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Hokitika Guardian, 18 August 1921, Page 2

s'f is good to hear talk of possible mining developments these times when mining is so much in the background. Wartime prosperity as it appeared to ne, drew the gold miner into more .iterative employment, while the rise in tl.e price ol' tools and commodities for mining put an increase on the cost n |>rodtiction far out of proportion to the ultimate increase gained for the product. Indeed the industry itself was well nigh rendered stagnant by tiie overload+ng cost of production before tl.e price of gold was raised. However, there is a downward tendency in prices .low, and the prosperous times in other avenues of industry becoming restricted labor is becoming more readily available. At the same time a special class of labor is necessary. The miner has to be experienced, and unfortunately there are not too many experienced gold miners in the country these days. The proposition which has found favour with the London capitals! on this occasion, is the auriferous belt of country in North Westland known as the Hohonu terraces. The ground is to be worked by hydraulic sluicing, a straightforward sluicing proposition. The water is to he brought on the Held by gravitation, and the promoters purpose seeing that a good supply of water wid ne provided. The llohonn river is to he tapped, thus ensuring a permanent supply. This source, by the way, was once suggested as suitable for the town of (iroymouth, the late .Mr Lord preparing a scheme to that end. It seenu unfortunate for the northern town in the light of present experiences—and those to come—that so line a souice of supply for civic requirements was not seized upon. Hut that is one of tlv mistakes city fathers will make Iron j time to time. Hokitika has been no exception in missing a good thing in l yours tione l»y when .*» vnluiihle wot.'.-; right was offered tor a song and rejected. Tit Kit K will bo a long line of bead race J to tap tlie Holiomi liver. Some seven! miles of the race are now constructed, ami an additional nine miles will lx 1 required. It is stated this service wi I afford a stable supply ample to cope with the mining project. It is good * > see this confidence being shown in i Westland mining at a time when the industry is so much under a cloud Tii > soeulled .Mines Department seems to take very little direct interest in gold mining, and we hear of no move on the part of the Department to further t - industry in any part of the Dominion, no matter what fabulous wealth it produced in the part, and what immense service it did the colony in drawing! population to it. That is all readily forgotten even by those in high places who derived the greatest .benefit from the vigor of the industry in the pas To-day it is chiefly outside capital and ' enterprise which keep the wheels of industry in goldmining moving. In our immediate neighbourhood we have the meat enterprise proceeding apace at Kimu Klat, due entirely tp outside capital. So with Hohonti, it will lie English capital taking wp a proposition in which tlu- promoters have the fullest faith. These examples should give- the )>eople great or confidence in the country’s natural resources. A mining revival is one of t-lie quickest aids to a return to the better days which follow always in (be train of mining. 1! mining has languished of late, it is chiefly because

it has been a neglected industry. There has been no concerted effort to organise development. The Mines Department to fill its proper functions should be ever organising to expand the industry, and not Tie the invariable “wet blanket” it lias been, failing always to lead or encourage fresh enterprise.