STATE COAL MINING

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23753, 26 September 1942, Page 7

STATE COAL MINING

PROFIT OF £265,000

MADE

REVIEW BY HON. P. C. WEBB (P.S.S.) AUCKLAND. Sept. 25. “Since the purchase of the Point Elizabeth Mine by the-Seddon Government early in the present century, the State has made a profit of more than £265,000 from coal mining,” said the Minister of Mines (the Hon. f P. C. Webb) yesterday. Mr Webb said that the Point Elizabeth Mine in Westland was taken over because its owners were unable to carry it on. Under State management it was most successful and produced for many years until it was worked out. As the result of systematic prospecting, the Rcwanui field was located and the Liverpool Mine was opened. The James Mine at Rapahoe was opened next to provide household coal. Further prospecting led to the opening of a third mine, the Strongman, two miles from Rapahoe. The expenditure there was £300,000, and the mine was now producing 400 tons a day of dualpurpose coal. Before this the Government purchased the Blackball Mine, in the Grey district, when it was about to be closed by its owners, the Blackball Coal Company. The Government lately took over an abandoned mine at Mangapehi, 20 miles south of Te Kuiti, and the Tatu Mine at Ohura, also near the centre of the island. In addition there were 19 co-operative mines on State fields in the South Island, employing about 200 men and producing 100,000 tons annually. Mr Webb said that of 140 coal mines producing in the Dominion. 37 were on a full commercial scale and five of these were directly operated by the State, producing one-ninth of the total output. Last year's net profit' was £22,000, of which taxation absorbed more than £IB.OOO.