The Grey River Argus MONDAY, May 26, 1947. WEST COAST AND MINING EDUCATION

Grey River Argus, 26 May 1947, Page 4

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, May 26, 1947. WEST COAST AND MINING EDUCATION

JT could 'he wished that there might be infused into the risi.'.g generation of West Coasters some of the enthusiasm which inspires those members of the Otago School of Mining who, with their professor, are making at present a tour of our coalfields, and visiting also one or two gold workings. Their leader, Dr. G. J. Williams, is not the first of the Otago University Mining Faculty to voice regret that this locality has not hitherto been represented at the School by nearly as many students as it might and should have. 1 ideed. in the natural order, a leaning to such learning might be presumed for natives of an area so distinguished as this for its mineral wealth, and one whose future appears to be identified with mining of various kinds as closely and extensively perhaps as its past. For a long time there have been Schools of Mines, with ■ creditable records, although their I scope has doubtless been too limit- ■ ed, because both of their being too strictly utilitarian as embracing only pupils destined for specific positions, and of being deI pendent bn modest means and meagre finance. Research lias shown that the Dominion’s most' valuable and extensive coal dei posits, or nearly all of the bituminous ones, are here located, whilst the prevalence, of mountainous terrain is the authentic evidence of exceptional richness ir. minerals of wide variety. The School of Alining, according to the spokesmen to-day quoted, is extending the emphasis of its cur riculum from the purely metalliferous field to that of building and other materials demanded by the national economy, and the scope in this respect also is here of the widest. Lime- and san lstones are abundant, but South Westland has a variety which research yet will prove to be verygreat. A correspondent only last week wrote from that district of a veritable mountain of mica. During the seventy-seven years since the Mining School itself began there have from time to time been forthcoming from the southern areas specimens of stones ideal for lithography, to mention no other uses, and it is decades •since the existence of copper alloys in more than one part of the Southern Alps has been proven on the western slopes, not to mention metals more valuable in lesser quantity. It is a strange thing that, in extent, the exploration

has been the more extensive the further back one recalls West Coast history, from the days of Brunner, Hochstetter, Haast, Douglas, Roberts, Wilson and others who made the ranges their quarry. On the other hand, among the mountaineering fraternity, except for a few notable South Westlanders who have been foremost guides, the leaders, liko Teichelmann and Newton, were not natives. The decline of gold prospecting has also been notorious, but perhaps excusable on account of the notoriety of some “prospects” which have not been the deposit so much of nature as of mere men. The School of Mining according to Dr. Williams, is not yet like the School of Medicine, one to enter which the competition is excessive, but it is one whose numbers might be augmented were there an effort t-. capture the young idea at th“ primary school stage. No doubt the ideal pupil is born with the essential talent, but it evidently goes mostly undiscovered on tin West Coast, and the right course might be more emphasis on mineralogy in the earlier stages of education. {While familiarity with coal mining may serve to reveal special aptitudes in certain youths, it needs also more than usual character or determination., at that stage to assure the necessary study for the development of capacity. It is therefore reassuring that the University proposes doing something to interest more of the youth of mining localities in the science and arts of mining, with reference not only to coal, or gold, but also ceramics, concrete, dressing, and cultivation. More laboratory work for secondary school pupils might be of assistance, but the inspiration of an enthusiastic student or teacher as a focus for any district should like wise suggest itself as an axuiliary. It would be interesting to learn what, for instance, the scientific mind might deem possible utilities of the vast mounds of stones which litter our landscape in the wake of the sluicer and the dredger. Practical experience appears to have excelled scientific experience in the sphere of gold prospecting, and it often has been lamented that for lack of collation the bulk of the knowledge gleaned in the arduous lifetime of the old gold seekers has been allowed to pass away with them. Such knowledge might be reckoned superficial or patchy, but there, nevertheless is an apparent lack of the same resourcefulness in the annals and customs of present day mining science. The explanation may be that the School of -Mining is guided by economic considerations of the present, specifically statistics of mineral production, as, for instance, the interest in low grade phosphate deposits, and materials for building and industrial purposes. This, of course, is, on the other hand, a warranty for the expectation that a course at the Mining School is bound 1o improve a youth’s ability to make his way prosperously in after life, and in the case of our staple mining activities scientific knowledge among those so engaged must improve the results of operations. It is commendable that overtures should originate with the educators, whose vocation obviously must dictate the dissemination no less than the pursuit of science. There is no direction, therefore, in which they should be so justified in looking for subjects to whom to impart their knowledge than that in which they look for the subject matter of their studies.