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Hindon. I mentioned in my last year's report that I had, for the reasons then given, exercised, somewhat reluctantly, jurisdiction in respect of the new field at Preservation Inlet, and suggested that provision should be made whereby some particular Court might alone have jurisdiction over a division of a goldfield ; but, so far as I know, nothing has been done in that direction. During the last year the privileges at Coal Island and Preservation Inlet granted at Dunedin have been but few, although a good number of miners' rights for that locality have been taken out here. It is reported that the workings on the mainland have been further extended, and that good yields have been obtained, some parties making as much as £1 to £3 per day per man when working. Doubtless the Warden at Eiverton will be able to report more fully on this field than I am in a position to do. The expectations of last year with regard to the quartz-mines at Hindon have not been realised, the operations of Messrs. Begg and party having turned out, comparatively speaking, a failure. A large quantity of scone was put through their mill; but, owing to the amalgam having got mixed with some foreign metal, the extraction of the gold was rendered abortive, so that the yield cannot be stated. It is proposed, lam given to understand, to make further trial of the mine at an early date. The quartz is found to be highly pyritiferous in character, requiring special and economical treatment. Messrs. Sheppard and party have been working on what is known as the Gladstone Eeef, and have crushed, at the small battery in Machine Creek, a considerable quantity of stone yielding from 6dwt. to lldwt. per ton. lam unable to state the exact quantity crushed by them. They have also crushed small quantities with similar results for one or two other parties. On the Hindon alluvial deposits there are probably now not more than a. score of miners working, with varying success. With regard to the Barewood quartz reefs, a number of the holdings first taken up have either lapsed or been surrendered and abandoned; but operations at the two places where the reef has been opened out have been actively carried on during the year by Messrs. Porter and Hocking, as tributers of the Barewood Company, in the one case, and by Messrs. Wolters and party in the other. The former of these parties have followed the reef to a depth of 100 ft., where it is well defined and sft. in thickness, yielding from 7dwt. to 15dwt. per ton. They have crushed during the year upwards of 500 tons, with a total yield of 280oz. of gold. Until recently they had to send the stone to Saddle Hill to be crushed, but are now crushing at a newly-erected ten-head battery of their own, within easy distance of the mine. Wolters and party are working on the same line of reef, at a distance of nearly a mile further south, where, at a depth of 40ft., the reef is between 4ft. and sft. thick, showing good prospects of gold. They have lately erected a five-head battery at the Flat Stream, about a mile and a half from the workings, to which, of course, the quartz has to be carted. At this mill they have put through about 540 tons of stone, yielding from sdwt. to 15dwt. to the ton, or, all through, a little over lOdwt. From present appearances there is every reason to believe that the development of the Barewood Beefs will be much more pronounced during the ensuing year than it has been in the past. As at Hindon, so at Barewood, the quartz is largely impregnated with pyrites, and the pyritous concentrates saved at the several batteries yield on treatment a considerable percentage of gold. They are at present sent to Victoria for treatment, which is very expensive. A local establishment for the extraction of the gold from these concentrates would be a boon to the mining community generally. The special claims taken up for dredging at Deep Stream and in the Taieri Eiver have been abandoned. , I have, &c, The Under-Secretary, Mines Department, Wellington. E. H. Caeew, Warden.

No. 17. Mr. Warden Eawson to the Undeb-Secretaby of Mines, Wellington. Sm,— Warden's Office, Invercargill, 7th May, 1892. I have the honour to forward herewith the annual returns, and to submit the following report on mining matters in the sub-districts under my charge for the year ending the 31st March, 1892 :— Long wood. The Longwood Sluicing Company (Limited) have done a considerable amount of work during the last twelve months in continuing to bring up a deep tail-race to their special claim. Progress is now and again retarded by heavy landslips. It is reported that as the tail-race proceeds the indications of payable gold are more encouraging. Orepuki. There is nothing new to report with regard to the workings in the immediate neighbourhood of Orepuki, but I have ascertained that many miners from this part of the district have been for a few months working on the beach between the Waiau Eiver and Coal Island, and that some of them have met with fair success. Coal Island, Pbesebvation Inlet. I have no reliable data as to the number of miners working in this part of the country, but there are probably over a hundred. Mining is now prosecuted upon the mainland as well as upon the island itself. When I was in Preservation Inlet in January last several miners visited the steamship " Tarawera," and expressed themselves to me as satisfied with the amount of gold they had already obtained, and looked forward hopefully to still greater success, notwithstanding that the country is very rough and the climate exceptionally moist,