BITUMINOUS COAL

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21190, 10 November 1938, Page 4

BITUMINOUS COAL

Minister Suggests Conference Reply To Mr Davis Bv Telegraph—Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, November 9. “My object in suggesting that it would be wise for coal owners and representatives of miners to confer with me regarding supplies of bituminous coal is that it would be in the general interests of the industry. It is true what Mr Davis says that there has been an increase in the supply of imported coal during last year, but this increase was on account of a shortage of supplies during the peak winter months, when there was a big demand for household coal,’’ said the Minister for Mines (the Hon. P. C. Webb) when commenting last evening on a statement by Mr C. C. Davis, president of the New Zealand Coal Mine Owners’ Association, who said that New Zealand could dispense with supplies of Australian coal if some of the gas companies were not equipped with retorts solely designed for the use of Australian coal. The Minister said that all New Zealand mines were working full time, and while the consumption of so much Australian coal In the gas industry was largely due to the use of the vertical retort process which Mr Davis mentioned it could be said that independently of the difficulty caused by the vertical retorts there was a difficutly caused by the unsuitability of the type of coal available. Many horizontal retorts had been experimented with, but it was found difficult to burn all kinds of bituminous coal. For example, those with high sulphur and ash content were unsuitable for making gas Mixed Coal for Gas Industry »“My object in getting the companies and the men to meet was to arrange as far as possible for a mixture of coals from the various suitable mines such as would meet the requirements of the gas industry," said the Minister. “Without such a conference it is impossible to arrange for a market for the different classes of bituminous coal for the gas indutry. “I can definitely say that the StateLiverpool mines are facing a great demand, and are hundreds of tons behind in their orders. “I want this to be balanced out, so as to make the most use of tho State coal in suitably mixing it with other coals. I also hold the view that there should be a further conference between the gas companies and representatives of the mining interests, so that all the knowledge of these industries can be brought to bear to emphasise the importance of using the maximum amount of suitable local coal. Competition with Electricity “The mining companies must not forget that unless the gas industry is supplied with suitable coal they will have to face the competition cf electricity and electrical services. It behoves the Government to secure the co-operation of the coal mining industry so that there may be a supply of coal of real utility and value. “The coal companies are only deluding themselves if they think that any class of bituminous coal can be used universally for gas production. My object is to get results that will be helpful for all the industries concerned.” The Minister added that as far as the State mines were concerned there was the utmost anxiety to produce as much of the non-sulphur containing types of coal as possible. It was recognised that the more of this type of coal produced the more certain the Government was that greater supplies of the type of coal that was inferior for gas-producing could be produced.