377 



per-green," from the decomposition of these, forms a broad green mark on the 

 cliffs, which first attracted attention from the sea. 



The next copper mining adventure to be mentioned is that of the Dun 

 Mountain Mining Company, and for the collection of some of the information 

 concerning it I am indebted to my late assistant, Mr. T. It. Haeket, who 

 came to New Zealand, originally, as Mining Manager to that Company. 



Along the east side of Blind Bay, extending S.W. from D'Urville Island, 

 is a line of bare brown hills, which are characterised by low scrubby vegetation, 

 that contrasts with the surrounding green of the foi-ests. These mark what is 

 known as the " Mineral belt," and then* singular barren appearance is due to 

 the large proportion of Magnesia which is mixed with the soil that is derived 

 from the rocks which compose them. 



The section of the hills between Nelson and the Mineral range, shows 

 that these magnesian rocks occur in the upper part of the Triassic formation, 

 — the lower part consisting of slates, limestones, and indurated sandstones, 

 containing Triassic fossils, passing, in an ascending series, to Diabase 

 rock and Breccia, associated with Diorite and other dykes. In this part of 

 the formation, metallic ores of copper and chrome occur, not as distinct lodes, 

 but as lenticular masses and nests. Dun Mountain, which is the best known 

 locality, is composed of a peculiar mineral, named Dunite by Professor 

 Hochstetter, which has the same composition as Olivine, a mineral generally 

 found in basaltic lavas. This rock appears at the surface as a large mass, 

 several miles in extent. It is speckled with chromic iron, very much in the 

 same manner as garnets occur in schistose rocks ; but the principal deposit of 

 ore is in a band of Serpentine, lying to the east of the Dunite, and between it 

 and a band of limestones. The Serpentine is traversed by dykes of Felstone 

 and Diallage, and a great variety of other minerals — the district being certainly 

 the most interesting locality in New Zealand to a mineralogist. 



Copper, associated with Specular iron, was first discovered in 1853, and 

 occurs in the metallic form, and also a red, gray, and blue oxide, but in small 

 quantities, about thirty tons only having been excavated. 



The chrome ore forms wedge-shaped masses in the Serpentine, which 

 vary in thickness, from a few inches to as much as twelve feet. The ore is 

 crystalline in its texture, generally pure, but occasionally traversed by thin 

 streaks of Serpentine. The veins are generally discovered cropping out at the 

 surface for a few fathoms in parallel lines, but never form continuous lodes. 



Chromic iron which is chiefly used for making dye stuffs, contains about 

 forty-five per cent, of chromium, and was worth, before the discovery of the 

 Analine dyes, £10 10s. per ton. 5000 tons have been raised, and the veins 

 already opened expose an estimated quantity of 10,000 tons. The mines, 

 which are at an altitude of 2500 feet above the sea, have been connected with 

 the Port of Nelson by a line of railway 12^ miles in length, and having a 

 gradient in a great part of its course, of one in eighteen. The shipments of 

 the ore amount to 4500 tons, which are delivered in London at a cost of 

 <£3 13s. per ton. 



On the same belt of mineral ground as the Dnn Mountain, several other 

 mines have been opened, in a line extending for fifteen miles, but ore has only 

 been shipped from three of these mines, which possess the same general 

 character as the Dun Mountain mine, without however, the occurrence of the 

 Dunite or some of the other minerals, which might otherwise have been 

 supposed to be necessary accompaniments of the metallic ores. I may mention 

 that the only other place in New Zealand where Dunite has been discovered, 

 besides the Dun Mountain, is at Milford Sound, where it also contains chromic 

 iron, and passes into jade or Maori greenstone. 



At Anniseed Valley mine, a few miles south of the Dun Mountain, which 



