MOKAU COALFIELD: NO PROSPECT OF USE FOR POWER SUPPLY
(P.A.) WELLINGTON', This Day. “The Mokau coalfield offers no prospects of alleviating the present electric shortage,” states a report by Mr H. E. Fyfe, investigating officer for the New Zealand Geological Survey. The report estimates “the inferred recoverable” coal at 60,000,000 tons, but says the major part is remote from access.
On the basis of past experience in mines development, he suggests that at least five years’ exploratory work would be required before a decision could be made as to the most economical development of the coalfield. The report adds that except for small areas, it is not open-cast mining country and the coal seams are buried too deeply by over-burden for economic stripping by bulldozer and carry-all equipment. The points made in the report are: 1. There is no evidence to suggest or reason to suspect that strippable areas exist on the Mokau coalfield that could supply the requirements of steam-electric generating plant. 2. Mining in the Mokau coalfield would be by the orthodox underground methods. 3. Mining costs in the field, on the account of its inaccessibility and the thinness of the seam would exceed those of the present developed fields.
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Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1948, Page 4
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202MOKAU COALFIELD: NO PROSPECT OF USE FOR POWER SUPPLY Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1948, Page 4
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