| 1846 |
Thomas Brunner discovers coal on West Coast |
| 1849 |
Production from first New Zealand coal mine, at Saddle Hill, Dunedin |
| 1865 |
First production from Kamo mine, Northland |
| 1862 |
First gasworks established at Auckland |
| 1863 |
Mining begins at Huntly coalfield, Waikato |
| 1864 |
First mines open at Greymouth and Buller coalfields |
| 1869 |
Mining begins at Maramarua coalfield, northern Waikato |
| 1879 |
Mining begins at Ohai in Southland |
| 1884 |
Mining begins at Mokau in Taranaki |
| 1901 |
State Coal Mines established |
| 1915 |
Mining begins at Rotowaro in the Waikato |
| 1944 |
Large-scale opencast mining begins at Buller |
| 1955 |
Last coal mine in Northland closes at Kamo |
| 1970 |
First production of steel from ironsand at Glenbrook steel mill |
| 1971 |
First delivery of Kapuni gas |
| 1973 |
First OPEC oil shock |
| 1975 |
NZ Coal Resources Survey begins |
| 1970s |
Beginning of coal exports to Japan |
| 1979 |
First delivery of Maui gas |
| 1982 |
Preliminary mining study of South Island lignite deposits for feedstock
to a synthetic fuel plant |
| 1987 |
Corporatisation of State Coal Mines |
| 1990 |
Last coal mine in Taranaki closes at Waitewhena |
| 1994 |
Strongman No2 underground mine begins production |
| 1999 |
Development of Spring Creek underground mine, a Solid Energy and Todd Coal JV, commences |
| 2002 |
New Zealand annual coal production tops 4
million tonnes for the first time |
| 2003 |
New Zealand annual coal tops 5 million tonnes. |
Last
modified: 17 May 2005
