Mining, quarrying and energy – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New ...
New Zealand''s first coal was dug from a small seam at Whanganui Inlet and shipped to Wellington in the Jewess in 1840. Mines at Pākawau and Pūponga were developed in the late 1890s, with Pūponga coal shipped to Nelson, Taranaki and Wellington. In 1911, at its peak, Pūponga employed 70 men and yielded 30,000 tonnes of coal.