Author Description

Here is one of Buller's best kept secrets. Situated between Millerton and Denniston, the Westport Granity Coal Mines Ltd constructed an incline of 1.3 kilometres long up a cliff face to the coal deposits situated on the coastal escarpment. At 564 meters high, the incline consisted of four separate jigs and was worked on the gravity principal of loaded trucks running down the incline pulling empties up. The brainchild of Carl Roskvist, the mining operation delivered over 177,000 tons of high quality coal during its formative operation between 1925 and 1935. The remaining coal reserve and later day opencast production is also covered.