COLD RECOVERY

Hokitika Guardian, 8 October 1932, Page 6

COLD RECOVERY

(N.Z. Herald.)

New Zealand is a richly mineralised country and it is of the highest importance that her forces of gold recovery should be mobilised and set to work upon ji\ scientfic .plan. In many quarters, under the incentive of a higher price f&r gold, a- revival is taking place in the industry, but speaking generally much remains to be done in cultivating the confidence necessary for the supply of adequate capital. 1 * • "

A( vast amount of gold has been won in the past, '-'ljiit a huge sum of money has also been lost through company promoters launching projects more for the exploitation, of a transient fever of speculation than with' adequate expectations of success. This danger always exists, and always is a handicap to the sound development of mining. It is one of the mam reasons for timidity among possible investors. Can nothing be done to counteract this influence so far as it effects legitimate enterprise P With an increase' in the supply of gold being so essential to economic recovery, and the price bonus promising every material aid in at least'the initial stages of a mining venture, it is of t. e h ghesfc n.ti-nal nip.r ance tl at there should be official leadership! ;ind the question therefore arises whether ' the Mines Department yis nob adhering too rigidly.‘to its traditional attitudfe .of “playing safe.” Obviously is, cannot run, the risk of being a party to the exploitation of investors, but, on the other hand, it should not allow a too conservative attitude of mind to rob it of . the function of leadership. During the administration of tlie late Mr Seddon it was. much more active in reviewing the various fields and making public a great deal of reliable information. Something Jen- these lines might well he attempted now. A new geological survey could not be made in a day, but no doubt much matter which would be a valuable addition to the report of Messrs Fraser and Adams, issued in 1907, is in the possession of the department beides new judgments of the economic value of known fields- formed in the: light of new methods of gold recovery. . .

Some official statement upon the scope of modern dredges might be appreciated by the public, who may be “'dubious of claims being made for machines. It has been asserted that in Malay there are dredges that can dig/ to a depth of 130 feet below the water! line and that there the testing of tin deposits by boring is almost an • exact science. ; ' ,i 1 . . ' ■'

It is : surely possible for tlie Mines Department to issue definite informa tion up the possibility of such methods being employed on various goldfields of New Zealand, and generally o give more reliable guidance to investors than they pick up from old records and company prospectuses. Very useful work is being done by the department in assisting. the Unem' pioyment Board to place prospectors on liltelv ground, but a much more comprehensive plan of campaign might be officially prepared.