Ironsand

Abounds on Stewart Island, particularly between Half Moon Bay and Patersons Inlet, and is asserted to be of superior quality. A parcel was sent some years ago to Melbourne, and the assayers for the Victorian Government, and the Oriental Bank, after smelting and manufacturing [unclear: a] steel bar from it, reported that it was not only superior to the Taranaki sand, but contained a sufficient quantity of gold to pay the expense of smelting. In view of the success lately achieved at Auckland in smelting the Manukau ironsand, our local deposits may become of great importance.