C.—2.
A new briquetting plant, in which a mixture of West Coast and Waikato slack coals is being used, has been erected at Onehunga. LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS. The Dominion Laboratory has been responsible for the testing of prospectors' samples from all parts of the Dominion, chiefly for gold and silver, but occasionally for other metals also. Several were examined for manganese, for which a demand exists abroad. Mine airs from numerous collieries have been examined as required by the inspection stafi of the Mines Department for noxious and inflammable gases. Some further work is in progress in connection with the utilization of New Zealand coal for gas-making at works equipped with vertical retort settings. The excessive swelling of some of our best coals is a handicap to their use in such retorts. Investigations in previous years have shown that blending with nonswelling coals, such as the brown (sub-bituminous) coals, overcomes the difficulty, but blending is laborious on a works scale. It has been suggested that exposure to the air by storage for several months prior to use might be a solution, and the Department and the laboratory are co-operating in a series of storage experiments with typical coals. The progress of coal research in Great Britain, and, as far as possible, in other countries, is carefully followed by the Dominion Analyst, especially research dealing with the addition of pulverized coal to fuel oil, for oil firing, and with hydrogenation of coal to produce petrol and other oils. The Fuel Chemist of the Laboratory, who formerly worked under the Coal Research Association, is in Great Britain at present, and is making a special study of hydrogenation. PERSONS EMPLOYED IN OR ABOUT MINES AND STONE-QUARRIES. The following table shows the number of persons employed in each inspection district during 1934 and 1933 : —
MINING AND QUARRY ACCIDENTS. In metalliferous mines, at which 6,542 men were ordinarily employed, six persons were killed and eleven persons seriously injured. At stone-quarries under the Stone-quarries Act, employing 1,818 men, there were three fatal accidents and six serious accidents. In coal-mines, where 4,478 persons were ordinarily employed, eight persons were killed and sixteen persons seriously injured. CO-OPERATIVE MINING, STATE COAL RESERVE. Eighteen co-operative parties working portions of the State Coal Reserve near Greymouth produced during the year 1934 95,357 tons, the number of men employed being 159. During the previous year eighteen parties produced 90,883 tons, there being an increase this year of 4,474 tons.
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Inspection District. Totals. Classification. i I- 1 :. 0 i _ Northern West Coast (of, S ° U « o Increase I (North Island). South Island). | ' res ?, South 1934. 1933. or , ' ' Island). Decrease. Gold, silver, and tungsten ore 1,271 2,951 2,318 6,540 6,212 Inc. 328 Coal .. .. .. 1,452 2,081 945 4,478 4,386 „ 92 Stone-quarries tinder the Stone- 1,324 107 387 1,818 1,711 ,, 107 quarries Act Oil .. .. .. 10 .. .. 10 9 „ 1 Cinnabar .. .. .. 2 .. .. 2 „2 Totals .. .. 4,059 5,139 3,650 12,848 12,318 Inc. 530