GREENSTONE MOUNTAIN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 209, 10 May 1912, Page 6

GREENSTONE MOUNTAIN

270,000 TONS IN SIGHT. VALUABLE DISCOVERY ON THE WEST COAST. Christehurch. May 7. The almost unbelievable 'find of a mountain of New Zealand greenstone on the West Coast, reported some time ago, is now a certainty, and particulars of the very valuable discovery are disclosed in the prospectus of "New Zealand Green- , stone, Ltd.," a company which has been floated in a surprisingly short space of time in Sydney to work the greenstone mine. The shares have been fully taken up already, and interest in the venture, as far as most New Zealauders are concerned, will lie in the prospects of hav- ! greenstone mantelpieces, carved table-tops, and other ambitious articles of furniture which could not have been dreamed of a year ago. Greenstone is a semi-precious stone found solely in New Zealand in varying qualities, from ordinary pounamu to tengawai, the most beautiful stone. It was used by the Maoris for meres and axes owing to its hardness, and also for tikis, their little gods, as the atone was to them the most precious known. Nowadays it is used for rather banal articles of "jewellery." such as heartshaped pendants and bar brooches, hut it is capable of better things, and the gold-mounted cigarette case presented to Captain Amundsen by his fellow-country-men in Christehurch was an elegant piece of carved tengawai that any connoisseur could have been proud of. The new mountain, however, will enable the stone to take the place of marble for many purposes, as green is a color greatly demanded for inside and outside decorations, although architects have been unable to lay their hands on a stone showing a natural green color with nice markings. There appears to be little doubt, therefore, that with the price in reason, greenstone will be taken eagerly throughout the world, and the company hand' ling the West Coast lode will have a monopoly of the world supply, as no similar deposit is known. Greenstone has been found in the ground in the district where the find is located. The property is situated in the Griffin range, Taratama, and the mass of greenstone available is computed by measurement at 270,000 tons, the poorest stone possessing a substantial monetary value. The mining and quarrying conditions are ideal, and the site is only forty or f fifty miles from Greymouth. It has been reported on already very favorably by Mr. R. Speight, of Christchurch, Mr. John Hayes, late inspecting engineer of mines to the New Zealand Government, ami other eminent engineers, and the success of the venture is assured. The prices at which it can be quarried are very promising. The prices ruling for jewellery stone range from 6d to 6s a lb, or from .tnti to £672 per ton. Estimates show that the stone can he put aboard the steamer at Greymoutli at an outside cost of ,E3 a ton. Mr. Thomas Monihan, a West Coaster, who has just returned from floating the., company in Sydney, was in Christehurch last evening and spoke most enthusiastically of the find, which he said was a very good thing for the Dominion. In Sydney, he said, he had mot Sir Arthur Guinness, who was delighted to hear of the good fortune that has befallen the Coast. 1