Is Booming

C Nicke Mining

S an Indication of the size of its smelting programme, the Nickel Co. at Noumea has signed a itract with the Pentecote group mines (at Kouaiou, on the NC t coast) providing for delivery :he Nickel Co. this year of 150,000 s with an average nickel content I pc. ctivity in the Kouaiou region is t in full swing after a quiescent od. Bulldozers and “traxcavators” working at extraction of the from open-cuts. The mineral is *ied 20 kilometres along a new 1 to the sea, where a 250-metres ess belt conveyor is planned to I ships in a couple of hours, ut 200 workers are employed at installations. tie Pentecote group has opened a mine on the west coast. The mt—about 5,000 tons of low le nickel ore monthly—will travel dlometres by lorry to be loaded Japanese ships for Japan. The shipment is scheduled for I. ie Nickel Co.’s administration icil in Paris will shortly ask the eholders to increase the com fs capital from 984 million to 1 million francs. (It is presumed cs) ese are French Metropolitan Janwhile, the NC administration Jd recently that the country’s J ral riches are gradually dis anng. About 10 million tons of ore have been exported. (Most of 6 pc content but some ship s fl a X e been as rich as 11 pc.) ould have been politic to slow i the rate of export in past

years, and now, when there is a nickel boom, it is necessary to curb the draining away of the country’s basic wealth. In future, export licences will be granted only to those contracts which have official approval, and exports will be no richer than 3.5 pc.

Application of this ruling will be general, but exceptions might be made after study by the authorities. —Noumea Correspondent.

A .recent survey shows that the Territory of Hawaii now has thirteen ™P da / d . broadcastin g stations, three FM stations, and three television stations, in addition to hundreds of commercial telephone and telegraph stations.