378 



was discovered in 1861, the chrome ore is in serpentinous schists, between a 

 mass of Elvenite with copper, on the west, and a band of limestone on the 

 east ; while Black Reef, and Ben Nevis mine, still further south, occur in 

 tough green serpentine. All the mines would yield a large supply of the 

 chrome ore, if there was any demand for it, but they are very difficult of 

 access. 



At the northern termination of the mineral belt, a few small copper veins 

 have been discovered, at Croixelles Harbour, and D'Urville Island, the ore, 

 as at Dun Mountain, occurring in small nests in Serpentine and Hornblende 

 schist. 



There are two more copper lodes to be noticed, but neither of which 

 have yet been worked. They are both in the Province of Otago, and the 

 ore is Sulphide of Copper, occurring in the metamorphic schists. This 

 first is at Moke Creek, near the Wakatipu Lake, where the lode is about 

 four feet in width. Limestone and wood are found in the neighbourhood, and 

 by reducing the ore to a regulus, containing sixty per cent, of the metal instead 

 of twenty, which is the average of the crude ore, it might be worked with 

 advantage if the land carriage were improved, notwithstanding its distance 

 from the coast. 



The second lode, at Waipori, near Tuapeka, has only been imperfectly 

 explored, but it appears to be similar to that at Moke Creek. I will only 

 enumerate a few of the indications which have been observed elsewhere of 

 the occurrence of other ores, as no other mineral lodes have been explored 

 besides those I have mentioned. Thus we have silver lead ore in the Wan- 

 gapeka river in Nelson ; red copper ore in Bligh Sound, on the West Coast, 

 and Magnetic iron ore of Otago ; and lastly, I must not omit to mention 

 the Manganese veins which have been worked in the island of Pakihi, near 

 Auckland, an account of the geology of which is given by Captain Hutton in 

 the first volume of our Transactions ; nor the rich lode of the same ore which 

 is found at Tikiora at the Bay of Islands. 



Coal Fields. 



The classification of the coal deposits of New Zealand is founded partly 

 on geological age, but chiefly on the chemical composition of the coal. Besides 

 the tertiary lignites, there are two coal formations, both of which, as 1 have 

 already mentioned, belong to a period which is equivalent to the Upper 

 Secondary and Older Tertiary strata of Europe. All the thickest seams of 

 coal yet found, are in the upper formation. The coal is of two varieties, the 

 one containing a lai'ge quantity of water in its compositon being inferior ; while 

 the other is a dry coal, and of value equal to the best that is ever imported 

 from Australia. 



Coal mines have been opened in every Province of the Colony, but the 

 space at my disposal only permits of my mentioning a few of the chief localities 

 where coal is being actually worked. I commence with the Kawa kawa mine, 

 at the Bay of Islands, from which coal is at the present time being excavated 

 at the rate of about 1500 tons per month, chiefly for the supply of the Thames 

 Gold Fields. This valuable seam was originally discovered in 1863, by 

 Maoris, when digging for Kauri gum, but it was not systematically worked for 

 several years after that date. The seam is from ten to sixteen feet thick, and 

 occurs at the base of a Green sand formation, that crops out not only at Kawa 

 kawa, but so far south as Wanganui, and at intermediate localities, so that its 

 extent is very considerable. The coal is now excavated by a drive into the 

 side of the hill where it was first found, but for a long time it was worked by 

 a shaft sunk on the outcrop of the seam. A tramway has been made for three 

 and a half miles, to convey the coal to a point on the river where it can be 



