AN IMPORTANT FIND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 10 April 1907, Page 2

AN IMPORTANT FIND.

■» deposits OF KAOLINS. A paity of local residents, under the uiduncc of .Mr. Sam. Hill, visited Air. lorcnson's property on the Smart ro.nl couple of (lavs ago, to inspect (lie oportcd deposits of kaolins or very line lottery clav discovered there. The "find" vas heated in the side of a liill not fur o (Ik. Lear of Hie residence, about \\% nilcs from X'cvv Plymouth, and vv.is un■artlie I vevcu or eight months ago by 111' '.vorkinen who were obtainim.. cl iV 'or •'puddling" the dai.i at the borough \ ,vater,v;>rks tunnel side drive. .Mr. ' Sorenson and his neighbor. Mr. Parker, ivero on the spot, and undertook the nloliug of the parly. At the lirst outcrop of Hi,; e|,,v there is a vcrv wi-h laee , | ened, some sis or (seven feet lielow (he surface, and immediately nbovr it is u very line yellow clay, ivl'iich hi-; lieen [roved an excellent ehiy lor brick i, etc. 'I l,e white clay, or ehiy of a greyish color in ils damp natural slate, seemed wry line and perfectly free fri .11 grit, plastic as putty, and could f). easily monl I'vl to any shape. Outcropping in places ivtrc pieces of blspar ami a roil: or two described to us a.; grani.e rocks, and said to be most valuable in demonstriiUry that this clav is reallv what it is honed to be. "lint how ' much is there.'" asked one of tin- party. The answer was found some thirty or forty feet lower down the hillside, whore a tunnel has been driven in for a distance o' about twenty feet, passing almost entirely through similar greyish clay. Rubbed in the hand, it soon dried, to a wry fair white dust. From the indications it seemed that there was 11 very huge supply of the ehiy available there. Uut we had not seen all. Passin.!,' over a small bridge across a rauposwamp creek at, the bottom of the hill, where we were shown '•indications" of oil, 11m party proceeded up the other side of the vulley, and here a couple of holes only a few feet deep were shown to have tapped further deposits, or an extension of the same deposit, of clay. Mr. Hill recently submitted a sample of the clay to the Government Analyst, and Professor MacLaurin reported *on February 4 as follows: Clay, silieia, 30.4; as dried, 43.3; alumina, 33.8; llo'.U; iron oxides, 1.5; 1.(1; lime, 0.5; .55; magnesia, 0.4; .44; alkalies, ;>.«, 0.00; water and organic matter, 23,8; 17.55. This clay is of excellent quality. With the exception of the iron, which is slightly hign, its composition is equal to that of the best kaolin. Jf found in quantity it should prove of great value for pottery purposes. ANALYSIS OF OTHER PIUXCIPAL CLAYS. Silivi, Chinese, 50.5; St. Yreix, 48.37; Cornish.. 40.32; alumina, 3,17; 34.05; 30.74; iron oxides, 1.8; 1.20; 0.27; lime, —; —; 0.30; magnesia, 0.8; trace; 0.44;' potash and soda, l.!l; 2.4; 12.07; water, 11.2; 12.02; 12.07. We arc assured that the sample submitted whs from the upper portion i.f the seam or deposit, and would,therefore contain more organic matter than a sample taken from a lower level, where it would be less likely to he affected by soakage and so forth. At the time of tire visit men were engaged in getting live or six hundred weight of the stuff ready for shipment to England, Mr. Jas. Katteuburg having offered to see to it at the other end". Part of the shipment will be sent to Mr. Knowlcs, manager of bleaching works at Whiteheld, in the .Midlands, and a brother of Mr. .1. P. Knowles, of Pungarelm, and other portions to the pottery manufactories. Mr. Hill has secured an option over the property, so sanguine ia lie of the value of (he iiml. Writing of kaolin, or porceleun clav, one authority says: "The felspar rociis yield days by " their decomposition! Kaolin is the purest form of clay; it is found in primitive rocks in (he form of interposed strata, amidst granite blocks. It seems to result from orthoclnse bv the abstraction of the potash and part of the silica, and addition of water. • . Porcelain clay is white; that from Saxony has a yellow or carnation lint, which, however, disappear* on burning; it is friable, unctuous to the touch, and when pure forms a paste with water. Kaolin, as dug out of the earth, resembles mortar." Further: '•Porcelain clay is white, with occasional shades of yellow and grey. It is dull and .iwqiiej feels soft; in'water it falls to powder, and when kneaded it forms a ductile paste." And with all of thesj '•symptoms" the Smart road clav seems to coincide exactly.