MINING DEVELOPMENT

Evening Star, Issue 22209, 11 December 1935, Page 7

MINING DEVELOPMENT

New Minister’s Practical Interest Broad Features of Labour Policy Wide Activities Planned [SsaCIAX. TO THE ‘STAR.’]

WELLINGTON, December 10. The folowing statement was issued by the Minister of Mines, Mr P. C. Webb, yesterday:— Upon assuming tKe portfolio of Minliter of Mines I feel that it is my duty at the earliest possible moment to give % frank outline of the broad features of the policy which I hop© to follow during my tenure of office. Such a step is most necessary if 1 am to earn the confidence and enlist the co-operation of the mining industry and the people of New Zealand. First of" all, I wish to announce that the parliamentary representatives of three mining, constituencies will be associated with me in the administration of mining affairs. These gentlemen are Mr W. Lee Martin, Minister of Agriculture, and member for Raglan, Mr J. O’Brien, member for Westland, and Mr J. Thorn, member for Thames. I also propose to avail myself fully of the advice and assistance which I feel sure will be forthcoming from all trade organisations interested in the industry. CINDERELLA OF INDUSTRIES. At one time in this country’s history mining enjoyed a pre-eminfent position, but during the past 20 years could fairly be described as . the Cinderella .of industries. My task is to restore mining as far as is humanly possible to its former position of importance. In the national economy we want to see the \ industry once more a vigorous and profitable one. THe mining of coal and gold absorbs as great a percentage of direct labour as probably any other commercial activity.. A. healthy expansion of the gold mining industry, in particular cannot but help appreciably m the solution of our unemployment problem. Gold is the one product of this Doininion at the present time for which there is an insatiable demand at record prices. It presents no marketing problems, no transport problems, and no storage problems. One room of any ordinary cottage would hold enough gold to pay our National Debt. My colleagues and myself feel that gold mining has not received the encouragement from the past few Governments that it should. In Australia the industry has been treated more sympathetically with the obvious result that gold production has more than doubled during the last five years compared with New Zealand’s increase or 33 per cent, for the same period. I think it is quite possible for New Zealand also to double its gold output of 1930. . GOLD EXPORT TAX. Statements have been made from time to time that, whereas New Zealand has imposed a gold export tax,Australia pays a bounty or bonus on every ounce produced. It is only fair to state that since 1932 no such bounty has been paid in Australia. No doubt the mining community is anxious to learn tho policy of the Government with regard to the gold export tax. While I am very much interested in the ■ question, it is nevertheless primarily a matter for the consideration of my colleague, the Minister of Finance, who, 1 anticipate, will make an early statement. For many years, in my opinion, the Mines Department has been financially starved. While acknowledging freely the sympathetic support given to gold mining by the Unemployment Board, I consider that, the Mines Department, by virtue of .its 57 years’ experience and its technical personnel, should be entrusted with the expenditure of greater sums for the beneficial development of the industry. The total amounts at its disposal in recent years for the assistance of prospecting throughout the whole - Dominion have been insufficient to investigate adequately one property of major, importance. * It is my personal opinion that a substantial proportion of the proceeds of the gold export tax should be earmarked for assistance towards the prospecting and development of new mines. MINING PRIVILEGES. One-of the circumstances which has ■eriously retarded gold mining for generations has been the holding of mining privileges for speculative purposes without making any real attempt to comply with the requirements of the Mining Act. I state emphatically that I have no sympathy whatever with such practices. I want to make it perfectly clear that I will consent to the protection of mining privileges only in the most exceptional circumstances. The Labour Government will not tolerate. the inv definite locking up of our national resources. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 'A scheme which has been inaugurated by my predecessor in office in conjunction with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Unemployment Board, and which has my heartiest support, is a scientific investigation of the auriferous belt of country in the vicinity of Reefton. The most promising areas have been selected, and each area will be subjected to intensive geological and geophysical surveys, and later prospected under the .guidance of the Mines Department, As a precaution against the activities of speculators the whole of the Inangahna County has been notified to. the warden ag having been brought within the scope of section 5 of the Mining Amendment Act, 1934. The effect of this step is to require the prior consent of the Minister of Mines to all grants of mining privileges other than business site or residence site licenses within the county. I do not in the meantime propose to consent to any further privileges in the selected areas which are being, or are to be, geophysically surveyed, unless the circumstances are of an extraordinary nature. I feel confident that there are other undiscovered payable reefs in the Reef- ■ .bq£ ndjl jbg fpimd only

by intensive prospecting, aided to the fullest extent by modern science. It appears obvious that the scheme as it advances will necessitate the purchase of further diamond drills by the department, and such a proposal will receive my sympathetic support. Should these efforts result in the discovery of payable lodes it will be my policy to give private enterprise an opportunity of tendering for the right to develop and work them. The question of bettor access to certain quartz reef areas I propose to take up with, my colleague, the Minister of Public Works. ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS, During the past two or three years private enterprise has done a great deal to test the possibilities of our alluvial deposits. About 60 alluvial drills have been at work, and a very large number of areas have been tried out. As a direct result the progress made on the dredging side of the gold mining industry has been notable. Moreover, there are many further interesting developments in prospect, and within the next two years there, are likely to be operating on the West Coast several of the largest gold dredges in the world. The companies and individuals who are responsible for this progress will receive every encouragement from me. OTHER METALS AND MINERALS. As regards metals and minerals other than gold, any .proposals to investigate and prove our resources will have my cordial support. One mineral in which much interest is being displayed at present is asbestos. Applications to prospect and develop the Takaka asbestos deposits are at the moment being invited by public advertisement. With my predecessor’s actions in taking control of these deposits I am in hearty accord. As political head of the department that controls the iron ore deposits of the. country I am also very interested in the proposal to establish a steel industry, which is at present being considered by the Unemployment Board. COAL MINING. The principal Statutes under which the Mines Department operates ,are the Coal Mines Act, 1925, and the Mining Act,. 1926. The former, as its name signifies, deals with coal mines, and the latter with gold, silver, and other metalliferous mines.. The Coal Mines .Act, 1925, at the time of its last revision, was, in my opinion, as up to date as any similar legislation in any part of the world. The experience of the department during the past 10 years or administration has shown that the Act and the regulations made thereunder can still be further improved. One of the last actions of my predecessor in office was to authorise .a conference of all the coal mine inspectors in New Zealand for the purpose of reviewing the Act and regulations. That conference was held a few weeks ago and has submitted very valuable recommendations which I will consider in detail at an early date with the object of submitting an amending Bill to Parliament at the first opportunity. The Bill will be circulated amongst interested parties in ample time to enable it to be carefully studied before Parliament is called upon to deal with it. i SAFEGUARDING THE MINERS. I want to stress that, the principal concern of my department will be to safeguard the lives of our miners, particularly our underground, workers who daily have to face grave risks unknown to many whose vocations do not require them to leave the surface. My ambition is to bring our Coal Mining Act to the forefront of the world’s mining legislation without, however, unduly harassing the industry, which, in my opinion, requires every protection and assistance the Government can see its way to render, RESCUE STATIONS. There is one scheme I would like to see consummated during by term of office, and that is the establishment of one or more rescue stations in those districts where mine explosions are most likely to occur. The recent tragic occurrences in Great Britain and Japan remind us that such events are always possible in spite of .the most careful precautions. In Wales last year one mine explosion resulted in more fatalities than the Napier earthquake. A rescue station for the Greymouth district has been under- discussion for some time, and my department has prepared several schemes for consideration. I think the initial effort should be on moderate lines, and I propose to seek the aid and co-operation of the coal mine owners. As a lead I have already authorised the purchase of five sets of proto apparatus and one set of reviving apparatus for the Liverpool State mine, w-hich mine cannot be fully served by a central rescue station because of the lack of road access. CROWN LAND COAL LEASES. My policy in regard to coal leases on Crown land will be identical with that of my predecessor in office. This policy . has the support of both tho coal mine owners and l the mine workers. No more coal leases will be granted by the Crown except in cases where existing mines become worked out and additional areas are, in my opinion, necessary, or in cases where the locality is geographically isolated and the coal produced is for local consumption only and will not compete appreciably with the produce from other existing mines.. At this stage, however, I want to point out that this policy is not in itself sufficient to achieve 'the object desired—namely, the prevention of the establishmemt of additional mines. There are many areas of coal-bearing land which have been completely ■alienated from the Crown, the coal mining rights being owned by the freeholder. The department has no power to regulate the opening of new mines on such properties, and consequently the past policy has not been fully effective. I propose to give this phase of the problem very careful consideration.

INCREASED COAL CONSUMPTION. I also propose to explore every avenue that may load to increased consumption of our New Zealand coals. A development which is creating extraordinary interest throughout the mining world is Britain’s first attempt to establish a commercial plant for the extraction of motor spirit and other oils from raw coal by the hydrogenation process. A plant has been operating successfully for the greater part of the current year. Tho capital cost of such. a plant is so heavy, and the commercial application of the process so new, that I feel it would be unwise for this country to embark with undue haste upon a scheme for hydrogenation. I do believe, however, that within a year or two we may be called upon to give such a scheme very careful consideration, and, therefore, the Government proposes through its technical officers to keep thoroughly apprised of all the latest developments. A very necessary preliminary to the establishment of such a scheme is an accurate and thorough knowledge of our coal resources. As funds permit I. hope to inaugurate drilling programmes on coal-bearing Crown lands for the -purpose of obtaining that information. The West Coast bituminous mines have suffered very severely during recent years. I hope to find some way of helping them by increasing the use of hard coal. DUTY ON IMPORTED COALS. A matter which will be given close consideration by the Government is the question of a duty on imported l coals. Fuel oil has developed into a very serious competitor of coal. Many coal miners now out of work owe their unfortunate situation to its invasion. I feel that some thought should be given to the question of imposing an import duty on this produce, the proceeds of which could be devoted to the rehabilitation of the workless coal miners in other forms of industry. WASTAGE OF COAL. The unnecessary wastage of coal, an irreplacaMe national asset of the greatest importance, has always given me the gravest concern. Wastage occurs as the result of bad mining methods, the dumping of slack, and mine fires. The inspectors of mines in the past have done much to eliminate the first evil, and my policy will be to encourage and stimulate further tho good work in that direction. The dumping of slack is a very serious problem in some localities, particularly in the Waikstto districtj where the slack quickly ignites and is destroyed by fire. The Waikato Carbonisation Company’s lowtemperature carbonisation plant at Rotowaro has done good work during the past five years, and has converted into useful marketable products many thousands of tons of slack which other.wise would have been, wasted. The products of this nlant include carhonettes, tar fuel oil, pitch weed killer, etc. This venture and similar ventures will have my sympathetic support. The Coal Mines Amendment Act passed by Parliament last session, empowering the Minister of Mines to purchase slack coal and preserve it under water until marketable, was a step in the right direction, but as I stated in the House at the time I felt the legislation should have gone further. In regard to the third cause of waste —namely, mine fires, I shall call for reports from, the department’s technical officers on all the more serious fires which are at present raging in our mines and shall have investigations made into the ■ practicability of their suppression. In short, my endeavours shall be to preserve for posterity every ton of coal not immediately required for our consumption, STATE COAL MINES. The New Zealand State coal mines have for over 30 years been an outstandingly successful example of State enterprise, and have definitely fulfilled the dreams of the great, statesman who conceived ■ their establishment. My policy will be to continue their operation. The James mine, which supplies household coal, is nearing the end of its life, and to ensure continuity of supply it will very soon be necessary to open up another seam in the close vicinity. I hope shortly to place concrete proposals before Cabinet. Ample funds are available in the reserves of the State Coal Mines Account to cover the cost of this development. STONE QUARRIES ACT. One of the minor functions of my department is the administration of the Stone Quarries Act. This Act has not been revised for a number of years, and during my term of office I hope to have it brought up to date. The frequent fatalities which have occurred in gravel pits lead me to think that the inspection of many such pits, where fairly high faces are involved, should be brought within the scope of the Act. SOCIAL AMENITIES. I am very much, awake to the importance of social environment as it affects the lives of our industrial workers. Tho usual amenities of our modern civilisation are too often noticeably absent from our mining townships. It is my desire to foster and encourage the provision of better facilities for both educational instruction .and healthy recreation. . Attention will he given to the provision and improvement of libraries, schools of mines, . recreation grounds, tennis courts, bowling greens, and so forth. To achieve my objective I require assistance, and I invite tho co-operation of the various mining companies and of the miners’ organisations. “ Finally, I would say that my particular cares as Minister of Mines will be to do my utmost to revive all branches of the industry, maintain industrial harmony, and in line with the general aim of the Labour Government to improve the lot of our 12,000 working miners, their wives, and their children, so that their lives shall be more happy, fruitful, and free from want.