MAHARAHARA COPPER MINE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 7 September 1907, Page 5

MAHARAHARA COPPER MINE.

Mr A. E. Uall, prospector and mining 'expert, who lias been prospecting atii : inspcctiug the. Maharahara copper fields 'on liehalf of a .Uastcrton syndicate, 'writes as follows:—"This field (MaharaUiani) lias been wrongly reported on by 'people who knew practically nothing of I minerals or mining—in fact, by settlers in the district who have never seen a iinine or a mining Mil. These reports j have been circulated all over the mining ■ jconinumitics of this colony and the Com- ( inonweatlh, and have done the Maliarajhara. mines a great deal of harm, as jwheu mining investors at a distance I read a report to the effect that thousjands of pounds have been spent in the , jWoodvillc district in trying to find coyper lodes, without any'material success, they naturally decline to spend more ami turn away from these undeveloped mineral-bearing lields as being unprofitable for investment. Th e thousands 'spent on the present copper mine were i simply wasted by unskilled management jandji line mining property with a lode 'of copper ore, 25ft from wall to wail, and running nobody knows how far back, i lias been simply spoilt, by men who did : not understand their work. Fancy j farmers, who have never seen a hammer land drill used in their life, or a set of [timbers put in a drive, starting to drive I a tunnel level to cut a lode, where they j would have to drive about liOOft, and [with absolutely no idea of the underlay of the lode or the shortest cut to take, jl am informed they didn't even use u, compass, and this is the class of miner | that Woodville could boast of a few i years ago. They simply drove into the ,'hill, some of the drives actually run,'uing parallel with the lode; no wondor ', they never cut it! When I was shown jovcr the mine, some three months ago, Iby Sir Sheppard, the present mine manager, and the only practical man who i lias ever been in charge, [ noticed one ilevel where the approach was about oft \from the roof to the lloor, but when 1 '.had proceeded about 100 ft in the drive J the floor had risen 2ft and the roof had Income down a foot. It is a wonder to ' n;3 that the men were not killed by a I fall of earth. In all my mining cxperi,'ence all over Australia l'liave never seen I a valuable mining property messed up .•as this one has been. No wonder it /cost them £3 or £1 per foot to drive -■ the tunnels, although experienced men . would have done it for 25s to 35s per I foot. Imagine the manager in charge j of a mine going on to the top of a range | and sinking a shaft in solid lode where i winding machinery would be required, when he could, at about half the cost, drive a tunnel level and cut the lode Iwhcrc he would have, at a low level, ? -iiio feel or (ioo feet of backs and could 1 prove Ihe lode if cut at, say, 500 feet '• from the outcrop, where thousands of d tons of ore would be in sight, and where o intermediate levels could bo driven and n a good property developed. Let any e man with a little brains visit the mine, o and he will be able to see for himself !how the money has lren spent, and a inline milling pr. ,i :■::■ 'lose to the railsi, way line lying d rvm. v.iih .of unexplored mnvi.il land belorgiu;: to ii,the Crown alongside. Properly develij'opcil. it would be a means of employKi ment for thousands of men, and a source of great revenue to the country. Tlkm' ~» ranges, which run right through Hie „' King Country and join the. Waihi eoiil- :' t lields. have been locked up by a'pri-

gre-wive (lovernment for many years. Why is it Unit restrictions have been placed on th'-o mineral-hearing areas and a prospector is not allowed to go into the King Country where the land has been lying idle in the hands of the ;Jfaoris for years, and where there is un- | told'mineral wealth? How is it that [the Australian blacks eannot lock up !thousands of square miles of mineral country as the Maoris do? Where is [your •rood government that we read of .jii the papers, and what lias become of ithc voters when they allow themselves jto l,e hoodwinked and taxed to the utjinost for a hare living, while the Government is locking up an industry that would find employment for thousands and bring in a large revenue? I am u Xcw Zcalandcr horn and bred, and T lliave had fifteen years' experience in Australia and have not allowed my brains to clop; so as not to be able to p.-'O the way in which this colony has ; been managed for years, and I am not afraid to speak my mind for the, good !of mankind and my country. I have . itravelled and paid for my experience Mwilli the sweat of my brow, and thor- ' oughly know what T am talking about."