EGMONT NATIONAL PARK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13766, 3 June 1908, Page 8

EG MONT NATIONAL PARK.

MINERAL POSSIBILITIES. Mr. X. D. Cochrane, E.G.S., has submitt ted his geological report on the Patea ' Ranges. Egmpnt National Park. His conclusions are:—" Giving due consideration ;_ to the various facts bearing on the subject, . I am of opinion, although the caps of tho lodes may at places be poor-looking, and ~ • • the results of the assays and analyses nob * encouraging for surface prospecting, there are reasonable grounds for expecting that adequate prospecting at sufficient depth would' give better results, and might d"'si close payable ore bodies. With reference ; . to Mount Egmont and the volcanic necks, no instance of the latter was observed, nor, •;■■■;■■ from the .nature of the surface, are euch ■ likely to be easily found. The, horseshoe formed by the Patua. Range round the upper branches of the Abu-Ahu Creek presents the appearance of a large but minor V crater, with part of the western side V destroyed by one of the later volcanic paroxysms, and one -or more of the peaks '■ within the amphitheatre, or on the craterlike tint, would conform to the vulcanic cone or neck. / 01 this we may be certain, however," y nays Mr. Cochrane, "that minor craters (to the great one of which the cone of Mount . Egmont forms a part, or from which it has ' been built up) have existed in the curved './ line of volcanic action represented, by Mount Egmont, the Poakai Range, the Patua Range, and Pari tutu at New Plymouth. Though probably of Miocene, or ' perhaps Pliocene age, it is quite clear, from -.■"','' the removal of the tuffs and the deeply incised andesite in the creek beds that great V " denudation has taken place. This must ' also have affected the crests of the ranges, and. from the more severe conditions and I ■" V the loose scoriaceous material, to a great ";. '■" extent. Mount Egmont itself, which eon- . ,', seqnently must have greatly exceeded in height its present cone." - -; Mr. Alex. McKay, Government- geolo- *■' gist, in' a memorandum covering Mr. CochJ: lane's report, says:—"So far as the metallie contents of the reefs (so-called) or the "siliceous bands within the bounds of the reserve are concerned, it must be confessed that they do not indicate successful pros- - pecting operations in the future. This is as far as the evidence at the present time would lead us to conclude; hut it may be rightly contended that no sufficient testing of the district has been made, and that it is an encouraging fact that the presence of fold and silver has been proved in a. class of country, which, on the Hauraki Goldfields, yields largely these- metals, and, ; therefore, that further facilities should be * afforded the prospector. / I admit the force «l this argument; and when it. is considered that, surrounded as' this part of the National Park is by settlement and farms in :;':' ■'process of being cleared of bush, there- is great danger to the bush on tho reserves from fires, and that almost inevitably the native,bush must disappear in a few years, tho admission of the prospector but hastens • the inevitable. It' admitted, the prospector may vet make a valuable discovery." ss?'".-. ;.•."..';■■••■'■■'•■ ."■.:-;'-•■.,.■ - .' fjSy-.:'..'.';."i. V■'.,..:. ' .;■■.' ■■;.' ; " ....'■ s