e.—2

APPENDIX B.

REPORTS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION OF COAL-MINES.

The Inspecting Engineer and Chief Inspector op Coal-mines to the Under-Secretary op Mines. S lRij — Wellington, 2nd July, 1931. 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, 1930, 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 ; (a) 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. 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 output for 1930, 2,542,092 tons, was the highest recorded for any one year. It showed a small increase of 6,228 tons over the output for 1929. In the Northern District the output was 3,546 tons less than that of the previous year. During the first half of the year the market was very dull, but during the second half it was helped considerably by the coming into continuous operation of the Auckland Power-station consequent on the breakdown hydro-electric power-station at Arapuni. Two new mines came into operation during the year, the Wilton and Macdonald Mines. The productive capacity of the mines in the Waikato is now far ahead of the market requirements. During 1930 much idle time was experienced at the Waikato mines. The indications are that this will be more serious during the present year, while the outlook

42

Output of Coal during 1930. Total Output Class of Coal# the Northern District West Coast District Southern District Totals End of 1930. (North Island). (South Island). (South Island). Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. _ Tons. Bituminous and sub-bituminous 140,911 1,241,964 .. 1,382,875 44,569,085 Brown • 625,401 43,710 377,566 1,046,677 24,831,231 Lignite .. .. •• •• 397 112,143 112,540 4,440,475 Totals for 1930 .. 766,312 1,286,071 489,709 2,542,092 73,840,791 Totals for 1929 .. 769,858 1,290,008 475,998 2,535,864 71,298,699

Total Quantity of ." „ . T °tal Quantity of Year Coal produced. Coal imported. Coal produced and : Year. Coal produced. Coa! imported.J Coal produced and | | imported. imported. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. 1911 2 066,073 188,088 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 .. 2,033,207 674,483 2,757,690 1915 " 2 208 624 353,471 2,562,095 192,5 .. 2,114,995 572,573 2,687,568 1916 " 2,257,135 293,956 2,551,091 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 1930 .. 2,542,092 157,943 2,700,035 * Includes 21 tons shale.