WORLD’S BIGGEST

Grey River Argus, 10 December 1938, Page 3

WORLD’S BIGGEST

> KANIERI DREDGE OPENING CEREMONY Ministerial Speeches REMARKABLE MACHINERY. Representing a capital investment of more than a quarter of a million pounds, the largest gold dredge in operation in the world commenced digging at Tucker’s Flat, Kanieri, yesterday, when the Minister of Mines .(Hon. P. C. Webb) set in motion the ’ machinery of the mammoth Kanieri gold dredge. The day was a redletter one in. the history of gold mining development in the Westland province, and the interest shown in the undertaking was evinced by the large attendance at the ceremony. Apart from the fact that it is the most modern dredge in the world, as well as being the largest, the Kanieri dredge contains many features unique in the annals of gold mining on the West Coast. Set on a pontoon 186 feet long and 72 feet wide, the mammoth structure has an overall length of 460 feet, and a height above waterlevel of 108 feet. Although viewed from the outside, the dredge fails fit give an adequate estimate of its vastness. an interim insnection reveals

hundreds of features designed to secure the maximum efficiency. The dredge is capable of operating below the surface a distance of 110 feet through earth, sand, and stone, all of which is carried on board and dumped behind after the gold has been extracted. A complete string of 107 buckets, each weighing two and a half tons, and of 18 cubic feet capacl ity, dumps the spoil into the top hopL per at the rate of 21 buckets per minf i ute, and the dredge is expected to deal ' with between 450,000 and 500,000 cubic yards of material each month. The weight, of the bucket ladder is 240 tons, the beam carrying the rollers is 161 feet from the top pin to the bottom pin, and the top pin supports 480 tons of steel. This pin is 16 inches in diameter, 11 feet long, and weighs over 61 tons. The pin is placed in position 42 feet above the deck of the bridge. In working trim, the dredge weighs 3443 tons. The two main girders forming the backbone of the whole construction are 12 feet deep and 186 feet long. The dredge, which was wholly fabricated by the New Zealand Railways Department Addington Workshops, is anchored by two spuds each weighing 55 tons, but only one of these is used at a time. The stacker depositing stones .and -waste material is 235 feet long, and operates on a 44-inch belt. Operated by electricitv which is at present being supplied from the Dobson Diesel plant, but which will eventually be drawn from the West Coast extension of the Lake Coleridge scheme, the dredge will use a connected load of 1530 horse power. I An outstanding feature is the moor- i ing winch, probably the largest in the I southern hemisphere. The whole of the work of manufacture was done in the Dispatch Foundry, Greymouth, j the steel castings being imported from Australia for fabrication by the foundry, which also provided Various other parts of the dredge. The heavy electrical equipment of the dredge, including motors, transformers, and pumps were supplied by. Messrs Cory. Wright, and Salmon Ltd., I of Wellington, who are also supplying ( the electrical equipment for the Arahura and Ngahere dredges. ‘Mr C. W.) Salmon, a director of the flrm, attended the opening ceremony.

OFFICIAL OPENING. Accompanying the Minister of Mines was the Hon. D. G. Sullivan (Minister of Railways), and Messrs Jas. O’Brien,’ M.P., A. Tyndall (Under-Secretary for Mines), G. H. Mackley (General Man- , ager of Railways), E. T. L. Spidey (Superintendent of the Addington Railway Workshops), and F. T. M. I Kissell (Chief Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Department). On arrival at the dredge, the party was met and welcomed by Messrs G. H.

Watson (Managing-Director of the Company) and J. M. Newman (a Director), who introduced Messrs W. J.' Ellis ((General Manager), J. H. D. ' Sands (Chief Electrical Engineer), H. J. Beck (Constructional Engineer), V. Grainger (Supervising Engineer, Addington- Workshops), and David Petti- - grew (Dredgemaster). The party separated into sections and was conducted over the structure in charge of these officials. Shortly before noor., the party assembled on the main control platform, where the Minister, operated the levers setting the dredge in motion. Prior to this ceremony, Mr Watson, 1 in welcoming the Ministers, said that after their inspection, the members of the official party would have realised the amount of work which the Rail-! ways Department had done in bring- ] ing the job to completion. He drew attention to some of the major features of construction, and said that the dredge was fitted with jiggs to ( obtain the gold-bearing concentrates, these being specially necessary oh account of the difficulty in dealing with' especially heavy ground. The Minister of Railways (Hon. D.| G. Sullivan'*, after describing the features of the dredge, referred to the fact that the company had found that the Railways Department was the only engineering concern capable of handling the fabrication, the only alternative being to have the work done overseas. As the Government had been extremely desirous of having the work retained in New Zealand, the Department had undertaken the work, and had carried it through to the entire satisfaction of the company. The dredge had over 15 years’ solid work ahead of it, on six hundred acres of land, this time being required only] if the digging was done to a depth 78 feet. Credit for the work must be given, in the first place, to those con-' cerned in the original conception of ( the scheme, to those who did the de-, tail work at the main shops, and to the staff of the Railways Department who did the actual construction work, on which about 150 men had been employed for the past two years. It was a tribute to the accuracy of modern methods that the various pieces fitted together without a hitch. Mr Sullivan expressed pleasure at the presence of; Mrs J. Smith, a daughter of Hon. R.

Semple, to whom he paid a warm tribute for his work in having the supply of electric power made available for the dfedge. Referring to the modern methods of which Mr Semple had spoken so much, Mr Sullivan said that the dredge was capable of raising 5,000,000 yards of material a year. ’He felt particularly proud, as Minister of Railways, that the work had been accomplished by his Department to the company’s satisfaction, and he understood from his officers that it was almost miraculous how the alignments had fitted so correctly. The work was a credit to the Railway Workshops. He was at present engaged on a New Zealand-made goods campaign, because it was very necessary for the country’s sake that all goods that could be manufactured here should be made in the country. The work of the dredge construction was a splendid example of the craftsmanship of the engineers and workers of the Dominion. Mr Sullivan congratulated the company on its enterprise, and Mr Webb on the development of the mining industry which such enterprise represented, and concluded by expressing his best wishes to the company for success in its operations. Mr James O’Brien, M.P., said that he had been connected with alluvial mining almost since he was a child, and the new dredge was, in his opinion, a revelation of what modern engineering methods could accomplish in dealing with land of low value. The machine was a gigantic one, and it was thrilling to know that it had been constructed by New Zealand labour ir. the country. It was just two years ago that the question • of bringing electric power from Canterbury had been discussed with Hon. Mr Semple, and the power supply from Lake Coleridge was now almost ready for use.

It was the job of the Government to see that everyone had work to do, and I at the same time, to raise the standard of living for the people. The fig[ures of the company gave every indiI cation that they would make a sucI cess of the job. He could praise the old pioneers of the gold mining industry on the West Coast, and was pleased to see that Mr Pettigrew, who had ' long been connected with the industry, had been appointed to the responsible position of dredgemaster. For that appointment, the company was to be congratulated. Mr O’Brien congratulated the company on its en-1 terprise, and referred to the lead j given the industry on the West Coast bv the Rimu Flat Dredging Company. He often marvelled at the efficiency of the Rimu dredge. It was encouraging to know that more dredges were to operate in the district, and it must, be encouraging to those old pioneers of the industry to know that such gigantic machines were necessary to secure gold from the ground which they had prospected. All connected with the work of construction were to be congratulated, and ho was pleased to know that on its first trial run the dredge had given the utmost satisfaction.

MR WEBB'S ADDRESS. The Minister of Mines (Hon. P. C. Webb) said that it was a real pleasure to him to be present at the inauguration of the dredge, and he was pleased to express to the company the Government’s appreciation of the wonderful service Messrs Watson, Newman and their co-Directors were rendering to New Zealand. After the work of bringing in the power from Lake Coleridge, Mr Tyndall had done most important work in pushing on the scheme. Mr Tyndall had introduced Mr Watson to him,, and the latter had stated that the company had expended £50,000 on prospecting. Prospecting was always a gamble, and, when he heard of this amount being spent, he realised the faith that the company had in the project. The Government had a big problem to in meeting the company’s request for electric power, but, with the best knowledge available, this had been overcome, and reports from the Public Works Department indicated that the Lake Coleridge scheme was the best. The company had dealt straightly with the Government, and had never quibbled or argued. The Government on behalf of the people, would have a share in the profits, and he hoped to get £15,000 in revenue out. of the concern. The license had been granted before he became Minister, and he had told the Directors that they were lucky that there was no tag on the license requiring them to plant trees on the failings. Without any argument, the company had voluntarily agreed to plant all of the tailings with trees and to hand the property to the State as a State Forest. He thanked the Company for its generous offer, especially as it had been under no obligation to do so. (Applause). The Government was spending £200,000 on bringing power from Lake Coleridge, but the dredging companies would practically pay the whole of this amount. The Minister hoped that the company would get enough gold to pay the gold tax, the cost of the power installation, and good wages to the men. The dredge, said Mr Webb, was capable of handling an amount equal to the physical energy of 10,000 miners, and would be operated by only 40 men. He expressed thanks to the company for installing the most modern dredge in the world at Kanieri. Mr Sullivan had said that anything that could be made in New Zealand should be manufactured here, and that was the reason why the Railways Department had undertaken the job. He especially thanked Mr Spivey and the engineers and workmen of the Department for their work, and said that it was a credit to New Zealand that such work could be done within the country. It was pleasing to know that, instead of big heaps of white stones, they would have a forest, on the tailings, and, as long as he was Minister, he was not going to allow the good soil to be thrown away and a breeding ground , for blackberries formed wherever dredging operations were carried out. It was a red-letter day for the West Coast, and a still greater day was coming when they would use mam-, moth machines digging out stumps ■ and clearing land in the ; Buller disI trict. Another red-letter' day for the i Coast would be the day when plant .operated for procuring oil. Whilst using 'the most modern gold dredging plant, i they had also the satisfaction of , knowing that the oil plant would also be the most modern in the world. It was evidence of engineering keeping in step with modern science. Nearly three-quarters of a million pounds had been spent on prospecting for gold in recent years, and it had been found that there was not much that could be easily obtained. He hoped that the i dredge would pay its way in the first month, and that it would prove of im-

measurable benefit to the country, because the more wealth they produced the more the country got out of it. The company had been fair and straight, and one could not feel more at home in discussing the big question of mining than he had been with Mr Watson." The directors had put their cards on the table all the time, and he appreciated their help. Their work would bring about a revival in Nev/ Zealand gold mining, and the great ship “Queen Mary” on the ocean was reflected in the great dredge that they were opening that day. The Minister concluded by expressing the hope that the company would never forget the most important part of the working of a dredge—the human element —and wished that the company would go from one stage of prosperity to another. Mr Webb then set the machinery in motion, and after the dredge had been operated for some minutes, the engines were stopped to enable the official party to leave the ship. Thereafter the dredge was thrown open to public inspection, and a large crowd was conducted over the workings by members of the company’s staff. OFFICIAL LUNCHEON. Mr G. H. Watson presided over an attendance of more than 50 at the official luncheon held at the Hotel Westland in honour of the occasion. Mr J. M. Newman, in proposing the toast to the New Zealand Government, said that on many occasions he had, said that the present Government had brought prosperity to New . Zealand. As a visitor, he would be blind if he had failed to observe the evidences of prosperity in the country as he passed through the cities and countryside. As a visitor from Queensland, the speaker expressed a heartfelt wish that the prosperity which the Dominion was enjoying would long continue. He had been much impressed in reading the statements of Ministers of the Crown in their exhortations to the workers to give fair deals "to their employers. The worker was a labourer of hire, and capital was worthy of the best that labour could give in return for

good wages. He would say candidly that the Government ought to consult all classes of the people in establishing new industries, as had been done in Australia. The successful people in industry were not those who robbed the rest, but those who worked for and secured the co-operation of their workers, at the same time taking advantage of any opportunities given by the Government. He felt that there were many valuable men whose services could be placed at the Government’s disposal to - establish new industries. He expressed the company’s appreciation of the help and general appreciative attitude of the Government towards the mining industry, and, in particular, of the use of tiie railway workshops to build their dredges. New Zealand firms had not the equipment to construct these large dredges, and they would have had to be done overseas but for the fact that the Government accepted the contract. Had that not been done, the workers of the country would have lost much work. Mr Newman said that he felt he ought to comment on the approval given in every part of the country to the high ideals expressed by the Ministers and , members of the Government. He could not over-emphasise the appreciation of the company for the help the Government had given them. Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in reply, sincerely thanked Mr Newman for the graceful way in which he had proposed the toast, and for fhe generous and kindly tribute which he had paid to the Government. The Government was not departing from the ideals of which Mr Newman spoke, and the Minister said that he had never, been associated with a more sincere and more unsophisticated group of men than comprised the present Ministry. He took the opportunity of thanking the company for the courage displayed in its enterprise and initiative, and above all for its faith in New Zealand. He hoped that that faith and the spirit in which it had been manifested would bring the company an adequate reward, and would inspire others to I emulate the company and display similar faith in New Zealand. Thew

people of New Zealand could be forgiven for having such wonderful faitn in their country, but he often wished that they had a little more of it." New Zealand had done great things, and when one looked at her resources, her people, climate, productive soil, and great mineral deposits, one would be justified in having even greater faith in the future. Those resources justified the_company’s faith in the Dominion. He greatly valued that expression on the part of the company, and their setting out to further develop the mining industry. Toasting the company, the Minister of Mines said that from the first the representatives of the company had impressed him with their ability. They knew their job and they knew what prospects they had of getting gold. They recognised that New Zealand had assets of national value, which would have to be preserved and conserved .to the best of the country’s ability. He had assured the company that the policy of the Government, as outlined after the elections, would be continued, and that the prospect of the gold tax being wiped out was not a bright one, as, in the interests of the people, the Government had to look after the other side. Mr Watson had said that he knew what to expect, and would accept the conditions laid down. They had never once whimpered or complained. He wanted to see the company getting on, and hoped that they would get a good return for the million pounds that they were investing in the Dominion. The company s enterprise was such, and its members had so much faith in their work, that they had only a few in the company. If the dredge turned out to be the huge success that he believed it would, that day would be a red-letter day in the mining industry of the Dominion. The pioneers had played their part well, and had got from the soil all the gold that they could with the methods of their times. Now, unless men of vision and knowledge came to work the low grade deposits with modern machinery, it was not going to be possible to get gold. He believed that the genius of men would evolve a plan /hereby it would be possible to place

the good soil on top of the tailing* even in the roughest country. He again expressed appreciation of the manner in which the company hac offered voluntarily to plant trees on the tailings. Mr Watson apologised for the absence of several Directors, who were unable to visit New Zealand, an: thanked the Minister for his remarks and good wishes. Mr Watson, in proposing “The New Zealand Railways,’ paid a tribute to the manner in which the work of fabricating the dredge had been done by the Department. He was one of those who believed that dredging was only in its infancy in New Zealand, and it was fortunate that they could never produce toe much gold. He believed that the dredge would do all that was asked oi it, and the value of the ground had been assessed a't three grains to the cubic yard. He thanked the Government for the excellent manner in which they and the Department had co-operated, and paid a tribute to Mr Semple’s energy in having the Lake Coleridge transmission line erected. The dredge was a beautiful structure and the company was proud of it. Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Mr G. H. Mackley (General Manager), and Mr E. T. L. Spidey (Workshops Superintendent) briefly replied, thanking Mr Watson for his remarks in reference to the Department. Toasting the Mines Department, Mr O’Brien referred to the outstanding activity displayed in the past three years under Mr Webb, and referred to the modern development of the mining industry in Australia and New Zealand. m Mr Webb and Mr A. Tyndall (Under-Secretary) replied. The toast of fche Public Works Department was in the hands of Mr W T . J Ellis (General Manager of the Company), who paid a warm tribute to the manner in which the Department had assisted the company in its operations. ; , . , Mr F. T. M. Kissell (Chief Electrical Engineer) and Mr R. Trevor Smith replied on behalf of the Department. Local bodies were referred to by Mr J. Ryall for their assistance to the

mining industry, w r hen he toasted them, Messrs G. Perry (Mayor of Hokitika) and J. A. Murdoch (Chairman Westland County Council) replying. The toast of .“The Visitors” was proposed by Mr Newman, who expressed the company’s pleasure at entertaining th>se present on the occasion. Replies were, made by Messrs W. J. Radford (Rimu Dredging Co.), A. W. Parker (U.S.A.), and W. Clayton (Ahaura). The health of the chairman and Mr Newman was enthusiastically' drunk, being proposed by Mr O’Brien; whilst the last toast was that of “Absent Directors,” which the chairman proposed. The proceedings concluded with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.”