FUTURE OF GOLDMINING

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 309, 30 December 1922, Page 12

FUTURE OF GOLDMINING

SHOULD THE STATE STEP IN? EIGHTLV A NATIONAL UNDERTAKING. i By A.H.T.I The ■ hairman of the Auckland Stock Exchange <]iiite naturally, rightly and logically -peaks hopefully of the future of the goldmining industry. A3 has be.-n already pointed out in these column*, it is at low-water that we mu>t expect the rise of the tide, and the- fortunes of the industry have been at the low-water mark for a reasonably sufficient time. No doubt there will he many who will note these expressions of optimism with a smile, if not of derision, at least of incredulity. It is true''that, compared with earlier times, there are now difficulties to be faced which ir.Tr then not in existence. The in..re accessible deposits have been well explored an.l well-exploited. The cost of wa<ro> and of materials is more than twi.-c as preat. Milling timber is far ) P <. easily" obtained. As Mr. Creagn himself remarks —and who should know better than he—money can earn pood interest in safe, or comparatively t-afi', commercial ventures, or on mortrajje. In short, as another authority said the other day. if a new Waihi were \o be offered in Auckland, under the present conditions, there would be no backers. On the other hand, there are certain facilities now available which were not within the reach of the pioneers. Chiet of these is the development of the hydro-electric power system. In the early days the cheapest power was that derived from water direct. But this source of supply was extremely unreliable—so much so that the larger mines; used to keep a fully-equipped eteam •plant ready for emergencies. This expedient, though ensuring a constant 'supply of power, necessitated the cost of a double installation and the consequent interest and sinking fund charges. The modern system, while being more reliable than simple waterpower, though not equal in that respect to the steam system, lias the unique advantage of being easily and conveniently reticulated. No matter how inaccessible the position of tbe crushing battery may rhe, all that is required is an electric cable and a motor. Another advantage that time and the general progress of the country has brought, an advantage more real than it may appear on the surface, i 9 the great improvement in the conditions under which the modern miner works. Instead of being buried in the heart ot the bush, many miles beyond the boundaries of civilisation, he now finds himself, if not in the heart of a settled district, at least at no great distance from more civilised surroundings. What this means to the economical working of a mine is best known to those who have had to carry on continuous operations with an ever-changing staff of workmen. That such conditions do not make for efficiency and economy will be obvious to those engaged in any In. dustry employing a large amount ot labour. 'All this may be granted, and yet, in s-pite of our optimistic "stronghearts," the recovery of this important primary industry will, unless stimulated by sensational finds, ,be very likely a slow and unsatisfactory business. If possible, >l practicable, something must be done that has not been done before. It is. not enough to look to the Government of the day for additional sustenance from its ever too-ready spoon. State batteries have been advocated by a recent up-country deputation. Thia system has had a thorough trial in Western Australia, and may 'be introduced here in some localities with advantage. Care must, however, be taken that they do not provide a convenient method ot realising on stolen ore or gold, as has undoubtedly 'been the case on some occasions, If installed they should be in central positions, where they can be fed by as much of the surrounding distrjiet. .as possible. But more than this is required. Who are the greatest gold-users?- It does not require much metallic gold to •make a considerable amount of jewellery. The banks are compelled by Act of Parliament to keep on hand coin to the value of not less than one-third of the total of their banknote issue. But there is sufficient gold even now being produced to meet their demands. The need for more gold is an international affair. .Nations may, and do, settle their accounts so far as possible per contra. But the balance of the account must be paid in gold. This being so, it follows that the production of gold is or should be the concern of governments of each nation. The industry should not be left at the meTcy of individual adventurers and irresponsible speculators. It used to be stated that an ounce of gold cost, oft a world-average, juat about its value to produce. It would be a Herculean task to prove or disprove such an assertion. It may, however, be taken as heing somewhere near the mark. National undertakings are recognised as fulfilling their functions if they earn at least mterest on the capital expended. if the gold mines taken over by the Government were sufficiently numerous and selected with reasonable care, they at least could hardly help paying expenses. -Many a developed mine is lying idle at the present day which was abandoned simply because it could do this, but not more than this. The Government already possesses a very efficient staff of nnning engineers. There are many also who .have been trained in the mining schools of the Dominion still residin" "n U wnose training, subsidised by "the Government itself, could be utilised if ■their services were required. It would riot be necessary to expend a large amount of cap.rai in initial development! men, 3 " m ,"" remarket '. the Government would have its choice of many mines already far enough developed to £1 for no more than the extension of w th th" 7 " f , reef alrea<Jr sneered ad |l™i ? '' m€ans of Rhaft * or "« red ?W •** th ° ™<*«™J reor,- that , ', h - tf>n tim<N the am °»nt of on tuat is being mined. It is easy to imagine a member of 1..s lompanion with the remark: "Wha SWith^m^r&it^^ tion) To CH n >,- h «»b. wanted n«f c T , '-' • dlrP vvlth the Chinese to i„Bu'"«i.m r r ven " er '-and so forth. "t, -~-,?; cl ' V f a I t" be dismissed tar. i'pt : ' ,1 7' s ' n »- Chance en--•i/ar't '-, , """"taking. The odd* Ti'v v. .1 „ ""'"'"'i by simply multi- \' J ■>••/ I'M' llliiijl«-r of otierili. „ v U iW (~«,„„ , f " "I<er.if„,n,. Even '■•'•V "1 .1 penny jt „ „ n i.. , "'* number of '•' "-"uvj Ujj KJJJ hej teiual .„ t J, e i

number of "tails.' . And this argument supposes that mining for gold is as speculative a businew as is popularly supposed. As a matter of fact the element of chance can be reduced to a far greater extent than the layman could be expected to know. It is true, as is often said, that you cannot see an inch into solid rock. But the art of assaying, or testing the average amount of gold per ton in a l>lock of stone enables the mining man. except in a few oases where the matrix contains the metal in comparatively large pieces, to estimate, with a reasonable approach to accuracy, the average contents. Here again the element of chalice, inseparable from an individual a«say, is minimised by repeating the operation a eufficient namber of times on diffcren; portions erf the ore. In conclusion, it mai be safely said that the State lias engaged in many undertakings that have lie-en at least just as speculative, and often of les» value to the country than that of a well-thought-out, properly organised system of State goldmininp. The very 1 fact of the industry being in the hands' of the State will remove what lias tx-en its chief disability in the past--the influence of the shiiremarket. The gold in situ is already the property of the State. Let the State extract it. Tt i s j the State that needs the metal mo 4. The mint.* aro run by the State. T.et the State take in hand t!ie whole of the operations—the mining nf the orp. its reduction and treatment, the refining: and coining of the bullion.