BLACKBALL COAL COY.

Grey River Argus, 1 May 1931, Page 6

BLACKBALL COAL COY.

SEEKS NEW LEASE. MINERS OBJECT. j At the Warden’s Court at Greymouth on April 28th the Blackball Coal Mines’ Proprietary Ltd., applied for a coal lease of 250 acres in Block 2. Alawheranui Survey District. The granting of the lease was objected to by Angus McLagan, check weighman. ami Robert ('lark, miner, on the grounds that the company already held a freehold coalbearing area of 1742 acres, of which I only a small part had been worked: | that this area could be worked for many years to com?; that the company had closed down the workings without i adequate reason, leaving a large quan- | tity of coal therein; that the company and its predecessors had *" or more than I 20 years held various rights over the' area u ow applied for without attempting to work it; that the granting of the lease would give the company a monopoly of the coal areas in the district; and that the granting of the’ lease would be against the public in- . t ere st. Air J. W. Hannan, for company, said that the lease was recommended by* the Inspector of Alines. Mr W. J. Joyce, for the objectors, said that the Inspector of Alines had ’ recommended the granting of the lease |on th? ground that the company held » I a prospecting license over the area. ' That was not correct. The company • had allowed its prospecting license t<* lapse last year, therefore it was not . entitled to a lease on the ground set 1 out by the Inspector. Air Joyce reviewI ed the history of the present mining •area during the past 40 years, and i that of the area now being applied • for. and stated that he understood I that the Blackball Company was “a| pup or subsidiary’’ of the New Zea-; I land Shipping Company. He submittI ed that in the interest of the district i and of New Zealand, it would be ab- j j solutely wrong to grant the application • while the company ha ( ] an area that ! could b? economically worked. The I policy of the Government was not to J grant fresh areas while others were I he’d by the applicant. The Alinister, had declined to grant further areas on the grounds that th?re were already sufficient on the West Coast which could be satisfactorily worked. The area applied for was not necessary, either i ' the interests of the State or th? individual, and as long at the com- ’ pany hud its present mine another 1 area should not be granted. | A. AlcLagan, check Weighman. of Wallsend, said that he had had 25 «years’ mining experience, 20 years of which had been in the Grey A’alley. ; The Blackball Company had 3742 acres of coal-bearing freehold land. Only labour 400 acres had been worked. The average thickness of the seam was at } least 18ft. In places it was 35 to 40 ■ feel thick, and the peal was very good. [ He had read the report of the Seienti- • lie and Industrial Research Committee j which showed that Blackball coal i would give a very high yield under the ' carbonising process. It had l )ee n proved that carbonising wa s a good eomI mercial proposition, and a large eari lionising plant was nearing completion lat Rotowaro, i n the Huntly district. I,The Blackball Company’s No 9 Dip was producing 450 to 500 tons daily up to the time it was stopped. It was then in solid coal and there was no sign of any fault ahead of the workings. The output could have been j maintained for 12 to 15 years, and could have bee n increased by further development if desired. If No 9 Dip was allowed to flood, it would be necessary to leave a very large barrier of coal between it and any future dip workings jn order *o avoid the daager of an inrush of water. The barrier could never be extracted. There was no need for any new mines to be opened. The possible. • utput of coal from the present mines in New Zealand was at least 30 per cent greater than the possible requirements. The miners throughout the . country were not working much more 1 I than half time on an average. Even Iwhen imports of coal were cut off during the New South Wales lockout, the! . miners were not fullv employed. If new mines were opened when the de-' . mand for coal had not increased, the *• capital cost was increased and the in- j I dustry rendered less able to compete) with imported coal. I The were no unusual difficulties in 1 the way of working tlie Blackball, seam. Some of the mines he had been, lin were more difficult to work. The only difficulty .so far as the dip workings were concerned was) | pumping, the pumps being affected by the acid the water. He believed ( I that a new pump was being procured just before the mine was stopped that i was constructed of special metal that I would not be affected by the acid. The min? was not particularly wet. It had . to be stone-dusted to keep down the ■ dry coal dust. Alost mines were now I being worked in the dip. I There had been no serious attempt mad? to prospect or develop the new' aiea during the twenty-odd years that the company had held rights over it. ( At one time the company’s rights over} the area had been cancelled because ( 1 the conditions had not been complied , I with. An attempt was made 19 years) ago to drive through the fault separ- > | ating the area from the present mine. 1 but this was given up. At that time i the main haulage level was working | right in to where the drive was start-{ ed. The company had failed to get through the fault then, and was not | likely to do so now because a long stretch of haulage level had been cut) off* by fires and had been sealed off for many years. It would be a difficult and costly job to re-open the level up to the point where the old drive was started from, therefore it was not true to say that the new area could be conveniently worked from the present mine. It seemed that the company’? only reason in applying for the lease of the new area was that they wanted to prevent anyone else from getting it. The Alinister of Alines had considered that it was not advisable to grant further leases, and had said that they would not be grant

ed in future. Alaiiy applications had already been refused by the Minister. To Mr Hannan: Various statements had been made regarding losses on the mine, but there was no means of test- • ing them as detailed figures had not • been given. The Blackball Company ; did not publish a balance sheet in New i Zealand. He knew that the New Zealand Shipping Company was a prosperous concern. In the case of two companies so connected,' it was quite ! possible for one to show a loss ev?n though both were doing well. No doubt losses had been made on the mine, but they were mostly avoidable. The I company had made six demands upon I the miners as a condition f° r ur * t ther working of the mine. The min- , ers had met the company so far that I onlv one remaned unsettled. The I company at first wanted men to travel the Rise for six weeks until a new’ ! travelling road was fixed up. When 1 the union was o n the point of agreeing to that in order to obtain a full settlement, the company altered it to mean that the men must travel the Rise permanently. The men had used 1 the Rise for a period before Christmas I when the haulage rope was in a danI gerous condition. They did so until ja new rope was obtained. He did not . believe that the output had gone up 100 tons a day during that period through the men travelling the Rise. ■ When the men travelled the Rise, the only advantage to the company was 13 ’m'nutes additional haulage per day, and if that resulted in an improvement in the output of 100 tons per day the companv must have put up a world’s | record for haulage. He was aware that the companv had made a verbal offer to hand over the mine to the union. The company had not offered to hand over the mine in past years when it was highly profitable, and even now they did not offer to hand over that 1 part of the business that paid the 12 per cent tax-free dividends. The company had bought the mine to its present state, and it was not a fair thing 1 to ask the miners, who had nothing but i their wages to carry them over from one fortnight to the next to carry the mine until it was again placed in a profitable condition. The leasehold area could best be worked apart from the • present workings. It should not be worked yet as there was ample coal •in the present mine. The cost of open- , i ing up a new mine would b? very great. ' R. Clarke, miner, and secretary of ’ the Blackball Aliners* Union, said he had been in Blackball for the past 29 years. He corroborated the evidence of th? previous witness. Air Hughes, when manager of the mine, had devised a . scheme to reduce working expenses, • Mr Hughes intended to work No 2 Dip and also to keep No 9 going so that the ‘ 1 output front) No 9 would help to pay for developing No. 2 Work in No 2 had been stopped owing to a dispute. r bur although the dispute had been settied No 2 had not been restarted, Mr Hjigb?s having left the mine in the meantime. To Mr Hannan: Mr Hughes was manI ager for six or seven months. It had been suggested that the minors take over the mine, but there was no forma! offer. The mine had been worked so inefficiently that it would have been too big a proposition for the miners to take it over. Air Hannan said that most of the facts set out in the objection would be admitted by the company. The mine had not been nroperlv worked on the ' ’ rr, ’ • i present system. The rise coal had all i I been extracted, and the dip workings I I were much more costly than rise workings. The matter of public policy > should not bo considered, a new lease having been granted to the Burke’s . Creek Colliery at Reefton. ( J. G. Quinn, manager of thp Black , ball Mine, said that he had been in I charge since August Ist. He had had five years experience at Seddonville and ten years in British Columbia. b j Since he had been in charge it had ,' been impossible to work the mine profitably. Thp records of the company for thp five years up to March 31st. • 1931, showed a loss of £73,000. The I company ceased mining operations on January 23rd. 1931. It had cost the • company £2OOO in two months for | pumps. Alost of the area applied for 1 was rise coal. Prospecting had been i done to satisfy the company that the new area was worth going on with. During 1930, £309 was spent in prosIpecting the area. , To Air Joyce: His only knowledge in I connection with Blackball was since . last August. The mine that he was ’ managing at Seddonville employed 39 Ito 50 men. It was not a success, a’ld was n ow closed. He could not give de- | tailed figures of the loss on the Blackball mine. The figures were made out in th? Christchurch ' office. He could not say how much •it had cost for pumps annually Six tons per man for each hewer was not a reasonable return for the Black ball mine. Up did not know what was thp return at Dobson or Wallsend. He had beon a deputy at Wallsenl. Hp I thought that thp acidity of thp water was greater than two years ago. The t prospecting right was allowed °to laps. a s he »ad thought it was a lease. He had “lot estimated the amount of coal j left in No 9 Dip. He had no idea ’ how many thousands of tons .were ’ left there. He had not seen any | coal forty feet high. The height of 'the spam varipd from Bft to 39ft. H? | agrppd that it would averagp 18 feet. Air Joyce said the estimated cost of j opening up th? new area was £15.009. and asked how the estimate was arrived at. Witness gave no details. I The Warlen said that he would take time to consider his decision. The cas e j would be adjourned until May 4th.