TREATMENT OF ORE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4974, 14 May 1926, Page 2

TREATMENT OF ORE.

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC BATTERY Deputation to Minister of Mines. CLAIMS OF KARANGAHAKE MINERS

‘ Believing that the provision off a public crushing ba.ttery for the .treatment of ore. was warranted at Karangahake, and realising that the progress, of Paeroa was closely allied to .the- mining industry, the Paeroa Chamber of Commerce, has interested itself in the matter of obtaining such facilities. At the request df the chamber Mi' A. M. Samuel, M.P., who has also taken .a keen interest in the project, obtained a promise from the Minister of Mines thajt he w’ould visit Karangahake. a,nd obtain first-hand information from the miners.

On Wednesday night the Minister (the Hon. G. J. Anderson) received a large ajid influential, deputation of miners and others prominently connected ' with the industry at .Karangahake. The president of the Chamber off Commerce (Mr P. Willia?ns) presided, and there were also present, in addition to members of. the chamber’s executive, Messrs A. H. Kimbell, ’Under-Secretary for Mines, and M. Paul, Mining Inspector. In introducing the deputation Mr Samuel said .that-' he believed .the Minister was quite familia : r with,.the request, and the miners that - night, he believed, would convince the Government that a public battery was. not only warranted but an absolute necessity. It was the policy of the Government to assist workers,, provided the workers were prepared to assist themselves. Rightly, the Government was not willing to assist larger flourishing companies or rich landowners. The genuine miner was always “a trier,” and he invariably suffered privations and discomforts, He earned all he got, but he' iseldom got what he earned. Maybe the Government regarded mining as; a languishing industry, but it should be remembered that mining booms came in cyteles of 30 years. At the present time everything pointed to another boom. Because the industry was languishing was no excuse for neglect. If a child was sick its parents spared no expense to nurse it/back to health, arid it was the duty of the Government to nurse mining'back to activity by assisting the miners to obtain a reasonable living by the provision of facilities. Karangahake had been a rich district, and. it, was .still a 'rich district. The population of the township had gone down sirhply because, through the lack of a.crushing plant, the, miners had been forced to seek a, living elsewhere. The Minister might' argue that the Government could not afford a battery, but he contended ’that it could afford it, a,nd money was being spent in many'less deserving directions. Mr Samuel instanced how, with a battery available, small parties could work ore 'profitably where the large companies had If ailed. He would ask the Minister to receive ' the deputation, with an open mind, and give the miners an opportunity to obtain a decent living by bringing to light-the ore that was known to exist. If the battery was provided and it proved a disappointment the Government, could sit back and content itself that it had done its . best. If it was; a mattier of getting Cabinet to strain’ a point, then that points ought to be strained arid the miners given a, chance, not only at Karangahake, but throughout New Zealand.

Mr P. Williams briefly outlined the steps taken by the Chamber of Commerce in the matter, and assured the Minister that it had received -much reliable evidence before inviting him to the district. I.t was recognised that much gold could be won if. 11 battery was available, and the chamber. had no hesitation in supporting the project. >. '

The first speaker for the deputation was Mr J. B. Morris, who said that of his. intimate knowledge, there were many reefs, running parallel to olde.r and profitable workingis: which had not been worked', but which, taken out. on tribute, had been paying propositions. He referred to the Roderick Dhu and other claims. It was possible to considerably increase the. parties if crushing facilities were available.

' Mr W. Bramble said that 5 he had 22 years in the Karangahake- district, and considered that the small' parties, had ' never had a fajr hearing. He felt confident that there were, many claims averaging thousands: of tons that could be profitably worked, if crushing facilities were available. If a battery was forthcoming, unquestionably the -mining industry must become a ; flourishing proposition. Mr S. Ratliff explained the operations of the Woods-tockl Company, -and said that the Qrown Company had charged £lO a ton, plus, coal, for crushing ore, and the scheme had been abandoned owing to the heavy expenses and lack of fecilitiep; There, were thousands of tons of ore, worth from £2 10s upwards, when 'crushed-. In answer to .the Minister the speaker said that he and liis party could turn out over 50 tons of payable ore a month at a cost not exceeding £1 a ton expenses. The erection of a battery would stop Wardell’s Court reductions. There werp too ma.ny holding? tied up. “Give us a battery, and the men will be here to work it, you can bet,” he concluded. Mr J. Bunting detailed the operations of the Imperia} Gold Mining CO., and said that the ground had only been surface scratched, and it, was hard to say what could be done, if provided with a crushing baftery. To the Minister the speaker said that if the reef became a payable one there would possibly be another battery built. Mr R. Aitken said that he had been

connected with mining all his life, and detailed his experience with the Talisman mine. He foresaw the policy of mining the Talisman after the company had abandoned it by small mining parties. He had found .that in gold-bearing country payable lodes usually rap at right angles to a reefHe was quite satisfied if cross-cuts, Were put into the Talisman a(nd Crown mines above water-level that the ore produced would pay small parties. Round the incline shaft of the Talisman there were about, two thousand tons of ore which, if crushed, would average about £6 a, ton. Two pounefe a tori would not pay a big company, but would undoubtedly a small, party. The effect of a public battery would be an, inducement to get miners to return to work. Once this, was done, there was] no doubt that the impetus would open up afresh and develop the industry.

Mr W. Greaves sa,id that he held a claim, but owing to la,ck of crushing facilities he and his party had been forced to abandon it. The ore had not been of sufficent value to work and send to Thames.

Mr J. Manders said that he had 16 years of mining at Karangahake, and at the Talisman mine there were hundreds! of tons' of ore well worth crushing. Like many others, he had been forced to abandon .mining and work elsewhere, simply because facilities were not , Mr C. Meade said that h'e had been mining at Karangahake for over.2o> years, and he was quite satisfied that ore actually existed, but a battery was required to make it payable. Mr F; Daye said.that; after 26 years he was certain that ore in payable quantities existed. ‘ \

Mr F. J. Rackham siaid that, he had 21 years’ experience at-Karangahake, and detailed how, the small miner was handicapped by lack of facilities. He-supported the remarks of .the previous speakers.

Messrs W, Griffin. ,D. Seymour, SCharleswortli, B. Morris, J. RyaJl, L'. ..Mason, G. . Dixon, A. D.. McGuire,; J. Slea.men, E. Dye ’ (president' of the Wajhi' Miners’ Union), S. J. Laughlin, E. Edward®, B. Gwilliam,-'and E. W. Porritt gave their experiences in the district and advanced reasons for the erection of a public crushing plant, the general opinion being that there was ample ore available for crushing purposes on a. payable basis. In answer to the Minister Mr A. D.> McGuire said that the Ohin.emuri County Council had assisted tributerss Knd other small parties of miners whenever possible. : For some year., the gold revenue received by the county had been taken by the Government .towards-.the ebst of paying for the Waihou and Ohinemuri Riveis Improvement Scheme! If the Government would erect a battery, the’ speaker said he believed that .his council would contribute towards the cost of maintenance. At a. Conservative" estimate 1200 tons of ore u month could, be produced. Mining •was largely a gamble, and probably that ( amount of ore could be nearly doubled.

Mr. W- F. Johnstone, chairman of the Ohinemuri County Council,' said (.hat his council hafi from time to time made substantial reductions of rent to mining parties. The gold duty received, which was very small, was, swallowed up by the rivers improvement scheme. He would be prepared to recommend I to his council that it forego any -revenue arising from crushing operations, and that such revenue be devoted towards the cost. of. the capital ya,lue of a battery. The minister pointed out tha.t the county Councils in the mining districts were not giving a snap of the fingers towards assisting the mining industry. In answer to the Minister Mr Johnstone said that he did not think his council would contribute £6OO towards a crushing plant. He did hot think the farming community should be asked to contribute rates towards the cost of mining. If all the funds, from the Karangahake riding were devoted towards a crusher they would not be anything like sufficient to pay halt the cost of a batteiry.

Mr G. N. McGruer, manager of the N.Z. Crown Mines, Ltd., explained that there were numbers of reefs that had not paid his company, but which would certainly pay parties of two to four men if crushing facilities were available. He had no hesitation in saying that there was more gold in Karangahake than was ever got out, and that v was over three and a half millions sterling. MINISTER’S REPLY.

In reply to the deputation the Hon. G. J. Anderson said that he was very pleaded indeed to meet, .them all. His father had’been a miner, and he himself had been brought up amongst miners. He was convinced that there was not a more honest man on the face of the. earth than the genuine miner. “So far as giving you a battery is concerned, you are asking me to buy a pig in a poke,’’..continued the Minister. There had been a lot of gold won at Karangahake, but he had been reliably informed that there was very little gold left.' -The optimism of miners was hard to kill, and nearly ajl the speeches that night were characteristic df the miners. There might still be sufficient gold to warrant a battery, but a commonsense business view had to. be taken of the matten Too much money was being wasted' in developing the industry, and it was not on the business footing , that it ought to be. He was familiar with the cla.ims of Karangahake, and knew all about the statements made by the

Hon. R. McKenzie in 1909. On the Coromandel Peninsula .the Government had assisted to . erect three crushing plants, each of which had been worked for awhile, but for years they had been laying idle. “What guarantee is there .that the satae sort of thing would not. happen at Karangahake ?” he asked. The Government expenditure at Coromandel was lost and gone. He wasi op in- , ion that a plant at Karangahake would only be worked 1 for a couple of years, unless a big reef was struck or enormous capital was expended on development work. The Minister said it, was a pity that the speakers had not supplied him with facts and figures. Mining to-day wasi a business proposition requiring huge capital. As an instance the Minister quoted a case in Otago where an appeal had been ma.de to the Government for assistance in a project costing about £20,000. It was ascertained .that the chares, were not fully paid up, and Cabinet refused '.to assist. The Government was not prepaied to assist coriipany promoters, he said, but no Government had done more for the individual miners. It was hardly reasonable to suggest that sound , business men and competent erigineeis would have ceased operations at Karangahake it the mines, had been payable or the prospects glowing. The information ,th at he required was an estimate of the amount of ore available for crushing, the number of genuine miners who would return if a plant was erected,' and the approximate relative Values of the ore to be produced. * .

The speaker claimed that he had obtained more money for the industry than’had any other Minister. During his term as, Minister pt,-Mines £9329 had been paid in the Ohineinuri County alone. The deputation had talked a lot of ‘.‘hot air,” but had not supplied the figures or facts that it was necessary to have. He pointed out that tnere were no politics ih mining, any more than there were in education, and a, preceding Minister’s promise would be honoured if it was a logical and reasonable <?ne. If he went to Cabinet with a request for a battery on the basis of the informal tion supplied that night he would be laughed at. Figures ,were what counted, and not mere .talk and sentiment. He could not (depend on what he had heard Ifro.m the deputation. AU he asked was evidence,to show that the provision of a, battery was a good proposition, and he would undertake to use his best endeavours to give effect. to the project. In ten years’ time a battery a.t Karangahake would be a white elephant, but he was alive, to the fact that a rich reef might bestruck and outlay reimbursed many times over. “Send me facts, figures, plans, of the gold-bearing areas; and all available’data and I will promise to give the matter very careful consideration,” the Minister concluded. In reply to Mr Gwilliain Mr Anderson said he had been advised by his officers that the ocst of a suitable battery would be £7500, and about £l2OO a par would be required to pay running expends, wages), interest, sinking fund, and . depreciation. He hud been advised alsp, that it would be necessary to pay 1 the wages of two •'■killed workers at the battery. Mr Gwilliam contended that one man to act as superintendent of the battery was all .that was required, for the reason that the parties wfio brought the ore for crushing would do the work at the battery. The Minister replied that the infer mati on was contrary to the advice of his officers. ,

MR. SAMUEL’S REPLY. On bdhalf df the deputation Mr Samuel thanked-.the Hton.G. J. Anderson for vis,iting Karangahake, apd also for his promise to consider the matter favourably. The -Minister wculd be supplied with the facts and figures at the earliest opportunity, and when in possession, of .that information it would be shown that the miners were not asking for the battery for the fun of.Jt. The Minister had admitted that many thousands of pounds sterling were required .to develop mining. The deputation had not, asked for thousands, but ' was seeking assistance for the individual miner, .which was quite a different proposition. The Government might have assisted prospecting in. the disc trict in days gone by, but the amount of that assistance had been too meagre to permit of much being done. Whilst fully realising .that the. project was a business one, the depute-> tion could haidly be expected to state its case in the terms, required by the Minister. No one could foretell, what was in or under the ground, ajhd’the miners had given their views according to their intimate knowledge a,nd experience of He asked the Minister to carefully and exhaustively consider the request before finally turning it dpwn. If the plant proved a failure; it would be reasonable to expect the. Government to bear the cost. If, on the other hand, ‘ it was a success; as it assuredly would be, the miners would willingly contribute. their share. Mr Samuel said that it was evident theVMinister had come in a pessimistic frame of mind, and had convinced himself that the provision of a battery at Karajigahake would not be a paying proposition. He also politely suggested that the. Minister had been ill-advised by his officers concerning the prospects of success. When the miners themselves became pessimistic it would be a mighty poor look-out for the rest of the Dominion. The miners required assistance in the form Of a crushing plant, which would enable them to return to their occupations with renewed hope and vigour to carry on the work and add to the prosperity of the Dominion for many years to come. Tie had gone very cairefully into the project, and was convinced that he was asking for something which was richly deserved and well warranted. . . * ...

\ The Sembcr concluded by thanking the president and members of the Chamber of Commerce for interesting themselves in the matter. A resolution was also carried with acclamation thanking Mr Samuel for arranging the visit of the Minister, a,nd for the help and support accorded.