BORING FOR OIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 332, 20 June 1911, Page 7

BORING FOR OIL.

HIGH HOPES AT WHANGAREI. For some time past., a syndicate lias been prospecting for coal anil oil on the Kioreroa Block, a strip of. land,:that is vested in the Wliangarei .High Schoel Board of Governors, and which is bounded on one side by the Otaika stream, and stretches eastward as far as the Wliangarei railway wharf. Three bores have been put. down, and the results arc most encouraging. The No. 1 bore lias been sunk to a depth, of 480 ft• on--the foreshore, near the railway wharf, a second bore has been put down to a depth of 84ft near the eastward portion of the Otaika creek, and a thiru bore also in that vicinity. 11l the No. 2 bore a higlilyinflammabht gas continually esVapes. : Dr. Bell, geologist, has now forwarded I a most llattering report on the property,) and urges the syndicate to continue their operations. Dr. Bell says that the escape | .of gas from the No. 2 bore does not ne-1 Cfissirily mean that mineral oil will be i .discovered, although the gas is frequently a«'indication of the .same.

. , At a meeting- of the Whangarei High School Board of Governors, held last week, the syndicate applied for a 50 years' lease of the Kiorcroa Block to carry on prospecting operations and developments. The secretary of the syndicate reported that £SOO had been spent on the work, and that they would be prepared to exp'friul *£3oofr,"provided that they coul<l procure the oil and the mineral rights of the property for the tihie stated. The Board of Governors decided to defer the request until they had gone fully into the matter, which would embrace the question of royalties, etc.

Great interest in being taken in Whangarei in the operations, as it is realised that successful developments will mean much to the district. The property has a deep-water frontage to the harbor, and is, therefore, most, favorably situated in regard to shipping faedities."