DAIRY FACTORY COAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 87, 12 April 1922, Page 9

DAIRY FACTORY COAL.

THE PtTKEMXRO FIELD. | >\Z.C.D. COMPANY'S PURCHASE. BEST INVESTMENT MADE, : <g> i (By Telegraph. —Own Correspondent.) ' HAMILTON, this day. * The acquisition of a coalfield at Puke- , miro by the New Zealand Co-operative ] Dairy Company is considered by Mr. W. Goodfellow to be the beet investment ( the company has yet niad.e. The neces- , sary plant and equipment, including ] screens, he told a "Star" reporter, yes- , terday, were now being erected, and, ( provided railway facilities were avail- ( ( able, a large quantity of coal could be j mined within six months. Unfortunately j the Railway Department was not likely , to be up to time, and this would neces- , sitate a further delay of six or nine , months. The quality of the coal was , at least equal to anything mined in the , province, and was admirably suited for j the requirements of the dairy industry. , The present cost of steam coal was ex- , cessive, and it was of the utmost import- . ance that coal for the mine should be r available for t-bc company as early as , possible. Tn the case of dried milk and casein, large quantities of coal were . used) in the drying process, and the price ] of coal, wages and steamer freights absolutely determined whether or not it , would be profitable to continue opera- < tions under existing trade conditions. The company was using over 70,000 tons . of coal per annum, and it wae fairly '■ obvious that the saving to be effected , by the company once the united collieries . were able to meet the requirements of the company's factories, would be at least £30,000 per annum. The household coal would, in the first instance, be available for suppliers, and any surplus would be disposed of at current rates, while practically the -whole of the slack and steam coal would be used by the companies' factories. It was estimated that the output of the mine would be 100,000 tons per annum, which would be gradually developed to 150,000 tone per annum.