The Press MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1956. Mineral Resources of South Island

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28057, 27 August 1956, Page 10

The Press MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 1956. Mineral Resources of South Island

The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce has made a useful innovation in its latest economic bulletin, the first to deal with subjects which, though of economic importance, are not economic in character. This bulletin, prepared by the department of chemical engineering at Canterbury University College, will probably surprise most people who have little idea of the economic potential of tbe South Island’s mineral resources. Before the war light metal industries were much discussed; but this survey of natural resources goes further into allied fields and discusses the practicability of various industries, not from the viewpoint of the enthusiast but from a more detached academic angle. It is, therefore, more likely to interest possible investors in New Zealand and overseas. Coal, salt, limestone, and the West Coast’s ironsand, plus hydro-electricity, are the resources on which'these new industries might be based. They would not in the foreseeable future displace agriculture as the basis of the South Island’s economy; but they would help to meet the demands of a growing population. The bulletin naturally concentrates most attention on the salt industry at Lake Grassmere. This is already in production, some expansion of the original plans is already likely, and scope for still further use of minerals from the sea can be imagined. Although the point is not mentioned in the bulletin, Lake Grassmere may well be a suitable location for the application of a relatively new development—the use of solar heat. The French have made a successful solar furnace and only last November a world symposium on applied solar energy was held in Phoenix, Arizona. How far solar energy could be developed economically in New Zealand is not yet clear. The bulletin approves of the State’s capital contribution towards the establishment of the salt project at Lake Grassmere. Government help will seldom be as positive as this, and generally risk capital must come from investors who can see a return for their money. The State can help in other ways. Government agencies can provide a great deal of information necessary in the preliminary stages of planning any new undertaking. The State can help by some assurance to those prepared to risk their money that they will be able to draw the proceeds of their initiative. More important, in a country like New Zealand, the Government can avoid putting obstacles in the way of any company prepared to put up the risk capital for one of these enterprises. If, for instance, the association of a cement works and an aluminium works is contemplated near a hydro-electric site in North Canterbury, the Government should permit the organisers to build their own generating station and should not insist on their drawing more expensive power from the national grid. What is needed is a new climate of opinion in which enterprise is encouraged and respected for the important contribution it can make to economic growth. The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, through bulletins such as this, helps to generate that favourable atmosphere.