Ohai Town & District - Business & Industry, Open Cast Coal Mine Open Day c1964

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Group of images of machinery used to prepare the Open Cast Coal Mine at Ohai in days past. Unknown dates, but believed to be during 1960's & c1964: IMAGES: These are a collection of photos from the Open Day held during the 1960's so the public could view the open cast mine preparation and the amazing range of machines engaged to undertake this work, the likes of which had never been seen locally before. The photographer of these images, David Erskine, grandson of Hugh Erskine - first European settler West of the Waiau, left the collection to his son, who has kindly shared them with us, to share with you! The images are requested to be licensed CC BY, to Westwood Farm Erskine's. Photos include: LD or Dick Collis’ Euclid machines, he had 13 of them, as well as 1 Cat D9E, 1 Cat D9G , 1 International TD 30B, a Galeon T600B grader and a LeTourneau rock buggy. More details on these are in our other entries : OHAI COAL MINING: This Ohai earthmoving project, was formed to extract coal out from under a large hill. LD Collis or 'Dick' as he was known, was to win this huge contract to remove the hill, so the coal could be accessed. It was to take four and a half years for Dick Collis and his many mighty machines to move the required hill, and over 200,000 man hours from the drivers. (More on the machines below.) During the 1960's, State Coal Mines were to continue to upgrade their coal production, according to 'In the Shadow of the Takitimu's' book by Walter Guttery, who kindly donated us a copy of this work. This included the growth of opencast mining methods. Whereas underground mining only took a percentage of the coal from each seam, whereas with the new opencast mining option becoming increasingly available due to new large machines capable of exposing low-lying seams from the top, far greater tonnage could be extracted. This led to large changes occurring at Ohai. According to the above book, "State Coal Mines advertised contracts to remove the overburden (soil/clay/sand/rock material sitting above coal seams) from some significant coal seams. New equipment was now available with the capacity to remove the overburden, and coal seams previously workable only by underground mining, were now able to be accessed by using the latest in huge earth stripping machinery. Ohai residents of that time could hear the rumble of the large 'scrapers' earth moving machines, as they went about their task. It was at least a 12 hour a day operation, and in summer the machines worked all the hours of daylight. Eventually this led to the appearance of huge man made hills, as the tons and tons of overburden was dumped. Likewise, an enormous hole in the ground appeared as the earth was removed. One of the first major opencast mines (No 3) was opened in 1959. In 1960 another new opencast mine (No 6) commenced production." State Coal taking over control of the wider Ohai mining operations also saw an end to the separate selling of each localised mining areas coal. Whereas both 'Wairaki' or 'Linton' coals had been advertised competitively for many decades, now the combined districts coal was only sold under the 'Ohai Coal' brand. This also led to a centralised system being run, instead of all the previously individual companies processing plants and a new screening plant. That also led to the formation of a new rail layout. Eventually as mechanisation progressed and finally huge coal digging machines were bought in during the 1970's, there was need for less and less men to dig the coal. One by one the mines closed and families left the district in droves. Once full of industry, Ohai became a virtual ghost town. The Mine Data website contains the following information on Ohai: "Solid Energy closed the Wairaki Mine in 2003, and this was replaced by the Ohai open cut mine, named after the bordering town. The mine closed in 2009, when it lost the contract with its largest customer, a dairy processing factory at Clandeboye. In 2011, Solid Energy announced it had found a further 50,000 tonnes of coal, and the following year had produced 35,000 tonnes of coal for local domestic use. The mine had employed 300 workers in the 1980's. Shortly after the mine closed again, when Solid Energy was liquidated after unwise investments into coal briquetting, and turning coal into diesel fuel experiments. The mine was subsequently sold to Palmer MH groups Greenbriar, and as of 2018, limited mining continues for local domestic use." Eventually closing at the end of September 2021, the Ohai Mine which was owned by Greenbriar, along with the New Vale Mine at Waimumu, was to begin rehabilitation of the mine site almost immediately and some estimates set the amount of time which it will take you complete this, to 2-3 years. Some staff were staying to effect this and others moving on to the company's other site. At that time 2 staff members were made redundant. Others who had worked at the site under previous owners and who had deals as part of their union membership for provision of coal in retirement, as well as the elderly who couldn't drive, were going to notice the closure more than some. When Ohai mine was closed in September 2021, they cited “multitude factors” according to news reports, which included the loss of a major consumer, escalating environmental costs and ageing infrastructure. New Vale Ohai Coal general manager Antony Stoddart is reported as saying that sales of coal from the mine had stopped when it closed but some merchants stockpiled the high quality coal and only started to run out in 2022. There were concerns regarding the financial and social ramifications of locals no longer being able to purchase cost effective heating or local coal supplies, in an area where coal ranges are still king. Currently a group has been set up to save "Ohai Views" as owners Greenbriar have recently instigated a pine forest plantation at the former mine site, with no public consultation, which locals say will impede their glorious views, the whole reason many of them purchased property here. They are calling on elected members of Parliament to stand by promises made by earlier Government owned Solid Energy for the mine site to be rehabilitated and lakes and bike trails put in. At this point the Government seem uninterested in honouring that deal. We will add more to this story as it unfolds in the future. THE FUTURE OF COAL AT OHAI: Bathurst Resources subsidiary New Brighton Collieries had been granted exploratory access to the Southland District Council’s Ohai forestry block in 2021 and this revealed at least 200,000 tonnes of coal. Their Parent Company Bathurst Resources owns and operates the close by Takitimu Coal Mine, about 10km away from the former Ohai Coal Mine. At the time, Chief Executive Richard Tacon is quoted as saying that if resource consent was granted, the forestry block would extend mining in the area into the 2030s. While Forest and Bird challenged Southland District Council’s decision to allow access in a judicial review which was heard in the Invercargill High Court during 2022, this decision was upheld. The news led to protests at the mine site, which were monitored by the police, with the protestors who shut down a conveyor being trespassed and other protestors leaving willingly. Extinction Rebellion was involved with strong feelings and passion flaring on both sides of the argument. Ohai used to be a bustling coal town with many mining workers and their families living there. It had pubs, grocery stores, a motor garage and service centre, more about this can be seen in these community archives under entries: CWA.072.130.004 and CWA.072.130.005 plus others; and it also boasted a school, police station, a well used public hall and other amenities. Most of these are sadly now closed. But the town has seen an upsurge in popularity as a place to live with the cost of housing making it one of the most affordable places in Aotearoa NZ to live now. Many older people have taken early retirement from more expensive towns and cities, selling up with money to spare and moving to retire into the township, this has given the town a new lease of life in recent times. It is well worth a visit, even to survey the old mine site. LD COLLIS: There are quite a lot of local and commercial references to LD 'Dick' Collis working as a contractor at the opencast mine at Ohai, for some years in the past. We have more photos than those shown here on the Ohai Mine Site Open Cast preparation years, these are in our online in other entries on this. Dick Collis was to go on to do earthworks on the Waitaki hydro lakes project and at Stockton Mine at Te Tai Poutini or the West Coast, with his son, along with roading contracts. What we would really appreciate, is help with more memories or accounts of Dick & Doug Collis and those who worked for them here in Murihiku Southland. And if anyone followed them further afield, we'd love to hear more about that too. It seems these Collis' inspired great loyalty. EUCLID HEAVY EQUIPMENT: When Dick was at Ohai working on preparing for the mine, he owned 7 Euclid TS 24s, 4 Euclid TC12s, 1 Euclid TS 14, 1 Euclid C6, Dick was one of the largest Euclid owners in the Southern Hemisphere and articles about this and his machines are included in a different entry in these online archives. But, one of LD Collis’s TC-12's at the Ohai opencast mine in Southland, had an attachment on the blade - a slip on push plate for pushing scrapers. In an interesting magazine article by Trucking Magazine, we find that "Euclid TC12's operated on many NZ projects during the 1960's. Paul Clarke's machine (he has some of these machines, presented one at the Wheels at Wanaka 2021 Show) which originated from Canada, was done up in the livery of the period South Island contractor LD Collis." This fabulous article can be searched online. It appears from a few of the comments received, that Wally Herron was also involved in working here with LD Collis too (there are also photos of their machines at Orepuki Coal Mine shown in this community archive under entry CWA.185.115.088 and with recent donations of more material, this entry will soon be updated as well. Wally & Dick were local Southland heros in their day. COMMUNITY MEMORIES: One ex-resident recalls, "I remember Ohai when it was a thriving mining town with a great community and sporting clubs plenty of shops etc. They used to have a school carriage on the back of the coal train for the kids to go to school, that was back in the 1950's." Another resident says, "LD or Dick Collis had TC12 Euclid Tractors at Ohal. Also a TD 30 International and other types of equipment I remember." "Dick Collis knew how to shift dirt, he lived in Gore and I was lucky enough to get a trip to Ohai with him 62/63 era," remembers another person. "Herrons Michigan wheel dozer V12 Detroit with straight pipe - just about hear it In Invercargill. No earmuffs then!" Remembers another person... And Wally Herron's son, Brian, also reminisces that, " What was funnier was we timed a major rock blast for a Saturday 12 pm , which was when at the Ohai the bar was always full, apparently jugs and glasses went flying, brother Keith got a bit of a stir up from district Mines manager, I think he (Jim) had a bit of a grin about it though on the side." About LD Collis TC-12 at Ohai, Trev Smith says, "I drove that machine for a year or two before I went on the later model. Collis ended up with 4 of them at Ohai after buying Doug McKay’s one just before the end of the contract. There is the only one left it is under restoration at Riverton." As per other memories, someone else recalled that one was still there at Ohai when Baker Construction was there, and this got cut up and sold for scrap. It seems that Paul Carke may have one too, according to Trevor Smith, "only two are original ones, the other two are recent imports." Cyril Allen remembers this, "I spent a lot of Saturday mornings riding shotgun with Johnny (Beatty) early to mid 60"s as a boy. I can still hear those magical two stroke GM"s screaming away." Another contracting machinery enthusiast says, "IH tractors of the range then was the giant TD-30 Series A Power Shift crawler. I have dug back into my serial number lists and reference books and can only find a TD-30 Series 300 from that era. 6 powershift TD30s made it into NZ. 2 to LD Collis in the South Island. There were 6 units of TD-30 crawlers imported from the USA into NZ between 1962-65 including 1 unit of the TD-30A." While another person recalls, "Later, L D Collis (Dick) had a TS 24 Terex 24 twin motor - they sure moved some dirt." Murray Couchman who, like many others are part of a current day Ohai group online, who often reminisce, recalls that he, drove a fuel tanker out of Invercargill to Ohai twice a week during 1965-67, hauling diesel up to Dick Collis contracting at the open cut (mine), this was with Mobil Oil. He further recalls that Collis Contracting had the contract to strip the overburden at the open cut mine, around past the Wairaki mine site. They operated a lot of heavy machinery, bulldozers and motor scrapers, mostly all were Euclid." This memory made me as the Digitising Archivist, wonder about the overall fuel consumption of so many large machines all operating at once, let alone the man hours involved, so I asked Murray that question. His response was: "We would do a 3000 Gallon load twice a week." This equates to around 13,600 odd Litres, so that sure is a lot!! If you can share further memories about Ohai town or the coal mines, companies, miners, businesses trains and rail, or other in formation and photos or records, please let us know in comments or send us an email. ''Dick' Collis or Lloyd Douglas Collis: Born on 8 May 1917, he passed away 16 May 2006. He and wife Emily had 4 children, Margaret, Douglas, Hilda & Carolee. Dick's parents were George and Mary Stewart Collis (née Liken). Both Dick and his parents were buried at Aparima Riverton, and although we don't know where he was born, it appears he was well and truly a southern lad... and one we can all be proud of. During his life he was to create his own earthmoving business, then one that incorporated his son Doug Collis, who also later went on to build up an impressive business on his own account. We also found out that Dick Collis was instrumental with another contractor, in helping to create the Ōreti Park Speedway, just south of Waihōpai Invercargill. Dick's son Doug was into racing, so he donated using his big scrapers to take the surface back to sand for them... AND: In our searching out business records for Collis Contracting, we find that back in 1961 'Collis Contracting Company Ltd' was incorporated on 21 February. We have a copy of this registration in our Community Archive. Then in 1967, Collis Contracting got credit in the form of a debenture charge against security named as: "One only Coles Model EMA Mobile Crane on Austin Chassis Engine No: IK66564/7, Chassis No. 60056, Registration No: E50636. This charge was held by Thomas Arthur Taylor, Denis David Taylor and Andrew Colligan, all Miners, of Ohai. So it seems that Dick Collis Ohai mining connections and the earthmoving contract here at the open cast mine, set him up for both his and his son's future business... they had a few business ventures. We found some interesting information about this as well: In 1981 April, the NZ Gazette shows that LD Collis and Son Ltd, were awarded a contract for SH8, RD16, R.S.310: Realignment. Robertson’s Orchard-Dairy Creek Section $2,216,304.20 - that was huge money back in those days, good on them! We thought it would be interesting to hear more about his earlier life too and son-in-law Alan Kerr has helped out with this, telling us that: He (Dick) Operated as L D Collis & Co Ltd and started Collis Contracting Co Ltd in 1961 his son Doug was a partner in that Company. He still kept LD Collis & Co Ltd going as well and sold it out to Wilkins & Davies in the 1980s. In fact, going through the old Government Gazettes, we find this notice published in 1982: "The Examiner of Commercial Practices of Consent to a Merger and Takeover Proposal, which gives consent to the issued share capital and certain joint assets of LD Collis and Co. Ltd, be acquired by Wilkins and Davies Construction Co. Ltd." Furthermore, Alan adds this: "I worked for Dick on the KIlmog and the Upper Waitaki Power System. Doug and his father split company in 1970.Doug and his father split company in 1970. Doug bought a TS 14 Scraper and moved down to the Mararoa where he operated as Twinpower Ltd and when that job was finished he moved to Twizel... he remained until work there was finished. After winning a roading contract he then moved to Cromwell where he won a contract with his father on the Clyde to Cromwell road when this contract was nearly finished Wilkins and Davies bought out the dump trucks and other gear they had on the contract and Douglas still had his remaining gear and then formed Collis Murdoch Ltd. After a short break Doug and his father tendered for the job at Stockton... when the job was finished they sold most of the gear. Doug retired to Golden Bay where he still lives today. Dick went overseas for several years before returning to Riverton where he died." Thanks Alan and more details of of these jobs will be added to other entries on those. Further to an earlier quote from a page in a magazine sent in by Dick Collis' son-in-law Alan Kerr, we find out more about Dick Collis: "And what of Dick Collis himself? Dick has one son Douglas who is in the business with his father, and three daughters, one of whom is married with two children. Dick has a delightful home in Gore some 65 miles from where his machines are working on an average 12 hours per day, six days per week (this article was written while Dick Collis was at the Ohai Mine). Recently Dick built a large garage at Gore to house not only his wonderfully turned out Vintage cars which include two 1915, and two 1921 Model "T" Fords as well as one 1911 Overland, but also his pride and joy a 1935 "K" Model Mercedes, the only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere and identical to Hitler's personal car. For wet days and official tours to MOW sales where he enjoys bidding on plant which might suit his contract, he drives his brand new Mercedes 220 SE Saloon, but more often than not he is behind the wheel of his 230 SL Sports Convertible just the most glorious car on New Zealand roads." Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. In the meantime, if you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of Dick and Doug Collis and their contract at Ohai, or their work anywhere else during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section, so we can update this entry. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page. Note: these entries are compiled with information provided by donors with the records, from locally reported news, from national and occasionally international reports in publications, from personal records made by the people themselves - such as their electoral enrollments, wills, war records etc., also from government and council held records such as births, deaths and marriages or cemetery information, and lastly, from community memories, such as those passed on by friends, family and contemporaries. It is not always possible to verify memories from others, so please let us know if you believe we have any incorrect information. If you believe that any public or personal record information quoted is wrong, if you can provide proof of any alternative fact to us in a document showing evidence of the correct details, that would be very helpful to us. Thank you.