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level a distance of 80 ft. and to a depth of 50 ft. The reef is 14 ft. wide in lower workings, and is stated to be worth £5 per ton. Two hundred and ten men are employed. 16,989 tons was treated during the year, for 20,792 oz. lOdwt. of gold, valued at £41,120 2s. 2d. New Zealand Talisman Mine. —This company has done a very large amount of work during the year. The mine is opened up by seven drives from the side of the hill, the distances between the drives varying from 70 ft. to 123 ft. As the reef has been driven on in some of the levels for over 500 ft., and is from 3 ft. to 5 ft. in thickness, it shows there is abundance of quartz in sight to keep twenty stamps constantly crushing for some considerable time. Driving and stoping on the reef in the upper levels has been the principal work carried on, and, as there was a large amount of quartz stacked at the mouth of the different levels ready for treatment, there was no necessity to employ many men to keep the mill going; and owing to the long drought for the last three months there was not sufficient water in the race to keep the full number of stamps employed, consequently the yield of gold has not been as large as it otherwise would have been if the battery had been fully engaged. The reduction plant consists of two rock-breakers of Blake type, one revolving ore-drier, ten heads of 8501b. stamps, ten heads of I,ooolb. stamps, one No. 5 Krupp ball-mill, two wooden cyanide vats —16 ft. diameter, 4 ft. deep ; amalgamating tables, six berdans, and the usual accessories, the machinery being operated by means of two Victor turbines. The works and offices are electrically lighted. For the last nine months 4,194 tons of quartz has been treated, for 15,225 oz. of bullion, valued at £13,681 7s. 3d. Seventy men are employed. Talisman Extended Mine. —This mine has been continuously worked during the year, the principal work being driving a low level to intersect the Talisman reef. This drive is in a distance of 780 ft., and it is expected the reef will be met within the next 100 ft. of driving. A considerable amount of surface-prospecting has been done on the ground, and leads cut varying from 1 ft. to 4 ft. in width, but nothing discovered that can be considered payable. Four men are employed No returns. Imperial Mine. —A considerable amount of work has been done on the reef at Nos. 1 and 2 levels. The reef is about 2 ft. thick, and in places in the levels the prospects met with were exceedingly encouraging, but as the country has been disturbed, and the reef cut out by breaks, it is difficult to follow the reef. A low level has been recently started to cut the reef at a depth. Five men are employed. Woodstock Main Beefs. —This company has employed twenty men, and in consequence has done a large amount of prospecting. The mine is opened by drives from the side of the hill. The No. 6 level has been driven for a distance of 628 fc, and the reef has varied from 3 ft. to 14 ft. in width, but most of the quartz is low grade, and not of a payable character. The No. 3 (Ivanhoe) level has been driven 600 ft., but, owing to no discoveries of a payable nature being made, the company has decided to stop operations. The Stanley, Sterling, Waverley, Golden Fleece, St. Patrick, and Crown Imperial have done a good deal of prospecting, but, as no rich discoveries have been made, most of the claims have been protected. OWHAEOA DISTEICT. Ohinemuri Syndicate Mine. —This company has erected a pumping and winding plant on their shaft between the road and river, near the Smile and Fortune battery. A shaft 12 ft. by 6 ft. in the clear has been sunk to a depth of 143 ft., and a chamber opened out at a depth of 120 ft., from which two cross-cut drives are being driven. The north cross-cut is in 100 ft., and the north-west cross-cut 115 ft. The Eadical reef is expected to be cut at any time, but the intention of the company is to extend those cross-cuts for the purpose of intersecting any reefs that may traverse this portion of the property. Twenty-one men are employed. No returns. There was some work done on Heightman's Freehold in the early part of the year, but for several months past there has been no work done in any of the mines in this locality. Waih: Disteict. Waihi Gold- and Silver-mining Company. —The operations of this company consist principally of driving and stoping in the Martha, Welcome, and Victoria lodes, which are supplying abundance of quartz to keep the mill constantly crushing. From the stopes on the Martha lode over No. 2 level the ore coming to hand is of excellent quality, and the reef looks well. The Victoria lode at No. 2 level is producing a fair quantity of ore of medium quality, the width of the lode being 6 ft. in the face. From the Welcome lode at No. 2 level the ore for the whole width (14 ft. 6 in.) is of good quality. The stopes opposite No. 1 shaft on the same reef are supplying first-class ore, the lode at this place being 6 ft. wide. At the No. 1 level on Welcome lode, in the western end, there is an improvement in the quality of the quartz, and the lode is 5 ft. in width in the face. Owing to the face of this drive being in a distance of 2,200 ft. from No. 1 shaft it has been decided to suspend operations here until No. 2 shaft is available, or a connection made with No. 3 shaft. A cross-cut has been accordingly started from the south-eastern side of the level for the purpose of connecting it with No. 3 shaft. The Surprise lode at No. 1 level, which is about 12 in. wide, has been driven on for a distance of 132 ft. During the past few weeks good progress has been made with the sinking of No. 2 shaft, and it has been sunk below the point where No. 4 level is to be opened out. The No. 3 shaft has attained a depth of 100 ft. below the surface, and three small lodes have been cut through in this shaft, varying from 15 in. to 24 in. in width, all of which contain a fair percentage of gold. The new Victoria battery at Waikino commenced crushing on the 25th February with fifty heads of stamps, and, with the exception of trifling details, everything in connection with this portion of the plant worked very satisfactory. 37,164 tons of quartz has been crushed and treated during the year, for 126,801 oz. of bullion, valued at £134,533 Bs. 9d. As the mine is well opened up and abundance of quartz in sight to keep both batteries fully employed, it may be fairly expected that, should no serious thing happen whereby any of the batteries may be stopped, the return of gold from this mine next year will be about double that of the past year,

7—C. 3a.