26

C.—4

up to ss. and £1,000 in cash, on the transfer of the property, and £2,000 in twelve months. This leaves £7,500 as a working capital to develop the mine and erect machinery. There are four different auriferous lodes running through this company's property, varying from 2ft. to 6ft. in width, and the manager informed me that in addition to these there are eight leaders or veins varying from 6in. to 18in. in width. Sixteen tons from various lodes was sent to the Thames for treatment, and gave a result of about 3|oz. of gold per ton. The manager also informed me that the intention of the company is to construct a tunnel through the hill, which they estimate will be about 900 ft. in length. This will cut the whole of the lodes, leaders, and veins, and prove whether the gold continues to go down. Very little work has been done on any of the lodes beyond trenching on the surface, and opening out on some of them from the face of the hill. The character of the gold is similar to that found in the Try Fluke Claim. Scarcely any can be seen with the naked eye, it is in so finely-divided a state; but good prospects can be got by pounding the stone. It will, however, require a different method than that hitherto adopted before a large percentage of the gold can be saved. Mr. Scully, one of the directors of this company, met me in Auckland, and stated that the company were going to erect machinery for the reduction and treatment of the ore, and asked what class of machinery would be most likely to prove successful in dealing with that class of ore. I recommended him to crush dry through a very fine mesh screen, and treat the crushed portion by the Cassell process. This is certainly the most effective and economical process of treatment yet introduced into New Zealand for such ores as are found at Kuaotuna. Just in Time Company. —This company's claim is on the southern boundary of the Great Mercury. There is a small lode averaging from 15in. to 2ft. thick. They got two parcels of stone crushed, the first being 10 tons from the surface, which yielded about an average of 2|oz. to the ton; and 25 tons from the low level, where they cut the lode, which yielded about 2Joz. of gold per ton. This claim comprises an area of 7 acres, and seven men were at the time of my visit employed. Otama Claim. —This claim comprises an area of a little over 20 acres. It is situated on Kuaotuna No. 2 Block, on the portion which belongs to Mr. Comer. It was taken up when the field was first rushed, and has been steadily worked ever since. The lodes are small—not more than 6in. in places—but the quartz is tolerably rich, and it has paid owners of the property to forward all the parcels to the Thames for treatment. Of course, these parcels were sorted, and the residue is now at the mouth of the mine, to be treated at the public crushing-battery as soon as it is completed. Waitaia Claim. —This claim is on Mr. McPherson's property. The owners were working on the cap of the lode during my former visit, and were then obtaining very good auriferous stone. Since then they have constructed two low levels on the lode, and have done a considerable amount of work; but the stone from these levels has not the appearance of carrying nearly so much gold as it did near the surface. Still, the lode, although small—about Ift. in width—is well defined, and shows mineral in the stone, with indications of gold. Annexed is a plan showing the position of claims on the field. The following is a tabulated statement showing number of men employed on wages and tribute, number of tons of quartz crushed, and yield of gold in the Coromandel district for year ending 31st March, 1891 :—

Average No. of Men employed. B'or Owners. For Trib liters. Tailinj ;s. Locality. Kamo of Mine. i a s i I -a i is s Quantity of Quartz Crushed. Quantity of Retorted Gold obtained. Quantity of Quartz Crushed. Quantity of Ketortea Gold obtained. Quantity treated. Yield of Gold. Tony cwt. Oz. dwt. Tons cwt. lb. Oz. dwt. Tons. Oz. Joromandel County— Tokatea Kapanga Kauri Block Matawai Opitonui.. Owera Waikoromiko Kuaotunu Tokatea Queen of the North .. Royal Oak .. Eob Roy Bismarck Harbour View Kapanga Scotty's Coromandel Mint Castle Eock Lanigan's Owera Lillis Claim Try Fluke Carbine Red Mercury Great Mercury Just in Time Otama Secret Bonanza Mahakirau Sundry claims Claims and licensed holdings (no gold produced) 3 53 12 22 5 5 15 6 1 29 9 8 16 4 4 1 2 2 15 100 10 2 4 2 7 2 'i 3 1,608 0 27 0 15 0 60 0 530 0 30 0 1 5 3,083 0 21 0 75 0 15 0 27 0 Gl 0 4 0 10 0 0 10 23 0 85 10 1,807 0 153 0 4 3 509 0 331 2 136 18 120 0 5,077 0 314 0 133 0 26 5 25 3 142 0 4 6 19 G 24 0 111 0 13 10 0 3 0 35 3 4 15 10 0 13 0 17 0 284 15 54 0 182 15 33 0 211 0 15 3 35 35 H * • Mahakirau ioromandel County Totals .. 312 il 5,591 18 9,022 13 23 4 50 780 13 85 35