MINERAL STUDY

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30418, 17 April 1964, Page 3

MINERAL STUDY

“Lots Of Potential” (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 16. New Zealand has “lots of mineral potential,” according to Mr A. W. G. Whittle, senior lecturer in economic geology at Adelaide University and a leading Australian geological consultant. But because of the country’s rugged terrain it could only be assessed by the use of modern methods of mineral exploration, he said in Auckland today; Mr Whittle is visiting New Zealand at the invitation of the universities to lecture to staff and students. Asked why he thought New Zealand had a good mineral potential, he said: “One thing that makes it attractive from the mineral point of view is the many analogies that can be drawn between the geology and geographical positions of New Zealand and Japan. “These two countries are symmetrically placed from the Equator, and have similar structures and geology. “The last decades have seen a tremendous, expansion of mining in Japan, and today there'are many hundreds of mines and quarries operating on a wide variety of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits. “Admittedly, there is a. big difference between the population of Japan and that of your country but I feel that potential here is such as to justify a considerable effort to develop mineral exploration,” he said.