NEW ZEALAND IRON ORES AND SANDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 146, 17 July 1901, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND IRON ORES AND SANDS.

TiXTRAC'L' FKOII MINUS G JOURNAL | RAILWAY AND COMMERCIAL . GAZETTE. ' ((From Our Own Correspondent.) ; In your issue of January 19 your leading article, dealing with " Colonial Iron Manufacture," is not only instruc ive, but is highly interesting, ai.d shows vary clearly that the New Zealand iron earids are yery valuable when product therefrom cm bo classed aa biingi superior to tha iron and steel produced of ether Russia or Sweden. Practical 'eats have baen made in Cable's foundry, in the New Zealand Government workshops, and in other pwtq of the colony, and in every instance the re -ults have proved highly satisfactory. 1 Your correspondent has handled chisels and other implements, such as horse ohoes, <fcc,, manufactured from the ironsand, and in every instance the contents of the article show that the metal is of superior c'ass, so much so thai; competition in this respect could be treatel indifferently. It is qui'e true what you stat l ) about I he Legislative Assembly of New Zealand regarding the bounty. They ofier £1 per ton to any company who will produc9 20,000 tons of marketable iron or steel, and have !.ls) decided to purchase the whele of their iron and steel requirtments at a pries which shall be the sirne as though he iron hai been imported plus the freight. I have it from a very reliab'e source that the Government are likely to go even further, in order to foster the indusVy. As to the extent of tbe Government's liberality in thedireo'ion indicated, I am not in a po iMnn to s'ate. S i'l, apirt from that, their bonus <;n ' proonis * to purchase all their iron ' a>id steel r quiiements nt the saw priw as it ros ! s to import is vxt. emoly generous indeed, and their dffoits to p'ish this important industry are r orthy if more than o-dinary parsing n >t c^ I might mention that, it it the intention ~f the H»n. A. J. C«dmat', la'e Minister < f Mic*?, and at a M'mber of the L'gi la'ivs Council of New Zetland, in company with J5. M, Smi'h, MH.fi,, to proceed to London. w:th th<* object of placing the matter b'-fo 1 e iftV' storfc, with a view to acquiring pufficieut capital to crmmecce niniiufn turing iron and f»trel from the iron san 'r of Tar.maki, and the iron r a of Golien Bay. As regards the first, named, the quantity is incalculable' The b acheg where the iron sands are d< pos'ted are quiti 80 miles in length, with sand tj a depth of eight to nw< Ive fj< t, millions of tons lying in r> adiness to be operated upon. The amount of ironoand exposed to view, would, I should imagine, be sufficient to manufactui e iron and etiel for the whole of the world's conaunsp'ioD. These Bands are gteadi y cast up from the ocean] on to the beaches, a.nd the supply is apparently inexhaustible. Regarding the iron-ore deposits you tre .tion, huge hills of this material are '■Spoifd to view, and ts with tbe fanHs, he supply is abundant. j Mr.jD'dman hos obtained the exclusive rights and -ptioas to work the | Heaclie's and iron ore deposits; also the limestone b ds and coal mines at Mukau.. Th« d< pifi' s of limestone, like tha iron ores and a nd*, can bi seen' standing,: up in the high cliffs and vidgfß, and its extent is also incalculable. | The coal roiris have also betn f ecu red by thf s ■ m* gentleman, so that he has no pans in possessing himself of the lock, s'ock and barrel of a great concern, and what will in all likelihood gradually develop into one of the most important in dustries in tha Australasian coloni s. I Iu working the (oal minrs and the i on Dil l limestone deposits, the main obj :ct will be how to work the various concerns upon the most economical l basis. No doubt tha best and most economical system would be to convey the limestones and coil to the variom smelting furnoces, of which several of the blisis would have to be put up a'ono the various beae' es where the ands are deposited. ( You rrfer in your artile to t' e' depth of water in the M< kiu harbour as no 1; being sufficient to allow of the exit of large vessels. Well, at ordinary 'ides the water dep'h amounts »o nim feet six inches, ordinal y spring tides 11 f. on 10 inohes, high s >*ing tid s 12 feet six inch's liside the bar the dap'h of the river to the c al-mines nnd limes'one drpc-it is from 17 feet; in shallow parts 11 feet. This can, &t' a small co*t, be deepened, for the river j bed t coi isis's of snags of which are v?ry rradily done away with by the assistance of dynamite. Kega*ding the' harb.'ur, the Qove<nmenfc, I u'der- 1 stand, would dredge and d* epen the | haibour in the event of a strong com - ( p*ny undertaking tooparate, go that it can be seen that every facili'v and encsu'agement is offe'ed to the iuvistor to enter our iron a'd steel industry. | The pr. sent c st of delivery of coal unscreened to tie boat side is 5s per ton. Freight at pr l s nt, is 10s. Toe-e cos's can be reluced considerably, especially the freight, which would not cost more th°.n 5s p«r ton, i.e., if suitable st amei s were con-1 s'rueted. A st am-r of tha clissj r quired is now in course of con- j s rue ion, ■ nd trials of th's vessel will afford a g r o 1 idei of fu ure re-'| quiremen'p. Liuiisone costs 2s per 1 ton to quarry i r , and the dis'ancj from 1 the ki'ts to Now P ; ym u hj, blasts would be in work, is about 50 ' miles. F. eight at present, is ab .ut 10i j ] but can re luc.ia to sn. Wharfage 1 1 present rate is Is per ton. In this, 'I spec'al arrangements can be made,!' when the cos 1 ; could bo reduced to 6d ; per ton. It will te teen that the cost, < f limes'on- 1 , to wio it and freight it, ' would not be hsivy. 1 Dealing ngain wi h the iron o erle- f posits at Golden Bay, I might: mention 1 that this is situated in tbe Ne's m pro- 1 vices', or what is known a* Parapara 1 Inht. The d pi s'ts < f iron ire and ' limestone are very extensive, and,' lik<- 1 tlose of the iron sands, the tonnage ' would run intomilliocs. 1 From tbe New Zea'and Mines De c partnsent and Lai oratory the lata Mr, I Skay, Government Anal> s', performed a [fpme analysis of the lim. stonep, with 1 the fol owing results Locality: Mo- f kau, North Taramki ; N T o. 1, light s colour, fir e gr vintd ston?»; No. 2, « hrow.i colour, large grair.ed stone ; N >, a 3, djrkgrey and mottled. All ti.e-e k are coherent, and would prove u eful * l uilding stone. No.'s I and 2 are fr. c for burniog into lime. 1 Analysis No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. | Carbonate of ... 88 05 83*9-i 73*17 1 Magnesia ... 239 2'68 246 a Oxide o£ Alumina ... 2*21 2'91 2*19 Siiioioua nutter ... 7*ll 10 24 2200 c Soluble in i acid wattr ... 0.24 0 24 o*lß s 10000 100.00 100.00 i Thcsa resulls a'e very enc .uragiog, t and in a measure show the lime-stone (

to bn of fin-t-qualitv. Taking the whole thing in f o consideration, end alsi the inducement offered by the Government of the co'ony, this alone is a strong bait for any company of investors to bite at. Your correspondent looks up m this iron ora nnd sand induitry of New Zetland as being one of the <rioßt legitimate it,ve tments in the Australasian colonies. For if the Hon. A. J Cud man, M.L.0., la'e Minister of Mines, should uudtrtafee the project of obtaining capital for t l ie development md manufacture of iron and s eel, investors can res'. asßUr.d that thsy will be daaling with one of tnestraight es 1 : men in tbe cblocy. As Mioister of Mines tbe honourable gentleman won golden opinions, and as Minister for Railways his successes were even greater. COST OF LABOUR. Touching upon the cost of labour, both in England and the colonies, I notice in tbe annual review of Messrs Low and Sans and Bid ford (Limited), I the average wage paid by them has baen steadily increasing for years pant, and in 1900 the avarage stood at 7s 4d per day. This compares very favourably with the wage paid in New Zeahnd, the average being 7s 6d per daj>. Tnking these- figures into consideration, is should not prove an obstacle to the manufacture of steel and ir >n as econonrcally as it is carried out in Engl nd. This should show that the co-t of labcur will cot act as a deterrent to success, tnd if a company is formed they will find tfcat they can carry on their manufacture and work their coalmine and limestone equally ai cheaply, if not mors cheaply, than it costs elsewhere. S'nje writing tfce above I l«*>rn tbat the H*>n. A, J. Cadman, M.L(\, of New Z'Aland proceeds to London by the s.«. Karamea, leaving aufkl nd about April 2ud. He takes wih h'm ful'y ten tons of ironsand, iro'i ores, lim* st m«, and coal, so thae thi 8e who are interested in this'imp">rtanr< industry, will have an opportunity of ioep ctiog some of out materials ttat in the near future will be turned into metal th\t will compare wi ! h «nj thing elsewhere. Thames, March 29.