Skip to main content

Kōrero: Waikato region

Opencast coal mining

Image
Opencast coal mining

An excavator loads overburden (soil and rock) onto a truck at the Rotowaro opencast mine west of Huntly. Overburden above the coal seam has to be removed before the coal itself can be mined. Opencast mining began in Waikato during the Second World War.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Solid Energy New Zealand

by Alan Titchall

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Nancy Swarbrick, Waikato region – Energy and forestry, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/27146/opencast-coal-mining (accessed 5 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Nancy Swarbrick, i tāngia i te 26 May 2010, updated 1 July 2015.