MINERALS IN THAMES

Hokitika Guardian, 8 June 1926, Page 4

MINERALS IN THAMES

AIARKET IN GERAI ANY. TIIAAIES, June 4. Exception, not unmixed with resentment. is taken by the promoters ol the German syndicate to mine reiraetory ores near Thames, at the .altitude ol the executive of the Canterbury Industrial Association, which recently put forward the following resolution, which however, was held over in the meantime :

: “ That in, view of a report recently circulated that a foreign syndicate lias obtained an option to work certain lands in New Zealand for the extraction of mineral deposits this executive of the Canterbury Industrial Association urges the Government to prohibit any operations covering the export of crude minerals to be refined in countries outside the British Umpire.” The seconder of the motion said that it was desirable that the mines should be worked by British labour and capital. If the Germans came to work the deposits it would mean that there would he German capital. German labour and German machinery used. Everything would come from the •‘Fatherland.” and that was not wanted. | Interviewed this morning, the agent

j for the German syndicate said the statements published reflected unfairly on his country and principals, and did not accurately set out the position. Following on the war, he said, the entrance into the wool-buying: marked of Germany was directly respon-' silile for the very satisfactory prices paid to Now Zealand Sheepfanners for all grades of wool. No objection had then been offered by 1 lie farmers and none was likely In bo offered to selling wool to Germany at highly remunerative rates. Furthermore, it was a fact that Germany had been a heavy buyer of

by-products fi-oin Now Zealand in the Inst few years. Included in ilio list wore articles which tlx- average ffirmer had no use for. and for which there was no market in New Zealand. Tie instanced cow horns as an example. On the average farm or station the horns of dead eattle were either left lying a bout or thrown into a heap in some out-of-the-way corner, where they might or might not he used for manuring purposes. A market had now been found in Germany, and already some hundreds of tons of horns, feet, hoofs, etc., had been paid for by Germany at a price satisfactory to the seller. The ores referred to had lain uni touched in the Thames hills for years, and no body had wanted them, though their presence was known to every miner and company promoter in the province. Germany was the only country that could use the ores on a basis , satisfactory to New Zealand. As no other country had any use for the minerals as encased in the rock, she should at least he permitted to offer a price for them. There was not, and never had been, the slightest intention to employ German labour. Not loss than one hundred men would he •employed at the outset, and of this number only two. and certainly not more than three, would he Germans, those being technical experts already appointed. The labour would he recruited from any source available, though preference would probably be given to residents of the goldfields district. Tn any case there would bo no restrictions. The project had aroused great interest, and applications for employment had been received from as I far afield as Shanghai. }