MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 88

MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND

PAPER BY DR MACKINTOSH BELL.

INTERESTING SPEECHES.

(Faou Oub Own Correspondent.) L-ONDON, November 22. There was a large attendance on Tuesday afternoon at the Whitehall Rooms of the Metropole Hotel to hear a paper on the "Mineral Resources of New Zealand," by Dr Mackintosh Bell. Lord Ranfurly presided, and among those present were: Mr Jenkins (Agent-general for South Australia), Dr O. H. Haines. Mr George Beetham, Mr L. Wellstead, Mr Merricks (formerly of Auckland), Mr Gilbert Anderson, Mr J. Kirldey Campbell, Mr J. H. Witheford, Mr Edwaixt Wakefield, and the Right Rev. Bishop Moorhouse. The High Commissioner for New Zealand" was not able to be there. In opening the proceedings, Lord Ran- ■ furly congratulated New Zealand on having received the title of Dominion. It was curious to think that 56 years ago a dinner took place in the Bay of Islands with Captain Hobson (the Governor) there ; A French man-of-war was in the harbour, and they couldl not make out at first what she was there for. At last they found out that the idea was to annex to France the South Island. A sailing vessel was sent off to Afcaroa, and when the French vessel arrived 36 hours later those on board found the British flag flying. He (Lord Ranfurly) had the pleasure, strange though jt ' might appear, to have been entertained while on an official visit to Queenstowm by the Mayor of that place who had ■ been a midshipman on board that French vessel. At that time Queenstown was a great mining centre, and large numbers of mines . had recently been floated — the bact ones were supposed to be floated with money out of New Zealand, the good ones, small mines, were generally kept in the Dominion. — (Laughter.) He had asked the Mayor if they had many " wild 1 cats" about, that being the term generally used for those that were floated abroad. The Mayor replied "No," but that the place was alive with wild rabbits. — (Laughter.) There was no doubt about that, for at that time rabbits threatened to destroy the great wool industry. Passing on, Lord Ranfurly said the title of Dominion was a. well-earned dignity. — ("Hear, hear.") Earned by an industrious and frugal people who had brought New Zealand to its present perfection. He heartily congratulated the people of New Zealand on a, dignity fairly - earned by the loyalty displayed, not by one but by all, at the time of the South African war when the greatest dilemma was whom to choose between those rolling one over the Other to get enrolled in the contingents. — (Applause.) As to Sir James Hector, be • was the_ most distinguished geologist south of the line, who had devoted his life to his work. In Canada he had also distinguished himself. In Canada, though Sir James Hector was a Scotchman, he believed, he would be known to eternity by the names of Mount Hector and by that very celebrated jpass supposed to be one of the most beautiful known— Kicking Horse Pass. It was/ Sir Jamee Hector's Jacking horse that gave the name to that pass, Sir James being 1 badly kicked when first exploring what was now admittedly the finest*pass through, which the Canadian-Pacific railway ran.—' (Applause.) Lord Ranfurly then called upon Dr Bell, who was cordially received. ...-After a preliminary brief description of New Zealand as regarded its geographical, geological, and topographical characteristics, f>r Bell proceeded to deal with his subject m much fuller detail. Taking as his text " Salient Features of the Economic Geology." Dr Bell said!: "Perhaps in no ooun- , try of the world is coal more generally distributed than it is in New Zealand, as it occurs in almost every part of the Uominion- * fact which makes up for the narrowness of the coal seams and the inextension of the basins in which they He as compared with coal deposits in other countries. The ©oal varies considerably in quality, both in regard to the amount of efch , a-nd the state of carhonation. Unlike the , EuroDP.au coal and most of that of the United States and Canada, the New Zealand j coal is not of the carboniferous age, but of : much lesser antiquity. The coals of Kaitangata, Shag Point, end Nightcaps, which form fairly wide seams in Tertiary rooks in ; the south-eastern part of the South Island, 1 are lignites of good quality. The seama whioh are so widely distributed in the hilly I country west of the Canterbury Plains are all lignites, but not generally so highly carbonised as are the southern coals. The coals of Greymouth and Brunnerton in the WestJand district, and of Weflfpar^and Puponga in the Nelson district, are bituminous coals of varying degrees of purity. The coals of the North Island, which are chiefly in the northern part, near Auckland and Whangarei, are in general intermediate in state of carbonation between the bituminous coals and' the lignites. No extensive eeamg j of true anthracite have as yet been found in New Zealand, though there is a very | small deposit in early Tertiary sediments at Cabbage Bay, in the Hauraki Peninsula, ! whioh owes its high percentage of fixed I carbon to the metamorphism produced by . I the extrusion of flows of andesite. Some of the lignite seams of Canterbury also are said to be in part altered to anthracite, as . a product of contact metamorphism. I "In many parts of the Dominion there h J abundant evidence of petroleum, though in i no locality can it be said to have been i proven to exist in great quantity. It has been found and exploited to some slight degree at Kotuktu, near Greymouth, in i Westland; near Gisborne, in the Auckland . district; and at New Plymouth, in Taraj n&ki, not far from the base of the lofty ' cone Of Mount Egmont. In the last-named , locality the oil seeps out of the surface along the sea shore, and at a few places . in the interior, and gas issues at many . • points along natural orevioes. Boring operations have been conducted in this ! locality for a number of years, and very ■ recently have apparently met with success. An oil-bearing stratum has been struck at a depth of 2400 ft, which at present is said by the proprietors to give a steady flow under high, pressure. The oil-bearing stratum consists of a loosely consolidated marine sand underlying hard argillaceous sandstone, above which marine sands and clays, more or less hardened, extend to the surface. As far as is known, all the beds are disposed in almost horizontal attitude, fhe lowest being probably of Miocene age, the upper apparently Pliocene. In the i Gisborne- district apparently the. petroleum

is even more widespread, and the prospects? equally bright for the discovery of largg welk. However, comparatively little ex? ploration has been done within recent year* in this locality." A lengthened reference was then made io> the various deposits, of ironsand Jn Neift Zealand, particularly to the hffiraitite aU Parapara and the ironsand at Now Ply*mouth. Dr Bell devoted 1 a good deal of a-fe-tention to the New Zealand gold mines, bufi his remarks related mainly to facts already; well known in New Zealand, so I need no* reproduce them. He also; started /hat was known as to the existence of silver, coppery platinum, and tin in New Zealand, remark* ing in_ .conclusion that " ores of antimony, lead, zinc, mercury, and several other metals: have been discovered in New Zealand, bufl scarcely in sufficient quantity to deserve) special mention. Much of the wild, mountainous oountry- of the South Island and, o£ the thickly-wooded central and northern parts of the North Island are- still unexf plored, and vast mineral wealth may yefi be discovered in these areas of terra incog.nita."

Mr J. H. Witheford', in opening 1 tM di*» cussion, pointed out that the great secret/ of New Zealand's " prosperity was its' vasfi natural resources and the fact that ' ita working classes -vere -the -nost industrious! set or men on the face of the earth.* There was no labour difficulty in- NewZealand. If there were labour difficulties how could three-quarters of a million) people produce £16,000,000 ,worth of ex< port, in addition to providing- for the -re*quirements of the country? It was fair?and right that the New Zealand working men) should be credited with what was absolutely their due. As stated by Lord Ranfurly "in a. paper read by him some while ago, % the productiveness and prosperity of Ne\* ' Zealand had been brought^about by the natural wealth aad -rich resources of the? .- country, in conjunction with the < vigour and industry of its population. It was, however, essential that the people interested in the development and progress of thei country should be able to find the necessary capital for development. Under the ancienti system geological references to mineral dis-« tricts /tete almost entirely in long terms; very few people could spell or. understand. Their chairman was one of the first white men to traverse the auriferous belt which 1 struck through lie North Island .and ox*" tended from the Waihi - through the Ure» wera country. Tha* country had been' locked up against European enterprise,' but with such a man at the head of th* Geological Department as Dx Bell, who. was allowed to have a staff of men to make analyses, and to show how mineral re» . sources could bo worked, there would be an inducement to people to .provide funds' and to arrange with the Government to take up areas, and to expend capital in euoh directions as would, be profitable. New Zealand's prosperity, however, did not only depend on the gold — there. 'was 1 iron. Dr Bell had had a staff of -16 men. at work at Parapara, and had made a njofffc careful" analysis 7 of that "wonderful deposit-^ about a quarter of a mile wide, several miles long, and carrying ojex 51 per cent, metallic "Iron. ' The one thing required -was to erect blast furnaces _and .iron and ■ steel! works. This would 1 mean such an 1 impetus for ..New Zealand that very few people could, realise. Pitteburg , Middlesboro, and such places, with their rapid advances and increased population ana wealth, showed what "it meant — they owed their start to iron and steel development. The lecturer had said he expected to hear, tfhat iron and steel" works would shortly be started in New Zealand. The late Mr Louis SpitzeL-^over a year ago — had been j jeady to find a quarter of a million o£ money to put up works. Mr Spitzel, thd son of the gentleman just named, hade guaranteed a quarter of a million for the iron project. -The Hon. Walter Johnston-, of New Zealand, joined in raising a furs fcher £I^,ooo in New Zealand} he. however, had since died. These difficulties had checked things, but the cloud" Was onlyj temporary. Mr J. L. V. Vogel jeferred" to the ques> tion of Hhe solution o.f gold~. 'There was a very great deal of interest icing taken 1 in the origin of gold deposits, and any* thing Dr Bell could say toward solving this great problem would Tie of very great interest. Very little \a& been said ol what were known, professionally as thei " rarer " minerals in New Zealand. None/ could say when these would oome intbi demand, but a 7ery 'ew years changed a) " rarer " mineral- into one very much id/ demand. . tie joined 'a congratulating New Zealand on having saoured Dr. Bella services.- — (" Hear, hear/'\

Sir Frederick Young 1 referred to hia association with New Zealand in the early days and to the *orb of Ed-ward .Gibbon, - Wa-kefield, who had hoped they would not! find gold in New, Zealand, the. discover* of gold in Australia, taring turned that? country upside down. Mr -George Beetham .ef erred to the greafl loss New Zealand and the scientific worloj had sustained by the death at Sir Jame* Hector. He had ,io doubt that Dr Belli would be a worthy successor in assisting New Zealand to develop her extraordinary resources. He had been one of those whot with earied success had endeavoured to! assist in the development of the mining, agricultural, and pastoral districts, and ha did hope that the hidden riches of the* Dominion might be brought to light withii* reasonable time to the great benefit of altMr Vogel had touched upon a subject of great interest, the irocess by whioh gold! was deposited in the rooks. In th« Karangabake district he (Mr Beetham) had! seen *o? the first time what .seemed to him the evidence of the gradual deposition oS gold by hot Arater and orystalliaatipn. Iff was in a small reef, about an inoh ia width, and on each side of the fissure the: gold had formed in beautiful flowers— not exactly crystals. It *as one of the most, wonderful sights he had eve* seen. Un* fortunately the gold obtained from thatf reef did lot pay, but it showed the v golof had been deposited by crystallisation* through the hot *atev. Mr Edward Watefield pointed out thag the significance of New Zealand beinfr raisej« to the status of a Dominion lay in the facff that for all time it was to be a oountryi standing by itself apart from all 'othett countries in the British Empire, never tOS become merged 'a. any other country. This! was a triumph for the principles of. the: early colonists. He-hadiJ.no doubt that Dl 5 - Bell would' develop results that would raiser New Zealand 3o an extraordinary pitch ofr» prosperity. The speaker then referred^ tot the value of the waterfalls in the Dominion.'. It had been a hobby of his for years thati the future success of the development off the vast iron deposits there lay in the? utilisation of the enormous water power of the country. He, had, an islea that comet

Say Milford Sound would be another Glasgow, where fleets of warships would be built of New Zealand steel, hammered cut by power from the Sutherland Falls, end the great falls- on the We6t Coast. The development of the Parapara iron deposits he had every" reason to believe was 'joing to open up a new era in the history of the country.

Lord Ranfnrly, in closing the discussion, said the surface of New Zealand had hardly yet been scratched. But why Mr Wakefield should s desire to- set down ironworks in the_ middle of Milford Sound, and the finest scenery in the whole world, was more than he could understand. He might have selected ■ some' other spot than one? inteiy iznique In the " whole world. Lord Ranfurly then referred to the "beach" claims- of New Zealand and -the kauri gum industry.

A hearty vote of thanks having been, passed to the lecturer, Dr Bell said Sir James Hector had' done perfectly splendid work. As to the deposit of gold in hot Bprings of the North Island, it was a difficult question. But in some of the hot springs not only were gold and silver being deposited, but they had found niekelt, antimony, and some other- minerals-. It was hoped , before long they., might be able to bring out a paper proving that a variety of metals were being deposited by these hot springs^ which he thought would give illumrnating information on the interesting subject of the genesis of ore deposits.