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Mel nines'a Coal-mine (Grown Lease : Tunstall and Party).—The party is operating in a seam 5 ft. thick, proved at a shallow depth by boreholes. The first workings, with large pillars left in support, have reached faults to the east and south, and preparations are being made to extract the pillars. The output is carted to the Hikurangi Station and sold to the Hikurangi Coal Co., Ltd. Mclnnes's Coal-mine (Crown Lease : Mackie and Party).—A small coal-mine is. being opened up under coal lease No. 72 on 19 acres, Section 2, Block XVI, Hukerenui Survey District. A drive has been driven two chains in a thin coal-seam which is dirty, with clay bands. The party is also engaged in prospecting, by boring, on an area higher up the hill, with the hope of striking a more workable seam of coal. Northern Co-operative Colliery (Crown Lease: Cunningham and Party).—During the past twenty years Mr. Cunningham and his sons have been engaged in winning coal on the Tauranga Block freehold and also on an adjacent Crown lease. At the beginning of the year Mr. Cunningham removed his plant from the Tauranga Block and opened out an area of bottom seam in the Crown area. A water drive at a low level has been constructed for free drainage. The working seam is 5 ft. thick with intervening bands of stone occurring near the centre of the seam. Sosedale Colliery (Crown Lease : Nesbitt and Party). — A party of five miners is engaged in opening out the coal on the Crown lease. No. 1 drive has been abandoned as a result of the exhaustion of the workable coal. A new drive has been commenced on the east side of the hill to connect with boreholes, drilled in advance, which have located another area of workable coal, 7 ft. thick. Silverdale Colliery (Crown Lease : Foot and Party).—This mine was abandoned at the commencement of the year, and the party is now concentrating on the Glen Nell Colliery. Glen Nell Colliery (Crown Lease: Sublease from Mclntyre and Party to S. Foot). —A drive six chains in length to a coal-seam 3 ft. thick has developed the area, and preparations are now being made to extract the remaining pillars. Fourteen miners are employed in the mine. Phmnix Colliery (Crown Lease : McKinlay and Party).—No. 1 Mine on Lease 373 has been abandoned after the production of approximately 18,000 tons of coal. In No. 2 Mine the headings have reached the boundary of workable coal, and the pillars are now being brought back to the haulage road. The seam is only 20 in. thick, but the coal is bright and clean and easily mined. The party is now engaged in prospecting for coal over 80 acres of part Section 9, Block NVI, Hukerenui Survey District, under coal-prospecting license No. 76. New Kamo Coal-mine (Kamo Collieries, Ltd., Owners). —Coal-winning to the south and east has been suspended, due to faults, and operations during the year have been confined to the mining of the rise coal in the west section and to the extension of a dip in the coal-seam lying under the main drive. Operations to the north have been restricted by a requisition that a substantial barrier be left between the Old Kamo mine workings and the present mine workings. For the purpose of locating the seam through the east fault, a level was driven in stone to a distance of 300 ft. over the fault break, and exposed the roof-stone of the seam. Boreholes, subsequently drilled, proved that the seam existed at a lower level of 60 ft. Preparations are being made to employ a diamond drill to further prospect the coalfield from the surface. The mine workings are connected to the railway at Kamo Station. A daily output of 60 tons is being maintained by forty-five workmen. Nikau Coal Mine. —A small amount of pillar coal was won from this mine during the year. Four separate dip drives have been driven from the outcrop in pillars left from a former working. In each instance the face was abandoned following the tapping of water remaining in the adjacent old workings. Another attempt is being made to avoid the old workings by following the seam from a higher outcropping level. Ruatangata Colliery.—The pillars are being extracted from the western rise of the Old Kamo mine workings for fuel-supplies for the Kamo brick-works established near the mine entrance. Whareora Coal-mine (Foot and Fox, Owners). —The pillars in this small coal-mine are being attacked in retreat. A new drive has also been commenced for the purpose of again winning the seam at a lower level. New Kiripaka Coal-mine (Tait and Party).—With the assistance of a measure of relief granted by the Unemployment Board, the party has formed and metalled a motor road to the mine-entrance, and has also driven a stone drive on a level course for a distance of two chains. The drive is still 40 ft. short of connecting to the advanced level of the mine workings, but when completed it should shorten the haulage and afford cheaper means of working a solid area of thin coal proved ahead by boring. Lester's Coal-mine, Clenbervie.—A prospecting drive is being opened out by Lester and party on Plaisted's freehold, which area was formerly worked by Stewart and party during the year 1934. Three drives, previously driven, and following the outcrop, collapsed due to a soft roof-cover. Avoca Coal-mine. —This coal-mine is situated eight miles east of Tangowahine, and has been in operation for a period of seven years. Boreholes put down in the vicinity prove that the coal does not extend laterally, and that the main coalfield has been exhausted, leaving only isolated blocks of coal. The coal finds a ready market in Dargaville and the surrounding districts. Waikato District. Rotowaro Collieries (Taupiri Coal-mines, Ltd., Owners). —No. I Colliery: Mining operations are almost entirely confined to the extraction of the pillars in the east section of the mine. Favourable conditions for a high percentage of extraction have prevailed due to the shallow roof-cover and the jointy character of the roof-stone, which falls readily into the excavated spaces in relief of roof pressure. The coal-cutting machines were withdrawn from the mine following the completion of the first working, and the pillars are being extracted by hand-mining. A dip in stone is being extended from the top seam to a proved bottom seam which is to be developed by the existing machinery in No. 1 Mine. Electric safety-lamps of the cap type are in use throughout the mine. Ventilation has been maintained by the established fan and by an auxiliary unit exhausting to the surface at the farthest end of the workings. Preparations are being made to install another large Sirocco fan at the eastern exit, with provision for the reversal of the air current, as a means for ventilating the new workings. No. 3 Mine (Bottom Seam) : The first working of the seam is being advanced eastward under the workings of the top seam at a lower level of 100 ft. Coal-cutting machines are employed in the section, but troublesome faults and undulations of the floor preclude their use in some of the places. A stone drive, set away at an angle of 30 degrees to the east of the main dip, has been extended during the year. The companion drive, which had been previously driven to a distance of nine chains and sealed off, was reopened for ventilation purposes. When the stoppings were removed a large accumulation of inflammable gas was detected by the examining deputies. This occurrence shows the need for vigilance being exercised by officials when engaged in reopening old workings. An output of 156,698 tons was obtained from these two mine sections, and 265 men were ordinarily employed by the company. Pukemiro Colliery (Pukemiro Collieries, Ltd., Owners). —Coal was produced from the North Mine Section, comprising the west, north, and north-west districts. The pillars are being successfully removed from all sections, and little crushing of the pillars and roof has been experienced under the light roof-cover. During the winter months, and after heavy rainfalls,_ the workings in the north-east section were temporarily flooded due to many breaks to the surface as a result of pillar-extraction. The drain level, in which a 9 in. pipe had been installed, and which has proved a boon to the company by discharging the flow of mine water, is being seriously affected by heaving floor in the goaf, and some difficulty is being experienced in maintaining the drain. The straight-heading section, comprising an extensive area of first workings, is being reopened and reroaded for the extraction of the pillars. No work was done in the south mine section during the year. The plant and ventilation have been maintained to a high standard of efficiency, and a daily average of 6ŌO tons was produced from the extraction of the pillars of the first working.

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