THE IRONSAND INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 256, 29 April 1912, Page 4

THE IRONSAND INDUSTRY.

I Some weeks have elapsed since the ironsand works at Moturoa were officially opened, with quite a considerable flourish of trumpets on the part of the directors. Speaking at the ceremony, one of the directors (Mr. D. D. MacFarlane) led thost' present to believe that the Company, which holds the leases of considerable ironsand deposits, was, without any further delay, about to undertake exhaustive experiments to ascertain if the working of the deposits could be made a commercial success. He further indicated that his company Would proceed-at once to an exploitation of the deposits, and would spare no labor in an effort to bring the project to a successful issue. To this end the men associated! with the venture were quite prepared, he explained, to risk a few thousand pounds. Summed up, his remarks amounted to a declaration that the company was perfectly genuine in its intentions, and that the Harbor Board and >Tew Plymouth generally oould rest assured that it would give the ironsand a thorough trial. Inspired by this sentiment the Hon. 0. Samuel and the chairman of the Harbor Board eulogised the company for its enterprise and for the benefit it would confer on the districts if the deposits were successfully exploited, But in the meantime what have the directors done? Weeks have slipped by, and' there is no sign of smelting operations being commenced. So far the promised exhaustive test is as far off as ever. Following this apparent conspiracy of procrastination, comes the surprising information that the company itself does not intend to even experiment. From, what is gleaned from an interview in another column with one of the inventors of the secret process for working the deposits, the company has placed the onus on somebody-else's shoulders. It has secured the option of leasing the deposits, but having gone thus far, it lis, to all appearances, adopting a safe policy of "taihoa." Apparently, after all, local capital and local ' brains will have to do all the spade work, while the company sits tight and holds the leases. It has been left to the inventors themselves to prove that the deposits can produce marketable metals. Then, and not till then, will the Parapara Company step philanthropically in. It is palpably not prepared to put any more faith in the project than the man in the street, and apparently wishes to stay its' hand until it can count upon a certainty of success. This latest phase of the industry was not anticipated by the Harbor Board when it granted the options to the company. We feel sure that had that body foreseen what would happen it would hardly part parted so readily with the leases. At least it was the obvious duty of the directors to take those present at the opening ceremony into their confidence, instead of giving the HaTbor Board and' the public to understand that they themselves were going to undertake the tests and see the experiments through. This latest development will come as a severe disappointment to all those interested in the future of the industry. If the inventors are hampered for want of capital, they can hardly make as exhaustive a test as was hoped for. Meantime, with the advent of the absorbing topic of the Moturoa oil-fields, there is a grave danger of the general public not being sufficiently alive to the situation to safeguard another important natural resource in the shape of the ironsand deposits.