N.Z.'s COAL RESERVES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 181, 17 November 1941, Page 2

N.Z.'s COAL RESERVES

DISCLOSURES OF SURVEY

NEED FOR COiN SERV ATI ON URGED

"Though the Westport coalfield lias not yet been surveyed in detail, on present evidence it can be stated that our bitumen reserves, at the present rate of consumption, are insufficient for 100 years," said Mr W. G. Hughson, chemist to the Co'.a Survey Committee of the Department of Science and Industrial Research, during an address to the annual meeting of the Gas Institute of New Zealand in Wellington.

"Much of the coal in the ground has been lest or rendered unminea.ble by fires," he added. "Large areas have been crushed by faulting or are dirty. Faulting has also cut "off certain blocks and made them economically inaccessible. In addition, it must be remembered that not more than a half to three-fifths of mineable coal is ever extracted. According to survey information the quantity of recoverable bitiuminc-us coal in New Zealand is reduced to less than 80,000,000 tons.

"It was stated this year that Great Britain's coal reserves, are not, as a 9 previously thought, sufficient to last for 600 to 800 years. Miuch coal will be left in the ground, and in fifty years most of the present operating mines will be abandoned. More expensive coal of the inferior quality such as the U.S.A. are driven to the same expedients. High Grades Limited "There is sufficient evidence to show that the quantity of high-grade coal in New Zealand is strictly limited and any policy which aims at its conservation must be endorsed by all. Conservation is frequently misunderstood to mean a reduction in output, but the chief aim of such a policy is to direct production, avoid waste, and obviate improper methods of utilisation.,

A -comprehensive po'.icy of conservation can only be built on complete information regarding all classes of coal and their suitability for various uses. Thus, if a particular coal is of outstanding value for gas production or the manufacture of metallurgical coke its limited supplies should be conserved for that purpose. At the same time; a suitable substitute fuel must be found for those plants which are no longer allowed to use this particular coal. Conservation involves planning in every branch of fuel activity that the maximum efficiency of the industry may be attained.