York Lo’s recently posted article, Tracing Roots: Joseph Yen (嚴錫榮), post-war chairman of Marsman HK China and the father in the book Falling Leaves, contains the following: Earlier on the Group’s website there were several articles about the Dutch American mining magnate from the Philippines – J.H. Marsman and his firm Marsman HK China Ltd (馬士文公司) which operated the Needle […]
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To Tei Wan or “Too-te-wan”, is located at the northwest of D’Aguilar Peninsula, facing Tai Tam Bay, Hong Kong Gazette published in 1841 indicated that Too-te-wan had quarries, and a population of 60 people. Shek O quarry, which has been operated since 1964, is locatedat the hill behind Too-te-wan.(1) Source: Hong Kong Mining History, Jackie CT Chu and Jacky SL […]
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Tymon Mellor: Immediately after the end of the Pacific War, the price of graphite, a form of carbon, peaked before declining as the world demand for steel dropped. Following the successful exploitation of graphite on West Brother Island, a number of licences were issued to allow the prospecting for Graphite throughout the New Territories during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Prospecting […]
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In 1938, Hong Kong Mines Ltd, under the management of Mr Laurie Nielson, established Lin Ma Hang as a modern and efficient lead mine. However, the Pacific War and occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese resulted in the mine falling into ruin. The processing equipment was removed and the tunnels stripped of all valuable apparatus and temporary support, leaving […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a number of British Army Aid Group (BAAG) reports regarding Japanese efforts to collect metals, vehicles, machinery, coins etc for export, mainly to Japan, during their occupation of Hong Kong (WW2). Elizabeth has re-typed several of these reports and has kindly added references to assist searching where this has not been done. This was a considerable effort […]
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York Lo is researching L. R. Nielson of HK Mines which ran the Lin Ma Hang mine before WWII. York noticed in the Indhhk article about the mine, see below, that he re-visited the mines in the mid 1950s though there is conflicting information on the Web that he died or went missing during the War. York says he has found one […]
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Tymon Mellor: For eight years, Morrison Brown Yung developed the Galena mine at Lin Ma Hang. He excavated the access tunnels and located the main ore body, but with the fall in lead prices as a result of the Great Depression, the mine was un-economic to work. Following his death in 1933, the mine was eventually taken over in 1937 […]
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Galena ore, the main source of lead was first discovered at Lin Ma Hang in around 1914. As described in Part 1, a number of attempts were made to commercially exploit the lead ore, but they all failed. That was until Mr Morrison Brown Yung took an interest in the site and introduced modern mining methods to extract the lead […]
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Tymon Mellor: The mine at Lin Ma Hang was the most advanced mining operation in the colonial era of Hong Kong before the Pacific War. However, like many mining ventures, this one had a slow and difficult start. This article explores the discovery and early years of the mine’s development along with the workings that are still visible today in […]
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Tai Shek-ha is now known as the area in Belcher Bay at the northwest of Hong Kong Island. The quarry was identified in the Hong Kong Gazette in 1841. The area was also marked as “Tysheaha” on the “Map of Hong Kong” charted by Captain Sir Edward Belcher in the same year. Lo Pan Temple in the area, which enshrines […]
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