THE OHAI COAL FIELDS.

Western Star, 21 March 1922, Page 3

THE OHAI COAL FIELDS.

UNLIMITED SUPPLIES

(Own Correspondent.)

' Last Wednesday the Ohai Railway Board's Engineer, Mr F. ,). Williams, and members, of the Board visited Mossbank for the purpose of laying off new sidings to accommodate the Birchwood and Stevenson's collieries' output of coal. There were five collieries represented, viz., Mossbank, Stevenson's, Birchwood, Wairaki and Linton. The party afterwards, proceeded to Ohai to make arrangements for siding accommodation there for when the Ohai line extension from the terminus' at Tinkers is completed to the mines. The Chairman of the Board, Mr A. W. Rodger, who was present, explained that if finance could be arranged this line would probably be laidj in about twelve mouths, and it was necessary to know what accommodation would be required for' loading coal from the several mines. Birchwood, Linton, WairaEi, Mossbank and .Stevenson's estimated their combined! outputs at 1250 tons per day if the railyway came in; this would require five lauding stages. It is the intention of the Board, when the line is completed from Tinkers to Ohai, to lift the present line, which runs from Wairio to Mossbank and extendi the Ohai line to Birchwood. I

Anyone who takes an interest in the district cannot but be struck by the rapid advancement of the Ohai coal fields, where the coal deposits are practically unlimited. Ten years ago a few tons of coal per week weie put out for householders around the district by Messrs Moss Bros, from their Mossbank, pit at the river. To-day accommodation is being provided for a daily output of approximately 1250 tons in the near • future. There is now quite a township. The /miners like to live handy to their work, and the various coal companies are building suitable huts and' cottages, as finance wilL allow, to suit their workmen. ■ A large number of the employees reside in Nightcaps, and! travel daily by motor lorries and other conveyances, in this way retaining for their families the advantages afforded by railway facilities, education and social intercourse, so essential to the wcllbeing of a community. It is only a'matter of .time, however, when ;Ohai, .will become a centre of much greater importance than Nightcaps, as the latter has really ekisted on the output of' one colliery, and after forty years has not a concrete footpath in its main streets. What will Ohai be like in forty years, with an estimated d|aily output of 1250 tons, when the Ohai line is complete from Tinkers?

The present most 'pressing needs are a visiting • banker on pay days; the public school requires to be brought up from the river flat and built in the centre of the township, and enlarged, as it is over-crowded at .present; a public hall and a larger post office are also necessary. The Birchwood colliery, situated on Mr J. J. H. McLean's farnn, has opened up recently, and is making good progress and preparing for the ultimate linking wf with the Ohai .railway in about a year-f Mr. A. W. Rodger's estimated time. In the meantime a tramline is being laidi down to Mossbank terminus, and it is expected this will be finished by the end of April. Waggoners v are carting from the pit to the terminus until that time, and this,. with the farmers' trade, gives ah output cf forty-five tons per day at. present. The company expect io require loading accommodation for 300 tons per day when the line comes into Ohai. There are thirty-five' men employed. The coal seam averages about 20ft in depth," and is dipping south-west

1 in 4. The tunnel is in about six chains, and is showing a fine class of coal and every prospect of a large fioldl. Owing to the rough nature of the grbuud the coal requires a Jot of handling before it reaches the railway. There is. a deal in what the managing director said to the Chairman of the Railway.-Board when being asked as to.the extent of .railway accommodation required!. He said the distance from the ipit mouth to the road was 32 chains, and from there 1£ miles to Mossbank, where they were laying down their tram line. If, as was said,"the Ohai line, would be in to the pits/ in a year, this meant the lifting of the tramline audi the staging at Mossbank, and putting it in'at Ohai, and then, when the line is extended from Ohai to Birchwood , the staging shifted again and brought home, as the lino would pass by the mine. The Wairaki Coal Company is working two mines—No. 1 on the i High School reserve, andl No. 2 on IMr S. D. Mills' property. The com-1

pany employ about, forty-five men, twenty-two of these- being miners. The seam averages about 20ft, and is being worked 14ft wide and Bft high. Props are used, but the roof is not heavily s timbered, as the class of coal does not require it. The output from the mine for the year 1920 was 21,373 tons, j The analysis, as< stated | in the fifty-fourth annual Dominion laboratory test, was as follows: Fixed carbon 44.10, volatile hydrocarbon 36.70, water 15.80, ash 3.40, sulphur 0.26. The average output per day for the past fortnight waa 116 tons. I The company is asking for accommo-! dation for loading 300 tons per day

on completion of the Ohai line to the pits. This .company has a market for its dross and screenings as well as for its t coal; in fact, it is'unable to supply the demands for dross and take? it from neighbouring collieries to fill orders. The seam of coal in No. 2 mine appears to lie similar to the Birchwood Co.'s seam, which is in an adjoining property, and is dipping south-west. The company has an extensive area, covering hundreds of acres, to explore. No. 1 mine, 'situated, east of Nov 2, has- its seam jof coal dipping differently—south-east

'—and its running on a much lower j level perhaps 50ft lower which seems to 1 indicate a fault or throwdown in the No. 2 seam, as the dis'tanco on the surface is only a few chains between the two pita.

I The Linton coal mine is situated (across the river from the two former pits, but the same extensive area 'of good quality coal exists. The Government analysis for 1921 was: Fixed carbon 41.80, volatile hydrocarbon 40.03, water 16.07, ash 2.10, sulphur 0.27. The output for 1920 was 20,041 tons. The average output for the last fortnight was 170 tons per day; .the record for one day was 200 tons. There in a. 35ft seam of coal worked, about 10ft wide and Bft high. This mine, strange to- say is not propped except in special places, the nature of the seam evidently, not requiring these safety precautions. There are fofty-rfive men employed and twenty-one working places in ithe mine. Hitherto, very' litt?e machinery has been used for working tli 6 coal, save what is called a cuddy I and a jigger. As a dip is being put in, however this will mean pumping, and there is of course the engine which worts the fan. An open face, worked by contract labour, considerably assists the output. The partings, or " backs," in the Linton seams are mostly dross, whereas the Wairaki and Birchwood parting are muck, or clay, this being about the only noticeable difference, in the coal face, the seams lying, south-west, as the others. The company is asking for siding accommodation, when the Ohai line readies the pits, for 300 tons 'per dety. Stevensoiii's colliery adjoins the Linton colliery, only that the coal so

fur has been worked from the north side of the hill, and will take perhaps a mile more of tramline to connect up with, Mosgbank as is at present being contemplated. This piece of coal is undeveloped save for a tew open lace workings where coal itii showing in splendid! seams of from 18 to 20ft in depth, with very little surface stripping. The analysis for 1921 shows: Fixed carbon 45.60, volatile- hydrocarbon 36.10, water 16.7 v p,' ash 1.40, sulphur 0.46. Accommodation for 300 tons per day from this coal pit is being; asked for when trie line comes in.

The output of the Nightcaps Coal Company's No/ 1 Mine for 1920 was 27,132" tons, and for the No. 2 mine (Manuka Hijl), 10,537 tons. The output fromi. ether pits in the 'district for 1020 was—Black Diamond 8834 tons;,. New Brighton 5773, Wairio 17,172', Mossbank 16,377. '