New Caledonian Mining
p. 57 · Read in the full issue
BHP Interest in Manganese and Iron Ore
From a Special Correspondent THE New Caledonian Mines Depart ment reports that interest shown by Broken Hill Pty., Ltd., in supplies of manganese is responsible for some new prospecting and the opening of a num ber of mines.
The main mines are those of Mt.
Videault in the Poya region, which yielded 1,500 tons in four months of last year; and smaller concessions near Voh and Bourail. Extreme variation in the quality of the ore, and the presence, in some cases, of silica make it difficult to esti mate the real value of some deposits.
The Department also reports that fol lowing an agreement with Broken Hill, a trial shipment of New Caledonian iron ore, amounting to 10,000 tons, will be tried out at Newcastle. If it smelts satis factorily this may prove the start of regular export. It is understood that ores of a similar composition, from another part of the world, have been successfully smelted in England.
That the production of nickel, like the number of people employed in the industry, has shown a sad decline in New Caledonia, is shown by the following table of ore taken from the mines in the past ten years. The figures are in tons: — 1939 370,468 1940 461,411 1941 305,348 1942 256,555 1943 210,697 1944 231,850 1945 135,806 1946 107,944 1947 95,570 1948 96,415 1949 (10 months) 75,170 Of the ore produced in 1939-1941, 127,500 tons went to the enemies of France — Germany and Japan.