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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York Lo’s 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 Hill […]
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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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