300 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [Jan. 
Conclusion. 
The principal object of my visit was to inspect and report upon the 
coal-outcrops in the Tangarakau Gorge. These, so far as examined, are 
decidedly disappointing. The coal is thin, and access is bad. The cost 
of working a 3 ft. to 3J ft. seam of brown coal will be very great, and trans¬ 
port to the railroad will be expensive. Hence it is unlikely that the 
Tangarakau coal can compete successfully with other coals outside the 
district in which it occurs. It must be remembered that two large mines 
are about to be opened in the neighbourhood of Huntly, and if these 
and the other mines of the Waikato district are operated at fall capacity 
they will be able to supply Taranaki as well as Auckland. Coal is scarce 
in New Zealand markets at present, but the scarcity is due to want of 
miners, not to want of coal. The fact that miners, if available, could be 
more profitably employed in the mines of the Waikato, Westport, Grey- 
mouth, and Otago districts than in the Tangarakau Gorge needs to be 
emphasized. Again, when the branch railway from Okahukura reaches 
Ohura the opening of the Waitewhena coalfield will be feasible. In a few 
years’ time it is hoped that the railway now ending at Tahora will be 
extended to Ohura. Once the connection with Ohura is made, the Tanga¬ 
rakau Gorge coal will be hopelessly unable to compete with the Waitewhena 
coal. Further, as the railway is extended from Tahora into the Heao 
Valley, it is possible that better seams than those of the Tangarakau Gorge 
will be found close to the railway. In fact, Dr. Henderson* has already 
reported that a seam at least 5 ft. thick outcrops about a mile north-west 
of Tatu Village (Upper Heao Valley). 
The Tangarakau Gorge seams, however, deserve a certain amount of 
prospecting. The main seam is probably 5 ft. or 6 ft. thick in places, and, 
if so, a small mine could be opened in it to supply Tahora, Whangamomona, 
and other townships as far south as Stratford. The coal will probably have 
to be carted over a bad road to Tahora at considerable expense. The cost 
of a special tram-line will hardly be justified, but the gorge may possibly 
be tapped in the near future by a timber tram, and, if so, fairly cheap 
transport for small quantities of coal will be available. 
If mining-rights are granted over areas in the Tangarakau Gorge, special 
conditions ought to be inserted in the leases, in order to prevent the coal 
from being wastefully mined, and especially in order to obviate the danger 
of fires starting in the mines. Conditions sufficiently stringent to prevent 
the destruction of the forest scenery by indiscriminate felling of the bush 
are also desirable. 
Detailed geological survey of the Tangarakau and adjoining districts 
is advisable, and steps are now being taken to begin such a survey. Apart 
from the work of the geologist, a little surface prospecting is desirable. This 
should be done by one or two men specially appointed for the work. They 
could act under the direction of the geologist in charge of the survey ; but 
it should be understood that an ordinary geological-survey party cannot 
undertake the digging and driving involved in serious prospecting. This 
is a class of work distinct from geological survey. 
The natural outlet for any coal mined beyond, say, the 61-mile post 
in the Tangarakau Gorge will be towards Tatu, in the Upper Heao Valley, 
rather than towards Tahora (the present rail-head). Hence, until the 
railway reaches Tatu, which will not be for six or seven years at least, any 
proposal to mine coal on a large scale from the seam or seams outcropping 
at 63 m. and 64 m. 30 ch. (Coal Creek) must be considered premature. 
* N.Z. Jour. Sci. Tech., vol. 2, No. (3, p. 398, 1919. 
