C.-*3

38

New Moanataiari Company. —This company may be said to be one of the largest employers of labour on the Thames field, and since its formation there have not been sufficient profits on the working to pay any interest on the capital actually invested, which is £12,477 10s. During the last five years, ending the 31st of October last, it has expended no less a sum than £32,200 in wages alone. There are still large blocks of ground left in this mine, above the main adit-level at Point Eussell, where very little prospecting has been done, and where some rich finds may yet probably be got. There are also some large lodes running through the ground, which have proved to be of very low grade, so far as they have been tested, near the level of the new main adit. The mine has so far, since the formation of the new company, been too good to abandon and too poor to pay for working. Calls have been occasionally made to carry on operations. The returns show that there is still a large quantity of gold in the ground, but the expense in obtaining it is greater than its value. During the year ending the 31st October last, 6,780 tons of quartz was crushed, which yielded 2,805 ounces of gold, having a value, including that got from tailings, of £9,152 3s. 3d., which is equal to £1 7s. per ton. There were also 11,283 tons of surface material treated, which yielded 6850z. 15dwt. gold. This gave the average value of the material treated 3s. 2d. per ton; yet this low yield left a profit on the workings of £257. In addition to this, 2,629 tons of quartz was obtained by tributers, which yielded 1,4480z. gold; so that the total quantity of gold obtained for the year amounted to 4,938f oz. The value of the total proceeds for the year, including percentage from tributes and amount received for public crushings, was £10,716 lls. Id., while the expenditure amounted to £11,135 6s. 3d., which shows a loss of £418 15s. 2d. on the year's operations. This company has a valuable asset in the Point Eussell adit-level, which is the key to the back country in this locality. This adit, constructed for about 3,200 ft., is of sufficient width to admit of a double line of rails being used, and high enough to allow haulage by horses; and, were this adit-level extended, it would give greater facilities to other companies who hold ground further back into the hill to work their mines more economically. Taking the year ending the 31st March last, 13,222|- tons of quartz were crushed, which yielded, in conjunction with 11,520 tons of mullock, 12,6240z. 19dwt. gold. New Alburnia Company. —This company's mine is at a high level above the flat, and, consequently, it becomes expensive to get the quartz taken to the crushing-battery. Latterly they have been making arrangements with the owners of Dixon's battery to purchase it. The company then intend to extend the Ballarat and Chum's adit to a point where a shaft will be sunk on Punga Plat, where levels will be driven from, and the quartz will be put down this shaft and conveyed along the adit level to the mouth, where it will be carried by an aerial tramway to the battery, at an expense not exceeding Bd. per ton. During last year 1,800 tons of quartz were obtained, by wages-men, which yielded 5,8560z. gold; and 285 tons by tributers, which yielded 1350z. 15dwt. of gold. Out of this the company paid the sum of £7,500 in dividends. The ore is partially of a refractory character. According to the tests made in 1892-93 by Mr. Park, of the School of Mines, only about 51 per cent, of the bullion was being saved by the ordinary battery process. Grahams town. The principal mine being worked in this locality is the Victoria, but, so far, payable returns cannot be said to have been got. A good deal of prospecting has been carried on with only partial success. The mine is being worked from the shaft sunk by the Tookey Company. From the 160 ft. level several lodes and leaders have been worked on, and, during the last year, 310 tons of quartz were obtained by wages-men, which yielded 3520z. lOdwt. gold; and 198 tons were obtained by tributers, wich produced 130oz. gold. About twelve men were employed in other claims, who obtained 200 tons of quartz, which yielded 1340z. 15dwt. gold; and 13,220 tons of tailings were treated, for a result of 2,4110z. gold. Waiotahi. The principal claims in this locality are the Waiotahi, Cambria, and Fame and Fortune. The former has been a dividend-paying claim for a large number of years. Last year there were 2,137 tons of stone crushed, which were obtained by wages-men, and 70 tons by tributers, which produced 2,7180z. lldwt. gold, out of which £750 was paid in dividends to the shareholders. It is one of the mines on the field where the directors never interfere with the manager; and the result is that, when he finds any rich body of ore, instead of putting on a large number of men to work on the good stone, he keeps always prospecting works going ahead, so that by the time one place is worked out he has a fresh body of ore opened up to keep the crushing-battery at work. It may be said to be the only mine on the Thames where prospecting operations and dead-work is sytematically carried on. If the principle of only operating on the rich bodies of ore met with from time to time had been adhered to, this mine would probably have been abandoned years ago. Either a mine has to be worked on the principle adopted at the Waiotahi, or each company should carry a percentage of its profits to a reserve fund, to carry on prospecting operations as the different levels are stoped out. Cambria Company. —This company is working similar ground to that worked by the Waiotahi Company. A large portion of the gold is obtained from small stringers or leaders ; but, taking the operations of the company for the last year, they have not been remunerative. According to the last annual balance-sheet, for the year ending 14th December last, 1,131 loads (1696 tons) of quartz were crushed, which yielded 1,5160z. Sdwts. gold, having a value of £4,202 9s. sd. The receipts from public crushings amounted to £1,545 16s. Bd., and from sundry other sources £30 Is. od., making a total of £5,778 7s. Id.; while the expenditure for the same period amounted to £5,859 9s. 2d. Out of this expenditure, £2,032 ss. Id. is charged against the crushing-battery, and £3,927 4s. Id. against the working of the mine. This shows that the cost of working the crushing-battery was £486 Bs. sd. more than that received for public crushing, and that the actual expenditure on mine