MINING IN NEW GUINEA

Hokitika Guardian, 4 February 1932, Page 7

MINING IN NEW GUINEA

GOOD PROSPECTS. DUNEDIN, February 2. Major G. A, Harrison, of Salamao, New Guinea, i,s on a visit to Dunedin and the cold lakes of Otago. -Major Harrison i$ -a very well-known mining engineer, with experience of mining on the. Rand, Rhodesia, and Hungary, and is at present the general manager and attorney in New Guinea for the New Guinea Goldfields Ltd.

The latter company is an oft'shoo.t of the .Mining Trust Ltd., of London, which company is headed by the Leslie Urquhart Group, some of the most wealthy and influential of the Loudon mining magnates. The Mining Trust Ltd. is also the parent company for 'the Mount Isa Mines, Queensland. Interviewed by a Dunedin “Star’’ reporter, Major Harrison stated that New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. were developing a large area .in New Guinea, approximately 8000 acres. Included in the company’s area were highly payable reef systems as well as alluvial areas. The work on the company’s property at the present time was mainly of a developmental nature, but the magnitude of the company’s operations may be gauged from the fact that its capital is £5,000,000. In a recent address the .chairman of the Mining Trust LtcL, in s peaking of the company's .investment in New Guinea Goldfields, stated that the company's operations rep resented ill his opinion the biggest deVelopnlent in gold mining since the opening of the Rand. Major Harrison also ref erred to tilt? Mining Trust’s interests in the Mount Isa mines. This latter company is developing a huge silver lead zinc deposit in 'Queensland by mass production method's. Up to date over three and a half million pounds have been expended iu developing and equipping the inii.vj. The company recently started in production, and when in lull operation ex.pects to mine by the adoption of open cast methods, a 'total of over 5000 tons of ore per day. If the company’s anticipations are fully realised, and he is convinced they will be, the proposition will be a much larger one- than even the Broken Hill mines.

Major .Harrison expressed himself as keenly interested In mining developments hi Otago, 'and particularly was he interested in the proposals for the development of the alluvial claim at Nokomai. The particular class of wash and 'the overburden to be dealt with were, lie [stated, very similar to the conditions which had to be dealt with in New Guinea.

It /would, no doubt, be of interest to the Dunedin people to know that it! iNew Guinea the shallower areas were being dealt with bv hydraulic sluicing. In another area, where the overburden reached a depth of about 70ft., his company was at present installing « drag line semper excavator, which, by coincidence, was exactly the equivalent lo that proposed to be used at Xoko-

'flits mining expert also expressed himself mi being keenly interested m the development of the cement conglomerate area at Wcdherstone, in the Lawietice district. In has opinion this area represented a wonderful prospect for development by mass production methods. So far as his limited knowledge of local conditions went, lie considered that the principles oi ’ opencast mining and the trentment of hum quantities would be eminently suitable lor .1 he treatment of local deposits. He would certainly v : ew with interest the developments which are taking plvcc in that area.