Selling Blamed For Mine Closure

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 18

Selling Blamed For Mine Closure

(From Our Own Reporter) GREYMOUTH, September 29. Poor salesmanship was responsible for the closure of the Blackball State coalmine last week, Mr R. J. Truman alleged at the monthly meeting of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce. He requested that steps be taken to ensure that that did not happen to any other coalmine in the district.

It was agreed to write to the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand) asking him to take the necessary steps to prevent a recurrence. A circular was received from the Grey Miners’ Central Committee inviting the chamber to be represented at

a protest meeting to be held at a date to be decided. It also invited the chamber to take any individual action it thought fit on the issue. Mr Truman said that the position in New Zealand was similar to that in Britain. Oil companies were the cause of it. With natural gas they had better selling equipment than the coal industry. “We should write to the Minister,” said Mr Truman. I “The Mines Department found it necessary to close the Blackball mine because its salesmen did not have the ability to sell the type of coal. 1 hope it does not move to other types of coal, too. The department has not got the salesmen on the road like the oil companies. “We have lost one mine through lack of ability to sell that coal, and what has the Minister got to keep it from spreading? We should ask him,” Mr Truman claimed. He said that it was the commercial aspect of the coal industry that was the trouble. The chairman (Mr D. H. Copeland) agreed that the Mines Department had to look at other uses of coal apart from putting it on the fire.

Plans for a two-storey library building estimated to cost about £lOO.OOO, to be constructed at the corner of George and Barnard streets, were approved in principle for submission to the New Zealand Library Association at the monthly meeting of the Timaru City Council