AUSTRALIAN OIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13744, 8 May 1908, Page 8

AUSTRALIAN OIL.

■ A scheme foi' ; the development of the shale deposits of the Blue Mountains, New • South Wales, has been in progress for a considerable" time past. '■) Many. years ago an attempt was made to, put the shale to ~. commercial .uses, lack, of capital, .the 'rugged nature of the country, and the : attacks oFt^u?"Standard" Oil Trust burked "the enterprise. About two years ago, however,- a company-with a .capital - of-nearly a million' sterling- was formed, and-it was decided to construct a railway from Clarence siding, on the Great Western line, into t the Wodonga Valley, a distance of 33 miles. .'This work has just been finish- !.,'; ed, at a cost, inclusive of engines and rolling stock, of about £200,000. The construction of the line has given employment to 1500 men for nearly two years. "Meanwhile the shale fields on either side .'/./ of the Wolgan and Caper tee Valleys were • '.'.'?';" being explored by means of tunnels, adits, : and trial shafts, with the most gratifying results. The - shale produces from 60 to 150 gallons of oil per ton, and it is esti- ; " mated-that the'company has 20 million - tons of proved shale, with at least an as- . sumable -20. millions .more., J Between the layers of shale there is a scam of good coal, from which about* 600 tons per day can be,secured.,, so that ; there js no difficulty -'-; about' fuel: at the works. .- The company now* expects to be in a.position to supply, as milch oil ' as will equal all the lubricat- : -. ing-oils -spirits used in Australia, as ' '."'well ,as paraffin ,vax, with a considerable proportion of the kerosene needed. When ■ in full work the industry will employ . about 4000 people.. " - J •