THE WAIMARINO COALFIELD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 924, 17 September 1910, Page 12

THE WAIMARINO COALFIELD.

ESSENTIALLY A HOUSEHOLD COAL. .Some,remarks concerning the Retaruke coalfield iin tlio Wa\marino district are contained, r inthe' annual ..report of Dr. Bell; Government Geologist. It isthought that, when'; geological' investigations- have been\further ■ prosecuted . extensive, j'ioalbeds- will' ba found. .; The coal, which 'is sub-bituminous in; quality;,' .occurs, in seamsfrom 3ft. to' Bft. in thickness, interstratified 1 with a great ' series of conglomerates, sandstones, claystones,. and impure-i.limestones;-..'As! yet it is impossiblentoVi&y .whether the several outcrops oxEyjiitifid belong,, tq one or more. seams. it > i,op,9a. T /th'aV : the coal is in. every v ca® v high-in:ash, high in sulphur, and high', in watery vwhich are . all serious defects.-V There was reason to believe, that thoicoal away from the surface • will very probably contain less ash: and less . water, but it is vei-jr unlikely that the'quantity of sulphur will diminish- at' all;' in fact,., lit is more likely to increase. In general the quality, of the Retaruke coal is more :like that of Mokau coal than any other 1 ■of the New' Zealand coals. The best of 'the Retaruke coal, too, is not . inferior .to the Mokau ooal. In. the almost-equal percentages of ; '-iixed 'carbon and .volatile ihydrocarbons the Retaruke coal resembles that .from Taupiri, but the quantity of ash - and' sulphur is higher in the K«taruke than in the Taupiri district. -However, a certain! amount ■ 0f.,; ash—below - 8 .per cent.—is not really a, serious : matter,, and in .some cases .prevents decrepitation of coal by holding it together: Like the Mokau "and- Taupiri,' coals thej .Ketaruk# . coal is' non-caking, and i's 1 essentially a -household coal. Hazarding the extent of the 1 seams, Dr. Bell puts it at 3,407,000 tons. Ho thinks that the grade of this amount of coal need not exceed the 8 per "'cent.' limit of ash or, the 3 per cent, limit of sulphur. ' ' :- v - ; -. '- . -