TUKI TUKI COAL SEAM.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7533, 7 August 1886, Page 3

TUKI TUKI COAL SEAM.

SiKi— I was yesterday passing where the supposed' coal seam in burning on tlio Tuki Tuki. I went and had a look at it, and in case you may not have had any, specimens from it I collected a few, which go by to-morrow'a mail. It is the outer edge- of ft lignite seam, such an are to bo ' got in thousands of places in Otago. The singular thing about thin one is that there must nave been a terrific upheaval since it was formed, as, the. end of the, seam and tho rocks above, and below are at an angle of 70" or. 80 degrees from tho_ horizontal. The part showing the most lire is where I took

tho speoimens ■from.'-'-'- They are very in ferior, as the seam is so thin that the sam has hcon forced all through it by the pics sure from above. It is very largely impregnated with sulphur, and when over looking it tho iirst impression is that you are about to see one of tho Taupo ho! springs. It is about a hundred feet above the level of the river where it is, and n small land-slip has ex posed the outer edges of it. There avo tho onds of three seamf exposed, the thickest. Hot two feet, and with' about four-td six feet of sand, and clay between them, tho one burning being originally the bottom one, and of best quality ; the others so full of sand where exposed' that they' won't burn.*'. It'is quite possible that it may bo the very margin of tho seam that is exposed, and if all the ends exposed go into one solid moss, and of several feet ' in thickness as it goes further into tho hill, it would prove valuable for domestic use— that is, if there is not too much sulphur in it — but it is far too new a formation for steam purposes. The fire is purely on the surface, and will some day be smothered with the falling in of loose shift" as the fire goes on, or could as- yet he very easily put out. A tunnel driven into the hill for forty to sixty feet would test whether the seams were likely to come together and be of any value. — I am, &c, Hugh M'Lellan. Makaretu, August 5.