BrunnerCoalMine

The Brunner Coal Mine
Evening Post, Thursday March 26th 1896

The Brunner mine was the first to be opened on West Coast, as far back as 1863. The gas in the coal has, in some portions of the mine, been of a fiery character, and as far back as 1869 the use of safety lamps was insisted on. The seams worked from a deep shaft on the opposite side of the Grey River also proved of a very fiery character, and, owing partly to this and partly to faults in the field, this mine was abandoned after �160,000 was sunk in it. The Coal Pit Heath formerly owned by Mr Joseph Taylor, and afterwards purchased by the Grey Valley Coal Company, has also been abandoned for some years, and the portion of the mine where the accident happened is on the dip from the Brunner mine, towards the Coal Pit Heath mine, and has been worked by bord and pillar, and the operations now going on are the removal of the pillars. It is evident that a seam fiery gas had been met with, but this might have been expected at any time. The Manager, Mr Bishop, has been in charge for many years, and holds a very high position among mining engineers.