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In the South Mine the area worked is divided into five districts from which coal is produced These districts are known as the Taupiri, Home's Dip, Mid, South Straight, and No. 1 Right Sections. In the Taupiri Section 11 pairs of miners are employed in the extraction of pillars ; this work has "been conducted in a satisfactory manner and good results have been procured. Home's Dip : Early in the year pillar-extraction was commenced and, taking into account the rather adverse conditions existing in the section, good results from the productive point of view have been maintained. Mid Section: Operations in this section are nearing completion in the small areas known as Nelson's and Carlson's Jigs, and with a view to maintaining continuity of output from the section the places on the inbye side and located to the right and left of the main haulage road are being opened aip. The preparatory work in connection with the withdrawal of the pillars is in an advanced stage, and when completed 7 pairs of miners will be accommodated here. South Straight Section : In this section the work of developing an area which, on account of the hard nature of the coal, had been left unopened is being carried out. One small panel has been formed, and a second is in the process of being developed. During the year 4 pairs of miners have been engaged in this work. Several requests from the Miners' Union for the introduction of powerdriven drills have been resisted, on the ground of the misuse of privileges granted to the miners by way of concessions on account of coal hardness. The alleged misuse of privileges is based upon the fact that evidence of the non-preparedness of coal for firing of shots and misplacement of shot-holes is and always has been abundant, and it is considered that by granting facilities for the more rapid -drilling of shot-holes acquiescence with the contravention of the regulations governing shot-firing could be charged against the grantor, hence the resistance. No. 1 Right Section: The workings in this section have reached the fringe of area of splinty coal which actually prescribe the boundary of workable coal in the section, and as a consequence pillarextraction has been commenced as from the boundary retreating outbye. Twelve pairs of miners are employed in the section. It is intended to reopen an old section which was entered into originally by way of a stone drive driven in the floor stone of the seam. This section lies to the right of main haulage road. During the interval of standing this drive has collapsed, and requires to be picked up and generally repaired to provide suitable means of ingress; this work is being proceeded with. Due«fco the extent of workings and length of airways in the No. 1 Right Section, the adequate ventilation of the district was difficult to secure, and in an effort to improve conditions the Bumsted and Chandler fan used for ventilating the North Drive was transferred to the South Drive to duplicate the fan acting in the South Mine. As a result a distinct improvement has been effected to the ventilation generally. Renown Golleries, Ltd. (T. Geddes (First Class), Mine-manager).—ln recent years coal-winning operations have been carried out in the two main mines located on the property leased to the company, these mines being known as the No. 1 Drive and the New Mine. However, towards the latter part of the year coal-winning was suspended in the New Mine and all efforts towards production were concentrated on the No. 1 Drive. The suspension of coal-production in the New Mine resulted from the interception of a major faulting in the main headings approximately 70 chains from the surface entrance. The effect of the faulting was emphasized due to the fact that the workings lying to the south of the main haulage heading had all reached the common boundary-line separating the MacDonald Mine from the Renown property. The choice of the extraction of pillars located between the haulage and above-mentioned boundary, or further prospect work ahead of the main haulage heading, had to be decided upon. Taking into consideration the long view, the manager wisely chose the conducting of the prospect work, this to be done by way of boring from the surface at chosen points in advance of the heading faces. To have decided otherwise and attacked the pillars would have destroyed the best possible means of ingress to coal ahead of the faulting if such exists in workable quantity. In so choosing, however, a serious dislocation of the then existing conditions re coal-production had to be faced, and for a time some considerable congestion resulted from the placing of the men from the New Mine in the No. 1 Drive ; the consequent difficulty in connection with rearrangement of transport roadways is, however, being overcome. In the No. 1 Drive, on account of the coal-producing sections being located at some considerable distances apart, it was decided in June to suspend coal-producing activities in those sections requiring the longest haulage ways. It was considered at the time by so doing that elimination of the duplication of rope-road workers at strategical points could be achieved, and, further, that by concentrating the miners in a smaller area the supervision of operations could be more effectively accomplished. It may be said that the visioned success of this change-over was only partially successful, for in the removal of one difficulty others arose. In an effort to bolster up production, the decision to open again in the old No. 1 North headings—that is, the headings driven from the position where the stone drive crossing the big faulting contacted the coal-seam —has recently been undertaken, and it is hoped that success will crown the efforts to secure the desired end. Again in this direction the area of coal in the'top seam lying to the south of the main haulage road and immediately outbye of the big faulting has been opened up. However, in two of these places downthrow faults have been intercepted and short drives in the fireclay are being driven to again contact the seam. In the other parts of the mine reached by way of No. 1 South Drive, pillar-extraction is being successfully carried out.

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