REVIVAL OF MINING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5329, 21 September 1928, Page 4

REVIVAL OF MINING.

PUBLIC BATTERY FOR OHINEMURI CONFERENCE OF PARTIES. A conference of interest and moment as far a,s tile future of the: mining industry in the Ohinemuri Held is cCjiiicerned was held at the Waihi Borough Council Chambers on Friday last between the District Mines Committee and the disr.ict mining inspecor (Mr J. F. Downey)’.and his prede:ce.sso.r (Mr M. Paul). The committee comprised Messrs. W. Marshall (chairman), F. E. Flatt (secretary), P. Williams (Paeroa), Edwin Edwards (Paeroa), B. Gwilliam (Paeroa), H. Meagher (prospector, Karahgahake) W. M. Wallnutt, j. g. Beeche. J. H. G. Banks:, and E. Dye (Waihi), and others present included Messrs. J. B. Morris (prospector, Karangaha.ke), J. Bunting, and R- M. Aitken (managing director of the Rising Sun Gold Mining company, Owharoa). CHAIRMAN PRESENTS CASE. Mr Marshall, who presided, expressed his pleasure at seeing that every member of the committee had made it convenient to attend the meeting. It was, said the speaker, ;a.n indication their sincerity iiv the movement with which they had indentifled themselves —tha,t. of endeavouring to brill" about a revival of the industry—and he hoped it was a, S°od oinein f°»r the successful culmination of the effort they had been making. He wo-ukl like first to say on behalf of the committee how pleased he was to meet the minting inspector (Mr Downey) and his. colleague, Mr Paul, a meeting brought, about as the result c,f the committee’s recent deputation to the Prime Minister (Hen. J. G. Coates)’ an.d head’s of the Mines Departmtint at Wellington when it was suggested that this conference should be held for the purpose of presenting certain phases; of the proposal to establish a public crushing plant to the: inspectors. They recognised: the valuable services rendered to the Mines Department by their inspectors, he hoped that these officers would; credit them wiih being actuated by public motives. Whether right or wrong their function was.- to foster the mining industry that had desne so much for the, district, and had contributed a great deal to the prosperity of this young Dominion. Much of its former glory had departed, :andi the, question naturally arose whether this was to be the end of the ohinemuri goldfield. The question had be.en exercising the minds of those, who, had the interests of the district at heart. If he sensed the position aright there was at the present time;; an awakening interest in prospectin® generally. So far the. activities in. this .direction, had not produced, huge, quantities of ore, waiting to be criished, but the future held much in store-. The committee .had the idea that the awakening interest was woirtfyy of being encouraged and such encouragement tends to contribute to the, prosperity of the: Dominion. The representative,, character of the. co remittee. and its sincerity and standing were ■up.questlonable. There wa;s on]e factor ho ' would like tb mention, and it was that’a gentleman of considerable experience had made an, offer to the committee, if thes movement was developed, to act as- honorary engineer, • andt to assist prospectors i-p, general. THE REAL OBJECTIVE. The real objective of the committee .was .to ensure the provision! of public crushing facilities/sot that any new reefs tha.t were uncovered might be fairly tried out. . The committee claimed that its principal value would ’ lie in the .fact that, jit wbuld give a fillip to niiniiig generally. In connection with this view, he, pould sta.te authoritatively that there was a. syndicate prepared.,to spepd .bp to £2OO -on one particular reef apd’ to take out .the store for treatment ait a public battery. AnotHier party was willing to spend £5O in order to try out a, particular piece of grau-njd! its members were working. The Imperial Gold Mining Company would also, bo prepared to. put up more money if there was a battery available. These were indications which had brought about ,th,c movement in favour of establishing a. public, crushing and treatine/ii,t plant. If those engaged in exploratory work successful in uncovering only on,© decent enterprise the establishment of a public battery would have been worth: while. Another phase was the possibility of tributing in Karangah; ike. There were in that part of the fleUd blocks which could be worked ancl a number- of cases where ground was held by those who. would foe willing; to let it to tributers. He, the speaker, had been handed a written declaration, sign,ed by 21 exper'ienced miners, setting c ; ut; that they w'ere prepared to undertake work on tribute provided crushing and ireame jnt facilities were available. It would al .So be the means: of meeting, the proble jm of uneiiiplqymeijt in the I district, I:sut this was merely,inciden- ' tai to the j scheme. - PR( JPOSALS EXPLAINED. It. was,' necessary for the■ committee

to slate the nature of their proposals, which had been considerably misunderstood. Since the ccjmmittee had last, me.t in Waihi there had been a modification and amendment of the ' riginal proposals. Briefly the scheme a.s it n|o|w stood was that, the State qhould be asked to make a loan of £3OOO, with an annual grant of £750 for. maintenance of the Rising Sun plant at Owharoa for a period of four years. There were several details concerning the running of the ba.tte.ry, and plant, of erected. The position, at the, moment was that the Prime Minister, had given a definite assurance .that provided the report of the mining inspector, as the outcome of the present conference, was favourable, he would arrange for the necessary finan.ee ahead'. That, statement was made verbally by. Mr Coates at a private interview. The real work of the meeting was to look into the possibilities of the field and to show to. the officers of the Mines Department the effect of the awakening interest, in, mining. The committee had every confidence that the loan) would be repaid to the Government. THE INCENTIVE NEED. Mr. Wallnutt, in opening, said he wanted to disabuse the minds o,f person? who. might be under the impression that the committee was making any attempt to show that the prospeeling conditions in Ohinemuri were flourishing. No evidence had been submitted in that connection. The position was otherwise, prospect.ini’ was, as g matter of fact, in a most stagnant condition, and what was wanted was a definite inducement to prospectors to develop .the resources of mining in this district, which were nigh unto death. Mr A. M. Samuel, the- member fc-r the district, had delivered an a.ble and comprehensive speech on the subject in the House Of Representatives, the details of which had been published; in the local Pt'e.ss. He (Mr Samuel) had touched the crux, of the question when he said that once a prospector had struck a lode and proved it payable, capital would be forthco.min|g without, the a,id of the Government, but the committee wanted assistance for the popr man to develop his holding, thus giving, him a chance of proving his claim. The; crux of the case was also more o,r les? concerned with the life of the Rising Sun mine, its ore. reserves and estimated average value, and. the- question of the potentialities of the field, and these were the, two main issues tha.t. claimed the attention and consideration of all concerned, particularly the officers of the Mines. Department an|d the Government. It was generally admitted that the company’s present, plant could not deal effectively with comparatively lc ; w grade ores, but if brought, up-to-da.te it would cope with ores that could not be profitably handled today. That phase of the position brought in the question of employment, and the continuation of the work even for. the present number of hands (twenty-four) rested with th© future of the Rising Sun. In passing he- 'wild mention that they had a list of the names of 40 skilled miners out of work. PROMISING AREAS. Mr Wallnutt thepi traversed iii- detail the position of the Rising Sun mine in, regard to its ore -retervei and general development. He als-. ref erred to, prospecting area? in various parts of the field, including Rarangahake, W a iteka,urj, and the country, lying between: Waitekauri and' To Aroha, contending, that so far no serious prospecting had been vurriec. out on the areas mentioned. In regard to ore reserves, which tile-, manager had estimated at 18,000 tons, Mr Downey said? he had been through the mine and was inclined tf think that, the 'mine manager’s estimate was on the generous side. It wa 1 safer, he thought, to compute tt quantity at 15,000 tons. RISING SUN’S POSITION. To a question by Mr Dowiniey l->. the defin|ite value of th© ore and •-' coits in connection with crushing mJ treatment, Mr Aitken went, iifto technical details and laso pointed out the additional saving of values that would accrue by the erection and installation of the proposed new plant. To a final question Mr Aitkeui said the company would be in a. position to crush about 240’ tons per. week with the additions to the plant. Mr J. H. Banks, appealed to. furnished information in regard to extraction. “Perhaps, Mr Pauli,” said Mr. F. E. Flatt, “yo.u will not be prepared to answer my question, but With thf» knowledge and experience you possess from a long association with the mining industry, do you consider that there are still possibilities of new finds c ; f importance being, made on. the field Mr Pauli: Yes, I do. The inspectors having indicated that should the committee’s application be granted the opportunity of prospecting would have totbe grasped . at once and continued during the next four years the eonfereuce terminated. —Waihi Telegraph.