THE ALCHEMISTS

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 16th Year

Issue

Issue No.

9

Date Released

May 1963

Length of issue (in feet)

925

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1THE ALCHEMISTS
2. 2DOUBLE BORE
3. 3A WALK IN THE NEWS

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: The Dutch State Mines maintain a thriving chemical industry.
NCB Commentary - This pleasant countryside in the province of Limburg in Southern Holland stands on coal.
A field of grain - suggests bread; and milk - fine Dutch cheeses.
These good things depend on coal - as the winning of coal in its turn depends on them.
The State-opened coal mines of Holland - like our own National Coal Board - maintain a thriving chemical industry.
Here, fertilizer, handily-packed in plastic bags - also made from coal - returns to the land from which it came.
So important is this chemical industry that these towers have become the recognised symbol of the Dutch State Mines.
At the Staatsmijnen Chemical Works powdered fertilizer is allowed to fall within these towers and hits the ground as small globules, or pellets - making it easier to handle and distribute on the land.
One of the most important plant foods, as every farmer and keen gardener knows, is nitrogen.
Staatsmijnen nitrogen fertilizer is exported to about fifty countries throughout the world. Today in Holland the chemical products made under the symbol of the three towers bring in more money than the sale of coal itself.
And who would think that this young woman’s clothes all came from coal.
Man-made fibres for modern misses are also part of the fascinating story of Dutch alchemy working hand-in-plastic-glove with coal.

Researcher Comments

Numbered 392 by the NCB.

Keywords

Science and technology; Industry and manufacture; Mining; Fashion and costume; Fuels

Locations

Netherlands

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The British National Film Catalogue   Vol.1 1963, p.56
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit