The Ballachulish Slate Mine, Otago.

A few years ago I was at a local weekly auction and saw an old topographical map of the Oamaru area.  Marked on the map was "old slate mine."  One day, I thought, I'll go and find it.  As yet, I have not.  But, one day... And one of the advantages of a blog over a book is that, when I do, I will add more details and some photos to this story.

A slate quarrier residing here sent his son to explore the Province for slate, and was successful in discovering two extensive deposits. A portion of the slate was sent to the brother, a slate quarrier at Ballachulish, in the Highlands, the largest slate quarry in Scotland. The piece was eagerly examined by slate quarriers there, and compared with the Ballachulish slate, and the result was, according to a recent letter, that the quality of the Otago slate was found equal in every respect. If such an industry were to start here, there is a certainty many of these quarriers would emigrate, and thus improve their condition. It is to be hoped the Government will give attention to this important matter, as, with the present price of iron, the development of such an industry would prove beneficial to the community at large, besides the probability of large exportations being made. — I am, &c, A. G. Allan. Green Island, 24th April.   -Otago Witness, 23/5/1873.

Mr W. N. Blair, C.E., District Engineer, is announced to read a paper at the meeting of the Otago Institute this evening on the building and other useful stones of Otago. Mr Blair has taken great interest in this subject for some years, and has collected a large number of specimens, pointing to the immense wealth that Otago possesses in almost inexhaustible deposits of valuable stone. We believe that he purposes illustrating his paper by showing the samples, and among others he will exhibit specimens of roofing slates from the lately opened Ballachulish quarry. These slates are said to be very superior to any imported. We understand the proprietors have already gone to considerable expense in opening the quarry, and that a number of experienced hands are engaged, so that we hope the supply of Otagan slate will be so abundant as to supersede importations from abroad and secure a large export trade to other parts of New Zealand and the neighboring Colonies.  -Otago Witness, 13/7/1875.

This week Captain Hutton and Mr W. N. Blair, C. E. accompanied some of the proprietors of the Ballachulish Slate quarry near Otepopo, on a visk of inspection for the purpose of ascertaining the prospect of the quarry and advising as to the best mode of developing it. A party of seven men have been employed for about six months on the quarry and have opened faces along the line of the reef for about a hundred chains. Good slate has been obtained at nearly all the points opened out. The men are now working a face of about thirty feet square of solid rock, every portion ef which yeilds slate of the purest quality. About 100,000 slate are on the ground. The only difficulty in the way of thorough development of the mine is the cost of carriage to the port of shipment, which is proposed to be overcome by making a branch tramway of two or three miles long to the dray roads, on the ranges. This tramway it is proposed ultimately to extend to the main line of rai1way in the Otepopo Valley. The gradients present no difficulty, and the working will be facilitated by its being a descending gradient throughout, the quarry being about 700 ft. above the level of the Waitaki and Moeraki railway. Messrs Hutton and Blair purpose reporting as to the capabilities of the quarry and quality of the slate.  -Evening Star, 13/11/1875.

OTAGO SLATE COMPANY.

We publish with great pleasure the following important announcement which appeared in the North Otago Times of the 26th. As that journal remarks, it is difficult to over-estimate the value of this addition to our mineral resources: — "We are glad to be able to note the commencement of what promises to be a very considerable export of slate from this district. By the cutter Hope to-day 11,000 slates have been forwarded to the Dunedin market, and we feel sure this will be the precursor of many similar shipments. The slates in question are from the extensive quarries recently opened near Otepopo, which are being worked by a company formed under the name of the Otago Slate Company. The Company has already about 40 men in its employ, and will be able to turn out 12,000 slates a week to commence with. The slate is of first-class quality, and should soon drive the imported article entirely out of the market. It is difficult to over-estimate the value of this important addition to our mineral resources, more especially when there is reason to believe that the slate formation extends for some miles, specimens of excellent slate having been shown as found in the immediate neighbourhood of Hampden."  -Otago Daily Times, 8/5/1876.

The Mails.

NEWS FROM HOME.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) 

Edinburgh, March 16th. 

NEW ZEALAND ITEMS.

My last letter informed you that Mr Adam had been in North Wales and at Ballachulish, Argyleshire, trying to get 20 slate quarrymen in compliance with an order to that effect telegraphed by the Superintendent. As he was extremely uninformed regarding the locality of the quarry which had been discovered in Otago, its character, &c, Mr Adam was working in the dark, and hence it is not surprising that he did not prove very successful in getting the men desired. Nay, at Ballachulish he was placed in the unpleasant situation of finding that the men whom hecame to speak to about the quarry knew more about it than he did, having learned some particulars about it from a Ballachulish man in Otago. During his visit to this place Mr Adams was thwarted in a most vexatious manner. He was successful at the outset in being granted the use of the parish church to lecture in, and proceeded to circulate bills announcing his lecture all over the district. At 11 o'clock on the Saturday night, however, the minister came to him and stated that the use of the church could not be granted as promised, the office-bearers being quite opposed to it being utilised for such a purpose. The explanation is that the officebearers are men in the employ of Mr Gardner, the lessee of the quarries, and they were afraid of offending him by letting the church to an emigration agent who might wile away some of his men. Mr Adam then went to the local Captain of Volunteers, and asked for the Drill Hall, but was refused it on the ground that the Franco-German war had shown that Britain required all her men! Mr Adam argued the point, but in vain, and soon learned the real cause of the patriotic officer's refunal to grant him the use of the Drill Hall — viz., that he was the proprietor of the slate quarries. Thus bafled, Mr Adam went down to the slate quarries of Easdale, on the coast, and saw thier proprietor, as well as the Captain of the local Volunteer Corps. The latter gentleman, unlike his Ballachulish fellow-officer, not only gave Mr Adam the use of his Drill-Hall, but took the chair himself at the lecture, and advised some of the men to go out. Not one man, however, applied to be sent out; and one even wrote to Mr Adam coolly suggesting as the terms to be offered, a fixed engagement at a high wage for a prolonged term, a free passage, and a money compensation for time lost during the voyage. Nevertheless, applications have since been received from five desirable men in this locality. Mr Adam says that if he had been authorised by your Government to engage a foreman at a good salary, leaving it to the latter to take out a gang of picked men, he would have been successful, even in Wales, but he had no such authority. 

Unsuccessful in Wales and Scotland, Mr Adam next proceeded to Ireland, to try to get the required slate quarrymen at the Valentia quarries. Valencia, as your readers will doubtless remember, is an island off the coast of Kerry, and the landing place of one of the Atlantic telegraph cables. Slate quarries have been wrought there for hundreds of years. Mr Adam was armed witlh a letter of introduction to the manager from an Aberdeen slate merchant. In passing through Dublin he met Mr Gilbert Burns, (brother of Dr Burns, Dunedin), and Mr Todd (brother of Mr A. Todd, farmer, Taieri Plain). The latter drove Mr Adam in his carriage to a slate merchant in Dublin, who advised him to go to the slate quarries of Killaoe, Tipporary. This he did, and addressed a number of men there. Next day (Sunday) he had no peace, in consequence of men continually coming for application papers to fill up. In due course some of those men will no doubt be accepted and sent out.

Mr Adam stopped at Limerick for half a day on his return north, and expresses himself very strongly regarding the misery he saw there. "I venture to predict," he says, "for the information of Grant and his 'unemployed' that it will take a hundred years, and the introduction of twelve millions of emigrants, before New Zealand will be able to reproduce the misery I saw in the single town of Limerick." Doubtless, as he goes on to remark, this misery was temporarily increased by the failure of Sir Peter Tait and Co., a firm which took large contracts for the supply or army and navy clothing. Through the stoppage of this concern 500 girls were thrown out; of work, and added to the general distress and depression. Any number of these could easily be got to emigrate, but they would involve in disgrace anyone who should send them out — not on account of their morals, which are good, and will compare to advantage with those of their English and Scotch sisters similarly cirmumstanced, but on account of their improvidence, and the foolish ways in which they spend money when they have it. The Agent General refuses to have an agent in the town, but Mrs Catherine Howard is well known there, and in the surrounding district.  -Otago Witness, 13/5/1876.

DEPUTATION.

A deputation from the Otago Slate Company waited upon his Honor the Superintendent to-day, to represent to him the loss and inconvenience to the company in consequence of the delay in opening the portion of the Northern Railway from Maheno to Oamaru.

Mr J. T. Mackerras said that 60,000 slates from the quarry were lying at Maheno waiting conveyance by railway. In consequence of it having been arranged that the line should be opened about a month ago, the Otago Slate Company had entered into contracts for transit of the slate to Maheno, and thence to Oamaru by rail; and also for supply of slate to several Dunedin contractors. These they were unable to fulfil, and in consequence they had been subjected to serious inconvenience and loss.

His Honor replied that the Provincial Government had done all they could do in the matter, and had made arrangements to have the line opened last week, but that on Friday last intimation was received from the Minister of Works to the effect that on account of a difference between the General Government and the contractors the opening was for the present delayed. 

His Honor promised to bring the matter before the General Government, but gave no hopes that the opening would be hastened through it.   -Evening Star, 22/5/1876.

The schooner Maid of Otago has arrived with a cargo of slates from the Otago Slate Company's Quarry. They will be landed today at the cross section of the Rattray street Wharf, and any persons interested are invited to inspect them between the hours of 10 and l2.  -Otago Daily Times, 14/6/1876.

SLATES. 

THE OTAGO SLATE COMPANY 

are now prepared to deliver SLATES equal to the Best Bangor, at the following rates: — 

Countess, 20 x 10, £14 per thousand 

Ladies 16 x 10, £10 10s    "

Do 16 x 9, £9                     "

Do 16 x 8, £3 10s                "

Yard: Head of Rattray street Wharf. 

Apply MACKERRAS and HAZLETT, Bond street, Agents.    -Otago Daily Times, 4/8/1876.

Otago Slates. The Guardian of Friday says: — Ballachulish is the name conferred on a place in the back country some 20 miles from Oamara, which promises to slate — in a building, not in a theatrical sense — some of the proudest of the future edifices of this rapidly growing city. It boasts a quarry which, thanks to the enterprising and persevering proprietors, seems destined to give an impetus to the budding trade, and prove a boon invaluable to all householders. Situated at the bottom of one of the deepest ravines in this part of Otago, studded with the comfortable homes of the quarrymen, it has the appearance of an exceedingly picturesque village. As the resources of the quarry have been developed the quality of the slate has gradually been improving, till about three weeks ago some seams were struck which promise to far excel anything yet produced. The quality is fine and smooth, and the blocks can be divided to almost any size, some of the sample slates being only onesixteenth of an inch in thickness. Already a number of houses in Dunedin have been covered with them, and as their quality becomes more generally known they will doubtless meet with a, very extensive demand.   -Timaru Herald, 18/9/1876.

Amongst those of the Jessie Headman's immigrants who went to Oamaru with the last trip of the steamer Samson were several quarrymen who had been trained in the slate quarries of Ballachulish, Argyleshire. They have come out expressly, we understand, to work in the newly-opened slate quarries at Otepopo, and their experience can hardly fail in materially helping the development of what must prove an important local industry.  -Otago Daily Times, 2/10/1876.

We clip the following from the Guardian: — "A most interesting and promising sight was yesterday to be witnessed at the wharf in the landing from the Glimpse of a cargo of slates received by the Otago Slate Company from their quarry at Otepopo. The cargo consisted of 63,000 slates of various assorted sizes from 12in. by 6in. up to 20in. by 12in., and for character could hardly be surpassed. When it is stated that despite the present inconveniences impending this enterprise, the article can be provided as cheaply and as good as that imported from Home, an idea can be formed of the future in store for this industry. Starting from their home in the mountains, which bears the beautiful and musical name of Ballachulish, the slates must first be carted to the railway station, 10 miles away; then shifted into trucks and conveyed to Moeraki; then shifted again on board and do their voyaging, to be again handled in landing and carriage to the yards. It is enough to shatter the slates themselves, to say nothing of the profits, but neither one nor the other suffers, and it requires no great imagination to see that when by railway connection fair play is given to the quarries, there is here in its infancy one of the most promising industries in the Colony."  -Oamaru Mail, 11/5/1877.

TEAMS WANTED for CARTING SLATES from the Otago Slate Company's Quarries (Ballachulish), Otepopo, to Maheno or Kakanui Mouth. Apply to W. BECKINSALE, Otepopo; or to A. C. McINNES, Manager, on the Works.   -North Otago Times, 16/6/1877.

General Articles.

BALLACHULISH SLATE QUARRIES, OTEPOPO.

The discovery some years ago of a slate deposit in this Province was matter of much congratulation, not only for the reason that an industry new to the Colony gave promise of being established, but also for the pleasant anticipation that a superior quality of slate for roofing purposes would shortly be available, and thus enable us to add to the comfort of our dwellings and business premises. From a visit made to the quarries last week we are confident that, although up to the present the works have, notwithstanding the large amount of capital expended in opening them out, been practically of only a preliminary character, the opinions then formed of the future success of the enterprise cannot fail of realization.

On arriving at the top of the company's ground the first thing that strikes the eye of the visitor is the evidence of enterprise in making a road down through the gorge to where the mining operations are going on, and having arrived there the visitor is next struck with the large extent of earth-stripping there has been necessary to open out the slate, the number of workmen's cottages, and the large amount of working plant — all giving evidence that the proprietors of the quarry are thoroughly in earnest in the development of this important industry. On inquiry we were told that the sum already expended was about L7000: but so far as we could judge, we should have estimated the amount considerably more.

Arrived at our destination, we were courteously received and shown over the works by the manager. The solid face, which is of a deep blue colour, is at present 85ft in height, but it admits of extension to no less a height than 600 ft as the works progress. To enable this to be accomplished, the manager informed us that from 12 to 16 stages or levels must be cut into the side of the hill before the state can be wrought to the best advantage, and with safety to the men, so great is the quantity of debris to be removed.

That the slate obtained here is of the very best quality cannot be gainsayed. According to Spoon's authority on slate, the weight of the first quality of Welsh is 36 cwt. to 1200 slates 26 x 12, while the weight from Ballachulish of the same size, 20 x 12, is only 27 cwt. to 1000, while in the quarry we saw one of the workmen split 16 slates out of a solid block lin thick, each of which was highly adapted for roofing purposes. The blocks of solid slate removed, some from 10ft to 15ft in length, before being converted into roofing slate or laminae, were highly adapted for mantelpieces, hearthstones, tombstones, and innumerable articles to which solid slate is now applied in so many parts of the world. It is estimated there is nearly half a million of money going out of the Colonies annually for slate and iron for roofing purposes. We are, therefore, confident after very careful inspection of the ground, that with a continuation of the enterprise which has hitherto been shown in the development of the Otepopo slate quarry, this industry will prove a permanent and highly remunerative one. Another drawback at present is the difficulty of sending the slates to market. By a zigzag road leading two miles through the Gorge from the works, and made under great difficulties, and at very considerable cost, they are conveyed to the top of the Company's lease, and thence over the hills to Maheno, a distance of 12 miles, at a cost of L1 per ton, and thence by railway to Moeraki or Oamaru. With the completion of the railway to Dunedin, however, which can be looked for in the course of a very few months, the facilities for landing them at a good market will be greatly increased, and the Company's troubles in this respect considerably lessened. Another necessary work in the means of carriage also is a tramway from the quarry to Maheno, a distance of about 15 miles, by a route over comparatively level ground. This work is an absolute necessity. We may mention that up to the present time about 300,000 slates of all sizes, have been quarried, and of that quantity about 80,000 of sizes from 20 x 10 and 10 x 6 are now waiting transit to market. Incidentally we were told by the manager that the splendid new mansion of the Hon. Robert Campbell, at Otekaike, was roofed from the quarry. The Company have been most fortunate in securing the services of an experienced manager, Mr A. C. McInnes, who was reared from boyhood in the Bullachulish slate quarries in Scotland, and who has been as indefatigable as he has been successful in his efforts to give satisfaction to his employers.

The slate quarriers at the Ballachulish works are a very interesting community. They are both kind and hospitable, the language being that of "Tir na beann" in its native purity. At present it numbers twenty-five souls, this being a much less number than it was a few months ago, when there were nearer sixty people about the works. The staff of skilled labourers has been reduced to the present number on account of the great extent of stripping required, for this class of work ordinary labourers only being employed. The manager holds frequently during the week Gaelic prayer meetings, and on Sundays conducts services, the evenings being devoted to the religious instruction of the workmen's children. Although the workmen and their families understand a little English, Gaelic is the language spoken. A few months since the Rev. Mr Ross very considerately visited the community and delivered a Gaelic sermon, which was greatly appreciated. The Rev. Mr Ryley, the Presbyterian minister of the Otepopo district, also occasionally visits this rather isolated portion of his bounds, and is gladly welcomed.

In conclusion, we may remark that with the present demand for these excellent slates from different parts of the Colony, and the prospect of a great enlargement of the works, the manager is afraid of not being able to procure experienced miners, and therefore fairly urges that some inducement should be held out for their settlement near the works. We would strongly urge upon the consideration of the Government that as the industry is likely to become a permanent and extensive one, a moderate sized block of land contiguous to Ballachulish should be surveyed into suitable sections and thrown open under the agricultural leasing system. There is abundance of excellent land contiguous, highly adapted for the purpose, but at present only partially occupied by sheep and wild pigs.  -Otago Witness, 30/3/1878.

The Otago Slate Company, who work the Ballachulish quarries at Otepopo, have had a Mr Macpherson, who has had considerable experience in slate quarries in the Old Country, to report upon their property. The report of Mr Macpherson is understood to be a very favorable one.  -North Otago Times, 1/1/1880.

THE LAND BOARD

An application by Mr R. Park, on behalf ef the Otago Slate Company, that their lease for the slate quarry be cancelled, and that rent due amounting to L60 be remitted, considerable lose having been Inpurred in opening up the quarry, was ordered to be recommended for the Government's favorable consideration.   -Evening Star, 12/10/1881.

DEPOSITS OF SLATE. 

OAMARU, January 8. Among the mineral resources of North Otago, are large deposits of slate in the Otepopo district, which have not been exploited for some forty years.

Many years ago a company named the Otago Slate Company commenced what promised to develop into a considerable export trade of slate. One consignment to the Dunedin market consisted of 11,000 slates and at the time it was thought that this would he the precursor of many similar shipments. The slates in question were from extensive quarries opened up near Otepopo, forty men being employed, and the output being estimated at 12,000 slates weekly. However, the company controlling the quarries found itself unable to carry on and since that time the industry has been dormant.

The slate is of first-class quality and the re-opening of the quarries after a careful inspection had been made would no doubt prove profitable, according to an authority upon the subject. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of this important addition to the mineral resources of North Otago, more especially when there is reason to believe that the slate formation extends for some miles, specimens of excellent slate having been found in the immediate neighbourhood of Hampden.  -Hokitika Guardian, 11/1/1926.

SLATE INDUSTRY REVIVAL 

POSSIBLE DEPOSITS IN OTAGO 

ROOFING MATERIAL SHORTAGE 

Special to the Daily Times. OAMARU, Nov. 7. The reported attempt to revive the use of Caversham sandstone for building material focuses attention on the efforts made recently to stimulate interest in the revival of the once important North Otago industry of slate quarrying at Kauru Hill, about eight miles distant from the township of Herbert. In the early days this industry was hampered by lack of a good road and convenient means of transport, but the fact that a durable roofing material was produced economically at the time from the slate quarry, is shown by its use on such buildings as St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Oamaru, and the Special School, Otekaike, and several other large buildings in North Otago. 

The company which operated the quarry about 70 years ago took out approximately 250,000 excellent slates, most of which were sent to Dunedin. 

With the great shortage of roofing materials creating one of the bottlenecks in the building industry, the attention of the authorities was drawn to the possibility of reviving slate-quarrying in North Otago, and it is understood that preliminary investigations have already been made by departmental officers. It is considered by those in a position to offer a sound opinion, that the former difficulty of transport of heavy materials over bad roads could be overcome to a large extent through the construction of a modern highway with modern machinery, and that once this difficulty was overcome there would be a good prospect of carrying on the industry succussfully, and assisting in solving some of the present supply problems. 

An Early Report A paper on the building materials of Otago, read by Mr W. N. Blair, before the New Zealand Institute in 1875, dealt exhaustively with the two large zones of slate deposits in Otago, the northern beginning at Otepopo and terminating at Hawea, and the southern from Tapanui to Lake Wakatipu. At the Kauru Hill quarry about 100,000 slates had been split when he visited the locality, and he felt satisfied that the discovery was one of the most important ever made in Otago. The locality was named Ballachulish after the famous quarries in Argyleshire. The name has long since been discarded. Mr Blair expressed the hope that, like their great prototype, the Otago quarries would become so extensive and important as to prove a mine of wealth to their proprietors and a boon to the country generally. So far that hope has not been realised.

Mr Blair stated that the best slates were those of a bluish-grey colour, which was the exact tint of the Otago slates. The other essentials were compactness of texture, impermeability, and the facility with which they could be split parallel and without twist. Mr Blair stated the Otepopo slate possessed all these properties to a preeminent degree. He placed a Welsh and an Otago slate side by side in water for 48 hours, and found that while the moisture rose from 3/8in to 1/2in in the imported article, it did not rise at all in the local, which proved that the latter was the more compact and impervious of the two. The facility of splitting was also fully established, for the many samples examined were of all thicknesses and perfectly true to shape even when split with a common pick instead of the broad knife used by the quarriers. He believed the Otepopo slate little, if anything, inferior to the best “Blue Bangor,” and stated that when similarly grained specimens of the two kinds were placed together the best judge could scarcely distinguish them. 

In Wales roofing slates are economically produced by underground mining, and it should be possible to operate successfully an open quarry in Otago. That is the concensus of local opinion, and further as the quality and durability of the local slate has been proved, even if the difficulty of access to Kauru is too great to overcome, there is still another outcrop of similar slate at Otiake. There are also prospects of the waste slate from the quarries in Wales being used for the manufacture of cement, which is also a matter well worth investigating here by the department concerned. 

Even at the early date of 1875, Mr Blair gave the opinion that the country was in a state of transition between the timber and masonry periods; they were leaving the frail and ephemeral and entering the strong and enduring. They should therefore spare no pains in selecting the materials that were most conducive to health and comfort, and that would remain for generations as a record of their skill and good taste. It is suggested that it might not be out of place to affirm that to some extent Mr Blair’s final words are as true to-day as they were 70 years ago.  -Otago Daily Times, 8/11/1947.