Story: Coal and coal mining

Charleston opencast mine

This extract from the Weekly Review in 1944 shows topsoil being sluiced away to expose a coal seam for mining. From the 1940s there was increasing use of opencast methods, which were safer and allowed more of the coal to be removed. The first opencast mine on the West Coast opened in 1944 at Charleston, where the coal was only a few metres below the surface.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Reference: Weekly Review 151. National Film Unit, 1944

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips, 'Coal and coal mining - The miners’ work', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/7450/charleston-opencast-mine (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips, published 12 Jun 2006, reviewed & revised 14 Apr 2021