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Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 1, Issue 5, October 1985

[introduction]

page 55

Manager: John A. H. Kelly. Built 1904 all corrugated iron, all under one roof. It was 450ft × 60ft. Kilns were rotating types 60ft long by 6ft in diameter, weighing 80 tons. 3 Krupp ball mills, the same as used for gold quartz; 2 Askam cube mills; 2 boilers, 130hp, 1 Haslam engine 225hp for cool grinding mill. According to 1906 N.Z. Encyclopaedia: Output 22 tons per day. Henry Kelly in H. & Hills says 300 tons per week.

Employing 40 to 50 men but at its peak up to 200 on three 8-hour shifts, travellers on the road or rail witnessed a hive of activity night and day. Many of the workers lived in Koromiko and so influenced Koromiko community life. Under the baton of Mr McVicar a brass band was formed including other Koromiko men, Taylor and Randall being two of them. Later in 1906 a Mr Avery took over as bandmaster. Through the men working here Koromiko was also able to field a good cricket club.

The Papa rock used had been noticed years before the works were established and considered some of the best material in New Zealand for cement manufacture. The rail running through the middle section was also ideal — there was a siding and station on the northern end. A dam was built in a bush gully above the rail and a culvert carried water to the works. The Papa rock was carted by dray to the kiln and thoroughly burned by a hot coal fire. Then it was drawn out and placed in a rotary furnace being burned and crushed.

When the project was first started it was thought cement would be made from 3 parts Papa and 1 part lime. However the correct mix proved to be the reverse — 3 parts lime and 1 part Papa. Transportation costs of lime from Takaka were the cause of the company going into liquidation after only three years.

Limestone was brought from Takaka in the scow Magic which was often delayed by lack of wind in the Sounds and was sometimes towed in by the Gannet (Captain Iain Bowden). On berthing, stone was shovelled into big cane baskets and tipped into rail wagons. Three engines were used to get these loads up the elevation — two at the front and one at the rear. At the siding the two front engines pulled away and the rear engine pushed the train to the cement works landing. Here the cargo was loaded into smaller trucks which were pulled up to the kilns by horses. They were tipped on the ground and broken up by hand operated spawling hammers before being thrown into the kiln to be mixed with the Papa. In its heyday it was about the biggest industry in Marlborough.