11

H.—9

Gold Expoeted pbom Westpoet. Q-old. Duty. Tear ending 31st March, 1873 ... 37,543 ozs. 4 dwts. 22 grs. ... £4,348 16 6 „ „ 1874 ... 33,765 ozs. 5 dwts. 7 grs. ... £3,376 10 7 The Under Secretary for Gold Fields, Wellington.

No. 6. Mr. Warden Chaeles Beoad to the Undeb Seceetaey for G-old Fields. Sic,— Warden's Office, Eeefton, Bth May, 1874. I have the honor, in compliance with your circular memorandum of 10th January last, to forward the returns called for therein. Enclosed will be found a copy of my report upon the districts of Inangahua and Central Buller for the year ending 31st March, and which I recently furnished to the Provincial Council, Nelson. I have, &c, Chaeles Beoad, The Under Secretary for G-old Fields, Wellington. Warden. Mr. Warden Beoad's Annual Eepoet, from the Ist of April, 1873, to the 31st of March, 1874, inclusive. In concluding my last annual report on this district for the year ended 31st March, 1873, I expressed an opinion that the district would prove permanent, and that it was progressing slowly but surely; and after another twelve months' experience, I am enabled to say that my most sanguine expectations have been fully realized. Several circumstances have concurred to send the district ahead. First, the further development of the Murray Creek mines, and the very handsome return from the quartz crushed ; the satisfactory crushings at Boatman's, and the extraordinary yields at the Lyell. Second, the establishment of local banks at Eeefton and the Lyell, the formation of local Revenues Boards in both places, and the sale of the occupied sections in the township of Reefton. The unhealthy spirit of reckless speculation which marked the first of the district has now died away, and in its place has been substituted honest, sober working—capital and labour going hand in hand, and working for the reward of legitimate industry. This being the case, it cannot be expected to present anything startling to the outside public; but at the same time, the field has now been sufficiently proved to show that good payable reefs exist, which will yield good returns for numbers of years to come. I have, however, not the remotest doubt but that as lower levels are tried, much richer quartz will be discovered, and of a more defined nature as a reef, than even at present. Another element of prosperity may be referred to, namely, in the excellent yields from the alluvial claims in the vicinity of Reefton, Lyell, and Matakitaki townships. In going up the Buller River from the Lyell to the Matakitaki, one cannot help being struck with the immense amount of work done under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty; and it is no doubt greatly owing to the indomitable pioneers of these claims that we owe the opening up of the Lyell reefs, the building of the Lyell township—connected by roads and by electric telegraph with the various centres of population. The same is equally true with regard to Reefton. Tears before the reefs were thought of, the sturdy alluvial miner was working in the various gullies and tributaries of the Inangahua River—leading, first, to the discovery of payable cement in Murray Creek, and, lastly, to the discovery of those rich quartz reefs which have changed the desert into a fruitful field. From two claims alone in Murray Creek (namely, Anderson's and Wealth of Nations) upwards of £20,000 worbh of gold has been obtained during the past year, enabling both claims to pay for their machinery, races, tunnels, &c, and leaving money available either for a dividend or the working purposes of the claim. However, following the plan adopted by me last year, I now proceed to give a detailed account of the various crushings, with their results ; premising that the value of the gold raised from the quartz reefs in the Inangahua district for the year is £59,968 os. Id., and in the Lyell, £17,540 125., making a total of £77,508 12s. Id., or more than double that produced last year.

RETURN of CRUSHINGS, MURRAY CREEK and BOATMAN'S, for the Year commenced 1st April, 1873, to 31st March, 1874.

Company. Energetic lolden Fleece iVealth of Nations Anderson's .nvincible Fiery Cross Fust in Time !nglewood Ajax Victoria Band of Hope Quartz. Tons. 1,636 ],550 4,654 3,408 437 792 308 373 2,497 178 390 Gold, oz. dwt# gr. 1,028 0 0 2,279 12 12 ■ 3,046 16 12 3,318 15 12 524 10 0 1,369 7 0 1,631 0 0 235 0 0 1,950 7 12. 134 0 0 25 0 0 Value. £ s. a. 3,957 16 0 8,909 6 9 11,730 5 6 12,945 18 7 2,019 6 6 5,098 14 11 6,282 4 0 904 5 0 7,508 18 10 515 18 0 96 5 0 Totals 16,223 15,542 9 0 15,542 9 0 £59,968 £59,968 0 1 0 1