MINING PROGRESS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22593, 24 December 1938, Page 18

MINING PROGRESS

MINISTER’S REVIEW OF YEAR OIL, GOLD, AND COAL trszss ASSOCIXIIOJT TKLEQBAIt.) AUCKLAND, December 23. In a statement issued to-day, the Hon. P. C. Webb (Minister for Mines) says: “As the year draws to a close I derive some measure of satisfaction from the progress which has been made in our mining industry during the last 12 months. “First of all, the petroleum legislation passed by Parliament at the end of 1937 has proved very sound, and has given a great impetus to the search for oil.

“Se eral major organisations, with the strongest financial and technical backing in the world, have applied for and been granted oil prospecting rights over considerable areas. To date licences have been granted over 7000 square miles of territory. No lewer than 30 geologists and geophysicists are at work in different parts of the country. The extent of this activity can be gauged when it is pointed out that this force of scientists is about three times as great as the present personnel of the New Zealand Government Geological Survey Department. Most up-to-date drilling plant is already at work near Gisborne putting down the first well for the New Zealand Petroleum Company, Ltd. “I am looking forward with the greatest interest to possible developments in 1939 in the gold mining industry. Another important milestone was passed a week or two ago, when two magnificent modern dredges commenced operations on the West Coast. These machines mark a new era in the industry, and are the forerunners of several similar plants now under construction. One of these dredges is the largest in the southern hemisphere, and is thought to be the second largest in the world. The first return from these huge machines will be watched with the greatest interest by the mining industry and the investing nublic. These developments on the West Coast have been largely brought about by the Government’s action in making ample supplies of electric power available, and by the construction of a transmission line over the difficult terrain between Lake Coleridge and Westland. “In the coal mining industry conditions have been satisfactory, and I look forward with confidence to greater production in 1939, and to an extended use of our New Zealand product in our gas works and other fuel-consuming units.”

OIL EXPLORATION REPORTED DIFFICULTY IN DRILLING (PBTSS ASSOCIATION TTH.EGRAM.) GISBORNE, December 23. Officials in charge of the New Zealand Petroleum Company’s oil exploration scheme at Totangi have been meeting trouble in restoring the drill hole to the vertical. The angle of the sandstone strata of the dome has deflected the drill, and if it is not restored to the vertical the dome will not be pierced, as is needed to test the area. The first remedial measures, comprising the withdrawal of the drill and filling the hole with cement were not successful, as, when drilling began again, the drill took up its own line. The drill hole has been refilled with cement and drilling will begin again on Wednesday. ,