c.—2.

APPENDIX B.

REPORTS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION OF COAL-MINES.

The Inspecting Engineer, and Chief Inspector oe Coal-mines to the Under-Secretary of Mines. Sir, — Wellington, 12tli September, 1932. 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, 1931, 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 ; (b) 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. Y. 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 : —

40

Output of Coal during 1931. . Total Output Class o 1 Coal. to the Northern District West Coast District Southern District T( , . End of 1931. (North Island). (South Island). (South Island). Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Bituminous and sub-bituminous 129,725 849,911 .. 979,636 45,548,721 Brown . .. •• 705,174 39,824 324,751 1,069,749 25,900,980 Lignite .. .. •• •• 759 107,612 108,371 4,548,846 Totals for 1931 .. 834,899 890,494 432,363 2,157,756 75,998,547 Totals for 1930 .. 766,312 1,286,071 489,709 2,542,092 73.840,791 ( ,

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 .. 2,056,073 188,068 2,254,141 1922 .. 1,857,819 501,478 2,359,297 1912 2,177,615 364,359 2,541,974 1923 .. 1,969.834 445,792 2,415,626 1913 .. 1,888,005 468,940 2,356,945 1924 .. 2,083,207 674,483 2,757,690 1914 . 2,275,614* 518,070 2,793,684* 1925 .. 2,114,995 572,573 2,687,568 1915 .. 2,208,624 353,471 2,562,095 1926 .. 2,239,999 483,918 2,723,917 1916 . 2,257,135 293,956 2,551,091 | 1927 .. 2,366,740 378,090 2,744,830 1917 . 2,068,419 291,597 2,360,016 1928 .. 2,436,753 247,861 2,684,614 1918 2,034,250 255,332 2,289,582 i 1929 .. 2,535,864 215,656 2,751,520 1919 1,847,848 391,434 2,239,282 1930 .. 2,542,092 157,943 2,700,035 1920 1,843,705 476,343 2,320,048 j 1931 .. 2,157,756 179,060 2,336,816 1921 .. 1,809,095 j 822,459 2,631,554 * Includes 21 tons shale.