C. —2,

APPENDIX B.

REPORTS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION OF COAL-MINES.

The Inspecting Engineer and Chiep Inspector op Coal-mines to the Under-Secretary op Mines. g IR; Wellington, 15th May, 1940. 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, 1939, in accordance with section 42 of the Coal-mines Act, 1925. The report is divided into the following sections : — I. Output. IT. I 'ersons employed. 111. Accidcnts. IV. Working of the Coal-mines Act —(a) Permitted Explosives ; (b) List of Mines at which Permitted Explosives are used ; (c) List of Mines required by Law to use Safetylamps ; (d) Dangerous Occurrences ; (e) Electricity at Collieries ; (/) Prosecutions. V. Legislation affecting Coal-mining. Annexures — A. Summary of Annual Reports by Inspectors of Coal-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 1912: —

The output of New Zealand collieries for 1939, 2,342,639 tons, was 120,551 tons more than the 1938 output and is the highest since 1930. From the Northern District coal-mines there was an increase of 39 988 tons from the West Coast mines an increase of 4-8,953 tons, and from the Southern District mines an increase of 31,610 tons, although in that district twenty-three less men were employed in the mines than in 1938. In the Northern District forty-four more men were employed, and the output per man, 5,064 tons, is 11-6 tons higher than the 1938 return.

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Output o£ Coal during 1039. ; Total Output Class of Coal. to the Northern District West Coast District, Southern District End of 1939. (North Island). (South Island). (South Island). ■ Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Bituminous and sub-bituminous 71,029 973,580 .. 1,044,609 52,829,029 Brown .. 731,676 58,411 369,876 1,159,963 34,451,156 Lignite .. .. .. I. 351 136,716 138,067 5,539,884 Totals for 1939 .. 802,705 1,033,342 : 506,592 2,342,639 92,820,069 Totals for 1938 .. 762,717 984,389 j 474,982 2,222,088 90,477,430

Total Quantity of Total Quantity of Year. Coal produced. Coal imported. Coal produced and Year. Coal produced, iCoal imported. Coal produced and imported. imported. I T~ \ i eSQc-)3 rwas? r~ Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. 1912 2,177,615 364,359 2,541,974 1926 .. 2,239,999 483,918 2,723,917 1913 1 888,005 468,940 2,356,945 1927 .. 2,366,740 378,090 2,744,830 1914 . ',275 614* 518,070 2,793,684* 1928 .. 2,436,753 247,861 2,684,614 1915 2 208,624 353,471 2,562,095 1929 .. 2,535,864 215,656 2,751,520 1916 2,257,135 293,956 2,551,091 1930 .. 2,542,092 157,943 2,700,035 1917 2 068,419 291,597 2,360,016 1931 .. 2,157,756 179,060 2,336,816 1918 2 034,250 255,332 2,289,582 1932 .. 1,842,022 103,531 1,945,553 1919 1,847,848 391.434 2,239,282 1933 .. 1,821,258 99,272 1,920,530 1920 1 843,705 476,343 2,320,048 1934 .. 2,060,315 100,715 2,161,030 1991 1809,095 822,459 2,631,554 1935 .. 2,115,184 97,398 2,212,582 1922 1,'857,819 501,478 2,359,297 1936 .. 2,140,217 111,078 2,251,295 j903 1969 834 445,792 2,415,626 1937 .. 2.277,799 116,499 2.394,298 1924 ' 2,083,207 674,483 2,757,690 1938 .. 2,222,088 109,206 2,331,294 1925 .. 2,114,995 572,573 | 2,687,568 1939 ■■ 2,342,639 111,537 2,454,176 * Includes 21 tons shale.