POUNAMU

Grey River Argus, 8 May 1912, Page 5

POUNAMU

i vvuniiiu A MOUNTAIN OF GREENSTONE. STARTLING LFIND ON] WEST OOAST, The almos'/ unbelievable iind of a mountain of New Zealand greenstone on the Wes,t Coast, reported sometime ago, is now a cer'-iaihty, and particulars of the very valuable d'ir-toery are disclosed in the prospectus of "New Zealand Greenstone Limited," a company which has been floated in a surprisingly short space of flime in Sydney, to work .the greenstone mine. The shares, have ibeen fully taken iup already, and the in"erevt in the venture as far as most New Zealandei-s are concerned, will lie in he -prospects of having greenstone mantelpieces, carvings, table top?, and other ambitious articles of furniture, which could not: havf 'been dreamed of a year ago. Greenstone is a 'ffcmi-precious stone found solely in 'New Zealand dn varying qualities from ordinary Pounamu to Tengawai, the most beautiful stone. It waa used--,by the Maoris for meres and axes, owing to its hardness, and also for "tikis" .their little gods', as the stone was to them the most precious known. Nowadays* it is used for, ra'her banal articles of "jewellery," such-, as heart-shaped pendants and brooches, but ft is- capable of better ;"i?hings, and $he gold-mounted cigarette case presented ito' Oaptadn Amundsen by his fellow-countrymen jn Cljiristchurch, wa'si an elegant piece of carved "tengawai" that any conno is.^jeur <-buld have been proud of; The <new mountain, however, will enable! the s r -bne to take the place of maiflTJJe for many purposes, as green is a ! roloiir greatly demanded for inside ;5i nd outside decorations, although archiiteats have been unable \) lay their hands on 'Stone showing a • ? colour- with nice markings.- There appears to toe little doulbt, therefore, '^hat, with the price in reason, greensifcone will be taken up J eagerly throughout vhe world, and ehe : company handling the West Coart lode.Avill have a monopoly of "?he world's 'supplies, as no similar deposit is known. Greenstone, in faotj has been found only in the district where •he find is located. • The property is situated in the Griffen Range, Tara Tama "arid the maso toy .measurement ad 270,000 tons, the poorest s;tdne possestMng a substantial monetary, value. The mining and quarrying conditions 1 arei ideal, and -the site is only forty or fif^ milas from Greymouth^. It has 'been reported on already very, favourably by Mr R. iSpeigh'V of ChristchiuTch, Mr John Hayes, late .innpeofcing. engineer to the. New Zealand Goyernnicnt, and other eminent-engineers, and : the success of .the venture is assured. The prices at which it can be quarried are very promising. The orices ruling for jewellery stone run from 6d to 6s a lb, or from £56 to £672 per ton.- Esitiima'es show that the 'Stone can be put aboard the s v eamer . p.t Greymouth at an outside cost, of ,£3 per ton.