THE GREY COAL FIELDS.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1615, 11 January 1868, Page 2

THE GREY COAL FIELDS.

[From the "Nelson Exaisalffer," December 26.] ■ ■■'■• : ; ;.(< Nothing can be more disappointing to persons who take a fakl interest in the prosperity of' New Zealand than theneglect'with which its magniaceafc coal deposit's have received, more particularly those known , to exist in this province. It is generally considered that the .possession of abundant seams of excellentcoal is the greatest mineral wealth, a country can have ; it is this that uaa enriched England beyond all other countries, and stimulated tliat manufacturing and commercial activity in which ehd is so pre-eminent; Yet in this, province beds of the finest coal in the world, both in quality arid quantity,are jear.after,.year, : suftered 4o lie unworked, or, where attempts have been made to work them, \t lias been done- in a manner the least likely to ■insure success. The undoubted cauae of the failures that have attended our efforts to work the seams of coal known to us, Or to open other seams-supposed to eiist, has been the inadequacy of the means, employed. , : It has been the old' tale of seeking to, fill a wjater-butfc with a spoon. -■&; young country like this has no accumulated capital open Tor'employment in such enterprises, and no proper means 'have been -taken to enlist foreign capital in their behalf. Nearly twenty years must now have elapsed since it ,waa known that coal of excellent quality existed at Pakawa'a, within' easy water-carriage of Nelson, and although several companies -Have since attempted 1 o work the coal there, audr bring it to mpvkcb f their efforts failed - through \vu 11 1 of the necessary capital.. Where thousands of pounds should have been embarked to explore for the best procurable seam, and to work it uaoafe (economically, hundreds only were advanced, and loss and disappointment were the result. At Mount in the district of the Buller, a seam oi coal some fourteen feet in thickness, and which, according to the Admiralty report, is one of the best coals in the world for steam purposes, still romains unworked, although but ten or twelve miles from the mouth of a fine navigable river; the sole obatacle to its taking thoj)lace of Australian coal m all New ports, bjßiDg, that a

comparrtfrebpeteSe- o« tla 7. ia needed to -e»aW«-» *°--be-eeewMßwaHv eonveved fe»m the mine- to >the< beach. ThY capital requisite for this purpose m -*, lt VssiWr *ach £100,000-a sum that would be subscribed in a day in any old community, where similar advantages were offered. But the subject we have to speak o* at present is the Grey coal field— another failure from the same cause, but which, there is now, we are glad to say, a prospect of seeing worked to public-advantage as well as to the advantage of the company who are the lessees. The coal asanas at the Grey were first discovered by Mr Brunner about twenty-two years ago, but beyond the fact of their existence nothing was really known of them for thirteen years afterwards, until the district was visited by Mr John Bochforr and Mr James Ma'ckay. Mr Haasty in 1860, accompanied by Mr Burnett, was specially employed by the Government to examine and report upon the coal beda in our south-west districts, and it was then, for the first time, that we were made acquainted with the great mineral wealth the province possessed. No attempt however was made to work the coal at the Grey unfcil gold was discovered on .the river,-when, about three years ago, a party of six working men, by permission of the Government, opened the. mine, and, with very inadequate means, supplied steamers visiting the Grey with feel. Here, again, the; " spoon and water-butt" principle was made use of, and coal which cost nothing but the labour to "quarry," and transport a distance of eight miles by water, was sold-at from 25s to 30s a ton. The face of the seam is fifteen fe«t thick, and abuts oh the river, so that the coal could be taken from the mine and put at once into a barge capable of carrying about five tons. Owing to falls in the fiver,tt was necessary that the barge made use of should be of Very light draughtWell this ulearly was not a satisfactory way of working a great coalmine, and as the men. engaged in it only hold ['it On sufferance, it was natural that .when an offer was made to the Government by persons who stated that they possesed the capital to enable , them to work the coal and place it-within, the reach.,of shipping at the lowest possible cost, that they should ba accepted as lessees. Such an offer was made to the Government about two yfearsago, by. two gentlemen who stated they represented a body of capitalists in Victoria—we believe at Ballarat. The Government made inquiries as to the lona fides of the parties, and being satisfied on. this head, executed a lease of the mine in their favour, but taking care at the same time—while dealing liberally at the commencement of the lease, so as to afford them time to make their arrangementsrTT-to impose such conditions as to the quantities of coal to be afterwards raised as should insure its proper working. The manner in which the lessees have hitherto worked the- mine has been a core disappointment to all who desire to see New- Zealand supply itself with' tjoal, instead -of sending upwards of a quarter of a .million of money a year out of the colony for, the purchase of'fuel. The only- Way to effectually cheapen the cost of transporting coal from the Grey mine to shipping at-the port, is by means of arail way v£br,,what with noods^inthe river at on& season, and shallow bars at another, it has been found impossible either to furnish, a regular supply of the coal, or "to sell it at a price that will insure for it anything bey oud a local demand. The lessees have tried this now for upwards of eighteen months, and although they managed to raise and dispose of the 10,000 tons the first year as stipulated by their > lease, they say that -if will, be impossible for them to place in the market thß 25,000 tons in this, the second year, which their lease requires. They have increased their means of transit, but for reasons stated these are insufficient, and it has become evident totheni that some new arrangement with the Government must be made, or their lease will be cancelled at the end of March next. Although the manner in which the mine has been worked has given to suspicions that when the lease was granted, the representations made on behalf of the lessees as to thpirability to furnish tha capital necessary for its economical working, were untrue, we believe such is "not the case, and that although the company,is composed of but a few individuals some of its members are very wealthy men. Eor reasons not worth stating they have hitherto paid Tery little regard to the Grey Coal Mining Company, but the prospect of speedily forfeiting the lease appears-to have aroused them to a consideration of their interests in the undertaking, so they lately sent down an agent from Victoria to report on the subject, and see what terms rould be made with our Government for retaining the lease. This gentleman hae visited the Grey, and is so satisfied of the value of the property that he resolved to recommend the lessees to proceed immediately to the construction of a railway from the mine to Cobden, calculated to cost about £30,000, provided he could make an arrangement with the Government not to insist on the forfeiture of the lease at the end of March next, when the non-compliance with the conditions will give Government the power to re-enter on possession. The agent of the lessees, Mr Simpson, has been in Nelson some days, and has succeeded in making the following arrangement with the Government: That the Government will waive the condition of raising the quantity of coal stipulated for in the lease, until the Ist of March, 1569, provided a railway from the mine to Cobden is constructed by that date, and that at least £2000 a month eball be expended in the construction of the railway in the interval of time. The Government has made this concession, rather than cancel the lease in March and have to make new arrangements with other parties for the working of

the coal, which further delay.. If the. existing-. company will do= what ia necessary for developing the Grey coal fields, they are in the best position for performing the work and doing it expeditiously. If they have not com [died with the new terms in March nest, the lease will be forfeited, and it could not be terminated earlier if they did nothing meanwhile. It ia the opinion of Mr Simpson that with a railway to the mine coal cQuld be shipped at Cobden at about 9s a ton, and pay -the-, company handsomely, and that the traffic on the railway, irrespective of coal, would pay interest on rta cost. That a large demand for/the coal would spring _up in Melbourne there can be no question, and the numerous vessels trading between that port and our- ; Wte«t Coast instead of returning m ballast, would all go back freighted with coaL The value of the coal is well understood in Melbourne, several eamll shipments having* been already made there, and so -superior has it been found for the purposes of gas to any coal in Australia, that the Melbourne. Gas Companies hare offered to give two shillings and sixpence a ton more for it than the market-price of the best Newcastle coal. Once more, then, we shall hazard a hope that one of our great natural industries will now receive a fair trial.