The outcrop of the Brunner Seam on the banks of the Grey River, about six miles (10 km) from the mouth was the first recorded occurrence of coal in the district and the credit for its discovery goes to Thomas Brunner, Surveyor and explorer. The first coal was worked in 1864 when the discovery of gold in the area resulted in a demand for coal to supply the steamers trading to the West Coast. Reuben Waite (pioneer storekeeper) was commissioned by the Nelson Provincial Government to procure 40 tons of coal from the Brunner Seam. The coal was hewn by a party of Maori overseen by a miner Matthew Batty, transported to the coast by canoe and loaded aboard s. s. Nelson. This ship then ran a regular service between Nelson and Greymouth, steaming on Brunner Coal.
The Brunner mine is remembered for the disaster where 65 miners were killed.
Brunner mine disaster, procession of mourners to Stillwater Cemetery, circa 1896
The discovery of further bituminous coal soon followed and by 1878 162,000 tons were exported. The industry grew and by the 1900’s over 1 million tons were being produced annually.
Mines were operating in Blackball in 1883 and Roa in 1905. In the Runanga area there were both private and State Mines. From 1904 to 1920 the Point Elizabeth Mine at Dunollie produced 2.25 million tons. The Liverpool mine at Rewanui was opened in 1913 and finally closed in 1984. The James Colliery was worked from 1922 to 1943 and the Government then opened the Strongman Mine in 1939 and in its heyday employed over 350 miners.
A pair of miners boring the Face, circa 1950