Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1890.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 488, 12 July 1890, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1890.

* This above all—to thine own self bo troq, And it must fallow i>p the night the day Thou ctMieb jjpt't-hjwi be false to any niai^.’ SIIAKKSrHAHfi.

Tn another column >ye j.qh])3h some interesting particulars with rggpoct to thq low level funnel the Tc Arolia Silver and Gold Mining Company had aj-pniiged to have put in at Waiorongqipai, if'ljie Government had assisted tJiRR? with ’a subsidy, such subsidy to have b°ch a fjiSf charge on tlie net profits of the Compaiiy, and therefore repaid Government* before any divisbm of profits coqld have bepn mq.de amongst tho shareholders. The proposed inode of operations were most carefully drawn up, together with plans and specifications for.cn I’rying out the work, by Mr John Howell, the well-known American mining expert (now nqpmgiug the Proprietary Company’s mine at Broken Hill), after having heuii’ij) cjuirge of tlie Te Aroha S. and G. M. Co.'s property for considerably over a year, and after tlie most careful surveys anil tests had been made. This report was apprqyed of by Mi' John Patton, a \yell-J>nowti authority on ipiniug (both these gentlemen being large shareholders in theOampany). Mr AY. R. Wilson, who purchased tlie property in the first instance from Firth and Clarke, and is a director of the Company, also thought very highly of the proposed scheme. Mr S. Wilson, formerly manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary mine, iplso inspected the Company’s mines, plant, and proposed phm of operations, and was most favourably impressed with the prospects if flip proposed plan was carried out, as in hjg opinion the lodes would prove richer at lower let els ; whilst the facilities for mining economically (no sinking or winding being necessary if the tunnel wqs ppt in) were very great ; ample water supply available, and fuel (coal or wood) obtainable at low rates. In short the natural facilities being exceptionally good. In our issue of November 9th we published a lengthy description of the magnificent ppmhjned reduption works erected at Waiorongomai by this Company, at a cost of close on L 30,000 ; and capable of treating L 00 tons of ore per day. It is greatly to he regretted that,' the present Government have not, sq far, evinced much desire to faster the mining industry of New Zealand, Qr to eqpoijrqge fqreign capitalists tp develope our mineral resources ; as shown with respect to the case in point. The request w'as not for a grant, not even for qn ouf and out subsidy with no prospect vyhateyep qf being repaid, but thqt Goverqment should assist by sharing with the Company in the cost of the great uqdertqkjng contemplated ; Government having this treat advantage over even the sfiareolders with respect to the money to be expended, that it (the portion advanced ly Government) was to be repaid in full, before the shareholders could be repaid or derive qny profit from the undertaking. The work is one of great importance not onjy to this goldfield but to the whole of Npw Zealand. Not alone would it >npqq the testing of the value of the lodes pf this goldfield at a great depth, and if) such a thorough and practical ipjannep as is otherwise impossible, but Ujc importance of having reduction works with the very latest scientific apj)liqnpes,such as those erected by the Cdmpany, kept in operation in the Colony, where all classes of ore could be seh‘t i’u be tested, treated, or disposed of for eafh as the owner prefen-p I, can scarcely be over estimated. Every day makes more and more plain tlie need that exists for testing wo;ks in

which ni’i'9, that Jo cot readily viill to onlimiry motho's of treatment, may be ban led by expe ls of wi >e experience rind the higbes' nq 1 latest scientific knowledge. What iinmense sums might iinve be< i* saved to private investors, had such works been in exist nee for ’lie last twenty years to assist and gui le tlcmi need ltqrdly be pointed out. How . many mines that are at the present time abandoned migli) be pyofitqldy worked—might, indged, have been sopyees of profit justgad pf disastrous loss to tiiose whq invested ig them, liq I the assistance of sgch works npd ,qf a skilled staff in charge eff them beep available. As it has been in the pqst, so it is novy, and so it will continue to be. Vast deposits of troublesojpe ores exist jn the colony, and considerable sums are constantly being spent in trying tin's and thfijt process” in the hope of working them profitably. And even in the case of mines that are yielding respectable returns, wp constantly hear of the Ipss of a part, ip many cases quite a lame pro port ion of the whole; of jiho py/?eiotig metals, which all the ingenuity qf mining rp ! ‘nsgers has failed Insecure with thq old fashioned appliances. The impetus that wopld have been given to mining on t.l q goldfield generally, had the Government granted the assistance ngked fop, >vopld h*^ ve been great, the increased traffic on the railway also very large, j and we certainly think Government should have stretched a point, if necessary, to have given .the desired assistance. It would un doiiliteijly haye respited in more foreign capital being introduced into the Colony, for the development of its mineral resources ; meny 1 capitalists from Australia, America, and elsewhere would have gone oqt of their way in order to have visited the Company’s works, tlie progress of which \yoqld have been regularly reported in the miningniul other journals of Austi a'asia an 1 America,etc., an 1 capitalists and others tjjqs induced to visit New Zealand, would liqve Irqvellql through other portjqqs qf the Colony as well, wi’li thq probable result that mqny of them woqhl have been led to invest ipomy, qnd with the certain resiilt that all >yould have gone away most favourably impressed with the magnificent nqd yaped natural resources of the Colony, find its unrivalled climate, and so advertised it fqr and wide. In this way the money askqti for hy the Company, if granted by tlie Government, would have proved a most judicious investmei t foy tlie Colony. As stated in our leading article of Nov 9th : We believe qs it became more widely known that at these works there was a cash market fop all classes of refactory ores, concentrates, etc., refaetory or otherwise, ore would he forthcoming in steadily increasing quantities from all parts of New Zuaj md, and probably from Australia also; as it is a ftvt that neither in New South Wales or Sydney is there a combination reduction works were all descriptions of ore can be disposed of for cash an I sno cessfully treated. Whilst the distance to be travelled would be no barrier, as ore could be shipped from almost any port along the coast of of New South Wales direct to Qnehunga and railed te Te Aroha, for less money than ic would cost to convey it to any geneia! reduction works in Australia. So far the Government hqve prncticqlly done nothing to encourage the proprietors of the existing plant at Wniorongomai. These gentle men have, ip the rpost enterprising manner, alone and unaided, invested, (het veen the purchase of the min.’s and old plant, and_ tlie erection of reduction works) soffieiiso,ooo, to UfiO.QOOin the short space of about a year and a half in conneetjon with the miuipg industry of New Zealand. When it i§ borne in mind the amount pf money that hasfieen spent by Government at tfie Thames, and on many other gqidfLdds jn the Colony in connection with the mining industry, it is not surely too much to expect that such assistance, as might reasonably be asked,would be forthcoming, when sought fop. We hqar a great deal about Prbtfection, and thedevetoping of the natural,resources of New Zealand from the.'PTe§e.nt Government, and in the matter refeired to we trust they will be yet consistent, for it would be nothing short of q public calamity, and q standing to the Government, if, 7through lack of any assistance they could give, the redqct jon works at Waiorongomai .. were tq he finally olosed down, dfgpiantled, and the plant sent out of the Colony. We would not advocate fresh borrowing by Government, even for tlie carrying put of the work Refeired to, but tlie money could l»e easjly advanced by Government if they so desired. We belieye Mr Wilson pitted the Company would not require more than LfiQO per month from the Government, as the work progressed. We believe the Government have some L 82,000 lying in the Treasury to the credit qf Thames-Te Aroha railway, which apparently is never lively to be completed by them ; and the maip traffic over which when made must bq minerals. If the proposed tunnel were made and the Waiprdngomai Reduction Works kept in full swing, we have littje doubt capita] would speedily be found to coirjpleto the Thames line of railway so a$ Ip conpept therewith. We have q School of -Brines at Thames, apd ptherg elsewhere in the Colony. To these such works w°fild he the mogt valuable aJiunet that it is possible to conceive, (that practical exhibition of processes and tbeir necessary plant which rqqst impresst*s the mind of the learner. We Jjape Government will yet render the nepessary assjstance. If i ot en - couipged to the reasonable extent, ata'ced ’for, we certaii.ly cannot wonder if the Company should decide pejt to resume operations, but dismantle

flip whole of fcl-pir magnifioent iv'w reduction works. find ship the plant I-nek to Australia nr tn some of q erp >‘rv where lliose in i'Utlmriiy will 'l>e glad tn encourage enterprising pnnit ili«ta. such a° constitute tin l directorate of tlip Tp Aroha S. an l G. Mining Company,