Mining licence sought for Culverden area

Press, 27 May 1978, Page 7

Mining licence sought for Culverden area

In an enterprising move, a Geraldine man has applied for a mining li cence on a small block ci land near Culverden. Culverden is not know as a mining town: the are no coal pits, or trac i of gold, and the menti i of mining to anyone w o knows the area brings -. look of surprise. “Wh . could anyone mine in Cl verden?” Mr R. M. Mahan, ho vever, knows what he is looking for. If he is grained the licence, he hopes to start quarrying ne.i month on a 4.6 ha bloik . . . for marblestone. The immediate purpo< of the stone will be t< provide river protection h the 511.3 M Waiau irrigation scheme. Mr Mahan describes it as a heavy stone that will not fracture or break like most of the stone available in the Main Divide. His scheme has satisfied an environmental impact report, and a geological survey of the area has revealed “millions of tonnes” of the stone. But the stone has other qualities which will make it an attractive commercial proposition for some years to come. It is a colourful, crystalline

marblestone of very good quality, says Mr Mahan. Supplies of Hanmer and Charteris Bay marblestone nave run out, and Mr Mahan predicts that the Culverden stone could reMace these as a “fancy” uilding stone. He believes it could be very popular for fireplaces and the like. Gold, meanwhile, still '-is that hold which drove housands of • men into entral Otago last cen.ury. A small group of Auckland . businessmen has applied for a prospecting licence in the Kyeburn district. Known as Aotea Minerals, Ltd, the group has been in the gold-pros-pecting business for nine years, but with little sucA director of the company (Mr A. W. Tattersfield) said that the New Zealand gold prices did not make prospecting a viable proposition. Kyeburn is an old alluvial gold area; and Mr Tattersfield described his company’s venture as “very " long-term and explorative,” a hobby which could grow into a commercial enterprise. He described the Kyeburn district as “reasonably interesting,” but said that the company had other fields ‘elsewhere.