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1949 NEW ZEALAND

STATE COAL-MINES (REPORT ON THE WORKING OF) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1949

Prepared in Accordance With the Requirements of. Section 184 of the Coal-mines Act, 1925

REPORT BY THE HON. A. McLAGAN, MINISTER OF MINES Mr. Speaker,— I have the honour to present to Parliament the Balance-sheet, Statement of Accounts, and reports on the operations of the State coal-mines for the year ended 31st March, 1949.

During the year the State acquired the following coal-mining undertakings:

UNDERGROUND OPERATIONS North Auckland Although production has improved at the Kamo Mine, a high proportion of the labour force had to be engaged on arrears of maintenance and improvements to airways and haulage roads. An extensive drilling programme has been laid down and will be put in hand at an early date, and on the result of this work the future plan of working the mine will be developed. Output still shows an upward trend, and this should continue as haulage facilities are improved and arrears of maintenance work are overtaken. Watkato District Normal mining conditions have been experienced at the Alison Nos. 1 and 2 Mines. An axial flow fan, with sufficient capacity to provide ample air at the faces until the mine is exhausted, was installed during the year. Two crawler-mounted coal-cutting machines are expected to arrive from Britain shortly.

Name of Mine or Company. Purchaseprice. Purpose. Taupiri Coal Mines, Ltd., Huntly Devlin's Mine, Huntly Pyramid Mine, Eeefton Central Mine, Eeefton Morley property, Ohai £ 823,000 10,000 7,750 5,000 40,000 Underground and opencast mining. Opencast mining. Value of plant. Mine closed down. Underground mining. Underground mining.