The Blackball Coal Mine Chimneys, built between the 1890s and the first decade of the twentieth century, are a tangible reminder of the major coal mine which supported the settlement of Blackball and of the importance of coal mining to the West Coast as a whole. There were [four] chimneys, two which served the boilers, and [two] mine ventilation chimneys. The smaller of the two boiler chimneys collapsed in 2014 but its footprint remains included in the extent of the List entry.

Early History in Te Tai o Poutini
Te Tai o Poutini features prominently in the early Māori history of occupation in Aotearoa/New Zealand and is named after Poutini, the taniwha who accompanied Ngahue on his voyage from Hawaiiki. Poutini is also rendered as the taniwha who abducted Tamaahua's wife Waitaiki and turned her to pounamu, and who swims along the coastline protecting people and pounamu. The regions rich geological resources were investigated and utilised for centuries prior to the arrival of Pākehā. During these centuries, travel pathways were created by successive generations, relying on cumulative mātauranga (knowledge) to successfully navigate the landscape. Geographic features such as mountains, rivers and ranges were given names attributed to memorialise people, events, resources or physical characteristics. Nohoanga, mahinga kai and mahinga toi were dotted along rivers and plains along with inland kainga at Ohinetaketake near Ahaura, Takataka and Te Kainga at Kotukuwhakaoko (Lake Brunner), although the majority of kainga were located on the coastline and mostly within a day's walking distance of each other. When Pākehā began arriving in the area in the mid-19th century, Ngāti Waewae played a key role in assisting the visitors and newcomers with surveying and exploration.

Gold had been found in Blackball Creek as early as 1865, but it was not until November 1890 that coal was discovered by the Blackball Coal Company which had been established to supply an English shipping line with fuel for its ships. Quartz mining began in the area at about the same time, but it was the mining of coal that fostered the growth of Blackball township. The mine was nationalised in 1940 but on 24 September 1964 it closed.

There were two different types of chimneys at the mine – two boiler house chimneys located on a sharp steep ridge just to the east of the Return Air Vent and Fan Chamber (List No. 5006) and, much further to the north, now surrounded by forest in steep country and difficult to get to, were [two] ventilation chimneys. [The] ventilation chimneys are recorded archaeological sites (K31/93 square chimney and K31/94 round chimney).

Boiler house Chimneys:
There are two boiler house chimneys. It would appear that the smaller structure had been built first and was left standing after it had been supplanted by the taller chimney first decade of the twentieth century. The shorter chimney was rectangular with an arched base and corbelled lip. It stood in front of a tapered circular chimney with a corbelled lip and is approximately four times higher than its rectangular counterpart. These two chimneys were formerly linked by a brick flue to the boiler house which was located at the base of the ridge on which the chimneys stand. By this means the effective height of the chimneys was significantly increased without unduly increasing the height of the freestanding chimney structure. Of the two boiler house chimneys, the shorter and older of the pair collapsed in 2014. However, the tall round boiler house chimney remains and was strengthened and repaired in 2020 and 2021.

Mine Ventilation Chimneys:
A Geological Map of Mawheranui & Brunner Survey Districts, 1911 shows [two] ‘vent chimneys’ located at the north of the mine site, towards Blackball Creek. The chimneys stand approximately one hundred metres apart and they worked by drawing foul air out of the mine drives after fires had been lit beneath them. One ventilation chimney (1897-9) is circular in shape and is made up of an estimated fifty thousand wedge-shaped bricks. This chimney could displace thirteen thousand cubic feet of air per minute and stands approximately fourteen metres above ground, extending a further eleven metres below ground. The chimney has an opening in one side of it at ground level and, like the other chimneys, has a corbelled lip.

[The other] ventilation chimney (1895-6) stands downstream of the first and is about twenty metres high, with a further six metres below ground. Designed to displace thirty thousand cubic feet of air per minute, this chimney has an arched firebox, carved from sandstone and lined with bricks, which extends for approximately five metres from the base of the chimney to the mine drive beyond. A narrow passage running adjacent to the firebox provides access to it via a low doorway beside the chimney.

Details of the third ventilation chimney are not clear.