THE MINING INDUSTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22136, 14 December 1933, Page 12

THE MINING INDUSTRY

AN INTERESTING SURVEY PRESENTATION TO MR A H. KIMBELL Representatives of mining interests in Otago assembled at Wain’s Hotel yesterday morning to make a presentation to Mr A. H, Kimbell, whose resignation from the position of. under secretary of the Mines Department, was recently announced. ' '• i In presenting a cheque to Mr Kimbell Mr W. A. Mitson referred to the recipient’s long association with the industry. It was fortunate that he had been, retained in the department for so long because the present state of the industry was largely attributable to the work which he had done, Those present felt that they could not allow the opportunity to pass of letting him know of the high esteem in which he was,held by the mining and business men of Otago. r Mr Kimbell, in reply, expressed appreciation of the kindly thought, that had prompted the gift. Since his retirement, lie added, he had received 300 letters from all parts of New Zealand and some from Australia conveying good wishes and expressing appreciation of his services. The reason for his retirement was his health, and he had decided on this course on the advice of his doctor and in the interests of his wife and family. It was fitting that he should say that the working capacity of his staff in the department had been seriously taxed,, and, in his opinion, if interest in gold mining continued as at present, the staff would have to be increased. The local inspector was working 16 hours a day and' the inspector at Cromwell had spent 10 days on the Shotover River alone. The main difficulty was in trying to have mining rights granted. Other departments, which often had different views from those of the Mines Department, had to be consulted. As there were 12,000 men prospecting in New ,Zealand it was not surprising that farmers should have become apprehensive as to the danger to their property, but if the wishes of the Farmers’ Unions were complied with, the granting of licenses would become more difficult than ever. After referring to difficulties with respect to the Cromwell Flat area Mr Kimbell said that he was pleased to be able to say that before his retirement the Minister had granted licenses in all but two or three cases. Those who were interested in the area knew that one main difficulty had yet to be faced, and someone of courage would be required if it were to be surmounted. So far as he was concerned he had never deviated from a strict observance of the principles of the Mining Act. Those who put up the money should receive some assurance that after the money had been spent they would have a good mining title. The people of New Zealand did not realise what an enormous benefit mining had been to the Dominion. In assisting mining by making roads and bridges and erecting schools of iqines the Government had spent £2,248,657, and goldfields revenue credited to local bodies,

who were expected under the Act to assist mining, amounted to £3,914,030. The benefits which Otago had received as a result of this expenditure were hot generally, recognised. , Unfortunately the revenue of the Government bad been considerably reduced, but this year the duty of 12s 6d per ounce on gold exported would yield about £IOO.OOO. The vote for the Minister of MincsV however, was only about £7OOO or.£Booo. He had always held that a substantial part of the special duty should be spent by the Government in fostering mining. Up lo the end of last year the value of minerals. including coal, which had been exported from the country had been £181,037,719. This showed clearly the benefit which the mining industry had been to the country. If mining were carried on efficiently. and reliably the present production would largely increase and would help to place the country in a better position. Up to the present Otago had produced more gold and ‘ had obtained a higher price than any other centre, with Auckland and,.Westland.following. Unless Ottgo’s production increased, however, it would have to , take second place. He knew Otago well and was of the opinion that if organisations were set up ■ with sufficient capital and stalled' technical advice there would' be many areas in the province which woijld be found profitable. In South Africa and Western Australia, Mr Kimbell continued, chambers of mining had been formed, and he thought that it would bo a good idea if those interested in mining hi Otago formed a similar organisation so that they could put forward to the Government a collective viewpoint. Mr Kimbell also referred to the necessity for testing areas thoroughly, stnting’ that if that were done there would be no lack of capital; to develop mining propositions. Dealing with coal, mining Mr Kimbell stated that production last year had be-o the lowest since 1907 and imports had been the lowest since 1899. The depression from which the industry was, suffeiv ing was due partly to the fact that there wore far too many mines. The consuihjjtion of coal per capita was much lower than in 1914, and there was strong competition from electricity and fuel oil The only possible Solution that he could see was the establishment of. a hydrogenation plant in New Zealand if the experiment of Imperial Chemical Industries,, in which £4,000,000 was involved, was a success. In the past seven years lie had consistently advised the Ministers not to grant licenses to work new coal areas unless the proposed qiinc was in an isolated area that was not adequately served. In some cases his recommendation had not been adopted, and when that occurred awkward deductions had been made by people from outside. He hoped tjiat his policy with respect to this matter would be carried on by his successor.