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Miners outside the entrance of the Puponga coal mine about 1900. Coal mining had begun seriously in the Grey Valley on the West Coast in the 1870s and then expanded in the Buller in the following decade as demand grew for coal to power trains, ships and industry.  Many smaller mines opened such as this one at Puponga in Golden Bay at the base of Farewell Spit. The initial promoter was a mining engineer, Joseph Taylor, who is seen here at left leaning on a huge piece of coal. Taylor did not hold his position for long because he was convicted of misuse of company funds in 1902. But the mine continued, serviced by a tramline to the wharf, until 1974.

Colourised By Brendan Graham 2022 from an original black and white Image courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.