WALLSEND MINE

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 November 1928, Page 4

WALLSEND MINE

GOOD PROGRESS REPORTED. NEARING ‘GOAL PRODUCTION. Picks, shovels, and hammers, swung by brawny arms, surveyors operating delicate instruments, and executives busy with plans; the rumble of machinery; sunshine! Such were a few of the impressions brought back by a “Star” representative who visited tho site of the Wallsend Mine one day this week. With the slowly-flowing Grey River on one side, and the hills on the other, the property of tho Brunner Collieries, Ltd. constitutes an oasis of industrial energy, a sure magnet to draw the attention of passengers on the frequently-passing trains, and a proof that the resources of the West Coast did not end with the passing of “the days of old, the days of gold.” Much water has flowed under the suspension bridge near the mine during the five months since the writer last visited the property, and much work has been done by Mr

George Smith, the manager, and his '.staff. In May last a start had been made with the erection of permanent buildings and plant installation. The mine was pumped dry in 1927 after bejng flooded for 38 years, and it will probably be remembered by redders of the “Star” that a description of conditions underground showed the Workings to be in surprisingly good condition; as good, in fact, as on the day when the miners left them, nearly forty years ago. Most of the work necessary to enable coal production to be resumed, therefore, had to be done on the surface. New machinery and modern methods were required, and this preliminary work is now fast approaching completion. The erection of the bins and the installation of sid-

ings remain to be accomplished, and the Wallsend Mine will, early next ' year, resume its place as one of the best-known producers of “black diamonds” on the West Coast coalfields. The poppet heads, surmounted by their twin wheels of steel, rise about eighty feet into the blue, forming the most prominent feature as the visitor approaches the mine. Set on their massive concrete base, in the centre of which the shaft, with its fourtSehfeet diameter, drops sheer down into Mother Earth for six hundred and fifty feet—the deepest shaft at any coal mine in New Zealand —the main frame of the poppet heads, is of

\Oregon timber, each leg weighing a ,» trifling three and ‘ a-half tons. The cage frame is composed of heart of red pine, while the steel wheels for the winding gear have a diameter of ten feet. They were made by Messrs Waddell and Son, of Christchurch. The two cages for use in the main shaft were manufactured by the Dispatch Foundry, Ltd., Greymouth, and arrived on the site this week. Each cage will . hold two trucks, or tubs, and each tub will hold twelve hundredweight of coal, which means that every time the cage comes up it will bring with it twenty-four hundredweight of coal. The main winding engine, now ready for use, was secured from the Taupiri Mines, where it wins previously in use. The two cylinders are each of eighteen inches, with ' a four-feet stroke. The winding drulm is a massive affair with a diameter of nine feet six inches, and one revolution will haul the cage thirty feet up the shaft. Automatic gear, to guard against over-winding in dase of failure of the human element, is now en route from England, but adequate safety devices required are also installed. The control platiform is located so as to give an uninterrupted view of the shaft and the poppet heads. A new double-drum Babcock and Wilcox boiler, one of the biggest of its type, has been installed in. the reconstructed boilerhouse, now having an area of approximately 50 feet by 30 feet. The bricking-in of the new boiler has commenced, and will require a total of 18,000 bricks. The original smaller boiler will also be kept in operation. A new smokestack, with a height of 75 feet and a diameter of three feet six: inches, is to be erected, and the concrete base for it is now ready. The new smokestack will be so installed that it will be common to both boilers. An electric winch of 75 horse-power, for dip haulage purposes, is expected to arrive from England this month. An automatic three-tub tippler is now being assembled. For the information of non-miners, it is explained that the tippler will do its • duty in the bins, automatically emptying the laden tubs as they arrive from the mine. Half a hundred new tubs, which have arrived from England in “nest” formation are being assembled, and the workshop resounds with the clang ol hammers on metal as the red-hot rivets are driven home. Another fifty tubs are to arrive later, when the mine be gins production. The wheels for the tubs are also imported, this being the

case in all New Zealand mines. The manufacture of the galvanised iron tubs, however, is an industry just being commenced in the Dominion. The blacksmith and his striker, stripped to singlet and pants, were busily making the sparks fly in their department, while in the workshops were shearing and drilling machines, screwing machine, grinders, and hacksaw, all electrically driven, with a lathe still to be installed. A convincing little demonstration of the power of modern machinery was given by means of the shearing machine, which cut through a one-inch bar of iron as a knife cuts through butter. The concrete foundations for -the bins are practically completed, and the birch timber is arriving. The bins will have an area of 100 feet by 38 feet, with a height of 24 feet, and the contract for their erection has been let to Mr O. H. Brailsford. The bins capacity will be one thousand tons. The foundations are heavily reinforced with tramway rails, previously in use at Christchurch, weighing 90 pounds to the yard. It is estimated that the construction of the bins will occupy about eight weeks, subject, of course, to weather and other conditions. A weighbridge, with capacity of twentyfive tons, is on the site, ready for installation. One of the main features of the work in progress at Wallsend is the rearrangement of the railway lines. The present main line, with several sharp curves, is to become the mine siding, and a deviation has been formed to carry the new main line, nearer the river bank. Thousands of yards of material have been carted by horses and drays for a nearby location, and the recent wet weather made the work particularly arduous. The result will be that the main line will be greatly improved by the elimination of the

’present curves. The shifting of the line nearer the river bank involved an alteration in the terminal of the suspension bridge, in order to allow trains to pass under it. To accomplish the desired object, bridge-builders are at work putting in a double ramp. The company’s siding, about twentysix chains in length, will take the place of the present main line, after regrading has- been done to enable the running of the coal tubs by gravitation, from the mine to the bins and back again. The relaying of the main linos is now progressing, about twenty men being employed, and the work may be speeded up shortly by the use of a ballast train. The company will have three sidings, converging to the weighbridge and the bins; also a back shunt, to enable coal for Christchurch to be picked up at the mine, instead Of first being railed to Greymouth, thus avoiding double handling. Twentyfour men are now on the company’s pay-roll, and the number will be increased as required. The underground workings, as previously stated, are practically ready for coal production, and it is now a matter only of the completion of the bins and the sidings. It is estimated that the railway deviation will, weather permitting, be completed at the end of November. The activity at the mine is reflecting itself in the adjacent townships of Wallsend and Taylorville, find it is stated that values of building sections are climbing. A section which, only a few years ago, could be purchased for the proverbial song, now requires an expenditure of at least £5O by an intending buyer. Nearly half a dozen new houses have gone up in Taylorville, while the new buildings at Wallsend include.a two-storey hotel. The Brunner Collieries, Ltd., have also erected new offices, fronting the main road, while from the rear a birds-eye view may be obtained of the suiface workings. The Wallsend undertaking has now taken definite shape, and the New Year will see laden coal tubs running merrily from the mine, to result, it is hoped, in substantial onidends running into the accounts of the shareholders of the company.