The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1929. THE MINING INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 February 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1929. THE MINING INDUSTRY.

Kkl'KKK.nci; was made in our previous issue to tuc* lavouranie impress! ms oi lliu Lion -Minister ol -dines regarding me gemma I prospects ol the Coast. H liiie ,\lr Veitcli extolled the tiinhoi lesource.s and tile seonie clianns oi i!k. ilisti id, lie was at pains also to speak ..(jpe.ullv ol the mining prospects, viler all, tliat reference e.vers the main eause lor the mission to the C'*ast—to look pers maily into tile mining possibilities where there are su n uiuiiit lesourees to galvanise iuture development activities ?>> lar as tiie hoi tiiem parts oi the Coast are conivriicd. tiie .Minister was inifiressee with the prospects tor the coal measures. The deposits all over the Coast, no said, were ol great promise, though at the moment the industry is duil. lie- was hopeful coal mining would revive' with the returning prosperity now maiiilesting itself seeing that tiie I) -

minion was .surmounting its economic diilietiities. Coal of course, lias .a soimus rival in electricity, which tinc 111.11 try at great cost is developing in such a way as to lie a more interns; rival as time goes on, tapping the linck- ■ clocks as well as the busy centres. lVu pie will he availing themselves of the power, in prmeretice to coal, because oi i-iie fretjuency of hold-ups and like interruptions of the industry, a fact which,, is also driving maritime consumers of coal to oil and electricity, i hese invasions of the trade are having a far-reaching effect on the employment

.1 the coal-miner and while uncertainty j.-revails as to the general attitude <rt i .e coal miner in the matter of stead.\ production, the industry is sure t ,idler. it is to he hoped that nothing • ■•ore serious than the “economic u. c.dties” of the country, as the Minister states, is affecting the industry, hut th< evidence rather points to a more serious menace which it will lie difficult to •■vercome unless hy a frank realisation oi the true situation. The .Minister’s inference to gold-mining was of more uiiect importance to this immediate district. There is not miicli being done n. gold mining at present, said Mr '■-■itch, hut he met. people win believe there is a revival about to take place, and several interesting and promising undertakings have teen linamed. Then e. nie a more definite pronouncement ii im the .Minister- one than will gi,e the greatest satisfaction: “I have a. ter consultation with the officers ol my department, decided to adopt a new m tlio.l h,r the encouragement of prospecting of which a good deal is being <1 lie on the West Coast.” The country will await with much interest the p. rticulars of “the new method of encouragement.” When here, the need lor increasing subsidies for pimp.cling was expounded in no uncertain way, and any method must include increased pay. More boring plants should be supplied under easier-erms, and in particular State prospecting along scientific lines should he taken in hand. The rah gold deposits are invariably in Crown lands, and prospecting would be another means of opening up such lands. Where private enterprise receives encouragement, money is readii found for gold-mining. There are few industries which attract finance more readily than mining if the prospects can he produced. The more millionth therecords of the prospecting, the hot ter pleased will he the investing public, and State directed prospecting should he most satisfying to the probable investor. The liberalising of the system of prospecting will certainly be helpful to the gold-mining industry, and th.it will he the best cue the Minister can take. It is very gratifying after all these years to see some possibility of mining (oining nto its own. The departmental activities have been cramped ever since, the time the Minos Department was placed nuclei* (lie Public: W rks Department for alleged economic purposes. Mines have been stilled ever since those had old days, and though it became again a separate Department, it never regained its more robust youth. This, then; is the opportunity of the .Minister of Mines of to-day. There is the need ns there is the opening for a vigorous mining policy. The history of the industry justifies it. The prospects and reports of the experts confirms it. There is no reason whv -Mr Vo itch should not rank alongside Mr l.arnach, Mr Soddon. Mr Cadmnn ami others men who recognised the potentialities of the industry and fostered it in every way possible.