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Petroleum. Drilling for oil in the West Coast Inspection District was conducted by the Kotuku Petroleum Prospecting Syndicate on its area at Kotuku, two holes being put down to 941 ft. and 612 ft. respectively, but both with negative results. In the Northern Inspection District 5,190 gallons of: crude oil were produced for the year by the Taranaki Oil Wells Limited, and 3,500 gallons by the Blenheim Oil Company. No new drilling was done during the year. VI. STONE-QUARRY INSPECTION AND STATISTICS. By section 2 of the Stone-quarries Amendment Act, 1920, the application of the Act was extended to include every place, not being a mine, in which persons work in quarrying stone and any part of which has a face more than 15 ft. deep, and also in any tunnel in the construction of which explosives are used. The Act, however, does not apply to any Government operations, or any road or railway-cutting, or excavations for buildings. The following is a table showing the number of quarries under the Stone-quarries Acts, also the number of persons ordinarily employed thereat, and the annual output and value of crude stone during 1922 : —

Quarry Accidents. The following is a summary of serious accidents during 1922 at quarries under the Stone-quarries Act :—

Of the fatal accidents one took place on the sth May at the Paranui Quarry, Whareora, and by it one man, A. H. G. Husheer, lost his life, and another man, Clarence Akast, was seriously injured. The cause of the accident was a premature explosion of gelignite. The fatality led to prosecution of the person in charge of the quarry, who was convicted and fined. The second fatal accident was to A. A. McDonald, at the Timaru Borough quarry, on the 20th October, the injured person succumbing to his injuries on the 30th. The deceased had dropped some loose blasting-powder down a borehole in order to free the pump, which had jammed in the hole, and to light the gunpowder he dropped in a small piece of gelignite with a short fuse attached. The gelignite or attached fuse lit the gunpowder prematurely when his head and face were directly over the borehole. Accounts of the serious but non-fatal accidents are given in the District Inspectors' reports. VII. STATE AID TO MINING. (1.) Subsidized Prospecting. Upon subsidized prospecting operations ninety-nine persons were intermittently employed during the year. The following is a statement showing the results of prospecting operations as reported by the Inspectors of Mines.

Provtaolal District. Name and Address of Government Inspector of Stone-quarries. fcf> o S3 || 11 a §ts Is o o ii ' n si S3 _ 55 2 I w !! Eβ O , Is Output of Stone. S s| 81 D qj m o° «i s to fl ft P Hi l! 1 ui e* « Auckland James Newton, Minos Dept., Auckland M. Paul, Mines Dept., W a i h i (Hauraki Mining District only) James Nowton, Mines Dopt., Auckland Ditto 79 534 Tons. 260,510 Tons. 170,190 Tons. 42,500 Tons. 22,733 Tons. Tons. Tons. 175,147 £ 137,261 12 87 59,104 51 10,209 Hawke's Bay 8,079 :5,157 200 (i,U0O 5,699 13 08 Taranaki Wellington .. Canterbury. . Nelson | Westland ) Otago \ Southland ) 12 33 13 68 177 97 12,255 71,059 87,511 31,513 20,920 4,079 3,00-1 8,283 4,540 0,99:; 37,299 29,892 J. F. Downey, Minos Dept., Roof ton A. Whitley, Minos Dept., Dunodin Jl. ] 32 55 297 6,391 75,792 L3.232 913 13,904 1,900 40,025 35 35,002 3,128 220 6,486 78.254 I l_ 205,091 198,000 60,692 11,632 88,087 123,796 210,184 180,751 3,128 6,012 220 2,190 318,093 358,302 Totals 1922 Totals 1921 212 257 1,383 1,561 580,707 607,239 i

Number of Accidents. Number of Sufferers. Uauao. Killed. Seriously injured. Fatal, Serious. Explosives falls of ground Falling from face or during ascont or descent.. 2 1 2 2 2 •2 Totals 2 3 2