KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18885, 6 December 1924, Page 13

KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

PROSPECTS OF REVIVAL.

THE VALUE OF CHIPS.

CLEANING PROCESS EVOLVED.

LARGE COMPANY UNDERTAKINGS

BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN COItnESrON'DENT. ] WHANGAREI. Friday.

While in Whangarei, Sir Heaton Rhodes i discussed matters with people inter- > ested in the kauri gum industry. While 1 in Dargaville ho had inspected one of the j Parenga Kauri Oil Company's proper 1 ties at Redliill, and upon his arrival in ; Whangarei he took advantage, of an in- : terview with Mr. G. E. Alderton, who for many years was chairman of the company, to ascertain more about the industry. When the proposed Kauri Gum ' Export Control Board was urged during last session of Parliament, several members admitted lack of knowledge concerning the history and prospects of the industry, which has yielded so much wealth in the North in the past. It was at Redhill that Mr. Alderton had the first plant installed for commercialising the small swamp gum, known as chip«. Large Company Formed. After spending £40,000 in experimental work, the company, with a capital of £200,000, eventually evolved a patented method of cleaning small gum and producing it in a pure state. This was always the crux of the gum business, and to-day the digger, who is only able to produce the gum in its impure state, is unable to clean it sufficiently to make it marketable, with the result that his product is often unsaleable, and he blames the market. As a, matter of fact, there is an unlimited demand for the pure article, and the company has been offered a contract for 2000 tons a year, extending to seven years. Owing to more capital being required than the Parenga Company could control, an English company agreed to work the fi'clds for 12 months to ascertain the cost of production and the general possibilities. They thoroughly tested it, and a representative has returned to England well satisfied with the results, and seeking further instructions from his principals. It is surmised that a new company will he constructed, in which tho local shareholders will be given paid-up shares, and that in future the company will be entirely managed by the English company. As the actual gum consumers in Britain are the parties interested in the scheme, all intermediate costs and profits of middlemen are cut out, and the consumers get. the raw material at first cost. Another Company at Work. Another English company, with Sir Godfrey Fell as promoter, has taken up a rich field in the Lake Ohia district, in Mongonui County, and has brought out from America a very able mining engineer, Mr. Henderson, who is in charge of the works, and a gum chemist from England to grade and classify the gum. Elaborate works have been erected, and cottages wore purchased in Canada, fac-tory-made, of a standard type. The company was formed in Loudon, with a capital of £90,000. It paid Mr. E. J. Valentine £5000 for the exclusive rights to his gum-washing machine, which is considered the best of the kind, and it also acquired the New Zealand rights for an electric process which cleans the gum and separates the pure gum from all foreign matter. This process is quite effective, but the material to be treated requires to be bone-dry, and the first plant erected by the company to dry the material was not a success. A now process is being arranged for, and when this is in going order the company will be able to produce a pure gum similar to the Parenga Company. The problem of producing the gum pure has been solved by both these companies, and their work will be the means of reestablishing the gum industry on stable lines. In former times the gum trade consisted practicall- of all bold or large gum, and as this gradually became scarcer its price started to ascend, with the result that the manufacturers found that it was becoming too expensive to use, and they had to find substitutes. It was then that attempts were made to work the small gum chips that had been thrown aside' as useless, but owing to the admixture of so much' charcoal and deleterious matter, the consumers found it of little value, and it was seen that unless this gum could be properly cleaned the demand would diminish. Parenga Company's Process. The Parenga Company started exhaustive experimental work and finally evolved a process. It consisted of using a strong salt solution under pressure which forced the gum to float and the foreign matter to sink, making a perfect separation. The result was that the small gum was produced in a pure state and was just as valuable as the large or bold gum, which was worth anything from £250 to £500 a ton landed in America or England, while the small gum could be produced and landed in England for from £80 to £90 a ton. The result is that there is now a large demand for this pure article because at the reduced price manufacturers can use it in large quantities. On several occasions the Government has been approached to grant a concession over 60,000 acres of gum lands. This has been sought by an English company which proposes working the buried swamp timber for its resins, afterwards using the pulp wood for paper-making, for which it is eminently adapted. The plant for this work would cost £35,000. As large questions of policy are involved in the proposal, nothing has yet been done.