C.—2,

APPENDIX B.

REPORTS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION OE COAL-MINES.

The Inspecting Engineer and Chief Inspector of Coal-mines to the Under-Secretary of Mines. Sir, — Wellington, 27th May, 1936. 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, 1935, 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 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 Mines. B. Colliery Statistics.

SECTION I. —OUTPUT. The output of the several classes of coal mined in each inspection districf is summarized as follows :—

The following is a table showing the annual production of coal and the quantity of coal imported since 1911 :—

It is very pleasing to be able to record again that the output from New Zealand coal-mines shows an increase over that of the previous year. During 1935, 2,115,184 tons of coal were produced, being an increase of 54,869 tons compared with the 1934 output. Of that increase, 30,207 tons were from Northern District mines, 20,214 tons from West Coast mines, and 4,448 tons from Southern District mines. There were 237 less men employed in and about the West Coast District coal-mines, while in the Waikato coalfield 113 extra men were put on. In the North Auckland field the number of men employed at coal-mines decreased by 117. In the whole of the Northern District mines there were 19 men less, and in the Southern District mines, 9 men more than in 1934. For the Northern District the output was 584 tons per man employed. In the Southern District it was 497 tons per man, and for West Coast District mines 425 tons per man. The output for the year from the Hikurangi area was solely from small mines, but towards the end of the year the Hikurangi Coal Co. commenced a pair of dip drives to work a fair-sized area of coalbearing land south of View Road. The total output for the year was obtained from 202 mines, 96 of which were working on freehold lands, and produced 888,089 tons, or 42 per cent., the remaining 106 mines producing 1,227,095 tons, or 58 per cent., from Crown lands.

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Output of Coal during 1935. Total Output Class of Coal. to the Northern District West Coast District Southern District Totals End of 1935. (North Island). (South Island). (South Island). • _ . , I ! Tons. Tons. Tons. , Tons. Tons. Bituminous and sub-bituminous 72,866 752,361 .. 825,227 48,977,729 Brown .. .. .. 764,754 50,210 355,841 ! 1,170,805 29,842,388 Lignite .. .. .• .. 1,082 118,070 119,152 5,017,209 Totals for 1935 .. 837,620 803,653 473,911 2,115,184 83,837,326 Totals for 1934 .. 807,413 783,439 469,463 2,060,315 81,722,142

Total Quantity of Total Quantity of Year, j Coal produced. Coal imported.! Coal produced and Year. Coal produced. Coal imported. Coal produced and imported. imported. l_ J I Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. 1911 .. 2,066,073 188,068 2,254,141 1924 .. 2,083,207 674,183 2,757,690 1912 .. 2,177,615 364,359 2,541,974 1925 .. 2,114,995 572,573 2,887,568 1913 .. 1,888,005 468,940 2,356,945 1926 .. 2,239,999 483,918 2,723,917 1914 .. 2,275,614* 518,070 2,793,684* 1927 .. 2,366,740 378,090 2,744,830 1915 .. 2,208,624 353,471 2,562,095 1928 .. 2,436,753 247,861 2,684,614 1916 .. 2,257,135 293,956 2,551,091 1929 .. 2,535,864 215,656 2,751,520 1917 .. 2,068,419 291,597 2,360,016 1930 .. 2,542,092 157,943 2,700,035 1918 .. 2,034,250 255,332 2,289,582 1931 .. 2,157,756 179,060 2,336,816 1919 .. 1,847,848 391,434 2,239,282 1932 .. 1,842,022 103,531 1,945,553 1920 .. 1,843,705 476,343 2,320,048 1933 .. 1,821,258 99,272 1,920,530 1921 .. 1,809,095 822,459 2,631,554 1934 .. 2,060,315 100,715 2,161,030 1922 .. 1,857,819 501,478 2,359,297 1935 .. 2,115,184 97,398 2,212,582 1923 .. 1,969,834 445,792 2,415,626 * Includes 21 tons shale.