OPEN CAST MINING: BRITISH COMPANY COMING TO N.Z.

Grey River Argus, 21 January 1948, Page 7

OPEN CAST MINING: BRITISH COMPANY COMING TO N.Z.

fN.Z.P.A. —Reuter—Copyright.] LONDON, January 20. One of the five largest civil engineering firms in Britain, M. J. Gleeson Ltd., of Sheffield, with a staff of 2000 men, is anxious to examine the possibilities of open-cast coal mining in New Zealand, and is ready to send the latest equipment and machinery to the Dominion as soon as shipping space can be secured. The firm, which was one of the first to undertake open-cast mining in Britain, is now working on a large Government contract in which it is already 30 weeks ahead of schedule. Mr Thomas Blower, the chief engineer of the firm, told the N.Z. Press Association that he was prepared to take the latest British and American machines to the Dominion and to send out a skeleton staff immediately. This staff would be fully equipped to train New Zealand contractors in the latest methods of open-cast mining. Inquiries matte in official quarters in Wellington show that no approach has yet been made by the company mentioned. .