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Hokitika Guardian, 25 August 1922, Page 2

Tub Minister of Mines when speaking | in the House this week indicated the | possible expansion of a mining policy in the near future. This action will he I welcomed very generally, because for far too long mining has been left lar- , gely to take care of itself. The war j period dislocated so many things and nothing more than mining ventures. But there is a reviving spirit displayed I of late, ami three or four parties, at least, are probing the hack hills in West. I land .searching for new finds. Certainly some oig.inised attention should he , paid to South Westland where in times ' past reports have been made of import- | ant geological deposits, and at this juncture it would he an appropriate time to explore and determine their extent and value. The Minister talks , of developing the scientific side of prospecting which is altogether a step in the right direction, and long advc- I rated. The average mining prospector lias a superficial knowledge of gold tie- | posits and their lay in regard to both alluvial and quartz, but tile knowledge | is far from complete, and a prospector with an eye for one metal only might 1 easily pass over more valuable deposits because he is not familiar with the valuable mineral deposits he misses in I his single-purposed search. The scientific side of prospecting should be taken ; up by the Government in a very pine- | tier I way. In other Departments i . I State the scientific side is worked very , thoroughly. It is so in regard to all 1 branches of agriculture, and we know I with what valuable results. A begin- i ning was once made to treat mining j similarly by a comprehensive geological l i report, but it was allowed to stop shoe' ■ at practically the initial stages of the ' enterprise. The work could well be taken up at the point where it was j dropped formerly and success at one point alone would speedily justify the wisdom of the new departure indicated bv the TTon. Minister. i

Tins tract of Coast country is so highly mineralised that it is worthy of constant and systematic scientific investigation as to its mineral potentialities. Some of the best finds indicated in Sbnth Westland were discovered when gold mining was at its height, but the

public ha a whole wbre content with gold. The other valuable minerals Which are known to exist in attractive outcrops up and down the Coast have been totally neglected because of the first and best love for gold only. The geology of the southern district was reported on in a superficial way by the early scientific explorers from Dr von Haast onward, but travelling in those days was so difficult in the remote parts, and supplies so expensive to obtain, that the 'task was never pursued as it rhould have been. After nearly sixty years of existence the means of communication and transport to most of the out of the way places have improved very materially, and an expedition under modern conditions would ho very different to the privations which had to he endured in the past. There are in ‘South Westland considerable tracts of country which reveal traces of various minernl deposits. Every district south has its coal creek, its copper creek, and what not named by tlm early explorers, and there hrfe many known finds of stone of various kinds. The value of these natural deposits has never been probed in a practical way. They are believed to be of potential value, and it would be a very opportune time just now to test the hitherto secret places and find out their natural worth. There is the suggestion that different tracts of the country in the south are oil bearing. Reports of this character and others relating to the mineral deposits, all encourage a belief that scientific prospecting of the region referred to should ho undertaken. The Minister of Mines if he attempts to practical a step iviTl do much to justify his term of office, and at any moment a discovery might he made of such value as to dissipate at once the overshadowing clouds of stringency and depression the country is suffering from.