9

H.—44a

Professor Park (" Geology of New Zealand," p. 292) is of opinion that the choicest and most available half of our coal will have been consumed by 1970, and that the date of complete exhaustion should be somewhere about one hundred and thirty years from the present time ; but this estimate is based on the assumption that the rate of increase in production indicated by the decade 1901-11 will continue in the immediate future. This assumption, however, has been temporarily falsified by the abnormal conditions created by the war. The following table shows the contribution of each of the well-defined coalfields to the total output of coal in the. Dominion up to the 31st December, 1918 : Table 5. Approximate Total Approximate Total AT ~„ ,» n Output up to 81st Output up to 31st Name oiil'oamo d. t\ i -n i mm ' December, 1917. December, 1918. Tons. Tons. North Auckland .. .. .. .. 3,613,954 3,739,303 Waikato (including Mokau) .. .. .. 4,929,983 5.354,412 Nelson .. .. .. .. .. 328,287 342.241 BuUer • .. .. .. .. .. 15,053,254 15,634,050 Inangahua .. .. .. .. .. 279,275 395,512 Grey.. .. .. .. .. .. 9,170,671 9,566,773 Canterbury.. .. .. .. '.. 736,660 757,135 Otago .. .. .. .. .. 9,127,443 9,443,892 Southland .. .. .. .. .. 2,919,063 3,069,522 Totals .. .. .. .. 46,158,590 48,192,840 The next table shows how the total output has been distributed over the different classes of coal : — Table 6. Approximate Total Approximate Total „, f „ , Output to the 31st Output to the 31st Uaesoiooai. December, 1917. December, 1918. Tons. Tons. Bituminous and semi-bituminous .. .. 30,048,697 31.171,005 Brown .. .. ..• .. .. 13,774,384 14,480,157 Lignite .. .. .. .. 2,335,509 2,541,678 Totals .. .. .. ..46,158,590 48,192,840 (vii.) The Rate and Amount of Consumption ; Exports and Impoets. The amount of coal annually available for consumption in the Dominion is ascertainable by adding the excess of coal imported over'that exported during the year to the amount mined. Tables 7 and 8 show this information as well as providing a means of comparison with the growth in population.

Table 7.—Coal-production, Exports, and Imports.

2—H. 44a.

Year. Amount mined. (100 omitted. Amount ex- Amount imported, ported. 000 omitted. 000 omitted. Year. Amount mined. 000 omitted. Amount exported. 000 omitted. Amount imported. 000 omitted. 1878 .. 1879 .. 1880 .. 1881 .. 1882 .. 1883 . . 1884 .. 1885 .. 1886 .. 1887 .. 1888 .. 1889 . . 1890 . . 1891 .. 1892 . . 1893 .. 1894 . . 1895 . . 1896 .. 1897 .. 1898 .. Tons. 162 231 300 337 378 421 481 511 534 559 614 586 637 669 673 692 720 727 793 841 907 Tons. 6 7 7 7 3 7 6 44 46 44 64 79 70 92 79 69 75 86 80 76 56 Tons. 174 158 123 130 130 124 148 130 120 107 101 128 111 125 125 117 113 108 102 111 115 1899 . . 1900 . . 1901 .. 1902 . . 1903 .. 1904 . . 1905 .. 1906 . . 1907 .. 1908 . . 1909 .. 1910 .. 1911 . . 1912 '.. 1913 .. 1914 .. 1915 .. 1916 .. 1917 . . 1918 . . Tons. 975 1,094 1,240 1,365 1,421 1,538 1,586 1,730 1,831 1,861 1,911 2,197 2,066 2,178 1,888 2,275 2,209 2,257 2,068 2,034 Tons. 89 113 160 189 152 165 123 142 129 101 202 277 223 229 212 303 326 332 229 186 Tons. 100 124 150 129 164 147 • 169 208 221 288 258 232 188 364 469 518 353 294 292 255