Latest information in red. HF: Tymon Mellor has sent this extract from a longer Pathe film from 1953. It shows the lower end of a quarry adjacent to a road. Here a group of about twenty men and women are undergoing the final ardous process of breaking stones into aggregrate sized pieces using a variety of tools. Can someone identify exactly […]
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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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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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HF: This brief history of the Needle Hill Tungsten Mine does not attempt to cover the geology or mineralogy of the mine, nor details of the mine workings. For a much fuller account, which includes this information plus maps, photographs, plans, location of mine entrances and further references, see The Geological Society of Hong Kong Newsletter Vol 9 No 3 […]
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Tymon Mellor: Those who walk the Maclehose or Wilson Trails, or who enjoy walking in the country parks will be familiar with Lead Mine Pass; the high pass linking Kowloon with the New Territories. But why is it called Lead Mine Pass, where is the mine it is named after? Ever since the New Territories has been part of Hong […]
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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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Chek Lap Kok Island is located north of Lantau Island off Ma Wan Chung and Tung Chung. Before the building of the new Hong Hong International Airport, it was a small, hilly island, about 4 kilometres long, with an area of about 3 sq km. The name of the island may be derived from the bareness of the island (‘da […]
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HF: Ma On Shan Iron Mine 1906-1976 – biggest mine in HK is one of the most read articles on the website. This is a sister piece about the company that is supposed to have supplied and/or operated an underground railway(s) at the mine. I said when I posted this article in May 2014 I could find nothing out about Kuhn […]
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Tymon Mellor: Mining is always a high risk enterprise, but in the case of the Lam Tsuen lead mines, it was compounded by remote terrain, objecting villagers and corrupt officials. This is the story of the lead mines on the Lam Tsuen river at Ng Tung Chai, near Tai Po. After the Second World War, interest in mining picked up […]
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