Tymon Mellor: Mining for Wolframite at Sha Lo Wan started in late 1951 and by March, 1952 around 700 miners, growing to 1500 were working the hillsides on North Lantau. After an initial find in a gully on a weathered outcrop, the miners started digging tunnels to extract the minerals from the veins. Mining continued throughout the 50’s and into […]
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HF: I am very pleased to able to offer a little publicity on the publication of Nancy Kwan’s recently published book, Beyond Lion Rock, self-published, 2019. The book is part biographical but also includes the effects of political and historical events on her family and the people of Hong Kong. Nancy contacted me a few months ago, explaining she was […]
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Tymon Mellor: West Brother Island is located between Tuen Mun and Lantau Island. It is 4km away from the northern coast of Lantau Island. The island, along with East Brother Island and Reef Island, are known as The Brothers. The West Brother Island Graphite Mine operated from 1952 to 1971 with most of its production exported to the United Kingdom […]
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IDJ has sent in more information about the Lam Tei Quarry and its connection to the proposed Ping Shan Airport. This time a Technical Bulletin from the Airfield Construction Service (RAF) from May 1946. Click the images to enlarge. RECORD BLASTING AT PING SHAN A.C.S Technical Magazine Vol. 2. No. 2 May 1946 Several times a week the echoes […]
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York Lo: Charles L. Corn (陳耀坤, 1898-1973) – operator of quarry in Shau Kei Wan and Chinese leader in Guam Left: Ad for Charles L. Corn & Co in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook); Right: Charles L. Corn (left) shaking hands with Vice President C.K. Yen in Taipei (National Cultural Database) In the 1950s, a colorful Chinese businessman in Guam and the Philippines […]
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HF: Craig Mitchell has been in touch with a few more notes and thoughts about the site above Stanley which appears to be industrial in origin. I have added these to his original comments. Craig Mitchell writes: Last weekend [early Jan 2014] a few of us were out in the hills behind Stanley. We went up the The Twins (Stanley […]
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Hugh Farmer: Stone is the only commodity in which Hong Kong is still self-sufficient, and quarrying was a major early industry. The granite extracted from the quarries in East Kowloon, Stonecutter’s Island, Quarry Bay and from the Kowloon hills were used throughout the territory and shipped to Canton for building purposes. The Roman Catholic Cathedral in Guangzhou was constructed in the […]
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HF: This timeline of the history of Needle Hill mine comes from the excellent book, Hong Kong Mining History, linked below. The authors have kindly given permission for this extract to be included on this website. Needle Hill Tungsten Mine is located in Shing Mun and was the biggest tungsten mine in Hong Kong. It had more than 2,000 workers […]
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Tymon Mellor: A silver mine was operating in the hills behind Mui Wo between 1886 and 1896, developed and owned by Mr Ho A Mei, a local Hong Kong entrepreneur and social activist. Associated with the mine was a mineral processing plant, where the ore was crushed and smelted into lead and silver. The location of the plant has never […]
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When Tymon Mellor sent this revised version of his original article on Lin Fa Shan Mine, first posted in November 2014, he suggested it was more a complete re-write. Tymon Mellor: The Lin Fa Shan mine is located in a remote area of the Tai Mo Shan Country Park, on a steep west facing slope of Lin Fa Shan, just […]
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