FURTHER IMPORTANT COAL DISCOVERIES AT THE NGAKAWHAU.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1040, 24 January 1873, Page 2

FURTHER IMPORTANT COAL DISCOVERIES AT THE NGAKAWHAU.

In our issue of the I7fch instant we mentioned that another well defined seam of coal, twenty feet thick, had heen discovered at Mine Creek, N"gakawhau. We have now received further information from Mr John Rone, of the G-overument Survey Service, which confirms the supposition that a deposit of coal exists there of an extent far beyond any previous con ception.

In cutting survey line 3, Mr Rone and his companions discovered, about 14 days ago, on the south branch of Mine Creek, a horizontal seam of coal some fivo foet thick; cut by. tiie crook, and the face of the coal lying bare. Thirty chains further up the creek they afterwards discovered another seam of equal thickness. Half a mile beyond this seam on the main south branch of the creek they came upon the twenty foot seam, previously mentioned. The Coal here, as far as could be judged from cursory examination,extends for a considerable distance, and thousands of tons may he got by merely stripping off about nine inches of loose surface soil. In fact in many places the upper surface ot the coal is bare, the soil having been washed away by the rain. On the south "branch of the Ngakawhau, under the foot of Mount Frederick, Mr Rone counted no less than seven distinct faces of coal, each from fifteen to twenty feet thick. The last discovery made was about two miles on the south side of the Ngakawhau. A small creek, unnamed on the maps, there runs into the sea among the rocks. Following the windings of the creek up for about one mile and three quarters, at a point distant, in a straight lino, about 60 chains from the sea coast, they came upon another seam of coal dipping seaward, and from ten to fourteen feet in thickness. Ail the coal thus discovered is the true black coal, precisely similar to the Mount Rochfort measures, and the presumption is that the present discoveries, when compared with the result of previous explorations will prove the existence of a coalfield nearly eighty square miles in extent. "We have given Mr Rone's plain unvarnished statement of. facts. The importance of the discovery should engage the instant attention of the public.