MARBLES AND BUILDING STONES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 130, 25 February 1908, Page 9

MARBLES AND BUILDING STONES.

! UNTOUCHED DEPOSITS. A paragraph published in The Dominion last week- referred to the largo dqpbsits of excellent- marblo . near- Motuekn, in the Nelson _ district. \ . Tho deposits.; are ; situated within half a'milo'of a main road, and aro waiting to be;exploited. -Theso are not the only deposits of valuable stono in tlio Nelson district, and ill other easily aceessiblo parts of New Zealand, which havo .'Scarcely yot been touched for building';: purposes. Bulletins'; published by the. Geological branch of the Mines Department - contain the following references to this unregarded fea-, turo of wealth:-—l'j

In tho Parapara' district of kelson Provinco near Cqlliugwood. l v building-and ornamental stones aro..very widely distributed.. Granites of high quality, occur ,111 many parts, especially oil Head ,Hill. ; and the Onahai stream. All of those would- be; useful for masonry, while somo of them arc fit for fiuer purposes. Beautiful marbles. o<;cur at many places, sometimes puro whito,; sometimes pint, again grey. - WJiite'inarbleS' occur on tho .slopes of the l'ikikiruui Range, near Blue'Poiid; and elsewhere'. Grey marbles arc..much, liioro widely ' distributed, wliilo tho pink marblo is limited to tho Upper Waikoromumu.; Serpentihous roclcs of considerablo beauty, and, possibly; lit for ornamental purposes, occur;'at ■; tho Parapara River." < . '

In tho Westland disfnct, ; ''ajjaiir, • " tho widely distributed granites..of '.various'.'shades of pink and g'rey; and often; of. .fine toxtuio, aro of value for masonry.;and general',building' purposes, while - tile finer.'.porphyrinic' varieties eoiild well bo put to; more ornamental uses. There are many, patches of' good granite, both' non-porphyritic and porphyritic, which might be utilised/' On the Caromandel. Peninsula: " building and ornamental', stones occur. ;'at' widely -separated localities! The quartz: diorito of the western ilank of the' Mochiiu range. (also referred to' ill Tire Dominion last week) is tho most valuable of those stones; being almost equal to tlio best, granites for practical purposes, and for heavy masonrywork," Something has already been done,, though only oil a limited scale, to develop .these Corouiandel deposits. With tlio arrival of new plants now on their way out from England operations of a much larger scope will .be oossiblo in .this direction.