A NEW COAL COMPANY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 13986, 8 March 1911, Page 10

A NEW COAL COMPANY.

This morning we publish the abridged prospectus of the Runua Colliery Coinpan v, Ltd, The two things which usiiailv operate against coal companies are distance of haulage and deep sinking. The Hunua Company appears to be unusually fortunate. It connects by a six-mile branch railway with the Main Trunk at Papakura, only nineteen miles from Auckland, and it requires no shaft-sinking or the driving of long and expensive tunnels. According to the report of Mr John Hayes, F.S. ; Sc., the well-known Wellington mining engineer, the coal is equal to the best Kaitangata, is good alike for household and steam purposes, and the area proposed to be acquired by the company, with adjoining areas over which options are held, contain at the lowest estimate from eight to ten millions tons of coal. Considering its nearness to Auckland, it may seem surprising that this vast body of coal should not have been exploited before, hut there was no communication save by an unmetalled hilly road, and the district was in a state of inanition. Within the last two years, however, a splendidly graded road lias been put through 'the Hunua Gorge (on the opposite side of which the proposed railway would run), and this has given the district a very great impetus. So good is the road that motor cars use it regularly.' The provisional directors aro Messrs Sidney Kirkcaldie, Gerald Fitzgerald, C.E., and H. W. Willams, all'of Wellington, which will be the headquarters of tho Company. Mr Hayes's report states that even with the small output of 50,000 tons per annum, coal could be placed on waggons at Papakura. for 7s 6d per ton, and he estimates that at an average selling prioe of 12s per ton for all classes, the profit should be £11.250, or 30 per cent, on a capital called up to £35.000. The Company's, capital is fixed at £60.000 to allow ample for all requirements. Mr T. Compton is local representative. 23