User:Underwaterbuffalo/Other/Mining in Hong Kong


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Mining and quarrying in Hong Kong. Mines have been exploited during the 20th century in Hong Kong. There are all closed now. Quarrying has been conducted since the 19th century and is several quarries are still active.

List of historical mines
Historical mines include:
 * Lin Ma Hang 0.9 km
 * Needle Hill 3.4 km [same as Shing Mun Mines?]
 * Lin Fa Shan, Tsuen Wan 2.3 km
 * Ma On Shan 23.5 km
 * West Brother Island extensive
 * Sha Lo Wan Mines 0.3 km (Lantau Island)
 * Mui Wo (Silver Mine Bay) (Lantau Island)

Mines by type
Map:

Needle Hill

 * Important: Today the Needle Hill mine is like the Ma On Shan Mine - a dangerous place. Rehabilitation work was not required when the mine closed. The public is strongly advised not to visit.

Tungsten.

''Wolframite deposits were discovered in 1935, and a mining licence issued in the same year. Mine development commenced in 1938 and continued throughout the Japanese occupation. Mining activity, including unlicenced surface excavations, increased during the Korean War period of 1949-1951 when tungsten prices rose sharply. By 1967, declining tungsten prices and increasing labour costs prompted the suspension of mining operations.''


 * Other links:
 * Industrial History of HK Group: Needle Hill Tungsten Mine
 * Gwulo.com: Needle Hill Tungsten Mine
 * Pictures of Needle Hill Mine
 * Pictures of Needle Hill Mine

Lin Fa Shan
Wolframite.

Sha Lo Wan
Quartz was mined. Prospecting licences were granted for tungsten and iron. Mining licences were granted for wolframite and associated minerals, but no records of production exist.

Wolframite was discovered in Sha Lo Wan, and its ore was quarried in the area in the 1950s, leading to a population increase, which reached 4,000 in 1971 from a few hundreds previously. The population has dropped again since the 1970s.
 * In apparent contradiction with the above

Lin Ma Hang
Lead and Silver.

A lead mine was in operation in Lin Ma Hang starting in 1915. Pb–Zn ore was mined there. The mine operated intermittently between 1915 and 1958, producing 16,000 tonnes of lead metal and 360,000 ounces of silver. The Government rescinded the mining lease in 1962 and the mine was abandoned the same year.

''Lead was discovered in the Lin Ma Hang area in the 1860s. The lower, or Portuguese, workings were operated in the nineteenth century, and the main vein was discovered in 1915. A mining company was formed in 1917, but only operated for three years. A 75-year mining lease was issued in 1925, backdated to 1922. The mine changed hands in 1932, and again in 1937, at which stage about 2,100 metres of tunnels had been developed. Further development work was undertaken by the new owners, but mining was suspended in 1940 with the outbreak of war. Small-scale working was carried out by the occupying Japanese from 1941 to 1945, mostly by robbing pillars in the eastern section of the mine, which resulted in caving of the roof. The mine remained abandoned until 1951, when working by various contractors resumed. Labour disputes, strikes, typhoon damage, and falling lead prices led to closure of the mine on the 30th June 1958, with about 60% of the reserves mined. The mining lease expired in April 1962.''

Silvermine Bay
Mui Wo is located on Silvermine Bay, so named for the silver mines that were once worked along the Silver River which flows though the village. The nearby Silvermine Cave was mined for silver during the second half of the 19th century. It has since been sealed off for safety.

West Brother
Graphite. Between 1952 and 1971.

At West Brother Island the mine workings had reached 90 m below sea level by 1964, with serious water inflow problems encountered (West Brother Island was flattened in the mid-1990s for a navigation facility for the Chek Lap Kok Airport)

''Underground mining commenced in 1952. Manual mining methods were employed, using picks and chisels to extract the ore, and candles to light the underground workings. The ore was hauled to the surface in baskets, and then carried to the two drying grounds where it was hand-sorted and dried in the open. Natural ventilation was good at first because of the numerous tunnels and shafts in the complex. Later, electric lighting was introduced, along with electric dewatering pumps, ore hoists, and compressors. However, by 1971, the cost of pumping and ventilation in the deepening mine was deemed to be uneconomic, so mining ceased. The mining licence expired in January 1973.''

Ma On Shan

 * Important: Today the entire mine complex is abandoned. There was no requirement by the Hong Kong government for rehabilitation at the time the mine closed. The workings are therefore very dangerous with multiple roof collapses and flooding underground. The public is strongly recommended not to visit or try to enter the workings.

Iron ore was mined here in the past. An extensive network of tunnels is buried under the hill. The iron mine was abandoned after losing advantages over other less expensive sources.

Iron mining has for long been carried out at Ma On Shan. The lease of the mine expired in 1981 and activity has meanwhile diminished as the quality of the ore has declined. Concealed mine shafts and man-made scree slopes are potentially dangerous and the area around the mine - excluded from the park, although surrounded by it - should be explored with care.

''The mine operated for 70 years between 1906 -1976. Small-scale opencast mining was carried out between 1906 - 1949, increasing in scale after 1949, with underground mining beginning in 1953. Mining had moved entirely underground by 1959. Major development work occurred in the 1960s, after all the reserves in the upper levels had been exhausted. In 1963, 5,458 metres of main tunnels and shafts and 3,000 metres of sub-levels, including 5 main ore passes, were constructed. A 2.2-kilometre long haulage drive was constructed at the 110 metre level, with a new portal near the processing plant only 200 metres from the coast. During the mid-1970s, a worldwide decline in the demand for steel, the opening-up of large iron deposits in Australia, and the termination of a contract to supply Japan, led to mining being suspended in March 1976. The workforce of 400 was laid off and the mining lease expired in March 1981.''

Quarries
There were several villages along the eastern coast of South East Kowloon, including Lei Yue Mun, Cha Kwo Leng, Ngau Tau Kok and Yau Tong. These were also known locally as the "Four Hills" and all were actively involved in stone-quarrying. An official report of 1912 states that: “The New Territories are very rich in granite which appears chiefly in the form of granite boulders on the hillsides. By far the most important quarries are those which stretch eastward along the north of Kowloon Bay as far as Lyeemun. They extend over about 100 acres and are leased to contractors for an average Crown Rent of $15,000. From these is supplied most of the granite now used in Hong Kong.” These quarries had been working long before the British occupation of the New Territories. As early as 1810, masons from South East Kowloon were persuaded by one of the Tangs of Kam Tin to cut stone for use in the construction of a fort at Kowloon at a discounted rate as a contribution to the defence of the area against pirates (Hayes, 1977).

List of historical quarries (partial)

 * A Kung Ngam
 * Anderson Road Quarry
 * Lam Tei Quarry
 * Lamma Quarry
 * Mount Butler Quarry
 * Shek O Quarry
 * Shek Tong Tsui. The area was first settled in 1880 by granite miners
 * Turret Hill Quarry

A Kung Ngam
A Kung Ngam was a rock quarry in the 19th century, and the area was predominantly inhabited by quarry workers who immigrated from Huizhou and Chaozhou.

Anderson Road Quarry
Anderson Road, Hong Kong and Tai Sheung Tok

Chek Lap Kok
Quarrying started on Chek Lap Kok in early 19th century to mid 20th century, mainly at the north coast of the island.

Diamond Hill
Diamond Hill

Four hills of Kowloon
Four hills of Kowloon. At the end of the 18th century, Hakka settled into the Cha Kwo Ling area, and quarrying became their main occupation. By that time, the villages of Cha Kwo Ling, Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Tso Wan and Lei Yue Mun were collectively called Si Shan (, "Four Hills"). According to a missionary who visited the area in 1844, tens of quarries were in operation along the 2 miles stretch in eastern Kowloon. In the early 20th century, the were said to be more than 10 quarries in the Ngau Tau Kok section of the "Four Hills" alone, each employing 10 to 20 people, all Hakka with origins in the East River area of northeastern Guangdong.

Lei Yue Mun
Lei Yue Mun

North Lantau
Fissure veins of quartz are common throughout the granitic rocks, particularly in northeast Lantau Island. The most important quartz vein worked within the North Lantau area was at Mong Tung Hang (望東坑) near Penny's Bay. Mining took place between 1969 and 1974 along a northnortheast-trending vein up to 6 m wide. The scar marking the area of extraction could still be seen as of 1995, although the quantities of quartz mined must have been relatively small.

Quarry Hill
Quarry Hill, Hong Kong