W. R. B. VASS.]

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To Mr. Veitch: The slate is not in use in New Zealand. I have not the wherewithal to put it on the market; and I think Mr. Morgan's report stopped me from getting anything for it. To the Chairman: I have nothing to say with respect lo the Customs tariff. The marble pays well; it is all right. I have not considered the question .of exporting to Australia. The Australians have decorative marble. The marble would be shipped in a rough state. The other people ship it in a rough state. 1 am supplying some marble to a monumental mason at New Plymouth. 1 have not got Ihe means for dressing marble here. If I had a rock-drill I would be in Ihe same position as the other people. A rock-drill would cost about £100 to install. In the ease of slate, I would require two rock-drills, because there is a great amount of slate used. We would be easily able to compete with imported slate, and we could almost compete with corrugated iron. Wjiat I want is capital. I want to see the thing go ahead. I would not mind if anybody else took it up. I have been told that if I would get out a certain number of slates a company would be Moated immediately, but J cannot arrange for that, because there is no road, and it will take some money to construct a road. If I had reasonable assistance I could make use of the deposit. To Mr. Graigie: The specimens of the slate produced are like the Scotch slate. It is not so thin as the Welsh slate, but it is harder than the Welsh slate. To the Chairman: I will read the following information from Professor Park's book with respect to copper. In James Park's "Text-book of Mining Geology" ho states, "It should be noted thai extremely low-grade ores, containing as little as I*s per cent, of copper, are mad,' to yield large profits in the Lake Superior district, To achieve Ibis result enormous quantities of ore are mined annually. . . . Spain and Portugal : The copper-deposits at Rio Tinto, Tharsis, and San Domingo are of great extent, They consist of compact pyrites containing from 1 to 2A per cent, of copper-pyrites disseminated through the whole mass. Mansfield, copper-mines. Saxony: The whole bed contains copper, but only the bottom 3 in. or 4in are rich, and en an average contain 2 to 3 per. cent, of copper and 163 oz. of silver to the ton of copper." I will now read Dr. Bell's description of the copper-deposits, New Zealand Geological Survey : The Geology of the Parapara Subdivision, Karamea, Nelson, by Dr. J. M. Bell (page 100) : " In Copperstain Creek, a tributary of the Pariwhakaoho River, a well-defined mineralized zone occurs, running in a general north and south direction, and traceable for about 12 chains. It may. and probably does, extend farther to the southward. Its width is uncertain, since its boundaries are difficult to delineate with accuracy, though it probably does not exceed 50 ft. The zone occurs as a highly pyritized band of much altered and decomposed mica-schist in conjunction with a micaceous carbonate, the mineralization being most pronounced near the line of contact of the two rocks. Though the mineralizing constituents consist for the 'most part of pyrite, chalcopyrite is also present, as well as its oxidation products—malachite, azurite, and possibly melaconite, which occur in the conspicuous limonitic gossan. Plates of native copper are occasionally seen along joint or foliation planes. Prospecting-work has been carried out in a drive 40 ft. long in Copperstain Creek, about half a mile from its mouth, and shows the character of the mineralization to be fairly constant. Throughout the rusty oxidized portion of the mineralized mica-schist, seams of a hydrous silicate of alumina ramify in all directions. A picked sample of ore from the mouth of the drive contained —gold, 4gr. to the ton; silver. 15 dwt. 5 gr. to the ton; copper, 2354 per cent." . I may mention that (here was a little mistake made when Dr. Bell was in that locality, and there is no doubt that the man who drove in the tunnel made a slight mistake. Dr. Bell meniioned that the picked sample was taken from the mouth of the tunnel; but, it appears to me that sample was taken from the creek —from the washings; that he did not recognize the outcrop, and the tunnel was driven in not quite at the right place. I may state that some 6 in. from where they drove in I struck the gossan, and on the upper side, 3 ft. from where Dr. Bell and his assistants had been working, I struck the other end of the gossan. I went up there one day looking for something else, and I recognized the gossan. The facilities for obtaining the ore cannot be beaten in the world. The place is three miles from deep water; it is 183 chains from the main road, and it is in solid country. All that I ask in respect to the copper-ore is that the Government supply a man to put in a drive on the other side; and if anything can be done to prove that the lode is 40 ft. wide there will be no difficulty in floating a company. To the Chairman : The Government can assist me by supplying a man to do the work I have indicated, and no doubt the Inspector of Mines knows of such a man. I merely want the Government to prove the lode, because I am not. a mine-manager myself. They would require to drive a tunnel into the gossan on the opposite side of the creek to prove the.lode, and perhaps put in a crosscut. I think the quality of the ore is good enough. If they proved the lode the Government's costs would be refunded. We have got six months' protection. It is a prospecting license; at the end of the six months we would have to get a renewal of the license. The lode is quite close to the Parapara boundary in places. William Edward WILKBS, Builder and Contractor, examined. lam the.Mayor of Richmond, and I wish to speak about afforestation. It is necessary that we should have something done with Rabbit Island, a Government property lying on the foreshore between Nelson and Motueka. It lias an area of 2,600 acres. It is of a sandy nature, but is eminently adapted for growing Pinus insignis. Trees planted there seven years and a half ago are to-day 30 ft. high, with 1 ft, diameter at the butt. The importance of growing fir-trees in this district is that the timber-supplies are getting short, The island is controlled by a Domain Board. The income from the island is £10 per annum. With this sum the Board cannot improve the property, and it has no power to rate. If the Board had more money it would undertake the planting of trees.