AUTHORITY ON MINING

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 172, 17 April 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

AUTHORITY ON MINING

Farewell to Mr. J. F. Downey

The staff of the Mines Department gathered on Thursday to farewell Mr. J. E. Downey, Inspector of Mines, who is retiring after 20 years’ service with the department. The Minister of Mines, Hon. P. C. Webb, presented him on behalf of the staff with an inscribed gold watch. Mr. A. Tyndall, Under-Secretary for Mines, said' that Mr. Downey was one of the oldest officers in the department. Ho mentioned that a few years ago Mr Downey received a lucrative offer f rom another Government, but he was not prepared to accept It. It was a tribute to the man that although he had reached the age of retirement his services were considered so valuable. * The .Minister said that when be first took over the portfolio of Mines he met many deputations which urged the Government to spend money on developing supposed goldmines. He was told that gold was sticking out of the reefs, but they were not prepared to finance any scheme themselves. Mr. Downey was consulted, and he proved a wet blanket to many would-be promoters. If he considered that the grounds were not worth developing that opinion held, for never had he been proved wrong. Mr. Downey’s books, “Timbering in Metalliferous Mines,” “Quartz Reefs of the West Coast Mining District. New Zealand,” and “Gold Mines of the Hanraki District,” were valuable contributions to the Dominion’s mining literature. The Minister assured him that the Government greatly appreciated his services to the industry, and wished him happiness in the days of his retirement. Other officials in the Mines Department paid tributes to Mr. Downey. In reply. Mr. Downey returned thanks for the tributes that had been paid him. In compiling bis books he said, his main obiect was to serve the mining industry. He was sorry to Sever his connection with the department, as his association with it had been a happv one. He had served under about 10 Ministers or Acting-Minis-ters. and he had had their support at all times.

Mr. Downey was first appointed to

the Mines Department in 1916, and in 1935 he was transferred to Wellington in connection with a scheme for an intensive scientific search for potential gold-mining areas tn the Reefton district for which, owing to his intimate knowledge of the district, he was particularly well fitted. He has been amember of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, for about 20 years.