FEILDING COAL MINE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16503, 2 August 1919, Page 12

FEILDING COAL MINE.

OUTLOOK IS PROMISING. SOME SATISFACTORY EXPERIMENTS. AA'ith the discovery, recently announced, of a lignite coal deposit on the property of Messrs. IV. Seifert and AV. R. Campbell, near Feikling, a. new industry will .spring up in the district, which, if it fulfils present expectations, will he ono of considerable value, not only to the owners, hut also to the public generally. The property on which the deposit was found fronts Ranfnrly Road, and lies'about two miles from the Feikling post ollice. It is therefore particularly fortunately situated in being next to a good road and handy to a distributing centre. Coal is naturally a subject which looms large in the public perspective just now, and any proposition which promises to alleviate the present position in any way is of absorbing interest to the people of this district.

The original deposit was discovered by accident when a hole was being dug to water stock. It lies under the bluff of a little hill, and forms the outcrop of a. scam which is believed to run right underneath the hill. Though the seam is only -Ij feet deep at the edge, it increases one inch to every foot in depth as it goes forward, and is therefore expected' to ho of considerable depth under the hill. It is only covered on the. outside by a few feet of earth, and the quality is expected to improve materially with the increase of pressure upon the lignite. Mining exports who have visited the locality have commented very favourably on the formation of the upper stratum, which is of sand, and is considered a good indication of further possibilities. Some have predicted that there will probably be another scam underneatn this one. and that further down still a deposit of fully-nuflmrod coal is on the cards. The quality of the outcrop is very exceptional for lignite, and is oeitsidered far better than that which has been used for years as household fuel in Canterbury and Southland, as it has qualities in which tile deposits there are lacking. This is probably accounted for by the fact that the original wood fibre from which the local product was formed was mostly rata. The owners of the property have lost no time in prospecting and experimenting with the possibilities of tho seam. About 130 acres of ground round about the deposit have boon thoroughly prospected by experts, and in every place investigated further indications of an extensive seam have been noted. Besides this, a. considerable amount of experimental work has been carried out by exports with satisfactory results. It. has been found that tho outcrop coal, oven in a very damp condition, can bo used perfectly satisfactorily in an open grate, and burns with a good flame, throwing off a considerable amount of heat, and lasting just as long as ordinary coal. AVhon left to dry for n few weeks it is even more satisfactory for tin's purpose, and leaves very little, ash behind. It has also been found to ho of use for rangecooking when mixed with a little AA'ostport coal—about 15 of Lignite to one of coal—as it tones down to tho right extent the intenso heat of tho AA'estporfc product. Some of the lignite taken direct out of the outcrop and used in conjunction with a little Westport coal was found satisfactory in driving a traction engine for chaffcutting. An analysis of a sample has also disclosed properties in it winch suggest that it might he successfully utilised for the production of suction ga.s, and oxperimenls are being undertaken to discover if it is possible to use it for that purpose. Should they turn out satisfactorily, the owners should have no difficulty in disposing of as many tons of lignite as can he dug out. A considerable amount of excavation work in clearing the earth away from the outcrop has already been accomplished, and about nine chains of trolley-line have been laid down to carrv the coal to tho top of the hill. A Timcs reporter was present yesterday when tho first truck-load from the mine was drawn up. It is expected that about 500 tons will he taken from the outcrop alone, and this should have considerable commercial value locally. A start would have been made with tunnelling operations by now hut for the fact that 1 the necessary timber cannot | he carried under tho present railway regulations, which provide only for timber enclosing liquid. Generally, tho prospects of the enter prise look very bright, and should the hopeful anticipations of the owners ho realised, another flourishing industry will he added to those already in operation in tho district.