NEW ZEALAND MINES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 264, 31 July 1908, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND MINES.

TherMines Statement, presented to Parlia-ment;bn..AVednesday,.states:-r-v.-- ■ '' Ka " ri 'B um continues a valuable export, and-, affords employment for a large'number ,of • men., , The census of 1906 disclosed the fact' that ;there wore; upwards of: three thous-ands-men/engaged in this industry. Up to the end of ISJO7" the export of gurfi Ilad 'reachfcd" a value of-over, £14,000,000. ' i- "Tlie.--heary ; fall, in the metal.. markets throughout' the world-has given a set-back, for; the. time' -being, to. the development of our coppcr lodes, but as prices are now' gradually recovering there is' likely to be renewed .activity in that direction. Scheelite mining is; becoming firmly established in Otago, artd deposits of this mineral havo' also bciSri iriined at Tod Valley, Marlborough. There/ is'an abundance of manganeso" and antimony .in New Zealand, .but the low prico at ivhich. those minerals can be produced in countries having an unlimited supply of cheap-.-labour' preclude competition to any great . extent on our .part. The ■ qnorrr.ous deposits of haematite ore at Parapara arc still : uhworked, but remain a valuable asset to the-people of this' country.' '.The total value of gold, -silver, and minerals produced within ;this Dominion' now exceeds one hundred .'millions 'sterling, while our population has .only just reached one million. TheV dredge-mining industry during 1907 has been more satisfactory than other branches; of alluvial .mining, for, although a decline of £81,565 hn3 to bo recorded in the gold-production by dredges, it is satisfactory to .report that there has been an increase of £277 in the amount earned per dredgo during the year. There is reason to believo that ■this.{industry lias settled down to a steady and more permanent level. Claims nre now worked-, systematically-' by well-proved methods, and, as a result, tho dredging {industry, .taken all round, is run on sound commercial lines, as it- was for many, years prior to the disastrous boom period;