25

H.—44a

2. TOTAL COST AND ITS CHANGES DURING THE PERIOD. Table 15 gives the names of the principal collieries or groups of collieries from which complete returns were obtained with their output each year of the period under inquiry. The date in column 1 is that of the end of the company's financial year. This table should be compared with Tables 3, 4, and 14.

Table 15. —Output of Coal of Principal Collieries, 1913-18.

Eight mines, among them most of the largest, show a diminished output during the period. Table 16 shows the complete cost of production per ton of coal mined in the chief mines of the Dominion for the years 1913 to 1918 inclusive. In each case the figures are for the financial year of the mine.

Table 16. —Cost of Production per Ton at Principal Mines, 1913-18.

It should be noted that though comparable horizontally or across the page in respect of different years at the same mine, the amounts in this table and subsequent similar tables are not exactly comparable vertically or down the page, because (1) the mines are at very different stages of development and of varying ages, (2) they are not all producing the same kind of coal, and (3) their financial years, to which the amounts relate, end at different dates, sometimes remote from one another,

4—H. 44a,

Output. Company or Mine. 1913. 1014. 1015. 1010. 1917. 1918. Westport (30th September) Westport-Stockton (31st December) Blackball (31st December) Paparoa (31st August) Tons. 638,963 93,508 143,836 31,869 (31st December) Tons. 521,772 149,633 217,437 50,243 Tons. 615,184 147,018 210,896 43,427 Tons. 512,686 183,132 203,647 32,178 Tons. 484,340 166,716 132,515 33,290 'Tons. 460,993 156,575 121,259 42,668 Liverpool (31st March) Point Elizabeth (31st March) .. Tyneside (30th September) Northern (30th September) Hikurangi (31st December) Taupiri (31st March) 162,373 34,370 55,054 42,676 218,128 (31st December) 109,471 31,325 61,093 45,236 233,933 85,067 116,926 28,190 49,112 64,274 230,936 116,566 125,475 17,285 61,660 48,277 229,109 130,224 127,324 15,758 48,383 124,694 111,671 16,551 50,438 65,361 211,111 182,084 Pukemiro (31st August) Waipa (31st January) Homebush Kaitangata (20th February) 9,732 140,224 (20th February, 1914) 88,453 56,000 8,210 139,685 99,000 8,999 127,880 60,810 89,500 11,837 105,063 86,314 81,100 16,248 93,696 112,264 66,500 10,092 55,105 (six months to 31st August) 60,818 Nightcaps (30th September) 69,953 66,041 79,927 75,666

Mine. Mil inng-eost of Production per Ton. 1913. 1914. 1915. 191(1. 1917. 1918. Increase per'Cent. Increase. £\. B C D V. s. d. 13 5-99 10 10-95 14 4-82 12 4-5 15 6-23 12 6-43 10 0-17 13 5-43 s. d. 14 0-29 10 1-17 16 2-5 10 3-5 16 1-42 11 5-42 8 8-9 13 0-38 8. d. 12 10-7 10 8-8 16 10-78 11 8-25 15 5-64 11 2-23 8 10-69 13 6-51 s. d. 11 2-98 13 4-5 18 0-04 11 10-0 16 8-65 12 6-44 9 11-22 17 1-48 s. d. 11 1-66 16 5-19 19 4-86 19 9'5 19 4-58 14 5-31 12 3-29 20 9-79 s. d. 11 3-3 17 10-21 22 7-61 14 4-5 23 3-77 16 2-444 13 1-91 20 11-49 (6 months) 10 6-25 10 6-6 20 (fall) 63-6 57-2 16-2 50-2 29-25 31-66 56-0 8. d. 2 2-69 (fall) 6 11-26 8 2-79 2 0-0 7 9-54 3 8-01 3 1-74 7 6-06 m ¥ X 1 G H I J 6 5-5 6 11-75 8 11-5 6 9-62 9 5-4 6 7-62 9 4-1 8 4-5 9 1'8 63-0 18-0 (5 years) 4 0-75 1 7-1 K L 8 ' 4-5 7 10-1 8 6-7 9 8-9 11 2-3 10 7-3 26-V 5 (vears) 59-0 (5 years) 6-6 (3 years) 7-5 (4 years) 2 2-8 M 16 0-41 20 9-39 17 7-44 17 7-50 25 6-21 9 5-8 N 17 1-7 18 5-8 18 3-3 1 1-6 O 14 2-24 12 10-52 13 6-66 15 3-99 1 1-75 ♦Highest (to nearest penny) *Lowest (to nearest penny) ♦Mean (to nearest penny) 15 6 16 3 10 11 18 0 20 10 23 4 50-5 7 10 6 6 7 0 6 10 6 8 8 5 10 6 61-6 4 0 12 6 11 5 11 8 12 6 14 5 16 2 29-3 3 8 * Of ;he mines gr ing returns foi six years.