OUR MINING COUNTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR MINING COUNTRY.

INACCESSIBLE AREAS. BT KAmj-KI-TE-RAXGI. While the necessity for the speedy development of the mineral resources of \J.3W Zealand is plainly evident, f we Me to restore the state of prosperity which wo enjoyed before the war made lavoc of our national finances, it is reissuring to realise that our mineralised ueas are both great jn extent and widely listributed. The entire western half of he South Island may be described as nineral country, while the Hauraki enin»ula, much of the Waikato, a large art of the peninsula north of Auckland, ind probably much of the rugged coun■ry in the centre of the North Island, .re of a like nature. Regarding the disribution of oar coal, Dr. Mackintosh 3ell, F.G.S., formerly Director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand, wrote n 1911, " Perhaps in no country of the vorld is coal more generally distributed ban it is in New Zealand, as it occurs n almost every part of the Dominion.' 1 )f mineral oil, he said, " In many parts if the Dominion there is abundant ovilence of petroleum." Of iron-ore, he poke in no uncertain manner, he rearred reassuringly to the copper, gold, datinum, and tin, found and to be found n New Zealand, and concluded a most 'aluable dissertation upon oar mineral esources by saying, " Much of tho wild, mountainous country of the South Island, tnd tho thickly-wooded central and lorthern parte of tho North Island, are till unexplored, acd vast mineral wealth nay yet do discovered in thcße areas of erra incognita." Difficult Country. It is of this wild, mountainous, mineraiscd country that I wish to write. No»dy goes into it, except deer-stalkers, lovernment surveyors, and prospectors, t is rugged beyond description, trackless, overed with forest, which is best decribed as jungle, the only means of penerating it being the boulder-strewn beds »f tho innumerable rivers and mountain orrouts which intersect it. But there is inotlior factor which renders it difficult if access and exploration—the lack o f ood La it, and the difficulty of getting ood into it. The old diggers of the Bixtiee, who penetrated nearly all these inexplored fastnesses of nature in the oarch for golds confined their activities nainly to tho alluvial gravels of liie ratercourses, and yet oven their labours fere in some measure limited by this amo food-difficulty. To-day the same ifficulty exists. It is impossible to speak aiogoncally of every hart of these great tretchee of mineral sea country, but conerning one, of which I have personal nowlcdge, I can speak emphatically, his particular mineral area stretches lorth-and-south for some one hundred liles, and cast-'tfid-west for some eevontyve miles. Four-fifths of it consist of lountainous, forest-clad countiy; onefth of open, pastoral or arable ountry, which is nevertheless also mineral onntry. Irrespective of the small residue l alluvial gold which remains in its ivors, the bulk of ite mineral wealth apears to occur in great mineral belts which un north and south through its entire mgth, and parallel to each other. Of hese belts five are known to exist, and f two of those I have an intimate knewjdgo, at least, in regard to a sufficient lortion of Item to enable mo to givo n accurate indication of their general haractcr. Without using tedious and nintelligible geological terms and hraseology, I may say that these belts re cracks in the earth's surface which ave been filled up by the forces of lature v(ith igneous substances carrying 1 greater or less degree the minerals and lotals which render them of such econolic importance; whilo between two of heso belts exists a vast deposit of coal, ho outcrops of which can bo seen at oints where tho plutonic forces have rokern and overturned the sandstono /hich overlies the undisturbed coalleasures. I wish to emphasiso tho fact hat no one really knows the exact nature f these mineral bolts, because no one has xplored them from end to end, because f the physical difficulties occasioned by he nature of the country in which tncy ccur. But Ido know something of arts of two of them, and I am ablo to ay that one certainly contains copper nd chrome in sufficient quantities to warant the anticipation that further sjstetatic investigation will prove them to ie of commercial importance; while the econd belt undoubtedly contains quartz cefs which carry gold and silver, besides aser metals such as copper and lead. If the other three belts, two carry goldearing reefs, and one carries reefs which iear galena and metals which are usually siiodated with that mineral. In the area nder consideration there also occur deloaite of iron-ore, and also eruptive rocks phicli carry asbestos. Need for Exploration. But up to the present time the exact aturo of only very small portions of this articular mining area have been deterttined, so great is the physical difficulty ircsented by the steepness of the country nd by the vegetation which covers it. ndlvidual prospectors have by their unided exertions given us the data which nablo us to know sufficient of its characer to judge of its economic value, but leforo that value can bo fully estimated, t will bo necessary for an immense imount of exploration to be undertaken, !omo years ago a certain Minister of the Irown, Upon his taking over the control f the Ministry of Mines, determined to arry out a scheme of prospecting such iiihing areas systematically by sending iiit experienced men, accustomed to the ' bush," pcesesfied of a knowledge ol lining, who might locate outcrops of eefs and mineral deposits of value] ml his plan was never put into practice, lorhaps becauso bo found it difficult to bid the sort of men ho wanted, perhaps lecausa o f the necessary expense. But ho time appears to have arrived when ome very definite attempt mist be made o find out what valuable minerals IMS ountry of ours contains. So far its sur ace has barely been scratched, the vast mlk of its mineral wealth remains hid' len, its mining industry remains in its ntancy. In pro-war 'lays the Hermans lad a saving that New Zealand contained very valuable mineral required by roan mt that the New Zeahnders were ignor int of the la-*. That, perhaps, wat ..m\ ,he Germans included our country} ii ■heir hopeful little loans of conquest, l.et is see that we de not make less use ol jot opportunities to exploit that minora vealth than they undoubtedly would hav< lono if they had been able to dispossess is. Encouragement to Prospectors. The system of subsidies initiated b; Government as an inducement to prospec ors is good so far as it goes, but it goe, i very litJt'o way. When there is ai ■arnest demand for somo particular com nodity—as, for instance, rock-phosphate-Jovernment oTers a substantial subsidy mt if such inducements Were extended I he discovery of any and every mineral c -alue, how much greater would bo th •nergy and enthusiasm of those who ar rilling to forsake the pleasures of th owns for »he hardships of prospecting \ot only should a prospector receive übstantial reward for any valuable "find' 10 makes, but he should be assured of a nterest in the industry which may be th mtcoine of bis discovery. The inaceei>sil>l mture of the country to he investigate ind the difficulty of liv.ng there, are n< ho greatest obstacles with which ill irospecl' rq has to contend: it is while has overcome then' difficulties and lui nado his discovery that the irre.uter dill ;ulty confronts him of persuading busines neii and capitalist in regard U< the con nercial value of what he has found. The pasi< ul.ir mining area winch I hav ■ought Ifi describe in a general way is bi l.irt of Ihe vast mineral-bearing zo: vbi.h stretch FOG miles, north an ;oilth. from fare Farewell to Preservatio „Vt It i.- If* a saiiihlc »' '-her sim'h i.o;is of wii ill I b.'Vi i"'\ M-c...id hall aiowlr,!■»•.. ''"it v. hi. doubtless prusoi ,u£t as promising Held* of enterprise,