✨ Report on Coal-fields
159
NEW ZEALAND
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,
(PROVINCE OF NELSON.)
Published by Authority.
All 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.
ALFRED GREENFIELD, Provincial Secretary.
VOL. XVI. NELSON, FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1868. No. 37.
Superintendent's Office,
Nelson, 31st July, 1868.
THE SUPERINTENDENT directs the publication of the following Report for general information.
ALFRED GREENFIELD,
Provincial Secretary.
REPORT ON MOUNT ROCHFORT COAL-FIELDS.
To HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF NELSON.
SIR,—
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On my return to Westport from visiting the Coal and Goldfields on the West Coast, accompanied by Mr. Morrison, I received on the 2nd of July, instructions from the Provincial Secretary, to "make an examination of the Mount Rochfort Coalfields, and report to Government especially as to the best means of bringing the coal to market."
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The examination being limited to fourteen days (as per instructions), I had to proceed so as to comply as far as possible, within the time stated, and, therefore, the opinions which I may give in this report must be understood as based upon the information contained in the surveys and plans made by Mr. Burnett (marked Grey Coalfields, Nos. 2 and 3).
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Having visited several of the trial drifts and outcrops of coal situate on the River David, Coal-brook Dale, and the Waimangaroa Gorge, I found these very valuable seams of coal, accurately described by Mr. Burnett, as to their position, thickness, and apparent dip.
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The south-east slope of the valley known as Coalbrook Dale, may be said to be almost one continuous seam of superior coal of various thickness, ranging from three to nine feet. From the highest trial drift, where the coal is exposed to view, I caused a line to be cut through the scrub on the face of the slope towards the saddle, which divides Coalbrook Dale from the River David. The length of this line was less than one quarter of a mile, yet, upon trial, I found coal in four different places along this line, giving me strong evidence that the seam of coal will be found to extend to the very summit of Coalbrook Dale. On the lower part of the Dale, coal seams are visible in various places on both sides of the valley, before its junction with the Waimangaroa Gorge.
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From these facts, there is no reason to doubt but, that if a line of road or railway was constructed on the south-east slope of Coalbrook Dale, the necessary side-cutting would lay bare a seam of coal almost, if not altogether, continuous from the top to the bottom of the valley, thus giving extraordinary facilities for working the coal on an extensive scale, and at a minimum cost.
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The thickness of the seams of coal in Waimangaroa Gorge far exceeds those in Coalbrook Dale, but, as they are exposed on the face of perpendicular cliffs, in broken ground, and in a gorge which descends from the formal plateau, in a distance of fifteen chains, no less than nine hundred feet, approaching
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Nelson Provincial Gazette 1868, No 37
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🌾 Publication of Report on Mount Rochfort Coal-fields
🌾 Primary Industries & Resources31 July 1868
Coal-fields, Mount Rochfort, Westport, Mining, Survey, Nelson Province
- Morrison (Mr.), Accompanied author on West Coast
- Burnett (Mr.), Author of coalfield surveys and plans
- Alfred Greenfield, Provincial Secretary
- Superintendent of Nelson