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MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : History and Discovery

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MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY 1




MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]most images to
view more detail.

INDEX to The Mt Torlesse Collieries project
MTC101: A Guide to the Mt Torlesse Collieries

MTC102: Introduc[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]DISCLAIMER : One problem with entering the Avoca Coal Mine study late in the piece (2021) is that
so ma[...]ver basin 9
Coal in mid-Canterbury 10
Castle Hill coal[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]in 1850. Not long
before, on 1 Jan 1849, Charles Torlesse (aged 24) and companion George Tuwhai of
Port Lev[...]n soon to bear his name, also acknowledged by the
coal mining company, Mt Torlesse Collieries, 67 years later.

Explorers fou[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]claims.




Torlesse will have discussed his observations with his bos[...]ed out about promising grazing country behind the Torlesse Range. A
run holder from Australia, Joseph[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]10, but it was
a further 8 years before the first coal was delivered to Christchurch.




The original A[...]ere the ‘great conflagration’ took place, but Torlesse would not have seen this
view as, from the summit of Mt Torlesse, it is concealed by Junction and Back Peaks.
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]Grasmere Basin looking down Landsdowne Spur from Torlesse Ridge.
Broken River centre with Nomans[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]fter the 1917 resurvey, when the east ridge of Mt Torlesse became
Avoca (page 4), bounded by Broken R[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY 11

COAL in MID CANTERBURY

Outcrops of coal were well known in the Canterbury area, Coalgate being one
example. James McIlraith, brother of Jane Deans, discovered coal seams in Surveyor’s
Gully (later renamed Glentu[...]he Malvern area. There
were about 10 mines in the Coalgate area but not all were for coal. Other coal mines
were also opened in Springfield and Sheffie[...]) for environmental reasons) was established near
Coalgate to supply the Fonterra milk drying plant near Darfield.




1918 : Coal outcrops in Canterbury
Jenny Abrahamson (2022; pers comm) unearthed a lot of information about coal in the
Grasmere Basin, much of which is not inclu[...]age 7). She noted the first
reported discovery of coal might go to Torlesse, who in Jan-1858 arranged with the
Provinc[...]he main branch of the Broken River in which was a coal
bed, then another branch”, almost certai[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]bly after flooding (MTC224).




1858 : Charles Torlesse’s visit to the Grasmere 1870 : CASTLE HILL Coal discovery.
Basin[...]Wide probably means thick.

Castle Hill coal seams were discovered some time later. In 1865 John Enys writes of
finding coal on the Thomas River about 2 miles (3.2 km) from t[...]le to build
the pool in, we came across a seam of coal or lignite, which will keep alight for a long
tim[...]1869: “I am busy building a stable. We now use coal
with the wood, which we dig on our own run[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]13




Possible location of coal seams near Castle Hill village.
The[...]the sheep dip in 2022 and 2014.




BROKEN RIVER Coal Discovery
Coal was in short supply for the growing city of Chris[...]e Buller River. The most
reliable, but expensive, coal supply was from Newcastle, Australia. The shortage of
coal was extensively covered in Christchurch newspaper[...]ristchurch Star of 12 Jul 1881 reported “In The Coal
Country” that the Springfield Coal Company was formed in 1875 or 1876 and had[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]loudesley mining Part of the visible coalcoal background in England (Lyttleton Times : 1889 : ([...]rch, son of John Redpath of J A Redpath and
Sons, coal and general merchants and importers. He distanced himself from the
family by starting his own coal company in opposition to the family busine[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]. They will have met through a common
interest in coal, probably around 1900 and quickly became close associates in
developing the Mt Torlesse Colliery company, both becoming directors when it[...]ge 16).
During these trips he visited the visible coal seams in Broken River and probably
conceived the[...]ho decided there was a commercial
potential for a coal mine because the Midland Railway under construction nearby
offered a method of transporting Broken River coal to Christchurch.
Cloudesley became the driving force and fund raiser for the development and launch
of Mt. Torlesse Collieries (Broken River NZ) Limited in 1916, the first coal being
produced in May 1918. Cloudesley died in London in 1919, aged 67, so only saw the
early stages of coal production. Redpath lived well past the li[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]16




MTC1001 : This Grand View shows the Mt Torlesse Collieries operation. The area where 10 te[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]left.
..




Approximate 1889 lease CML17 (Coal Mine Lease) or ‘135 chain lease’ which[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY 18




Light coloured coal bearing strata above Broken River, along t[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]today’s Craigieburn run and the part of the Mt
Torlesse run on the south side of Broken River became Avoc[...]icance of this
is that the pre-1917 references to coal discovery on Craigieburn are different to those
referenced during the Mt Torlesse coal mine period (1916-1828), that area becoming
Flock[...]1917, the Avoca run was the eastern ridge of the Torlesse Range, with Broken
River and Staircase Gul[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY 21




1888 : DISCOVERY OF COAL at Craigieburn (now Flock Hill), a seam traced ov[...]e seam discussed in MTC215.

The first mention of coal in Broken River is credited to Torlesse in 1858 (page 5), but it
was 1885 before the Lytt[...]that ‘the country in the vicinity abounds with coal’. In 1888 The Press (page
20) reported a[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]itch states that the original 1889 lease (CML 17
(Coal Mine Lease 17) also referred to as the ‘135 cha[...]rticularly noticed, reveals an underlying seam of
coal which appears to be identical in quality with the[...]ek and there is no further mention of Bushy Creek coal or a second seam.
The location of the splendid se[...]portedly discovered Alum Creek and the Alum Creek coal seam, though
Cloudesley saw it first. It w[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]een years (May 1918) before the first delivery of coal from mine 1
on the north bank and a year after th[...]uth bank. The Alum Creek seam yielded most of
the coal mined by the company.




2021 : Visible seams at[...]eams below it. The East Seam where
most of the Mt Torlesse coal was mined is extensively exposed on the east slop[...]ult and did not extend that far.

Today, the only coal exposure between Winding Creek and Iron Creek is the one first
noted by Torlesse on the true right of Broken River near the[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]using 5 cwt (250kg) of
Broken River and Newcastle coal was made in Mr Langdon’s steam carriage works i[...]sample from there (possibly MTC219, page 2).

Mt Torlesse Collieries Ltd was registered in London in May 19[...]ation of the earlier bores,
proved seven seams of coal from 2 to 16 feet thick (0.6-4.9m) thick and cont[...]a)” and analysed as equal to the best Newcastle coal. In March 1914 Mt Torlesse
coal was awarded second prize in the lignite category[...]of 8 July 1901 (below)
Cloudesley reported to the Coal Commission that there was a 14 foot (4.3m) seam a[...]e.




1901 : Cloudesley reports to the Coal
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]h the ‘Discovery’ period for the Broken River coal seams finished, the next step
was to raise money[...]am of Winding Creek.
Cloudesley’s report to the Coal Commission mentions that some boring had already[...]The 1914 bores recorded 16 foot and 15 foot thick coal seams (4.6
and 4.9m), 58 feet and 82 feet[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]The earliest building in the area associated with coal mining was probably a hut built
in 1914 for the o[...]Avoca side where the
miners were prospecting for coal”, which sounds like the Winding Creek area. It[...]13 (MTC219). It
named William Cloudsley as the Mt Torlesse Collieries manager and noted ‘four men
w[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]Southern District
inspector of mines reported “Coal measures under notice can be seen from the bed of[...]f considerable
disturbance also that the seams of coal, if continuous, vary in thickness to an usual
deg[...]ted;
Professor E. M. Bowen, who is coal analyst for the Power Dufferin
min[...]noted
authority on the analysis of coal, analysed samples from Broken River[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]hirers free of charge - - - - A workable area of coal was thus
proved in Canterbury - - - -’.
The bor[...]Approximate location of Coal Mine Leases.
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]envisaged was a light rail (tramway) to
transport coal about 3 miles (4.83 km) to a proposed New Zealand[...]y was registered in England in May 1915, as Mount Torlesse Collieries
(Broken River, NZ.) Ltd. 100,000 share[...]ruction work. They expected to supply 100 tons of coal
a day to Christchurch.
The war also effect[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]ime it opened, so competition in the
Christchurch coal market must have been virtually immediate.

Cloud[...]and 1927 and Mr H Talbot in 1926.
Transport of Mt Torlesse coal to Christchurch depended on New Zealand Railways[...]eep climb over Porters pass. But for transport of coal, the impressive Slovens Creek
viaduct, 5 tunnels[...]leted. Avoca and Cass stations opened in 1910.
Mt Torlesse Coal Company Ltd took longer than expected to deliver the first coal. On
23 May 1918, the Mt Torlesse Colliery commenced mining operations on their lea[...]in 1919, aged 67, so only saw the early stages of coal
production.
Highest production of about 16[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]asmere Basin, including the
northern faces of the Torlesse and Benmore ranges, the east face of the Craigieb[...]wne Creek and Slovens Stream both enter below the coal mine
area. A massive flood over 3/5 Nov 19[...]
MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : HISTORY and DISCOVERY[...]

MD

MTC103 : Mt Torlesse Collieries : History and Discovery
[...], factors effecting its development, discovery of coal and building the Midland Line railway. Bill Cloudesley is credited with the idea of mining significant coal seams in the Avoca Basin of Broken River a[...]
Mt Torlesse Collieries
Avoca coal mines
Broken River coal mines
Broken River coal
Mt Torlesse Coal
Mt Torlesse Collieries Collection