50 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
Pre-war prices of tungsten-ore generally fluctuated between 28s. 6d. and 
34s. per unit, equivalent to £92 12s. 6d. to £110 10s. per ton of 65-per-cent, 
ore or concentrate. After the outbreak of the war tungsten-ore was almost 
unsaleable for a time, but in June, 1915, the London market was more than 
re-established, and prices went up to 55s. per unit. At this stage the 
Ministry of Munitions took control of the supplies of tungsten-ore in the 
Empire, and fixed a standard price of 55s. per unit c.i.f. London, which 
remained in force until the end of 1917. The standard British price was 
then raised to 60s. per unit, equivalent to £195 per ton of 65-per-cent, 
material, or about double the pre-war price. The British Government pays 
a considerable proportion of the freight and insurance of ore shipped from 
New Zealand, so that shippers get the full benefit of the increased price. 
As is well known, the price of tungsten-ore in the United States since the 
end of 1915 has violently fluctuated, but has usually been considerably 
higher than the British price. Thus the average price of scheelite in the 
United States during 1917 was 22.75 dollars and of wolfram 21.34 dollars 
per unit per short ton,* prices equivalent to approximately 106s. 4d. and 
98s. per unit per long ton. 
Tungsten occurs in New Zealand combined in the minerals scheelite and 
wolfram. A list of localities where these are found is given on page 29 of 
the 10th Annual Report of the Geological Survey. The only notable dis¬ 
covery of tungsten-ore since the publication of that report was that made 
by Rogers and party, who in March, 1917, found an auriferous-quartz vein 
carrying wolfram in the valley of Lammerlaw Creek, about two miles from 
Waipori Township. The occurrence of scheelite in the lodes of this locality 
has long been known. 
Scheelite is much more abundant in New Zealand than wolfram, being 
widely distributed throughout Otago and Marlborough, where it occurs in 
quartz lodes traversing mica-schist country. These lodes are always more 
or less auriferous, and some of them were worked for their gold content 
years before the fact that they contained scheelite was known. The mineral 
is also found in gravels derived from the denudation of the lode-bearing 
areas. At the present time the largest amount of scheelite is obtained from 
the neighbourhood of Glenorchy, at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu. 
Here the ore is found in rich bunches irregularly distributed in rather 
narrow quartz veins. The quartz throughout contains a little scheelite and 
a very small quantity of gold. For the reasons that the scheelite is rela¬ 
tively friable, and that slimed scheelite is difficult to save, the ore is reduced 
to powder in several stages, being treated by jigs between these operations. 
No attempt is made to save the gold. At Deep Creek, in Marlborough, 
the scheelite is much more sparingly disseminated throughout the ore, which, 
moreover, contains a notable amount of gold. The only lode worked is large 
and regular. Here the ore is pulverized in one operation in a stamper 
battery, the gold being saved on amalgamated copper plates and the 
scheelite on Wilfley tables. 
In 1916 sluicing for wolfram and tinstone was carried on near Port 
Pegasus, Stewart Island. The yield was unprofitable, and work was dis¬ 
continued after six months. 
* Eng. & Min. Jour., voh 105, No. 2, p. 91, Jan. 12, 1918. 
