Original Correspondence. —0— MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND. [LETTER IV.] Statistics of Mining.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 15, 13 September 1845, Page 3

Original Correspondence. — 0 — MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND. [LETTER IV.] Statistics of Mining.

To the Editor of The Neta-Zealander. Sir, — In the preceding three letters which I have inflicted on your readers, I have endeavoured to establish the following points : — First, .that the average produce of all the foreign ores of Copper imported into Great Britain, does not exceed 20 percent; secondly, that the dead charges on Chilian ores amount to £l I as. per ton, (which only cost the Cornish mines about 10s. per ton), and that these charges caunot be reduced 5 and thirdly, that other foreign mines (as the Bolivar and Cobre) have been and are struggling against these dead charges, which seriously diminish their profits, although the latter mine (Cobre) possesses the advantage of possessing slave labour. I have also shown that if any considerable quantity of Copper ore is raised in New Zealand, in the course of ensuing years, we must calculate upon paying at leat per ton freight to England, and that, even with this high rate, the raiues of New Zealand may successfully compete with those of Chili, or even with the celebrated mine of Cobre, with all its advantages of slave labour, and a paid up capital amounting to I There is one point upon which I have not yet touched, and it is an important one. — I allude to the smelting of copper ores. It is evident that there must be in every mine, both in New Zealaud and elsewhere, a large proportion of the poorer description of ores, winch will not pay freight and charges to export to England j and the question naturally arises— what is to be done with these poor ores — are they to be thrown away as valueless ? To which I would reply — certainly not : but let them be smelted on the spot, by a chesp and expeditious process, in, which wood and charcoal are the agents of reduction and let the produce be exported to England in the shape of copper cake, wonh from £80 t0i290 per ton, according to the slate of t the market. And here let me observe,— we, in New Zealand, possess auother advantage over the miner of Chili, inasmuch as that country does not possess the means for smelting in any quant. ty, being generally destitute of wood ; and although rude attempts are made to smelt with dried grass and brushwood, collected with great difficulty, the total quantity of pig, or cake copper, produced by this means, is unimportant. Since the discovery ot coal, however, at Talcahuano, this quantity may have been increased. Whatever may be the faults and deficiencies of New Zealand, a want of timber for fuel is not one, and although 1 shall no doubt be met by the assertion that the operation of smelting is one requiring great practical skill and attention, and a large outlay of capital, besides a cheap and abundant supply of fuel, whe. her of coal or charcoal, I would simply state in reply — that the process to which I allude, as successfully employed in the mines of Norway and France, requires no large outlay of capital, the erection of two or three furnaces being the chief item ofexpence, and the whole operation is one requiring only a mod crate degree ot care and attention. At the copper mine and smelting establishment at Chessy, near Lyons, where this process is employed, the fuel used consists wholly of wood and charcoal ; and the richer description of ores, yield black copper of 97 per cent produce at the first running. The pay of the smelters is 32 sous (16d.) per day of 12 hours, to the head foreman, and 30 sous (15d.) per day to his assistant, and these are all that are required for each furnace, I am fully aware of the immense advantage arising from geographical position, combined with cheap fuel, as exemplified at Swansea, where not only the copper ores ot Cornwall and Ireland, hut those also ot Cuba and Chili are brought to be smelted ; these advantages even rendering it profitable to transport ores from the western shores of South America, and from lhose of South Australia, as well as fiom our own, round Cape Horn, to the fossil vegetation entombed in South Wales. It is however a question whether, at some future period the South American and South Australian copper ores may not be reduced to metal more profitably in other and nearer countries —in which sufficient coal may be discovered. A knowledge of the general geological structure of New Zealand, will no doubt one day enable individuals to direct the successful search for coal in given rocks, precisely as Eng'.ish geologists would advise the search for coal in the proper places, and tell those who seek for it in the numerous other situations where it has been sought— that they are only throwing away time, labour, and money. A little black shale, or piece ot lignite, has often been sufficient to cause the expanditure of two or three thousand pounds hi England by ignorant persons, who, had they possessed but a slight acquaintance with geology, would have koo.vii that in those localities there wa< not the slightest probability of success. The same waste of time, labour and capital, will no doubt occur in these colonies, until this knowledge is obtained, for although it may be truej and no doubl is so, that particular metals and coal are not, as was once supposed, confined to rocks formed -at particular 1 geological epochs, yet it may be safely stated that, in given areas, both metals and coal will be found to have given geological positions. It by no means follows however, that the coal of Australia, or the coal which may be found in New Zealand, is of the same geo'ogical age as the coal-measures of England 5 indeed, it would be absurd to suppose so. But, it may be affirmed that in the search for coals, the seekers must be guided by the knowledge of the geological structure of given areas, in whatever part of the world these areas may occur. That workable beds of coal will be found in Kew Zealand, occupying in all probability extensive areas, I do not doubt; but until s>uch discovery is made, the Australian coal-fields both at Newcastle on the Hunter river, and in other localities, offer an abundant supply of coal fuel for the profitable smelting of all the copper and other ores of metals that may be found in New Zealand. Should the Copper Smelting" Company said to be in course of formation at Sydney or Newcastle, be carried into effect, the result would he highly advant ageous to the mining interests of this country, inas- \ much as all the 01 c raised here might then be smelted at a cheap rate, and the produce in the form of either cake, bar or pig copper, shipped to Europe, India or China. The expences of smelting need not exceed the same at Swansea, where ths cost ranges from \£2. 15s. to £,'&. ss. por ton of ore, and since the recent improvements in the art of smelting, it is believed that this expense has been greatly diminished, liy the old method it required aho.utfour tons of coals to smelt one ton of copper 01 c, and assuming the average produce of Cornish ores at 10 per rent., < whiih is somewhat above the actual average, it svould

require forty tons ot coals to produce one ton of fine copper. New Zealand ores of 20 per cent produce, would of course require only half the above quantity of coals to reduce then\ to metal, and estimating the] value of the coal at the pit's mouth at Newcastle, at 85. per ton, the cost of the quantity of coal to produce one ton of fine copper from ores of 20 per cent would be £%. The additional expences, such as wages to smelters, fire-men, and others, and interest on cost of buildings, furnaces, &c, may be estimated at another £8., making the total cost of producing one (on of copper, cake or pig, £\6. The New Zealand proprietor could aftord to dispose of his ore t<» the Newcastle or Sydney Company, at say £12. per ton, consequently five tons of ore at 20 per cent, at ;£l2. =£60. + Jgl6.=£?6., being the total cost of producing one ton of five copper, and this would leave a handsome profit to the Company. The metal next in importance, which is raised in this colony, is at present Mangauese. It is found in considerable quantity, and in excellent quality, but it appears extremely doubtful whether it can pay a profit to export to England. The chief manganese mines now or lately in work are situate in the vicinity of Tavistock and Launceston in Devonshire and Cornwall, and it is also found in large quantities in Scotland. The quantity of manganese shipped from Exeter, from 1804 to 1810, amounted to about 3000 per aniSum." According to Mr. E. Williams, twelve mines which he enumerates, in Devon, produced ISlltons of manganese ore in 1321. In the same year, 2212 tons of this ore were {.hipped from Plymouth, and the export was then rapidly increasing It is difficult to obtain a fair approximation to the quantity now raised in. the district, but it is usually estimated at about 5000 tons per annum. The value is from £5. to £8. per ton. • At this rate it is evident that manganese ore could not pay charges and cost of raising, although the latter is inconsiderable. Tenor fifteen shillings per ton would probably cover this item of expeuse, but the other charges would be the same as those on copper ore, and therefore unless it could be shipped at a total cost not exceeding £3. or £4. per ton, it is evident that a loss would be incurred on its transmission to England. i will now conclude these desultory remarks made in moments of leisure, with the earnest hope that the developement of the mineral resources of New Zealand will " invite the application ot capital," do away with paper money, and place the colony upon a " basis of solid commercial prosperity." j I am, Sir, i Your's, &c, &c. F. S. P.

To the Editor of the Neio-Zealander. Sir.— l am directed to request that you will give the enclosed letter, from Sir William Molesworth, a place in your valuable Colonial Journal. j I am, Sir, Yours truly, Henry Tucker. Auckland, Sept. 11 th, 1845. ' Pencanow. Bodmin, Feb. 10th, 1845. | Sir. — In the month of December last, I sent 1 you a letter, of which the following is a copy, and which I send you for fear that my fqrmer letter may not have reached its destination. Your obedient servant, William Molesworth. (Copy.) Sir. — As brother of Mr. Francis Molesworth, I feel it my duty to write to you on a subject nearly concerning yourself, which has been the cause of great regret to myself and the rest of his friends, Mr. Francis Molesworth arrived in England in the month of June last. Shortly after this period he was summoned to give evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons on the affairs of New Zealand. He was twice examined before that Committee. A few days subsequent to his second examination, and before he had an opportunity of revising or reconsidering his evidence, he was seized with a violent attack of brain fever. In consequence thereof his life was for some time in imminent danger j and his memory was lost and confused. From circumstances that subsequently ttanspired, lam convinced that his illness (accompanied with a loss and confusion of memory), had been coming on for several dciys before his friends were aware of it, and ex isted at the period of his second examination. About the second week in November last, I first received information that my brother, in his second examination before the comraittee,had made certain erroneous statements with leference to yourself, as Governor of New Zealand. Those statements are contained in his answers to the questions from number 3686 to 3700 in the evidence taken before the New Zealand Committee. In them my brother fancies that he was present at a levee held by youiself at Wellington ; and represents himself as having heard certain re« marks made by you : whereas I have ascertained that my brother was not present on that oeca-ion, but has confounded a statement made by Mr. J Wakefield in a letter published in the New Zealand Gazette, of Feb 21, 1544, (and addressed to you), with matters of which be supposed he had cognizance. As my brother's tealth was not sufficiently reestablished for me to communicate with him on this painful subject,l feltitmy duty to act for him to the best of my ability ; and to endeavour to get these erroneous statements suppressed. I imtne diately applied to the member of the Committee, (Mr Roebuck), who had caused my brother to be examined, in the hope that, as the evidence taken beforetheCommittee was then unpublished, my brother's evidence might be suppressed or amended. Mr. Roebuck immediately entered into communication on this subject with the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Secretary for the Colonies, and the Chairman of the New Zealand Committee. The lesult, lam sorry to say, has not been in accordance with my wishes : and the gentlemen in question felt that they could not take upon themselves the responsibility of altering, or suppressing, -or delaying the publication of my brother's evidence. To day I jeceived a communication to the above effect, and the evidence has been published. In consequence thereof,! take the eailiest opportunity of making known to jou the facts of his case, of stating to you how sincerely mjself ami the friends of Mr. Molesworth regret the injustice that has been done to

you j how willing we are to atone by any means in our power for the involuntary error of Mr. Molesworth, and that we trust to your gene* rous indulgence in this unfortunate affair. 1 have the honor, to be, Sir, Your Obedient Servant, William Molesworth* To His Excellency, Governor Fitz Roy.

Extract from the Evidence of F. A. MOLESWORTH, ESQ.. 3656. In order that I may test the accuracy of the account, will you state, if you can, the diffe - - cut proceedings of the governor, from the time that he arrived at Port Nicholson, with reference to this enquiry ? — He came there, and shortly after his arrival a levee was held at Port Nicholson, at which a cuiious scene took place ; I was there myself; Mr. Wakefield, the son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, went up to be introduced to him ; he bowed, and was passing on, when the governor called him back, and asked him whether he was the writer of certain letters in a paper in England; they were sent to his father, and portions inserted in the paper; he said "Yes;" when Captaiu Fitz Roy called him a " devil's missionary," and all sorts of names j we were very much disgusted, and put on our hats and walked out, and there weie very few presentations after that ; that was the first thing that occurred. 3687. Did this take place at an official levee ? —Yes. 8688. In your hearing? — Yes, I was present, and went out of the room afterwards. 3689. What was the date of that levee!— -I think it was the day after he arrived at Porl Nicholson. 2699. Did nothing take place more than what you have relited ; you say there was an official levee that morning ; at what time ? — I think about 12 o'clock. 8691. You, with other gentlemen, being there, Mr. Waken* eld was presented? — Yes, one of the first. 3692. By whom was he presented ? — His name was called; he passed his card in, and his name was called out. 3693 Other gentlemen were in the room ? —I was, and several others. 3694 When he came to the governor, and hit name was given, the governor addressed him by asking him if he was theanthor of certain letters? — Yes, he was passing on. and he called him back, and said, " Mr. Wakefield," and he asked him. whether he was the author of certain letters that had appeared in England. 3695 How did he describe those letters ?— They were signed with young Mr. Wakefield's name. , 3696. The words would have been, "Were you the author of letters which appeared signed by your name in such and such a paper?" — Yes ; he said, yes, he svas ; I forget the exact words, and Captain Fitzroy does not speak loud ; 1 did not hear him well, but that expression I heard, " You are a devil's missionary ; your conduct has tended evry much to frustrate w bat the missionaries have been doing." Something to that effect j he attacked him, we thought, in a very improper way. 3697. Was Mr. Wakefield a magistrate at that time?— Yes. 3698. Did he make any answer ? — No, he never said a word ; he listened to the governor,and when Captain Fitz Roy had done, he went out of the room. 3699. How long might Captain Fitz Roy be speaking after thisfashion ?— Two or three minutes. 8700. Did you hear any thing after that ?—? — No ; no expression of that kind, but be spoke of his conduct ; he had been a great deal among the natives, and had a great deal of influence with, them, and he talked of this •, that was one of the concluding remaiks. that he was the devil's missionary. *