C—2.

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APPENDIX B. REPORTS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION OF COAL-MINES. The Inspecting Engineer and Chief Inspector of Coal-mines to the Under-Secretary of Mines. Sir,— Wellington, 14th June, 1930. I have the honour to present my annual report, together with statistical information, in regard to coal-mines of the Dominion for the year ended 31st December, 1929, in accordance with section 42 of the Coal-mines Act, 1925. The report is divided into the following sections : — I. Output. 11. Persons employed. 111. Accidents. IV. Working of the Coal-mines Act— (a) Permitted Explosives. (6) List of Mines required by Law to use Permitted Explosives. (c) List of Mines required by Law to use Safety-lamps. (d) Dangerous Occurrences. (e) Electricity at Collieries. (/) Prosecutions. V. Legislation affecting Coal-mining. Annexures— A. Summary of Annual Reports by Inspectors of Mines. B. Report of Royal Commission on Linton Explosion. C. Colliery Statistics. SECTION I.—OUTPUT. The output of the several classes of coal mined in each inspection district is summarized as follows :—

The following is a table showing the annual production of coal and the quantity of coal imported since 1911: —

The gross output of coal for 1929 was 2,536,864 tons, an increase of 99,111 tons over the previous year, and is the highest yet recorded. The increase is made up of an increase of 18,432 tons of bituminous coal, 76,365 tons of brown coal, and 4,314 tons of lignite. Trade was good throughout the greater part of the year, partly on account of the strike in the Maitland field, New South Wales, and partly by reason of the increased quantities of New Zealand coals used by the Railways Department. In the Northern District the output of bituminous coal decreased by 63,801 tons, accounted for by the fact that the Hikurangi Colliery was flooded and out of production for the greater part of the year, but the output of brown coal increased by 51,770 tons, so that the net decrease for the district was 12,031 tons.

Output of Coal during 1929. Total Output Class of Coal. to the Northern District West Coast District Southern District T«t«ia End of 1929. (North Island). (South Island). (South Island). Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Bituminous and sub-bituminous 115,659 1,251,505 .. 1,367,164 43,186,210 Brown .. .. .. 654,199 37,613 357,791 1,049,603 23,784,554 Lignite .. .. .. .. 890 118,207 119,097 4,327,935 Totals for 1929 .. 769,858 1,290,008 475,998 2,535,864 71,298,699 Totals for 1928 .. 781,889 1,200,839 454,025 2,436,753 68,762,835

Total Quantity of Total Quantity of Year. Coal produced. Coal imported. Coal produced and Year. Coal produced. Coal imported. Coal produced and imported. imported. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. 1911 .. 2,066,073 188,068 2,254,141 1921 .. 1,809,095 822,459 2,631,554 1912 .. 2,177,615 364,359 2,541,974 1922 .. 1,857,819 501,478 2,359,297 1913 .. 1,888,005 468,940 2,356,945 | 1923 .. 1,969,834 445,792 2,415,626 1914 .. 2,275,614* 518,070 2,793,684* 1924 .. 2,083,207 674,483 2,757,690 1915 .. 2,208,624 353,471 2,562,095 | 1925 .. 2,114,995 572,573 2,687,568 1916 .. 2,257,135 293,956 2,551,091 j 1926 .. 2,239,999 483,918 2,723,917 1917 .. 2,068,419 291,597 2,360,016 1927 .. 2,366,740 378,090 2,744,830 1918 .. 2,034,250 255,332 2,289,582 1928 .. 2,436,753 247,861 2,684,614 1919 .. 1,847,848 391.434 2,239,282 1929 .. 2,535,864 215,656 2,751,520 1920 .. 1,843,705 476,343 2,320,048 * Includes 21 tons shale.