Brown Hæmatite Ore.

This iron has the following characters: Colour uniform, approaching white; structure homogeneous, and finely granular, hard, brittle. It is therefore the variety called white iron.

A further valuable deposit of brown haematite has been discovered by an officer of the Geological Survey Department on the west side of Mount Peel, where the deposit is about 60 feet thick. The ore contains 56 per cent, of metallic iron, and has been traced for a page 45 distance of three miles, beyond which point it is reported to swell out to as much as a mile in width.

The following are the chief localities in which iron ore is found:

Specular Iron Ore.—Dun Mountain, Nelson. Occurs in irregular veins in greenstone rocks; contains 63 per cent, of metallic iron.

Specular Iron Ore.—Maori Point, Shotover, Otago. A 6-ft. vein in mica-schist, equally rich with the above; extent unknown.

Compact Iron Ore.—D'Urville Island, Nelson. Vein, thickness unknown, in diorite slate, with serpentine and chrome; yields 63 per cent, of iron.

Magnetic Iron Ore.—This valuable ore, though occurring chiefly as black sand, is found in several parts of the colony in the massive form.

Magnetic Iron Ore.—Dun Mountain, Nelson. In a vein 16in. thick in serpentinous slates.

Magnetic Iron Ore.—Wakatipu Lake, Otago. In a vein in mica-schist.

Magnetic Iron Ore.—Maramarua, Frith of Thames. From a vein in ferriferous slates; contains only oxides of titanium and manganese.

Black Ironsand.—From beach at Taranaki.

Iron-band Ore.—Contains 70 per cent, of iron. Occurs at Wyndham River, Otago, and Manukau, Auckland; formed by black-sand layers becoming cemented with hæmatite. This would be a most valuable ore if obtained in large quantities.

Brown Hæmatite, or hydrous oxide, also occurs in Amuri in great quantity.

Reniform Iron Ore, Mongonui.

Bog Iron Ore.—Spring Swamp, Auckland. Forms thick layers at the bottom of swamps. Though rich in iron, the ore is inferior on account of the sulphur and phosphorus it usually contains.