ALBION COAL COMPANY.

Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1204, 21 August 1874, Page 2

ALBION COAL COMPANY.

At the General meeting of shareholders, held at Nelson on the sth hist., the following Directors' report was adopted: Gentlf-Hei?, —In accordance with the Articles of Association, the Directors have called you together to-day to receive their Report of what has been done during the first year of the Company's existence. The Balance-sheet made up to 30th June last, his been printed, and in accordance with the Rules, a copy has been forwarded to each shareholder. In laying before you a concise report of what has been done, it must be borne

in mind that when your present Directors entered upon their duties, the task assigned to them appeared to be to get away from the Ngakawhau mine by means of the small river of the same name, and offer for sale in the best market, the coal, the produce of that mine. Yonrs Directors are by no means satisfied that the capabilities of the Ngakawhau inlet have been fairly tested ; but the attempts which thej' made to use the river were attended with so much failure, that your Directors felt that they would not have been justified in running the risk of persevering in further attempts in the same direction. And 1 they were the more reconciled to a suspension, for a time at all events, of all attempts to ship coal by the river upon learning the intention of the Government to make a railway, which leaviug Westport on the Buller, should enter the Mount Rochfort Coalfield by th<j Ngakawhau, and, when completed, afford the means of cheap and rapid haulage to Westport, the best harbor on the West Coast. The Directors feel confident that the Shareholders cannot be otherwise than highly satisfied with the arrangement which they have been able to make with the Government, by which their coals are to be hauled to Westport at a charge of 2d per ton per mile ; and the date of their lease is extended to the time when the railway is opened. As regards the progress being made with that railway at the present time, the surveys and other works in connection with it are being carried on. The first section from Westport has been offered for contract, and the survey for the remainder is proceeding. Your Directors gather from the statement of the Minister of Public Works that the railway will be ready for work in a couple of years at the furthest. There are very few engineering difficulties in the way ; in fact, the line might" be described as one of unusual engineering facilities, passing over a level country, and abundantly supplied with both timber and ballast. It is evidently of the greatest importance to the whole Colony to open up this magnificent coalfield, and your Directors would have been glad to have been able to congratulate the shareholders, and the public of New Zealand generally,'upon the prospect of the produce of these mines being in the market at a still earlier date. Having desisted from any direct attempts to introduce the coal into the market in vessels owned by themselves, and looking forward to the railway as the means by which the object is to be accomplished, your Directors endeavored to push a trade in their coal by offering it at the mine at very low rates. For instance, they announced their readiness to sell, and sold some hundreds of tons of coal on the shoot at the mine at 8s a ton, and they cn« tered into a contract with a company calling themselves the Ino Company, by which that company undertook to get out 300 tons of coal, paying the Albion Company a royalty of 3s a ton, The Ino, however, however, did not prove a suitable vessel for entering bar harbors of little draught, and has left the West Coast for the present. Since the failure of the attempt to get coal away by the Cooroerang, the expenditure upon the mine lias been very trifling. So soon as it became apparent that the company, unaided by the Government, was not likely to export coal successfully by the Ngakawhauriver, the duty of your Directors was obviously to reduce expenditure as much as possible, and the manager, and blacksmith, and mining hands were accordingly discharged. It seemed, however, to your Directors that it would conduce very much to the interests of the company that they should know something more of the coal bearing character of the country on the east side of mine creek, and they accordingly requested one of their body, Mr Field, of Westport, to carry out some operations there. The work thus assigned to him was diligently discharged by Mr Field. Under his directions several drives were put into the side of the high hill across Mine creek. A highly interesting report from Mr Chambers is on the table, from which it appears that the result of these drives has been to prove the existence of a seam of pure coal of about fourteen feet in thickness, harder and brighter than the coal worked from the shoot, of which seam however it would appear to be a continuation. The direct evidence obtained of the existence of this fine seam of coal, extending in all probability as it will over a very large area of the company's property, and capablo of being worked level free, caunot fail to give a great additional value to the company's property. The Directors arc well pleased to be able to announce to the shareholders that they have at length been able to sell the Coornerang. For the unfortunate purchase of that vessel they hold themselves responsible only in a secondary degree. The purchase was most strongly urged by Mr Bcotham, who was the managing director appointed by the delegates assembled at Nelson, last July, and representations were made with regard to her capacity, draught of water, and suitability for the trade, upon the authority of apparently trustworthy individuals, which turned out to be incorrect. The difference between the price paid for her and the price obtained by her sale, is no doubt considerable, But by keeping her, the company would have found itself called upon to settle long bills for repairs, and would have been engaged in operations which are not within its objects, and for which it is not well suited.

Although some disappointment may have attended the operations of the past year, they have not been without their compensating advantages in the knowledge gained of the coalfield and its seams. It is difficult to imagine a coalfield, as regards the quality of its fuel and its accessibility, much more favorably situated than that of Ngakawhau. It is entered close to the sea and at its level, and the coal in immense quantities is above the miner. From the mouth of the mine to Westport the distance is only eighteen miles, and the country a dead level, with plenty of timber and the best railway ballast. At Westport the coal can be taken away in steam colliers, or other suitable vessels which will carry several hundreds of tons at a trip. It is the key of the finest coalfield as yet known in New Zealand, and can hardly fail when the means for working it are in e'xistence to prove a source of great wealth to the whole colony. It is much to be regretted that with all this source of power so close to our doors, we should have to wait so long before being able to realise it. The shareholders in the Company must console themselves with the x conviction that the work is steadily advancing, and though compelled to wait they may look forward to the time, not so very far distant, when they will be in possession of a mining property of the highest value. D. Mo> t eo, Chairman. Resolutions were carried : (1.) " That until the opening of the railway, the Board hold itself in readiness to deliver screened, marketable coal, at the wharf, at the Ngakawhau, at 10s per ton ; and that the Board advertise the readiness of the Company to sell and deliver coal in reasonable quantities on the terms aforesaid." (2.) " That, in the opinion of this meeting, the Company, beyond being in readiness to deliver coal to customers in accordance with the foregoing resolution, should reduce its expenditure as far as possible, and await the completion of the railway." The names of Directors for the current year are as follows:—Dunedin : Messrs Larnach, Turnbull, Proudfoot, . and Brodrick. Christehureh: Mr Gr. Grould. Wellington : Mr Henderson. Nelson: Sir D. Monro and Mr Adams. Westport: Messrs Field and < Corr. Auckland: Messrs Howard and Beetharn.