COAL PRODUCTION COST

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1938, Page 3

COAL PRODUCTION COST

i U.S.A. AND NEW ZEALAND. | I [PEH FKESS ASSOCIATION.] { AUCKLAND. May J!'. ) “No competent coal-mining engineerj aho had any know It dge of Now Zea-j ]a;i(l conditions could possibly allycoal could be produced in lhej Dominion al ■">/• a lon.' said Ml'. W. D. llolgttfe. president of the Waikato ('oul-Miim Owners' Association. '-peak-| in;; cf the reporl tiiat an American mining' cimincer. Mr. (I. Ua.rgal, o! Sail Dake City, had said in Christ- , jiurcii that the production cost of I in New Zealand could be reduced !?> :: loir. “Il v.ottld mil be possible lo met iiunmc our mines lo any extent, becum.': tile formation of Iho seams is so hrmnlar.’’ said Mr. Holgate. Anmri,,m niim s were very different, belite geological structure of the (.••.ml-bearing country was so regular li'iil lite mines could be laid out lor j.-.ypc-m ale production. In addition, tjere. was a. huge market in the Unii(.d Slates, which could absorb large ciitititm Any increase in production] i>) the Dominion would meet will) no] demand from the relatively small

number of consumers. Itet'erring to Ml’. Cargols statement that one man could produce only one and a. half to three Lons a (lay at the pit, in comparison with 10 tons a man in a. fully mechanised colliery, Mr Jlolsaiii that the men in the Waikato mine;-; were averaging more than eight << ns day. New Zealand labour ( omlitiuns were also different from these in America. Extensive mechaiii- aiiou would not be tolerated by miners in the Dominion, as was evi-d'-nt from the dilliculty experienced in certain mines in getting men to use coal-cutters. Even if machinery were used, the cost of freight, which amounted to 12/G a. ton from The Waij.:ato to Auckland, would make it quite impossible to bring the cost of coal to a figure approaching that, quoted by Mr. Cargal.