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C—3

It will be seen from the foregoing statement that the value of the sales of water last year amounted to £1,496 95., as against £1,395 18s. lid. for the previous year, which is an increase of £100 10s. Id., while the expenditure on maintenance was £1,231 145., as against £1,384 18s. 9d. for the previous year. The gain on the working last year was £264 15s. The approximate quantity of gold obtained from claims worked with water from this supply was 2,895 oz., representing a value of £11,145 55.; and the number of men employed in these claims averages about 49 - 42. Deducting the value of the gold obtained from the value of the sales of water, it leaves £9,648 16s. as the earnings of the miners, which is equal to about £192 19s. a man per annum, or about £3 13s. sd. a man per week. The Eweburn reservoir, which is in course of construction, will store sufficient water to enable a continuous supply to be obtained by the miners during the dry seasons. This reservoir is intended to hold 500,000,000 gallons of water, but the average quantity it will store during the year must depend on the rain and snowfall within the area of drainage. The construction of this reservoir is being supervised by Mr. E. H. Browne, C.E., engineer, of Naseby, under the direction of Mr. T. Perham, A.M. Inst. C.E., and the following report on the progress of the work up to the 31st March has been famished by him : — " I have the honour to report that during the past three months these works have made considerable progress towards completion. The laying and jointing of the outlet pipes and valves, and testing of same, being completed early in January, allowed of the tail-race being closed. This was satisfactorily accomplished, but not without some difficulty, owing to the strong body of underground water to be overcome. The filling about the pipes and closing of the open tail-race brought the earthwork to a more uniform level, enabling more satisfactory progress to be made, and minimised the risk of unequal subsidence. The material to be obtained for the earthwork and rockfacing continues to be all that could be desired, and readily obtainable. The height of the embankment, as completed and stone-faced, at this date is 22 ft., and the permanent by-wash at the 60ft. level is well advanced. About 70,000 cubic yards of earthwork will be required to complete the embankment. This, with the stone facing, will cost £3,500 to £4,000. We find that about Is. per cubic yard is the present cost of the work, including getting clay and earth, carting and spreading same, and the rock-pitching on face. This is exclusive of foundation-work, pipes, valves, and by-wash rock-cutting; but, as these latter may be considered as finished, the cost of the work above the 22 ft. level can be computed at the above estimate as from the 31st March. The work, as you are aware, is being carried out, under the management of Mr. A. Butler, on co-opera-tive-contract lines, and in a very satisfactory manner. Given a fairly dry and mild winter, the work by the ensuing spring can be sufficiently advanced to be out of danger from floods, but until the 65 ft. level is reached there is that danger to be considered. This danger can only be met by keeping the accumulating water down to a sufficiently low level to admit of a very heavy flood being held with the aid of the outlet pipe. It is satisfactory to note that since the closing of the tail-race, about the 11th January last, the enclosed water has accumulated to a much greater extent and faster than was anticipated ; so much so that to prevent the water overtopping the work it became necessary to open the valves and let it flow into the Government race ; and, from records kept up to the 10th March, 291 Government heads ran for eight hours, being equal to 157,000,000 gallons of water, and at this date there is 13 ft. in depth of water at the outlet pipe, which throws the water back, covering about 13 acres, containing 21,000,000 gallons, making a total of 178,000,000 gallons accumulated since about the 20th January to the 20th March. This flow will give 1,068,000,000 gallons for twelve months. The reservoir can be roughly estimated to contain, when full, 500,000,000 gallons; thus, taking 178,000,000 gallons as the average accumulation for the two driest months in the year, there is every reason to expect that, with the snow accumulations melting in the spring added to the above steady supply, the reservoir will more than fill—in fact, quite possibly may fill twice —a year. From an engineering view, it is essential that the completion of the work should be obtained as soon as possible; also, from a commercial view, that as much water should be retained in the reservoir to be sold as is consistent with safety." Blackstone Hill Eace. A limited number of miners still continue to profitably use water from this race. The nature of the country through which it is carried permits of this race being maintained and kept open without great expense. The following statement will show revenue derived from sales of water, the cost of maintenance, the number of men employed, and the approximate quantity of gold obtained from those claims which are worked by the aid of this race : —

Month. Sales of Water. Cash received. Maintenance. Number of Men employed. Approximate Quantity of Gold obtained. Value. 1898. £ s. d. 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 £ a. d. 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 30 15 10 £ s. d. 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 17 0 Oz. £ a. d. ipril .. tfay .. 'uno .. -uly .. Lugust September )ctober "Tovernber lecember 1899. 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 auuary February larch 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 10 15 10 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 9 9 9 Totals .. 129 10 0 129 10 0 140 539 0 0 2 14 0 9 averai •fi)