IRON DEPOSITS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 13

IRON DEPOSITS.

NEW FIELD TO BE EXPLOITED. HASTINGS, April 7. A movement is well forward to establish strong smelting works to develop the ironfield known a-s the Anakaka block, alongside the. famous Parapara deposits at Golden Bay, Nelson. The Onakaka deposits were reported on by Dr Marshall, whose analysis disclosed iron ore of firstclass quality, capable of yielding pig iron of the highest grade. The block comprises 900 acres, and is stated to be practically a mass of iron, including faces of solid "iron 200 ft thick. Ninety acres have been cleared of bush, and Professor Marshall estimates that 22,500,000 tons of iron are in sight on this. The quantity of ore on the 900 acres must therefore be enormous. The Onakaka block is in no way associated with Parapara, which has been the subject of speculation for the last thirty years. It is intended to erect blast furnaces for smelting the pig iron, and leaving to others the manufacture of steel. The property is situated on the coast, where the largest ship can lie close in, and the elevatioa of the mine will allow ordinary quarrying and transport by gravitation to the furnaces and wharves. Coal and lime have also been found in close proximity. The capital of the company will be £200,000, and although the prospectus is not out of the printer's hand a large number of shares have alreadv been subscribed in Hawke's Bay. Only another 25,000 £1 shares need' be subscribed to secure registration. The cost of erecting the blast furnaces is set down at from £75,000 to £BO,OOO.