MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 57, 8 November 1845, Page 2 (Supplement)

MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

We insert this week the second letter on the Mineral Resources of New Zealand, originally published in the New Zealander, the first of which was reprinted in our 51st number.

LETTER lI. —STATISTICS OF MINING. Sir, —On referring to authentic returns* of the quantity of foreign copper ore, the proiluce of Chilian and other mines, sold at Swansea in the year commencing June 30, 1839, and ending June 30, 1840, I find the following particulars :- —

The copper mines of Chili are mostly situated in the middle region of Cordilleras of the Andes, distant from 50 to upwards of 100 miles from the coast. The roads are, in most cases, unfit for conveyance of the ore by wheel-carriages, and the lo ality of the mines is generally destitute of vegetation or water ; j yet the climate is salubrious, the miners ex- I pert and laborious, and the country rich in minerals. Opposed to these advantages are dead charges, to an extent that must always

• From " Gryll's Annual Mining Sheet."

limit the export of ores from Chili, and wbfch, at low prices, must all but annihilate it. Independent of the cost of mining and extracting the ores, the following are the dead chaiges per ton of Chilian ore, before sold at Swansea : — Average cost of conveyances from the Mines to the shipping part on the coast, per ton ;€3 0 0 Commission and otherchargesatthe purr, including an expoi tdut\ of 6 percent., 1 10 0 Freight fnd insurance to England, -600 Sampling and other charges at Swansea, 0 15 0 Total cost per ton (not including"! «,, 5 Q import duty, - - - J Thus every ton of copper ore from Chili is subject to £11, ss. per ton, dead charges, before it is sold at Swansea or Liverpool. Nor can the cost of conveyance be diminished, unless the export falls off. When the trade opened, and the quantity of ore shipped was small, £4 per ton covered freight and insurance ; but as the quantity shipped increased, the rate of freight advanced in proportion. The goods shipped to South America consist principally of manufactured articles which occupy little space, whilst the exports are bulky — consisting of copper ore, dyewoods, woo), &v\, requiring three or four times more tonnage homeward than outwards, so that vessels go frequently empty to Chili to fetch ores, &c. which mubt consequently pay the ireight both ways. The highest produce of Chilian ores does not exceed 25 per cent., and the average produce maybe estimated at2o per cent. ;-}" in the latter case, 5 tons oi ore will be required to produce one ton ol fine copper, the charges on which, at £1 1, 55., will be £56, ss. per ton, cost of copper — independent ol mining charges. Or?s of 20 per cent., at a standard for average produce of £110, may be worth about £18, ss. per ton; deduct dead charges, £11, 55., and we have left but £7 per ton for all mining charges and expenses of extracting the ore, besides leaving a profit to the adventures. It has been said tint — " a person with a copper mine will gain; with a silver mine he may gain ; but with a gold mine he is sure to lose." I very much doubt, however, whether ihe proprietors of the Chilian mines can gain much with the above dead charges on their ores. It will be observed that I have assumed the standard for fine copper £110; this was the standard in Cornwall in 1839. in 1840, the average standard for the ores sold in Cornwall was £108, 10s. ; and for those sold in Wales, the average standard was £93, 10s. What it may have been lately I have no information, but it is evident that, excepting at very high standards, the dead charges and cost of conveyance on Chilian ores must greatly limit, ll it does not almost annihilate their exporiaiion to England. In Colombia and Cuba, the climate is insalubrious — at least to the English constitution, as many oi the poor fellows sent from England to work in the mines there could tell. In fact, the ce.ebrated Cobre mine, in the island of Cuba, is worked principally by slave labour, and since the Tariff of 1841, which admitted at a low duty the slave raised ere of Cuba, in competition with the free labour produce of British mines, the importation of copper ores from Cuba to England has, it is believed, greatly increased. I have no information as to the dead charges on the ores of Cuba, but owing to the difficulties and expense attendant on mining enterprizes in foreign countries, where there is no surrounding population accustomed to mining, as was the case in Cuba when the mines commenced working, the first cost of establishing a successful mining concern in that country must have been very heavy. I see that, in 1836, the Cobre ore sold at Swansea, averaged £22, 9s. per ton ; and in 1837, they aver.'ged only £I.">, 4s. The produce of these ores varies from 18 to 22 per cent. We now come to the consideration of the copper ores of Cornwall, and on referring to the returns of copper ores sold in Cornwall from* June 30, 1839, to June 30, 1840, 1 find that the average price realized, for ore from all the mines (in number 79), wjs £5:7:6 per ton. The highest price was £10, 15s. ; and the lowest was £1,145. per ton of 21cwt. The average produce of all the mines for the same period was 7| per cent., and the average standard £108, 10s. It will probably excite surprise in the minds of many, how it is possible that copper ores worth only £1, 14s. per ton, can pay charges and cost of extracting, and still leave a profit to the adventurers. The fact however is so, and tLay be explained, partly as owing to the great improvements that have been made lately |in the art of smelting. Ores producing only three or ;our per cent of metal are now brought to sale in Cornwall — and in some cases, even when the produce is still smaller. The principal reason however, why these poor ores can be worked to profit, is that in Cornwall the charges amount to a very trifling sum. Ten shillings per ton probably cover all expenses oi raising the ores to the surface, and of samp*

f The import duty on foreign copper ore*, of I 20 ptr cent., it £,\ lOi. pf r ton of metal, j

ling ; flud being sold upon the spot to thtf agents of the different Copper smelting Companies, the mine is at no further expense than | the actual cost of raising the ores, dressing and sampling. Owing also to the admirable practice in Cornwall of letting different portions of the mines "on tribute," for a certain length of time, such as one or two months, the actual miners receiving such proportion of the ore broken by them as may have been agreed upon, the men are thus interested in preserving everything of any value that is found in prosecuting their work: and although they may not always realise much profit, it is other- ! wise with the adventurers or proprietors, who, whatever may be the bargain, make some profit on their portion of the ore. There are two kinds of contract usually entered into in the Cornish mines, by one of which ( tutwork) tl.ey are paid by the piece, and contract for their work by the fathom. This method is usually employed in cutting through rocks unproductive of ore, and dees not differ from bjrgains similarly made in all kinds of work. The other which is called " tribute, " is an agreement by which the men, working on ore ground, are to be remunerated by a portion of the produce rendered on the surface in a marketable state. In the tin mines they sometimes receive their portion in ore, and in the copper mines, generally in money. The workmen provide themselves with all tools, candles and gunpowder, and the mine finds the requisite machinery, for the use of which, however, the " tribnters" have to pay a small sum per month. The work on the surface is to a great extent done for daily wages, which are regulated by the circumstances of the times, as in other callings. Having thus taken, a rapid survey of the state of ihe Copper Mining interest of Chili and Cuba, from which countries the great bulk of the foreign ore sent to England is obtained J, and also stated the circumstances under which the Cornish mines are successfully worked, although their produce is in general very low, I may perhaps be allowed to advert to the present prospects of Mining in New Zealand. Of the 2 mines that have as yet been worked for copper in this country, one (at the Kauwau) is so situated that the expense of shipping the ore is very trilling; and the other (at the Great Barrier Island) is also favourably situated in this respect. Five shillings per ton would probably cover this item of expense, and I believe *he followirg may be assumed as including the whole of the dead charges, per ton, of New Zealand Copper ore, befoie being sold at London or Liverpool: — Average cost of conveyance from the mine, and shipping on hoard the vessel, - £0 5 0 Freight to Sydney, - - - 10 0 Average cost or tianshippingand other charges in Sydney, including commission and agency, • - - 015 0 Freight and insurance from Sydney to England, 4 10 0 Commission and other charges at Lon • don or Liverpool, - - - 110 0 Import duty according to the new tariff of 1841, 0 5 0 Total dead charges per ton on New\ i, o * A Zealand ore, - - - / £8 5 ° With respect to the import duty of ss. per tou, I should observe that accoiding to the new Tariff, Copper ore, the produce of British possessions, is subject to a duty of £1 per ton of metal ; — thus, supposing the New Zealand ores to average 25 per cent, the duly will be ss. per ton of ore. In the absence of correct data on some points, the above estimate may be taken only as an approximation, but which I believe will be found to be not far from the truth. lam aware that dead weight has been taken at a less rate than £4 10s, per ton from Sydney to England, but I believe that at present, owing to the demand for shipping in Sydney, for the conveyance of tallow, hides, bones, and other bulky articles, to England, this sura is below the actual rate of freight. It is true that some of the above expenses might be avoided by shipping the ere direct from New Zealand to England, but as we have not at present the requisite shipping to convey the ore, we must take the matter as we find it. With respect to the actual cost of breaking and extracting the ore, and other matters connected with the New Zealand Mines, I must reserve any remarks I may have to effer on the subject to a future communication. I remain, Sir, your's, &c. F. S. Fy

t The export of cooper ores beyond those from Colombia, Chili, and Cuba, is very trifling, if we except somp oies of 12 or 18 per cent, from a mine in Norway (the Alten Mine), worked by an English Company.

Chili - Copiapo Santiago Valparaiso Cuba - Cobre - Q quantity of 0 21 cwt 7,436 877 5,114 1,547 2,080 12,954 3re. Average price per Ton of 21 cwt. £19 4 0 20 3 8 16 18 11 19 7 3 14 12 4 16 10 2