Scheme For Cheap Coal Rejected

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32067, 15 August 1969, Page 32

Scheme For Cheap Coal Rejected

(New Zealand Press Association) GREYMOUTH, August 14. ~ A private application on the West Coast to mine coal with an assured market at a low price has been rejected by the Minister of Mines (Mr Shand).

The application was made in the Warden’s Court in Greymouth in June and granted by the Warden subject to the Minister’s consent.

It was for a deposit of coal at Atarau (Moonlight) in the Grey Valley, near Blackball. The coal was to be mined by the open-cast method and the applicant was considering a selling price of $4 a ton. The average selling price for household coal in Greymouth is SlO a ton. South Island merchants'

had offered to buy the whole output of the proposed mine. The Under-Secretary for Mines (Mr I. D. Dick) said in a statement issued by the assistant under-secretary (Mr G. K. Keown) today that the was rejected for I three main reasons: ! The high sulphur content of the coai. The general welfare of the ' coalmining industry.

' Opposition to the use of coal as a household fuel in populated areas. Mr Dick said the Minister had to consider representations from the United Mineworkers’ Union about the industry’s welfare, and from . the Clean Air Society, which maintained that high-sulphur coal was the chief offender in air pollution. Mr Dick said future grants ; of coalmining rights should be restricted to cases where existing mines became worked out, where the locality was isolated and a local demand for coal had to be met, or where a new mine could supply a class of coal which was in short supply, he said. “The United Mineworkers | hold the view that the Minister should not grant any new coalmining rights because the industry is already having to cope with declining markets and it would be uneconomic to allow fresh areas to open,” said Mr Dick. Some people, such as the Clean Air Society, favoured a ban on coal as a household fuel in populated areas, and as a result of their submis-1 sions the disposal of high-sub phur coal was rapidly being confined to the local market. “While we have mines in the district producing this high-sulphur coal in sufficient quantity to satisfy the local demand we consider that it is prudent to restrict the is- 1 sue of new coalmining rights, ; which could only accentuate ; this problem,” said Mr Dick. The Minister considered each application on its merits and in these circumstances did not consider that his consent to the Atarau applica- ; tion would be fair or justifiable.

Alcohol Level.—The New Zealand Alliance, at its annual meeting which ended on Wednesday, decided to urge the lowering of the maximum blood-alcohol level for drivers to 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. This is the present maximum level. —(P.A.).