OIL IN NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23087, 1 August 1940, Page 10

OIL IN NEW ZEALAND

'2SROB Ol TEI P&2SS. - from the letters appealing in your, journal that much ' interest isbeing taken, in Chnst- - fchurch. at ahy rate, in .the developments of _bur shale -resources. Just . whether part at- least of the publicity by company promotets or* not 1 is«hard to say, but - mOcifccan, .be said for and..against the : '■ development of • shale In. New Zear T -nmte- a's one -who for years i haV»Kpep? associated- with .Otago Cen- - tral : !andFSaathland.'shale, and I. have . prdducM^maxiy. a gallon of oil from Sfese depbsitg, and probably will produce many more.- .As I write there in • . fronts of me-is a complete range, of grease, .wax, kerosene, and spirit extracted from these shales in .my laboratory:' but I know that , if ever is struck in New- Zealand the‘production of these products'from ‘shale would be hopelessly unecpnoA roic in - comparison, and could -not pos- < A sibly compete. Will floW oil be struck : / in Hew Zealand? Personally, I do not think it will, excepting- in very small -' Quantities. Here, then, there is a /caseCfor.shale, but not, I am afraid, for- -the- Orepuki deposit, rather will be Otago Central that is to benefit. sHiere • are .* two enormous deposits ’ there, both -equal to anything in the wprld fof ; their.oil yields, and the oil is just’ ay perfect- as such oil could .be. i. Inrboth /cases, the shale Is practically , Ipoking'at one,, mining - to secure it -Shores were' put down -showed upwards - have. 1 dug it, out pick-when requiring; samples Fifty gallons of crudp a. ton of ‘ shale -was not at The-, average, specific iwaat: 0.95.' The ammonium sulr gas, could , 5000- cubic-feet jit SemSedbSw hot aflame. The ASSaed&xioixs . retort which-'! operated ■ 11 by*-me'.to soil our- parf Scut oat ] td'reduce .these .to a j costs lor flow pit ; qiate a large '.olla only.. and. - of thou- < appeared ) d- A

that £7OOO only would provide a locally built one. . ' . .., The Orepuki shale is associated wdh a high grade lignite deposit, but the seam faults, and. it extends below ground to a depth of almost 500 feet. The thickness of the shale averages fcur feet - six inches. There is a large area-here, approximating 1500 acres, but mining costs get the shale would be high. There are places where shale is struck at 200 feet and again at, 300 feet. As with the Otago shale,- where 50 gallons and more of oil a ton of shale was the yield so was this with the Orepuki variety. Here the specific gravity of -the oil, 0.895. showed the high yield of 20 per cent, of crude paraffin wax. I have a quantity of this wax, and u compares very favourably indeed with the imported produci-You^etc^ July 30, 1940. v '