New Zealand - "The Thames built Auckland." Looking across the Waiotahi Mine to the wharf at the north end of the town in 1886. - T. O'Leary Collection #603296 - Mining in New Zealand began when the Māori quarried rock such as argillite in times prior to European colonisation. Mining by Europeans began in the latter half of the 19th century. - New Zealand has abundant resources of coal, silver, iron ore, limestone and gold. It ranked 22 in the world in terms of iron ore production and 29th in gold production. The total value of mineral production in New Zealand was $1.5 billion in 2006 (excluding oil and gas). The most important metallic minerals produced are gold (10.62 tonnes), silver (27.2 tonnes) and titanomagnetite ironsand (2.15 million tonnes). A 2008 report estimated that the unexploited resources of just seven core minerals (including gold, copper, iron and molybdenum) totalled around $140 billion in worth. - The mining sector makes a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy. In 2004 the value of production from mining (excluding oil and gas) was $1,142 million, or just under 1% of gross domestic product. In 2017 mining contributed $3,079m (1.3%) to a GDP of $235,945m. - In 2009 there were 6,800 people employed directly in mining, and 8,000 people, indirectly, flowing from the economic activity of the 6,800. The median wage for a mining employee was $57,320 in 2008, compared to the New Zealand median of $33,530. In 2017 mining employed 5,300 (0.2%), out of a total workforce of 2,593,000. In 2015 miners' earnings average hourly earnings were $39.86 and median hourly earnings $31.33, though the number of miners had fallen to 6,300, compared to nationwide figures of $27.49, $22.92 and 2,004,100 (3%). These figures may though need to be treated with caution, as miners appear to have been earning 5% of total income (average earnings x employees), though GDP contribution in 2015 was only 1.6%. - The latter decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century saw opposition to mining on environmental grounds. The Crown Minerals Act 1991 is a major piece of legislation relating to mining, and a review of Schedule 4 of the Act provoked considerable controversy late in the first decade of the 2000s. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_New_Zealand) Servants of the North - Servants of the North will have a wide appeal for those to whom ships and the people who sail in them have a special attraction, and to the many people who have a hankering to know more of the past. The book sets out to record the heyday of the coastal steamers, when the little ships of the Northern SteamShip Company carried passengers and cargo to isolated settlements scattered around the small bays and up the tidal creeks of North Auckland and further south as well, to Wanganui, Whakatane and the Coromandel. From a store of personal memories, and the spare time study of a life-time, Cliff Furniss recreates scenes from Auckland's colourful past: of the days when skippers listened for the bark of a well-known dog to guide their ships into a fog-bound estuary; when steamers raced neck-to-neck to the only available berth; of the days when ships struck snags and foundered up the far reaches of rivers. - We read of those weekend excursions when Auckland's tram-cars brought thousands of excited holiday-makers into town to board the steamers for a happy day at Kawau or Waiheke. There are tales of accidents and breakdowns at sea, the inevitable shipwrecks, and the gradual decline in passenger services in the face of road and rail competitors, and, giving the whole a special flavour, are the author's reminiscences of his own experiences on the coastal ships, including his first impressions as a very small boy. - For the old reader, Servants of the North will bring back many memories; and for those too young to have experienced the trials and pleasures of travel by coastal ships, here is a chance to sample them in comfort. Here is the chance to sniff the coal smoke, and to go down in memory to the Northern or Kings Wharf, carrying your bags along the narrow gangway in the flickering light of a kerosene lantern, to board the Gael or the Hauti for a trip to Warkworth, Patetonga or Coromandel. - Author: Furniss, Cliff - ISBN: 058901031X Click the link provided at the top to purchase the book through the MAD on New Zealand Shop - Supporting New Zealand Authors and Artists