FUTURE OF COAL MINING

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27463, 24 September 1954, Page 11

FUTURE OF COAL MINING

INTERESTED BODIES MEET REQUEST TO BE SENT TO GOVERNMENT (New Zealand Press Association) GREYMOUTH, September 22. Representatives of coal mining interests throughout the West Coast and Inangahua, and local body delegates met in Greymouth today to discuss the future of the coal mining industry. It was agreed that the Government was not exploiting the industry to the fullest extent, ana that unless immediate, action was taken to rectify the position an industrial tragedy would be Drought about. The Government is to be asked to engage an expert impartial authority, preferably of recognised world status, to investigate West Coast and Inanganua coal, to determine its suitability for the. production of electricity, and the utilisation of by-products. Requests will also be made to the Government to impose an import duty on crude oil, to reduce the freight charges on slack coal, and to ensure that no further leases be granted to new private parties until the present crisis is passed. It is hoped to obtain the backing of the South Island League of Local Bodies, to which organisation a remit concerning the industry has already been forwarded.