WILTON MINE

BOUGHT BY STATE

AT PRICE OF £86,000

(Bj> Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter)

WELLINGTON, this day,

The purchase by the State of the property owned by Wilton Collieries (1934), Ltd., at Glen Massey, near Ngaruawahia, at a price of £86,000, was announced by the Minister of Mines, Mr. Webb, this afternoon.

The Minister said that from October 14 the colliery was being operated as a State coal mine, and had ceased to be a controlled mine under the Waikato Coal Mines Control Emergency Regulations. He added that the company's railway, houses and other buildings were included in the purchase. Mr. Webb said he wished to thank the directors of the company for the assistance they had given the Mines Department with the prospecting and development of the open cast mines proposition on their property, and for the businesslike manner in which the negotiations had been conducted.