✨ Report on coal fields
NEW ZEALAND
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
(PROVINCE OF NELSON).
Published by Authority.
All Public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signature thereunto annexed, are to be considered as Official Communications made to those Persons to whom they may relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.
By His Honor's command,
J. C. RICHMOND, Provincial Secretary.
VOL. XI. NELSON, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1863. No. 14.
Provincial Secretary's Office, Nelson,
May 12, 1863.
HIS Honor the Superintendent directs the publication of the following Report for general information.
J. C. RICHMOND,
Provincial Secretary.
REPORT ON THE BULLER AND GREY COAL FIELDS.
To his Honor the SUPERINTENDENT;
NELSON, May 4, 1863.
SIR—I beg to forward to you the second part of my Report, viz., that referring to the Coal Fields at the Buller and the Grey.
When I arrived at the Buller River, on the 6th February, I found that Mr. Burnett had left for Nelson, and I feared that his absence might considerably retard my examination of the coal district. I am glad to say, however, that this was not the case, as by the next vessel, and before I was ready to proceed with this work, I received from him plans and descriptions of his explorations, so minute and particular, that I was able to follow them without any trouble, and to make a perfectly satisfactory examination of the coal field.
This has been so well described and illustrated by Mr. Burnett in his various reports, that I can add nothing to increase our present information on the subject.
I may, however, describe generally the features of the coal field, and the country between it and the Buller, and also the means proposed for conveying the coals to port.
The surface of the coal field consists of an undulating table land or plateau which lies at a general elevation of 2,000 feet. The point at which the coal has been found most conspicuous and abundant, is at the further or inland edge of this plateau, where it is exposed in thick seams in the banks of several streams, at a level some 300 feet lower than the middle or highest portion of the plateau, which we must cross to arrive at it.
This table-land is open, destitute of bush, except in a few gullies, and covered with rough, bare, flat rocks, for a large part of its area.
From the sea-ward edge of this table-land, the ground slopes down irregularly for a distance of nearly two miles, forming in fact the side of the Mount Rochfort range; this is all covered with bush and rough scrub and is very rugged, and much broken up into gullies and ridges, and in some places is very steep.
The foot of the range is about two miles from the sea beach, and eight miles from the mouth of the Buller river, at that point where it is considered to be most accessible by a road. This is situated between the rivers Wariatea, and Waimangaroa, which flow from this range and the table-land beyond.
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Nelson Provincial Gazette 1863, No 14
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🌾 Publication of Report on the Buller and Grey Coal Fields
🌾 Primary Industries & Resources12 May 1863
Coal fields, Buller, Grey, Mining, Geological report, Nelson Province
- Burnett (Mr.), Explored coal district
- J. C. Richmond, Provincial Secretary