THE MINING INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10210, 14 August 1896, Page 4

THE MINING INDUSTRY.

The first annual report of the Council of the Chamber of Mines, brought up at the meeting yesterday, and which will be laid before the annual meeting of the Chamber on the 27th instant, is a brief and business-like document. The Chamber lias been successful during the past year in obtaining a large-mem-bership, and in securing the confidence and co-operation of all who are interested in mining. It has caused a num. her of maps to be made of different districts, and copies of these have been forwarded to the Agent-General's office London, and to the Ministry of Public Works in Paris. Capitalists in both these cities are largely interested in ■ New Zealand, and the display of these maps will enable all parties to see the lie of the country, and to understand the formation and the facilities for mining The Chamber may fairly look forward to' the coming year as one of usefulness to the mining industry and to the whole community, for there is yet much to b« done in the way of compiling and disgeminating information on the methods of working found most suitable for us, But the most important project which the Chamber has in hand is that of a Mining Exhibition to be held at Auckland during the year. This district now produces more gold than any other in the colony, and our supremacy will be more and more manifest every quarter. It is therefore fitting that a Mining Exhibition should be held here, tin more so that every other city in the colony has had an Exhibition of i miscellaneous character. The Government have promised assistance to a Mining Exhibition, and that ought to be given with no stinted hand, for one reason because Dun. edin, Christchurch, and Wellington have all had liberal grants in aid of their exhibitions, which were of a less purely business character than this will be. We all knowhow greatly the pre sent mining revival is owing to improvements in the methods of working —indeed, had it not been for the success of the cyanide process in the mines of the Upper Thames we would probably not have had any revival to rejoice in. And almost every day further improvements are being brought before mining experts. The last report by Mr. Gordon, inspecting engineer, contains plans and specifications of more, than twenty. patents in connection with gold-saving in various departments, and in all probability amongst these will be found ideas of value to some portion of our goldtields. In the event of a Mining Exhibition at Auckland, we might anticipate that holders of patents and manufacturers of mining apparatus in all parts of the world would exhibit, and would practically test their inventions on quartz from the many different localities of the Coroniandel peninsula. Arrangements could easily be made to have exhibitions of the latest methods as adopted in California and Nevada, for our direct connection with San Francisco has made us known there. 'Hie Chamber of Mines could not have taken a more useful project in hand, and we hope that it will have the unanimous support of all here ir making it a success.