Deposit of Phosphates

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 May 1914, Page 4

Deposit of Phosphates

THE FIRST IN AUSTRALIA

The quiet little country town of Welling'toil has suddenly become famous. Rich and extensive deposits of phosphates were discovered there four months ago, and.' to-day the men at. the head of the venture, like , the experts, are satisfied that soon New South. Wales will be able to supply.locally much of. the fertiliser that is now imported. This i 9 the first time that phosphates have been found in Australia. Hitherto the guano has been imported from Ocean and Easter Island. The average annual importation is 200,000 tons, and Japan lias had the monoply of the Australian trade. But this is to be altered in future. The deposits are being worked now at a low cost, and soon Wellington will be in a position to cope with the demands of the Commonwealth.

As soon as the discovery, was made known the Japanese were on the field offering high prices for the.find. They were turned down but each bidder was persistent. With characteristic enterprise they haunted the Sydney oifices of the syndicate, asked for agencies, and ordered supplies of the fertiliser.

The first discovery—a fine sample of phosphatic rock —picked up on the surface, brought such gratifying reports from experts and assayers that a shaft was immediately sunk to a depth of 74ft. ■lhe deposits here were far richer than expectations, and eygloriaf:; b, natural cave, penetrating intxj/ the earth to a depth of 170 ft, t£ie . pioneers of the phosphates Jfrade iii Australia were convince# that tile layers are jitst as ricla hundreds of ffeet deeper. Imxafediatfely 5000 surrounding. atjres were purchased, and 500 are being worked at pcgsent. . What the actual Output tvill be is hard to conjjecture, imt it. is sure to be la!rge. / xhe disedvery, and fossils found in pajfcsr of - the.deposits,.set one's i imagination moving. What was /Wellington in ages .gone by? Was it part of the ocean bed ? Or was it the bed of some great river,?.: Certain it is that at one,time Wellington was the roosting place of myriads upon myriads of bifds. The rock brought to the Surface from various levels is studded With the remains of strange animal and bird life. One fragment of deposit contained a most remarkable jawbone, with a wonderful set of peculiarly-shaped teeth. Whether it once belonged to animal, bird or fish is a mystery. Whatever it is, it was never part oi the anatomy of anything that has lited in this age. Strangely shaped bones, the like of which" haVe never been seen before, petrefied birds' claws, fish boiies,. and teeth are common findg in the depoßits brought to the surface. ' Some of the layers are coloured like opal, while others would be picked oiit by lay people for marble. The deposits ate to be mined rather than quarried. The stuff has been assayed to be woiih frohi £3 to £4 a ton.