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he had based his calculation, would not give the desired returns. At that time a discovery of rich ore had been made at Komata, but, being a considerable distance from any place where it could be tested, the owners were glad to sell the property to Mr. Eussell for, it is said, a sum of £3,000. After this purchase he constructed a tramway and brought the ore over the hill to the Waitekauri plant. Another discovery was made almost at the same time by Lowrie Brothers, up near the head of the Waitekauri Creek. This was about four miles and a half through the bush, in which there were neither roads or tracks. After trying to dispose of this new find for some time, it was finally sold to Mr. Eussell, and, judging from the present appearance of the mine, it is likely to prove as valuable a property as the Waihi, as will be shown later on. The principal mines at Waitekauri are the Golden Cross, Jubilee, Komata, St. Hippo, Alpha, and Grace Darling, in which seventy-five men have been employed, and during the year 2,284 tons of ore has been crushed, which yielded 14,1360z. 14dwt. bullion by amalgamation, and 6,3550z. 17dwt. by the cyanide process. In addition to this, 1,095 tons of tailings have been treated for a return of 3,1920z. 12dwt. bullion by the cyanide process, and 21oz. by amalgamation, as against 2,428 tons crushed for the previous year, which yielded 10,7580z. bullion, and 1,075 tons of tailings for a return of 5,6100z. : which shows an increase in the yield of bullion last year of about 7,3170z. Golden Cross. —This is the mine which Mr. T. H. Eussell purchased from Lowrie Brothers. It is situated at the head of the Waitekauri Creek, not far from the divide which separates the water from the Marototo and Waitekauri watersheds. The workings are on both sides of the Waitekauri Creek. On the east side the lode had been opened out in two levels at the time of my visit in January last, the creek level being in a distance of 250 ft., following the lode, which was in places about 23ft. in width, and another cross-cut was constructed to cut the lode at 180 ft. higher level. The lode at this latter place was about 16ft. in width. The manager, Mr. Moore, showed me the places from where samples for assay were taken, which was right across the face, which he states gave an assay-value of £6 per ton; and in confirmation of this information Mr. T. H. Eussell some time afterwards informed me that the whole of the ore, by treatment in bulk throughout, would average £4 per ton. The lode has a direction of about 50° to the east of north, and dips in a north-westerly direction. There is also on the opposite side of the creek what is termed the battery level, where the lode is about 15ft. wide, and in the stopes at the height where the ore had been taken out it is about 10ft. in width, which the manager told me averaged £6 per ton by treatment in cyanide solutions. Since my visit to this mine the following extract of the description of the workings has been given in the Auckland Weekly News : — "The low level referred to, and which was only in a short distance, intersected the reef at a distance of 780 ft. from the mouth. The drive was made 7ft. high, and sufficiently wide for a horse tramway; but up to the present horses have not been used. From the point of intersection in the cross-cut the reef has been driven on in a north-east direction generally for a length of 400 ft. The lode varies somewhat in its course. It is, however, in a very good class of country throughout, and for a length of 250 ft. it carried high-class ore, the lode varying in size from 6ft. to 23ft. In one portion, the roof has been stoped up to a height of 40ft. or within two stopes of the former main level; but this is only for a short distance, and a leading stope has now been started south-west of the winze. Most of the ore crushed since the erection of the new plant is from this level, and some idea of its value may be gathered from the fact that the return of bullion obtained since August last up to the end of December was £7,114, which, considering the limited quantity treated, gives a high average. The lode is wet—very wet indeed —and it is also difficult to work, owing to the number of clay-heads which intersect it, and close timbering is required in most of the workings ; but, unlike other reefs, the clay-heads have not the slightest effect on this lode in the way of disturbing its course or altering its value. But there are other portions of the mine which also show great mineral resources at the higher levels. The manager has been working on what is known as Corbett's drive, 100 ft. above the main level, and at the northern end of the mine. Here the reef has not only been intersected, but it has been opened up for a considerable distance. The drive was first carried along the foot-wall for a length of 120 ft., the prospects being excellent. It was then decided to cut through the roof to the hanging-wall, and this was done, showing the width of the beautifully-formed lode at this point to be 23ft. between the walls. The drive was then continued along the hanging-wall for a further length of 50ft. Mr. Moore informed me that while cutting through the reef from the foot-wall to the hanging-wall assays were taken very frequently so as to test the whole lode, and the average has been from £5 to £6 per ton, some portions being richer than others ; but none of them were lower than about £1 45., while some were as high as £15. There are now on hand outside these workings, in three heaps, about 250 tons of ore, which it is proposed eventually to deliver at the kilns when opportunity offers for crushing it. In a still higher level, 180 ft. above the main level, closer to the Taranaki boundary, the same reef has been opened and cut through. It is 16ft. thick, and the quality of the ore is about the same as that already described." When Mr. Eussell first purchased this mine there were no roads to it whereby he could get machinery brought on to the ground, and for about a mile and a half he had to clear a track through the bush to get from the end of a road which was constructed by the County Council for a distance of three miles from the Waitekauri Township, out of moneys granted by Government. He only erected five heads of stamps at first, to test the ore before going to further expense. The test proved so satisfactory that he very soon erected ten heads of stamps, with all appliances for dry-crushing and leaching with cyanide solutions. Plant. —There are two kilns, constructed on a similar principle to those used by the Waihi Company, capable of holding 60 tons of ore, and are covered over by a shed. The lower adit from the south-western workings is below the level of the top of the kilns, and the trucks are run on to a hydraulic lift, which raises them to the required level, so that the ore can be emptied