ACQUIRED BY STATE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 February 1943, Page 2

ACQUIRED BY STATE

TWO COLLIERIES DOBSON AND WALLSEND. IN NATIONAL INTERESTS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. ’The acquisition of the Dobson Colliery by the Government was announced last night by the Minister of Mines, Mr Webb. He said that it would be operated as a State coal *iine as from February 22. k The Minister said that negotiations had been going on for some months, and began when the chairman of directors? of the company, Mr C. C. Davis, interviewed him last August and pointed out that underground mining operations had reached a stage where the proper course for the company to adopt in the interest of its shareholders would be definitely against the national interest. The position in regard to underground workings was well known to the Department of Mines and the time had arrived when the company felt that it must discontinue unpayable dip development and retreat from the mine, extracting pillars while so doing. The inevitable result of this wotild be that immediately to the rise of the undeveloped coal remaining under the Dobson Flats there would be a huge accumulation of wafer which would require very strong barriers to be between the old mine and any ' workings. It would also mean that the coal at present undeveloped could not be approached through the Dobson workings, but could be attacked only by means of new shafts about 2000 feet in depth. The cost of sinking such shafts would be very , high and a very large field of coal would have to be proved by boring to make such a scheme economic. The Government had accordingly decided to purchase the mine in the national interests, and as a State colliery development and exploration to the dip would continue and, at the ! same time, geological investigation would be made to 'select sites for boring to test the field ahead of the underground workings. The Minister said that during its life the Dobson Colliery had produced 1,250,000 tons of coal, and about 1,000,000 tons of extractive coal was standing in pillars. ASSISTED BY GOVERNMENT. With regard to the adjoining Wallsend Colliery, owned by Hrunner Collieries, Limited, the Minister said that this mine had been assisted with Government finance for some years. The company had repeatedly suggested that the colliery be taken’over by the State, and the Government had eventually decided to adopt this course. Though there were still some formalities to complete, the Minister said that he expected that the colliery would also be taken over by the State on February 22. Nearly 1,900,000 tons of coal have been won from the Wallsend mine since its inception, and about 800,000 tons of extractive coal was developed and standing in pillars. The Minister said that both Dobson and Wallsend coals were of a class of which there was a definite limited supply in this country, and accordingly the Government was determined thpt proper mining methods shbUldTbe practised to ensure both maximum ■ extraction and maximum conservation' of such a valuable natural resourced The ptincipal consumers Of the coal were the gasworks, the railways, and the cement industry.