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Fougere's Opencast, Ohura (Tonga and Paparata), (E. Maslin (Quarry Certificate), Mine-manager).— A small output was obtained by 4 men opencasting two sections on this area. The coal averages 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. in thickness. Waitewhena State Opencast (S. T. Smith (Deputy), Mine-manager).—An output of 44,177 tons was obtained from No. 2 Area. The seam averaged 11 ft. in thickness. Approximately 9,000 tons remain on this area, with the overburden attaining a ratio of sto 1. In April stripping operations commenced on No. 5 Area, while the formation of a new access road to this latter area was pushed on as machines and labour became available. Some 5 chains of this formation remained to be done at the end of the year. All stripping at the mine is done by the Ministry of Works, employing five caterpillar tractors and blades and two 12-cubic yards carryalls. One three-quarter-yard shovel excavator and two T.D. 14 tractors are used on coal-winning. The output is transported 13 miles by road transport to the screening and sizing plant at the railway siding. The total number of men engaged was 35. Rotowaro Rescue Station At the end of the year the total number of trained men on the register was 57, including 13 men at Benneydale. Individual practices totalled 391 and team practices 95. Eight emergency calls were made to several district mines, as follows : One to Mac Donald Mine, four to Pukemiro Mine, one to Wilton Mine, and two to Mangapehi State Mine, Benneydale. Valuable assistance was thus rendered at the various mines in dealing with underground fires. All rescue apparatus, together with the interior and surroundings of the rescue station, were kept in very good order. At the beginning of the year Mr. Lennox resigned from the position of Officer in Charge, Mr. E. C. Carter accepting the position in a temporary capacity until a permanent appointment was made. Mr. Carter carried out his various responsibilities in an able and efficient manner for several months until the present officer, Mr. N. Croad, was appointed. Huntly School of Mines Instruction was continued throughout the year under the able direction of Mr. C. Hunter. The average number of students attending was 32 for the first and second quarters and 33 for the last quarter. Classes were of three hours' duration, as follows—Huntly : Mondays, Wednesdays, and Eridays ; Rotowaro : Tuesdays and Thursdays. As no students were available from Ngaruawahia, no class was held there, the extra night—namely, Thursday—being allocated to Rotowaro. At the annua,! examinations for underviewers and firemen deputies 3 students obtained passes in the underviewers' section and 1 failed. In the firemen deputies' section 5 obtained passes and 1 failed. Eatal Accidents I regret to report that one fatal accident occurred during the year. Thomas J. Purnell, Pukemiro Colliery, married, with three children, was fatally injured by a fall of stone and coal on Bth September, 1949. The accident occurred while Purnell was engaged in repairs to timbering in the Mclntyre's Dip Section, Pukemiro South Mine. Serious Non-fatal Accidents On the 20th January at Wilton State Colliery, R. E. Lumsden suffered a fracture of the fibula. He was employed on the surface. The accident was caused through Lumsden slipping on a sleeper and falling down a bank. On the 29th January Donald Pearson suffered a fracture of the metacarpus bones of the right hand whilst employed at the face of Roose's Opencast Mine at Huntly West. On 31st January H. Wallace sustained a fracture, fourth toe of the right foot, caused by a tub falling on to his foot at Pukemiro Mine. On the 10th February Kenneth Baldwin, miner, Pukemiro Colliery, received a fractured right leg. He fell whilst attempting to avoid a small fall of coal in his working-place. On the 11th February A. Bates suffered a fractured left wrist after being struck from behind by a full truck at the screens, Glen Afton Colliery. On the 16th February Douglas R. Jolly, trucker, Wilton State Colliery, sustained a fracture of a small bone in the wrist. The injury was caused through Jollys' hand being jammed between the buffers of two trucks. On 16th March William Archibald, trucker, Mangapehi State Mine, sustained a dislocation of the left wrist when his hand was jammed between a low portion of roof and the top of a truck. On the 27th April S. Graham, screen hand, Glen Afton Colliery, sustained a fracture of the right hand when he fell from the iron step of a railway wagon. On the 20th May J. Tapara, Trucker, Rotowaro No. 3 Mine, suffered the loss of the first joint of the little finger and lacerations to middle and ring fingers when his hand was jammed between a low portion of roof and the top of a full truck.

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