Glen Afton

Not to be confused with Glen Afton, Trenton, New Jersey.

Glen Afton is a village in the Waikato District in the northern part of the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Formerly an important coal-mining centre, it consists today of little more than a few houses with very limited services and amenities, although one large and one small open-cast coal mine still operate in the area. The nearest town is Huntly, some 14 km (15 minutes' drive) away.

Glen Afton has a Dairy (Store) and a Club Rooms (The Blue Room). There is a Primary School at Pukemiro, the next village; see Pukemiro School.

The Bush Railway runs the Pukemito Line Heritage Railway, which was formerly the Glen Afton Branch until 1977. The Country Music Club meets at the Bush Tramway Club club rooms.

There was a mining disaster at Glen Afton in the Glen Afton mine, Huntly, on 24 September 1939: 11 men were asphyxiated by carbon monoxide. See 'Coal and coal mining - Mining accidents' by Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips in Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Puke Coal

Puke Coal operates near the Bush Tramway and has consent to produce up to 180,000 tonnes of coal a year, though actual production was described as "relatively modest" in 2014. The mine is open cast, recovering coal left by previous mining.[1] The coal is privately owned, so there are no permits and no public record of production.[2] The company was formed in 2011 and employs 25 staff in its mining and landfill work.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Puke Coal Limited v Waikato Regional Council (223), 23 October 2014, retrieved 2018-02-05
  2. ↑ Minerals, New Zealand Petroleum and. "Operating coal mine production figures". New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  3. ↑ "Puke Coal is based in Waikato and offers domestic and commercial coal sales and construction and demolition services". Puke Coal. Retrieved 2018-02-05.

Coordinates: 37°37′S 175°02′E / 37.617°S 175.033°E / -37.617; 175.033

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