POSSIBILITIES OF WESTLAND

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 299, 14 December 1908, Page 4

POSSIBILITIES OF WESTLAND

AX m'JiKESXINU XIJJiORV. i An important bulletin, comprising u u . results of almost three seasons' li-ld work, has been issued by the Geological Survey Department. It is the largest bulletin yet published by this Depnrtmeut, is written by Jlr 'l\ (;. Morgai, general geologist, and covers the Alikomii suhbiviskm, .North Westlaud. To ilus ordinary citizen tlie most important subjects dealt with are alluvial gold and water power. •■ In respect to water power," states the report. •' U'csthind is richly gifted. The great gold placers haw largely been worked out : fifty 10 a hundred years will see the bulk of ils timber resomves dipped, but its, water power will endure as long as the Alps rear their lofty summits to claim tribute from the moisture-laden westerlies. Evei at the present time there are no mean possibilities connected with I he. Westlaud water powers conjoined willi electric transmission. Thei'e are deep leads lo be exhausted of water : there arc oilier auriferous deposits' which t-oulil be profitably worked by hydraulic sluicing if power were available to create artificial pressure ; there are railways and sawmills which could he conveniently run by liydro-elecli- e energy.

The alluvial gold i|iiestion is more intricate. The rich surface placers of W'estlilild have been fully explored and largely worked out, but there remains the matter of deep leads for the geologist to deal with. Did the alluvial gold com,, from the Southern Alps, or did it, as many old miners .maintain, come from the West » In the latter case, there must once have been land to til ; West, and unlikely as this may a pp. alio the general reader, Jlr .Morgan, like Jlr A. JlcKay, supports this v-ew. and gives reason for it. The probable exlent of the ancient land is not discussed. Im I. some writers have regarded New Zealand as having in pala'evoic tim -\; formed part of (he lost tloudwana C 0,,, linenl, .-.ticlcliing from AuMrafa It, Africa over mik-li of the Indian Ocean, and in Mosozoic time, have connected with a-a Ansiialo-liiilo-.M.-ilav land mas--. At what, period was this supposed land in existence, when and how did it, disappear, what was its character, how did the rivers ran y r\wm< and many other i|uestioiis must be answered by the ..enlogist to the best of his abil'ilv before lie can make even a tentative statement as to the origin of the alluvial gold, much less state where deposits are nonlikely to exist. Theoretical as well as practical arguments arc discussed in detail in the bulletin.