MINING INDUSTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 12

MINING INDUSTRY

PROGRESS IN PAST YEAR PETROLEUM, GOLD AND COAL MINISTER EXPRESSES SATISFACTION (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, Dec. 23. In a statement issued to-day the Minister of Mines (Mr P. C. Webb) says: "As the year draws to a close I derive some measure of satisfaction from the progress which has been made in our mining industry during the past 12 months. First of ali the petroleum legislation passed by Parliament at the end of 1937 has proved very sound and has given a great impetus to the search for oil. Several major organisations with the strongest financial and technical backing in the world have applied for and have been granted oil prospecting rights over considerable areas. To date licences have been granted over 7000 square miles of territory, and no fewer than 30 geologists and geophysicists are at work in different parts of the country. The extent of this activity can be gauged when it is pointed out that this force of scientists is about three times as great as the present personnel of the New Zealand Government Geological Survey Department. The most up to date drilling plant is already at work near Gisborne putting down the first well for the New Zealand Petroleum Company, Ltd. I am looking forward with the greatest of interest to the possible developments in 1939. " In the gold mining industry another important milestone was passed a week or two ago when two magnificent modern dredges commenced operations on the West Coast. These machines mark a new era in the industry and are the forerunners of several similar plants now under construction. One of these dredges; is the largest in the southern hemisphere, and is thought to be the second largest in the world. The first return from these huge machines will be watched with the greatest of interest by the mining industry and the investing public. These developments on the West Coast have been largely brought about by the Government's action in making ample supplies of electric power available and by the construction of a transmission line over the difficult terrain between Lake Coleridge and Westland. " In the coalmining industry the conditions have been satisfactory, and I look forward with confidence to greater production in 1939 and an extended use of our New Zealand product in our gas works and other fuel consuming units."