C—3

50

Kerikeri. Fleming's Mine. —This mine was worked by the owners in the early part of the period. They had from two to four men employed, but, as the results obtained from the ore treated did not pay the owners, the men took the mine on tribute for a short time. Not meeting with payable ore they gave it up. The company crushed 3 tons of quartz and 10 lb. of picked stone for 17 oz. 14 dwt. of gold, value £48 os. 6d.; and the tributers crushed.l7lb. of specimens for 14 oz. 3 dwt. of gold, value £36 10s. lOd. Puriri. Puriri Gold Estates (Limited). —Work was carried on for a time in the Inverness and Mandoline sections which proved unremunerative. It was then decided to take up another lease—viz., the Amazon ground, now known as the Moncraith Special Claim, and work has for a time been confined to this section. A prospecting-drive was put in on the reef that gave fair dish-prospects, and was driven on for a distance of 100 ft., the reef varying from 1 ft. to 18 in. in width. Assays along the same gave a value of £5 lis. per ton. Two bags of quartz, weighing 2 cwt., were forwarded to London and assayed, and gave a value of £10 Bs. per ton. In view of this satisfactory result, and in order to test the reef at a lower depth than it was possible to do by means of an aditlevel, a shaft was sunk to a depth of 70 ft. ; at this depth a crosscut is being driven to intersect the reef. During the year the company purchased the properties of the Orion Gold-mining Company, consisting of the Lucky Chance and New Aurareas Special Claims, together with aerial tramway, battery of eight heads stamps, water-race, and water-rights. Ten men are employed. Miner's Right Claim. —This mine has been steadily worked with four men, the work consisting of driving and stoping on small leaders varying in size from 2 in. to 6 in. These are carrying payable gold in what is termed good country, but as soon as the leaders run into the hard rock the quartz is worthless. 221 tons of quartz was treated at their own battery for a return of 172 oz. 6 dwt. of gold, and value £442 Bs. lid. Omahu. Sheet Anchor. —This ground is worked with four men, who have been chiefly engaged in prospecting and driving on the reef. This carries a fair-sized body of quartz varying from 3 ft. to 5 ft. thick, and from which parcels of high-grade ore have been treated. The reef has very little underlie, and is very much broken and disturbed ; the greatest depth it has yet been intersected does not exceed 40 ft. below the surface, and is apparently not in solid country. As it will necessitate the sinking of a shaft or driving a low level for some considerable distance to prove the value of reef at a depth, the owners are negotiating for the raising of capital to carry out this important work. They found the small two-stamp Tremain battery, which was erected at the mine for wet crushing and amalgamation, was not suitable for the treatment of this ore on account of the gold being very fine in the stone. In consequence some of the quartz had to be treated at the Thames School of Mines. 2-J- tons of ore was treated for 86 oz. 16 dwt. of gold; value, £72 Is. 6d. Klondike. —Two men, who did a fair amount of prospecting, were employed on this ground for a time. A reef formation which contained gold was discovered outcropping on the side of a spur. It was sunk on for a few feet, and a drive put in to intersect it about 80 ft. below the outcrop, where it was driven on for a few feet, and a trial crushing taken out for soz. 8 dwt. of gold ; value, £12 10s. As the return was not sufficient to pay, protection was applied for and granted. A little prospecting was done on other small claims in this locality, but nothing of importance discovered. Neavesville. Golden Belt. —Only a limited amount of work has been done on this ground, and was chiefly confined to extending the low level (with six men), the object being to intersect the reef which had been operated on to a considerable extent at the upper levels some years ago. After driving this level a further distance of 150 ft. (making the total distance driven from the mouth of the drive 630 ft.) to the point where the reef was expected to be met with, it was not found, and, the company's funds becoming exhausted, all work was stopped and the mine protected. lam informed the property has again been taken over by one of the original owners, who intends to give it a further trial. He has confidence in being able to make it pay, as previously the ground was worked with payable results. Tairua. Broken Hill. —This mine has been steadily worked during the period under review, but the results of the operations have not proved as successful as at first anticipated. Whilst the twentystamp battery was being erected a large amount of development-work was done in the mine on the large ore-body, and in making connections between Nos. 2, 3, and 4 levels for the purpose of conveying the quartz from the upper workings to the level on the top of the self-acting incline, and from thence to the battery. On the completion of the battery (which was fitted up for the ordinary wet process and treatment by amalgamation) in June last a large quantity of ore was put through the mill, but, the results obtained not being satisfactory, the battery was stopped for a time and a cyanide plant erected to treat the tailings, Ac. When this was completed crushing was again resumed, and carried on up to the month of October, when the mine was closed down and stoping operations on the large ore-body were suspended, the quartz being found to be of too low grade to pay under present conditions, more especially as the plant was being driven by steam-power. The company's attention has since been directed to prospecting some of the smaller leaders in the No. 3 level on the western side of the hill: the Seaver leader has been driven on for 180 ft. from the crosscut. This leader is small, and varies from 1 in. to 5 in. thick, and is striking through a tight channel of country. In the drive north-east on this leader the Blucher reef was intersected, crossing the Seaver's at nearly right angles. This reef is about 18 in. thick, and lam informed that assays made of the stone from time to time have given highly encouraging results. On the