DAMAGE DONE BY DREDGES

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23413, 21 August 1941, Page 9

DAMAGE DONE BY DREDGES

^ — . NEW POLICY TO BE

ADOPTED

CABINET’S DECISION

(P R.) WELLINGTON. August 20. A new policy designed to lessen the damage done to land by gold dredges is enunciated in the Mines Statement for 1940. Statements made about the destruction of .arable land are discussed in the statement, which goes on:—

“The matter was considered at length by Cabinet, and the following definite policy la.id down in regard to future dredging operations:— ; “Dredging of land suitable for agricultural or pastoral purposes not to be except with the prior approval of the Hon. the Minister for Lands:

: “Where, in the opinion of the Forestry Department, tree-planting could be practised with reasonable prospects <?f success, tree-planting conditions to be insisted upon: “Where levelling, resoiling, and grassing is possible—i.e., with some of the sluice-box types of dredges—appropriate conditions in this respect to be inserted in the .licence:

“In other cases where resoiling and tree-planting is impracticable, a levy of £7 10s an acre of land dredged to be imposed on the holders of the dredging claims (other than those operating in river-beds), such moneys to he applied in improving other land in the vicinity of the claims. “An area of 7070 acres held under 11 dredging-claim licences reveals that the value, of the land for farming purposes, on the highest possible basis of Valuation, amounts to £16,800, whereas the value of gold recoverable by dredging is £16,750,000. - "Notwithstanding this, the Government is actively interesting itself in research work to see what improvements in dredging technique are possible to minimise the' damage to land, and it also intends investigating the possibilities of reclaiming the dredged areas.

“A survey of the position was carried out during the year by a committee of officers of the Lands, Forestry, and Mines Departments, and its conclusions may be summarised as follows:—First, only from 5 per cent, to 10 per cent, of the total area of land being dredged or likely to be dredged is in any way suitable for agricultural or pastoral purposes. Second, the productive value for farming purposes of this small proportion of the total area affected is roughly £2 an acre, whereas the productive value from the goldcontent viewpoint is from £Boo‘to £I2OO an acre. Third, in the great majority of cases, the stacker type of dredge has to be used, and this, coupled with the fact that in its original state the land has only a very thin layer of soil, makes levelling and recoiling of the tailings uneconomical and impracticable. “In these circumstances, the Government considers that the national interests are best served by permitting the land to' be dredged for ‘its gold content. It is evident, from a recent study, that a policy of wholesale afforestation of dredged areas, irrespective Of their suitability, is not satisfactpry. For thrifty tree-growth, soil with some humus content is essential, but dredges using stackers bury what little soil there is in many ’feet of washed granite gravel. For this reason alone successful afforestation on stacker tailings is impossible. It Appears that the tree-planting of the tailings at Rimu has befn generally accepted as an example, but the State Forest Service doe? not regard that area as successful.”