ONEKAKA IRON

Grey River Argus, 22 June 1939, Page 3

ONEKAKA IRON

Prospecting Work

UPSHOT IN DOUBT.

WELLINGTON, June 20

It is likely that within a very short time, possibly before the opening of Parliament next week, the Government will be in possession of the report from the experts of Brasserts, Ltd., on which it will have to make its decision whether it will proceed with the development of an iron industry in New Zealand. Investigations are still proceeding; but have reached a stage at which it will be possible to say whether the body and quantity of the ore at Onekaka justify the expenditure of public money on the exploitation of the deposits. Members of the Government have from the time the project was mooted said that they would not proceed until a most thorough examination had made it certain that an iron industry could be profitably established.

Recent announcements by the Minister for Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G .Sullivan) have indicated that the results so far have been disappointing. It is likely that a final decision, in the light of present scientific knowledge of iron extraction, will be possible very shortly. For many years geologists of the standing of Professor James Park and other experts have published extremely optimistic reports on the amount and quality of iron ore at Onekaka and close to it. Professor Park’s estimate was that there were 60,000,000 tons available, with a content of 54 per cent, of ore. Other experts placed the amount at higher than this assessment, and many attempts were made by private organisations to exploit Onekaka ore. So good were these reports that the State was induced to make plans for a thorough examination of the prospects, and to agree to set aside a sum of £5,000,000 which, if necessary, would be spent on the development of the area.

The Government undertook the project in a spirit of investigation only, and has had careful borings and analyses made. Up till the present these scientific examinations have not been particularly encourag ing, and have certainly not justified the optimism of the earlier geologists and investigators. Some parts of the field have been proved to be extraordinarily rich; but others have been very disappointing indeed. The ore body has been found to be irregular in both size and quality. The Government has been anxious ’ all along to obtain an accurate assessment of the potentialities of the field, and has made it clear that unless the prospects were absolutely favourable, no large industrial development would be undertaken. It appears that the Government will be in possession of the information required within a short time,, and will then have to make its decision. Mr Sullivan has said, on a number of occasions, that there was no intention of squandering money on Onekaka, and that no expense other than the expense of prospectin/ thoroughly would be undertaken in the meantime. Recently the M nis ter has, in cautious announcements, made it clear that the results wer: not fully up to expectations. Mem-1 bers of the Government have bee anxious for the success of the project because, if a substantial bodv of good ore could be proved at Onekaka, the country might have benefited considerably. Building and other projects in the Dominion are already being held up by a shortage of steel and iron.