§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Power if he will make a statement on the research project resulting in the development of the remotely operated longwall face coal cutting machines, including power advanced supports for all level and inclined seams, and on its potentialities in the export market.
§ Mr. John MorrisThe project so far developed has undergone prolonged underground trials with encouraging results. Development work continues and additional installations, which will enable further improvements to be made, are currently being planned. The coal cutting and power loading machines and powered supports, which make up a large part of the installations, are standard mining equipment and are already exported. When further knowledge has been gained of the remote control equipment which is the distinctive feature of the installations, the export potentialities of this system might become substantial.