15

C.—2.

for the year previous. The lower output last year is accounted for by the large amount of dead-work in opening up the Cardiff, Granity Creek, the new mine at Brunner, and the Hikurangi mines. METALLIFEROUS MINING. Very little has yet been done in metalliferous mining, other than gold and silver, in the colony, owing, in a great measure, to the difficulties there are to contend with, not only in getting machinery and appliances on the ground, but also in getting men with sufficient capital to open out and work the mines. The attention of those persons who put their money into mining is generally directed to gold only. No doubt several companies have been formed to work metalliferous ores in the colony, but their failures in many instances have been due to want of sufficient capital to prosecute the work. When once the limited capital first available was expended, the small number of men who would invest their money in undertakings of this character rendered it almost impossible for any company that in the first instance proved unsuccessful to get fresh capital to assist them in continuing their operations. The extremely rough and broken nature of the country where ores are found, makes the difficulty of access very considerable, which greatly increases the cost of working metalliferous mines. The only ores of this character that are at present worked are antimony and manganese. Manganese. There are large quatities of manganese in the colony, but its low value will not admit of costly transit to a port of shipment; and it is only when the ore can be got near the oceanbeach, where vessels can come to load, that it can be made remunerative for working. Hitherto mining for this ore has been confined principally to the Auckland District—at Whangarei, Bay of Islands, and Waiheke Island. There is some very rich ore in the Otago District, near the mouth of the Taieri River, but it has not been found in sufficient quantity to work remuneratively. During the last year 319 tons were exported, representing a value of £943. Antimony. The principal workings of antimony-ore are at Endeavour Inlet, Queen Charlotte Sound, the present company being the third one to embark in the undertaking. The two former companies failed to make the venture payable, and after spending a large capital in opening up the mine, and in placing machinery and appliances on the ground, the mine was disposed of to the present company. Considerable sums of money have been expended in the erection of furnaces to produce crude antimony, and failure after failure ensued, until recently, when Mr. Seagar, ironfounder, of Wellington, invented a process whereby, it is hoped, crude antimony will be produced at a comparatively small cost. It is stated that by this process one cord of firewood is sufficient to produce one ton of crude antimony. This process has now been working for three months continuously, and, so far, has given every satisfaction. The slimes of the antimony-ore, which were until recently considered a waste product, are now converted into a marketable commodity. If the process is successful, it has overcome one of the greatest difficulties in the way of the production of antimony from its ore that lias been experienced in all the countries of the world where this metal is obtained. It is stated that the cost of production is so small that, even at the present low price of star antimony, it can be delivered in the Home markets at such a rate as to leave a fair margin of profit. This process, when it becomes generally known, may have the effect of reopening other antimony mines, at Waipori and elsewhere. Last year there were 331 tons of antimony and antimonyores exported, having a value of £3,467. Cinnabar. Prospecting operations were carried on last year with a view of finding a lode of cinnabar at Puhipuhi, but, so far, no lode has yet been discovered. The cinnabar is found amongst the gravel washdrift in the bed of a small creek in small rounded pellets. About 751b. of cinnabar has been collected by washing the drift, and in all probability this mineral will yet be traced into the solid country, where it will be found in situ. A sample of this ore was sent to the Colonial Laboratory for analysis. This proved to contain about 84 per cent, of quicksilver. A syndicate has also been prospecting a lode containing cinnabar at Ohaeawai, but the ore is of a very poor quality. Quicksilver is found in the black mud at the hot pools at Ohaeawai, which have been liberated from a lode containing cinnabar alongside these pools; the heat of the ground, together with the alkali it contains, being sufficient to distil the quicksilver from the ore.