Minister Supports Ironsands Sale

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32216, 7 February 1970, Page 12

Minister Supports Ironsands Sale

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 5. The proposed sale of 10 million tons of ironsand concentrate to Japan during the next 10 years represented only a small proportion of New Zealand’s large resources, the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) said today.

Mr Marshall was commenting on the proposal by New Zealand Steel to sell sand concentrates, rather than the processed product, for an initial period. “The recommendation of the National Development Conference that New Zealand should process its own raw materials before exporting them was a basic Government policy,” Mr Marshall said. “But this does not rule out completely the export of raw materials in certain cases. “The total amount of sand involved amounts to possibly one per cent of established deposits of ironsands in New Zealand, and if it is not exported it will lie there for centuries. “We hope to export steel later on, but for the present

we might as well earn something while we can. “At this stage we do not have steel to export, and the Japanese require the sand as part of their manufacturing process.” The main consideration was that New Zealand should not starve its steel industry of raw materials. 1 “The small proportion involved in this deal is of little significance in comparison with our large resources,” he said.