ENGLISH EXPERTS GO TO ONEKAKA

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 144, 14 March 1939, Page 8

ENGLISH EXPERTS GO TO ONEKAKA

Investigation Into Iron Ore Deposits

PREPARATION OF REPORT FOR GOVERNMENT

The two English mining experts who have come to New Zealand to make a further investigation and report before the Government commits itself to the development of the iron ore deposits at Onekaka went to Onekaka at the weekend. They are Dr. T. P. Colclough, technical director of the firm of H. A. Brassert and Company, Limited, consulting engineers to the Government for the scheme, and Mr. H. K. Scott, of the same firm. While in Wellington they called on the Minister in charge of the State Iron and Steel Industry, Mr. Sullivan.

Dr. Colclough said lu an interview that if their investigations proved satisfactory aud the Government decided to proceed with the scheme, it would probably take about two years and a half for the works to go into production from the time building was started. Much machinery would have to be imported for the works. The precise pature of Itbeir work was to discover what ore existed at Onekaka, to determine its quality and to report to the Government. He did not know how long this task would take, ’but it certainly could not be accomplished in a short period. If other ore resources required investigation he and Mr. Scott would also be prepared to visit them.

Project in Turkey.

Brassert and Company, continued Dr. Colclough, was at present building a new steel works in Turkey, which bore a remarkable similarity to New Zealand’s scheme. It was the first undertaken in that country, it was a State enterprise and was also of much, the same size. This project was also interesting in that his firm’s association with it gave a line on what it would be prepared to do In Now Zealand if its services were required by the Government on the completion of the report. After giving expert advice upon the nature and extent of the Turkish deposits Brassert and Company had later secured the contract for building the works and had then obtained the contract for operating them for the first two years of production. At the end of that period the works would be running smoothly and would be handed over to the Turkish Government. Dr. Colclough, who has seen the preliminary reports drawn up relating to the Onekaka project, was asked If his visit meant that his firm was satisfied with the commercial possibilities of the area and if it augured well for the rapid advancement of the scheme. He said the Government was the proper authority to issue statements upon-this aspect of the plan, but added that he never undertook such visits lightly. New Methods of Treatment. In these days, he said later, iigw methods were opening up enormous deposits of ore which before had been regarded as unsuitable for use. Such was the case with a huge area near Hanover, in Germany, where his company was busy with the development of works which would -be the largest In the world, with a production of 4,000,000 tons a year. The firm had also done work, similar to that it had undertaken in Turkey, for the British iron and steel tube manufacturing concern of Stewarts aud Lloyds, Limited, whose authorized and issued capital is more than £7,000,000. In this case the works had been built up from green fields to a point where today they were producing three times the contemplated amount of 250,000 tons a year. Work was started in January, 1933, and steel began to be produced on January 1, 1935. New Zealand’s project,, said Dr. Colclough, would be of -a size to employ about 1500 men directly in the works. In addition, there would be a large number of auxiliary workers, including those engaged in coalmining, transportation, maintenance and so on. If the same system was adopted as was practised in Turkey his firm would be ready to provide the supervision and such experts as were not obtainable in New Zealand, though he was sure that the country had engineers in plenty of the necessary qualifications. Dr. Colclough mentioned that the news of the project which had already been published in England had created considerable interest. A flood of men had come forward to apply for jobs in the works, though of course their applications were premature at the present stage. In fact, so many had made inquiries that, not knowing the country, he had wondered why it should be so popular.