NEW STATE MINE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 10

NEW STATE MINE

Coal Production Within Next Four Months WORK FOR 200 MEN Dominion Special Service. CHRISTCHURCH, December 9. A new State mine to deal with proved coal resources of at least 5,000.000 tons, is expected to begin production within the next four months. Tlie progress of the work of opening the new colliery was inspected by the Minister ot Mines, Mr. Webb, who is on the West Coast. The mine, which as yet is unnamed, taps new country some distance to the back of ihe present James mine, at the Nine Mile, and work on its development has been, in progress for some IS months. A tunnel 29 chains in length has been driven- in the hillside, and access to the pit-mouth is gained by a new hill road more than a mile in length, specially built for the purpose. The estimated cost of building the new mine is £170,000, ot -which £70,000 is to be found from the reserve profits of the .State collieries, the remainder being raised by loan. A feature of the early stages of the work was the conveyance by bush aerial wire of many pieces of machinery and gear, the heaviest of which was 30cwt. At full capacity the mine will handle, it is planned, 120 tons an hour, coal being taken down from the pit to the rail by endless rope two miles and a half long. At full working strength, the new mine is expected to provide work for 200 men in exploiting. deposits of sub-bituminous coal, claimed to be excellent for household and railway purposes. A feature of the mine is the commodious bathhouse accommodation, automatically regulated by a process new in New Zealand.