PARAPARA IRON.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12416, 28 March 1911, Page 5

PARAPARA IRON.

, In , connection 'withi-a letter m the Lyttelton Times descriptive of the iron methods of*'working them, a resident intimately connected with the Parapara Iron Ore Company, ahd having a personal knowledge of the .field, gave a re porter some interesting facts. The deposit, he said, was limonite, or brown heniatite, and not the ordinaryred heina'tite ore. The highest out or 34 assays had; shown 58.18 of metallic iron, and the lowest 40.71, making an a%'erage iron content for the 34 samples of 51.79. It was impossible to estimate the quantity r of iron ore on the field, for Bin,ce r j Dr. |Bell*«had ; been there much latgter ' qoa»ititibs ; of ore had been exposed, and the company had traversed wider, ;fields.v The length of the Parapara and Washbpurne' blocks waß, only two mijes : and a half from north to south, and !• the; field; rose from 30ft above sea level jto i7ooftv; at the extreme end oi the ',)^js£.'JT2ie yore, body as at present developed showed a maximum width ol 30 chains. Tb'e second ore deposit, on the Onakaka block* continued southerly and commenced about. 2oooft, running to 3500ft* above ; spa level, for about two miles'. A, heavy deposit of limestone •fringed the lease on the western side, so .'that the stone and iron could be quarried- on /-the same level. A temporary , pile/ pier 300 ft m length, had been-' erected by, the company on a tidal basin within/ a* f^w qhains of the- deposit. ..ylfowoutdi 'm the opinion of the exper^'-t>e;'a" great mistake to 4*ll the basin with.islftg, y which could be got rid lof by;;'conversion' info basic slag for feri tillers, 'or the manufacture of silica | cement, ' was jabout 450 acres m extent, : and np to -a few years ago a vestal 15ft or 16ft could enter : jt'.r:'"j;-TJrt| bottom was, now filled, with slmofrrg '*•■ tailings, and testing had proved that these could be removed at small cost, and a depth of 30 or 40ft secured.,.. That would make an admirable inland harbor, and it would be pennywrte» tp/cj^yert)^. into'- a ' dumping grcHjhdUL.jTfie. co-respondent was somewliat m. fcrror regarding the Pittsburg Works, for the average content there was'ifoi , d^ke v Su / pei!ior ;^o)f«, not less than 50' per cent. It had been much higher, but asy the rich surface ores were exhaustedi the values decreased. The. 50 per cent, was an average, and not the 10 to 20' per cent, quoted by the correspondent;; The writer, had also forgotten to mention the "overburden on all ore dpfS^;#Aajtily KM^sdd > by'i 'glacial df ifc.'f , It £&^''sam#mes hundreds of feet m qepth,vbut the Parapara deposit was particularly \ favoured m regard to its riddance by the securing of the rights of the Sluicing Company's water supply, which would enable the overburden, to be sluiced away at a small cost. • The- water would later on bfe utilised / or ;fche generation of power for the elejfcrjfy/B^et-Hti^ of $ig iron. Sfectric st^Cwae' 'nW.*conjmanding - the highest prices m the -.world's markets. The Parapara company also 'held rights over ten miles of : , foreshore ; from the Taranaki Harbour Board, and* the '. iropsands therCyeou^d be smelted only electrically. Discussing the suggestion of the correspondent that a small furnace .to pioduce about. 35 .tons of pigiron a day should be established lit the deposit, the expert jsaid> that no. such furnace could pay under the best conditions. Pigiron must be produced m quantity and of quality, and an expert metallurgist would-be 'required . to supervise and regulate' the fifing for the furnace. One class, of "pig", was not suitable for all kinds of foundry purposes, and it would j be necesary to produce iron carrying any desired percentage of phosphorus or silica. The quantity of iron produced by an ordinary ■; blast furnace would be far m exfiea# of that required m New Zeoland, and it would be necesary to find markets m other countries. Coke would have to be produced for the furnaces, and the gases would liave to be saved. The coal would also have to be imported and -coked," m n^odern- oven., The whole workft, would have to be on scientific and .economic lines. As for attempting' to begin on the £20,000 suggested,/that sum' would barely erect a -wharTf. ; Tiie\ ; company was not . looking (orysmttfl., beginnings, for the PaVapara depijsi^. \yas too' large to be. spoilt by 'paltry Experiments.