TARANAKI’S TREASURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8179, 22 July 1912, Page 1

TARANAKI’S TREASURE

A TALE OF BALKED ENDEAVOUR

WHO IS TO BLAME?

TBOil OCB SPECIAL OOKEE3POVDENI.

LONDON, June 13. ATI wlio are exiles will know how the name of one’s own country, whispered, teems shouted: ami how, lor Now Zealanders tor instance, does the magic title appear in the ordinary print ot a newspaper’s seven-column page, it might ho writ in the capitals of a heudhpe and as black —New Zealand—it so quickly is apparent. .... oo wuh ail manner of things, important and unimportant, complimentary or complaining. Have they anything to do with New Zealand, one's ears grow suddenly acutely sensitive. Sometimes one tomes on truths stranger than fiction. A few days ago the writer stumbled on nn allusion to Taranaki iron sand. It was interesting in the first instance with no data to go upon. When that was available it grew more and more so. At mention of “enormous potentialities” being “deliberately neglected,” of “a giant industry” being “wilfully kept back,” one felt justified in probing the matter to its centre —and found it, a man,'Mr T. Donne, of 30, Holborn Viaduct. Mr Donne, one found, is not only a man of vary considerable - wealth, but ho is prepared to expend a very great proportion of capital in New Zealand—m Taranaki and in Taranaki iron sand. Ho has already shown signs of this, though the general public does not know He is a business man, and,'apart from his personal interest in the matter, is prepared to back up his conviction of the enormous possibilities of the Taranaki iron deposits by developing them on a scale never before attempted. All adult Now Zealanders, blessed or unblessed with technical knowledge, have heard much for and against the promises) hid/in this unique New Zealand deposit—- . particularly have they heard much about its shortcomings in -lending itself to practical manufacture. Other capitalists nave come forward iu the past, also. Whether they have been prepared to support their theories os, generously, and whether they have had quite such good export advice behind them as appears to exist in this present case, is another question. Assuredly they have never before been possessors of the secret method which, at last, has conquered the obstinacy of the sand and turned it into au eminently ’ workable and eminently profitable commodity. "■ • Here is'the skeleton history that hangs on to the clues an inquisitive New Zealander foilowed up, and now has permis- 1 sion to publish. , Questioning Mr Donne as to his personal.and impersonal (for that exists strongly) interest dn the development of the Dominion: — u "I have at least two good reasons, he replied. "I spent govern! years 'down under/ and i have the very greatest faith in its future.” “As regards tho particular l problem’ of the Taranaki iron deposits?” ■ “My interest was aroused three and a , half years ago —that was in 1908—when, in conversation with my consulting engineer, I asked his opinion as to the possibility of utilising tho undoubtedly enornious wealth lying on the . Taranaki beach. His report was that’ many eminent metallurgists had tried smelting by every known method, but that the only material produced 'had been at a prohibitive cost,' so that all schemes had eventually to bo abandoned. "Nevertheless, I found he himself was convinced that the problem was well within the bounds ot practical metallurgy, and not impossible of solution. "On his report, knowing him to be a recognised authority upon the treatment of refractory and complex ores, I first began to assume a practical interest. "I authorised him to get into touch with the Government and to secure all possible Information as to tho necessary Vinds and leases.

"la the meantime ire sent to Taranaki for a balk sample of tie sand. "On March 10th, 1909, a letter urns lent to the Minister for Lands, and from another source twenty tons of sand was ordered to be sent to England at the earliest possible moment. THE INITIAL MYSTERY. v At this juncture the. first mysterious treats occurred. .The letter never reached the Minister (the later explanation of this was that the Government was changing offices and Ministers just about i that time, and the letter was possibly mislaid), and, although the sand was 1 bagged and left Taranaki, it never i touched ua. "However we had, through a New Zealand firm, ordered another twenty tons, and this in duo course reached the special works we had established for tho^purpose of making these experiments. "What were your experiences in carrying out these preliminary experiments:' ‘‘Almost endless difficulties presented themselves. Wo found that the presence of titanic acid rendered all usual experimental methods absolutely useless, and it was only by abandoning ail known methods and striking out on a new lino altogether that wo ultimately achieved the success wo have- During .. the course of these laboratory trials we many times seemed bordering upon suecess, but were met with disappointment time after time when it came to the final trial. In consequence of these oft recurring rebuffs we, several times considered the advisability of throwing the whole thing up. "After all, the laboratory labors had been concluded, we decided to erect the plant requisite for our purpose, to enable us to deal with quantities of metal up to 15cwt, or 1 ton. "This we did, and in June, 1909, we had the satisfaction of knowing that the problem of manufacturing iron from Taranaki sand was solved, and for the first time at a price that would render the scheme a commercial success."

Tims far it was quit© possible even for the New Zealander unversed in technicalities to. follow.

“That was exactly three years ago," the interviewer observed. “Why nothing further to report?” "Because, from that clay to this,” was the astonishing reply, “it has been made impossible to make- any definite move! “On November 2.*dh. 10n:>. having, as I said, received no answer from the Minis-

IDLE WEALTH AND IMPOTENT CAPITAL

TARANAKI’S PROOFS OF WEALTH. “Could it have been that anyone starting works on these; small properties would soon exhaust their supply of sand, that the process of treatment would have .been then public property, tl .d that those holding the main lease would then have learned how i to deal with their own enormous deposit?”

“Would - you consider the quantity of sand available sufficient justification for the expenditure of the necessary large sum of money?” “At a very low estimate,”: was' the emphatic reply, “there is sixty million tons of sand available on Taranaki beach at tho present moment?. This, taken at the bed-rock estimate of fifty per cent, metallic iron,, moans thirty million tons of manufactured iron,, and the average selling price of this material car safely be taken ns in excess of .27 per ton. A simple problem in arithmetic shows the

ter of Lands, a letter was sent to the chairman of the New Plymouth Harbour Board. In this our claims were fully set out. We asked a series of definite questions, and expressed our willingness to pay for a short term option. “Not until March 21st,-1910, was this letter even acknowledged! And then 1 received a reply stating that an apology was due for the delay (in answering my letter of November 25th) ‘which has been quite unavoidable.’ “This, an important business application, had been calmly shelved-for three months. Why? THE MYSTERY THICKENS.

"Nevertheless a very significant thing had taken place. Two gentlemen left New Zealand and travelled America and Dngland, seeking in every possible way to induce capitalists to put up money for experimental works at “They failed, and after hawking the proposition about in every conceivable direction, they approached my engineer with a view of securing his knowledge. This also failed, and they returned to New Zealand, but still we wore as handicapped as they, though for very different reasons. . “It would probably be of little interest,” Mr Donne suggested, “were 1 to show you the voluminous correspondence that I have addressed to the secretary of tho New Plymouth Harbour Board, but to all of which I have received the most evasive aim unsatisfactory replies. I’rbm time to time I have been informed that the ‘board' hoped to bo able to deal with the leases at a certain time; when these times arrive I find, from other sources of information, that some extension has been granted to the men who are holding up these leases. “Now, what the object of all this dillydallying, this exceedingly unbusinesslike way of doing business and—from a public point of view—this strangely unpatriotic attitude with regard to an industry that they well' know (otherwise why all this underhaudedness, approaches to my engineer and frantic effort to. block me at a great loss to themselves?) will immediately open up immense possibilities of new trade in New Zealand?” , ‘ . “Of , this last,”. I--a3kedr"vJpu "are. con-~ vinced from every practical standpoint—, scientific and financial?” "As convinced as 1 have' ever been about auy undertaking' I've been concerned in, and those are not a few. There is not the slightest doubt that-at last we have solved the hitherto Insuperable difficulties in the way of utilising this sand to any valuable extent. "If this were a small private matter, a question of some private property that, ivorked or unworked, would not greatly concern the general public, the me-, thods that have been resorted to would be lamentable enough. But it is a grave public concern, and just so long as the present state of things is allowed to continue (and I cannot quite be expected-to indefinitely offer money to finance the scheme/1 think) so long is New Zealand, as a countjT, being cheated of enormous wealth, which belongs to her and could oe made infinitely greater. "It has been proved that tho inangura--tion of the iron industry is the forerunner and parent of all other manufacturing industries, and yet Taranaki is lying idle. New Zealand •is importing iron and steel to the value ot millions of pounds; and we, the only men who have ever had a proved process of treatment; the only men who have ever advanced a business proposition and the only ones who have been ready to make an immediate arrangemeut whereby the New Plymouth l Board woqld derive a revenue, are humbugged about like ‘kite-flying’ option seekers.

“The whole of the correspondence, I may say, was placed before the Minister for Lands, His reply was sympathetic, but ‘he regretted his inability to be of any service.’ “You can understand that my patience was rapidly becoming exhausted. In January, 1911, I instructed a well-knoWn firm of Christchurch solicitors; gave them a full power, of attorney to act for me and close the business. They personally visited .Taranaki, were given, all sorts of assurances on my behalf, and understood 1 was to have my turn at an early date.-. ; "These assurances have all gone-by the board. ■ Apparently my turn is never to come. New Plymouth null not draw revenue from the development of Taranakij and Now’ Zealand will go on importing every ton of iron and steel she requires to the permanent detument'of her people.

“Due advance has been made to ns by the New Plymouth authorities—this, apparently business-like but as underhand as the rest,’ They decided to offer portions of' the sand bearing lands for conypeyition, but the portions offered were small and of little or no value, and ono wanders what the object was.’’ It is a well-known fact that in all mineral deposits the richness is located in. one spot, and that the value, in- min-, ing ■ phraseology, gradually peters out* until the edge of the deposit merges into the ordinary earthy “Yonr own surmise is to this offer was?” I demanded.

potential value of tho deposits, and is, in iny opinion, -ample justification for the ' expenditure of any necessary moneys."

"With regard to the probable life of the present deposits?," I asked. "That depends entirely oh the consumption of manufactured material, but .he present supply would be sufficient to fulfil all requirements for hundreds of •years. And we are firmly convinced that beneficent . nature wonld replace .rom the depths of-the ocean whatever quantities we use from the surface of the beach. The engineer employed by me has proved that deposit extends great distances out into the ocean.” "Exactly what, may one ask, do yon intend to do when the necessary lease is granted you?" A guarded note here, as one might have anticipated, coloured Mr Donne’s reply. WHAT DEVELOPMENT WOULD MEAN. “Assuming that the leases were in onr possession -to-morrow, we should immediately proceed to New Zealand, erect the necessary furnaces, designed with an .initial capacity of 500 tons of pig-iron per week. We should then proceed with other furnaces for the conversion of this "pig-iron into •malleable iron and steel Next wo should lay down a rolling mill capable of turning out every conceivable constructional section including railway iron, and rolled H girders, and also a mill for boiler and shipbuilding plates. Another section of the works would be devoted to an iron and steel foundry capable of turning out the largest castings that the Dominion could demand. All sorts of minor details of the ironmaster’s business would be attended in other departments of the works, but this will give you in outline our proposed scheme. “Do tbe residents of Now Zealand, do you think,” Mr Donne asked, “realise the innumerable benefits that would accrue to N’ew Zealand .in the event of these works being established? We should ourselves employ at least two thousand men. These two thousand men with their wives and families represent an additional population of at least ten thousand souls. The support of these must of necessity react to the benefit of every other trade. Do they realise that if their iron and steel is made locally their, wants can be supplied from day to day and not, as is now the case, ordered,’from some other country and paid for when they leave ithe country, which is months before they can bo utilised in New Zealand, representing a serious loss of. interest on invested capital during the period of the voyage?” That is the question evidently. Do they, realise it? ■ Your correspondent shook hands with Mr Donne and retired to think. And thinking in a nutshell was interesting too. ■ . Can it be true that, as Mr Donne avers, gigantic wealth in trade and money is being deliberately crippled, and, worse than that if possible, that a small body of men are obtaining concession after concession when it is understood they admit their inability to work the sands ?

' 'Here, in England, is a' man—not at all the sort of individual to embark on anything hare-brained, but one who knows New Zealand well —who declares ;hat he is prepared, , instantly, to put down the money to start operations; to give every possible chance to this industry to develop and expand as he .is convinced it will, but who alleges that he is being hopelessly blocked by men who are showing they consider a few individual interests of wore vital importance than the welfare of the community at large.