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available to gold-producers, while the announcement made in the Budget that the 40 per cent, will also be remitted has made available a further lis. 7d. New Zealand currency, and this should to some degree offset the increased working-costs. It is possible that certain quartz mines which have remained dormant during the war years may resume operations, but in the absence of new discoveries it is evident that the field for new quartz-mining ventures is very limited. PETROLEUM OIL There has been no activity in the search for petroleum in New Zealand during 1945. During the preceding seven years investigations by three powerful overseas companies were intensive and comprehensive. Detailed geological and geophysical surveys were carried out over large areas and thousands of feet were core drilled for geological information, while thirteen deep wells, the deepest of which was 10,925 ft. deep and which totalled 73,565 ft. in depth, were drilled. All favourable structures were tested, the most modern drilling equipment used and large sums were expended, but all results were negative. As a result of these activities, the Mines Department has obtained a great deal of important geological data which is being studied by Government geologists and which will be of value in the event of the search for oil being renewed in future years. From the wells at Moturoa 91,212 gallons of crude petroleum oil was obtained during 1945 bringing the Dominion's total production of crude petroleum oil to 31st December, 1945, to 3,502,782 gallons. Certain proposals submitted by the owners of the Moturoa area for further drilling with financial assistance from the State did not prove acceptable to the Government. COAL-MINING There were 165 coal-mines operating in the Dominion in 1945. Fifty-seven of these mines are situated on freehold property and produced 1,280,072 tons, or 45 per cent, of the total output. The remaining 108 mines, situated on Crown land, produced 1,553,504 tons, or 55 per cent, of the total output of 2,833,576 tons. The annual production of coal since 1939 has been as follows : Year. Tons. Year. Tons. 1939 .. .. 2,342,639 1943 .. .. 2,787,868 1940 .. .. 2,516,099 1944 .. .. 2,805,970 1941 .. .. 2,639,507 1945 .. .. 2,833,576 1942 .. .. 2,680,041 No coal was imported in 1945, none having been imported since 1943, when 37,454 tons were landed. Exports for 1945 were 21,989 tons, as against 37,688 tons in 1944. The output of 2,833,576 tons was a record for the Dominion and is an increase of 27,606 tons, or approximately 1 per cent, on the 1944 production. Compared with 1939, when war broke out, the production for 1945 shows an increase of 490,937 tons. The output per miner employed underground during the year was 606 tons, a decrease of 53 tons as compared with 1944. The production per man on the pay-roll of underground mines—i.e., both underground and surface workers —was 453 tons, a decrease of 36 tons on the previous year. Production per man employed in opencast mines was 1,363 tons, an increase of 551 tons as compared with 1944. The over-all production per man employed in the industry—i.e., combined underground and opencast mines—amounted to 507 tons, an increase of 5 tons as compared with 1944. In past years output-per-man figures have not shown any differentiation between opencast and underground mines as the output from opencast mines has not been of much consequence. Since 1944 the output from opencast mines has become significant and accordingly must be taken into account in calculating output figures.

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