prices as they at present existed t /prevailed, in all. probability Orepuki I ■'-would-.be able to compoto against the s 'Imports.- Ho would rccominend a Gov- c Jernmenfc' subsidy per foot of. drilling .in f, approved places for shale. With regard t to' boring for oil, ho would suggest that v the Government bonus for the produc- li tion.,of crudo oil and,refined oil might, j) be restored..'o ' o Huge Deposit of Brown Coal. t' ■ Questioned as to what other subjects e. he would like to "bring before the com- I mittee, Mr. Heed said that one was the o distillation of oils from' tho. browij coal n mined in New Zealand.. Tho possibilities h of this matter should bo fully investi- h ' gated, as there wero in New r Zealand t 728,000,000 tons of brown coal in situ, k Brown, coal, was black coal which con- g • tainted - not' less than 10 'per''cent;- and r ..apt more than 20 por cent. ,of water, t At present' a large 'percentage of the o .•brown coal mined was sheer, waste, in a the form of dross, and tho waste would o bo eliminated if means could bo- found c to distil oil from the coal. c The committee decided to hear Mr, t Keed further on Monday. 3 The-.chairman said that the committee would sit on Saturday morning to hear the evidence of a witness who had an j appointment to appear. v . . ' F Sir J. Madden, K.C.M.G- etc., Lienton- „ ant-Governor and Chief Justice of Vic- , toria,-when dblivering judgment in a case in which an inferior substituto had been f , pushed as "just as good" as SANDER'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT, said with re- ? ga>d to the GENUINE SANDER, EX- t TRACT: "Whenever an-article is com- c toe'nded to the' public by reason of its ? ' nood-'quality, ' it. is Pot permissible to .imitate any of its" features." When 1 using a medicine' it is "good, quality" » that you and SANDER'S EX- '- ITRAGT has the endorsement and ap- f Movhl of-the highest authorities." In- 11 •foled, applied-locrillv, .taken on sugjir.nr i ? s fn r - < i(fafi6r ns.■ SA>®Etl J SEX- * /TRAST-'is because, it, I •Ts -iSpeeially' refined "and prepared ,' by Sander's process, and contains nn harm- -d ful bv-effects." Use SANDER'S EX- >• IEAQT only whejj jrpu desire good and 1: 'laietins effectsi do' 1 -' just, as good."—Advt, t