Strongman struggling

Press, 15 January 1986, Page 4

Strongman struggling

Greymouth reporter

The proposal this week that the Strongman State Mine, which employs about 200 men, should be closed as uneconomical if the Government was not prepared to subsidise its employees, was first advocated last year by the general manager of State Mines, Dr Roger Blakeley. , Dr Blakeley visited the West Coast twice to discuss the proposition with mine officials and employees. Methods of more economical mining were also aired. The Strongman State Mine, sited off the main Greymouth-Westport highway, 16km from Greymouth, is the last remaining State colliery in the Grey district It provides the backbone for the Borough of Runanga. The Mayor, Mr Tom Teasdale, has described any proposal to close Strongman as “disastrous.” Runanga miners, and the district in general, want Strongman kept going until a new coal field to the west is fully tested.

This block is believed to contain sufficient coal to warrant further development although it would not require as many staff as Strongman. Some miners have already been encouraged to look to the

continually developing Huntly field for employment

Much of the future of the mining depends on the decision on transport options or moving the coal from the West Coast Rail cartage from the Buller mines to Lyttelton for shipment to Japan is seen as costly. A deep sea port has been favoured near Westport but the costs would be high A coal slurry system, in which the coal would be washed out to waiting ships, has been proposed for both Ngakawau (for Buller coal) and for Rapahoe (for Runanga area coal). Slurry loading, which is opposed by almost every Coast organisation from the West Coast United Council down, would also spell doom for the Midland railway line to Canterbury. The Railways Corporation is a- big employer on the Coast.

In addition, a study has been made into the feasibility of barging West Coast coal to the North Island to supply power stations. The Minister of Regional Development, Mr Burke, who is also member of Parliament for the West Coast, has said that he. would push in Cabinet for the continuation of the Strongman mine until the new development block was developed. Earlier report, page 22