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Waikaia. The dredging industry in this subdistrict I am pleased to report has gone on improving, and there are now ten dredges working in the locality, all on payable gold ; some of them getting very handsome returns and paying the owners and shareholders large dividends. The revenue collected by the Receiver of Gold Revenue for rents, &c, amounted to about £300 for the year. I am informed on good authority that the local bank at Waikaia purchased 5,200 oz. of gold during the year, and it is estimated that at least .1,600 oz. have been disposed of outside the bank, making a total of 6,800 oz., valued at about £27,000, which, I think, must be considered very good indeed. Of course the hydraulic elevating and sluicing claims in the district have assisted in the above production. The following claims have been carrying on operations during the year : viz., the Argyle Hydraulic Sluicing Company, the Winding Creek Company, the Nokomai Hydraulic Company. About one hundred and sixty Europeans are now engaged in mining generally in the district. Waipori. Mining matters have been very quiet in this locality during the year; no new finds have been reported, but there are still nine dredges at work, which means the employment of about fifty men. There are a*good few hydraulic claims at work, all with payable returns, I understand. Some of the machinery has been sold from the O.P.Q. claim, so that any chance of work being resumed in the mine is now, I think, very remote. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary, Mines Department, Wellington. G. Cruickshank, Warden.

Mr. Warden Burgess, Queenstown, to the Under-Secretary for Mines, Wellington. Sir,— Warden's Office, Queenstown, 31st March, 1905. I have the honour to forward herewith statistical returns relating to this portion of the Otago Mining District for the year ended the 31st December, 1904, together with a general report on mining in the several subdistricts under my charge. Queenstown and Arrow. Alluvial mining still constitutes the principal source from which gold is derived in this portion of the district. On the Shotover River all the claims mentioned in my last report are still working and, on the whole, continue to yield payable returns. During the greater part of last year there was a good supply of water for sluicing purposes, and steady work has in consequence been carried on. Thompson and party, who were engaged for several years in driving a main tunnel into their claim, have now opened out the mine, and have found gold in payable quantities. Smith and party, who have for some years successfully carried on hydraulic operations on their river claim on the Upper Shotover, have worked out this ground and are now working on the terraces above. They have removed and altered their plant for this purpose. W. L. Davis and party have successfully worked their claim, which is situated about 200 ft. above the Shotover River. They have ten heads of water going through a 1-ft.-diameter pipe, with a pressure of 200 ft., and an enormous amount of stuff is put through. The tail-race is 400 ft. long, paved with railway-iron. The average yearly washing-up yields 800 oz. to 900 oz. The gold is of the highest quality. J. Davis's hydraulic claim is also a terrace claim, working successfully. The outlay for pipes, &c, to the present time exceeds £1,400. At the Sandhills, two claims are at work, yielding from £4 to £4 10s. per man per week. There are two dredges still on the Shotover River, but only one —the Maori Point dredge —has been working. Operations have, however, not been recently successful, and the owners have had many difficulties to contend against. This portion of the river is believed to be richly auriferous, and the shareholders are sanguine of ultimate success. The copper lode at Moke Creek still attracts some attention, but nothing of any importance has been done with regard to it. At present it is held by a Dunedin syndicate, who have had granted to them a prospecting-license over 100 acres, including this lode. It is their intention to prospect the ground and test the ore, and, if results warrant it, to then undertake more extensive operations. As the property has only recently come into their hands, no practical work has yet been done. At the Twelve-mile Creek on Lake Wakatipu, Reid and party are still working their sluicing claim with success, and Valpy and party continue to work their claim at Bucklerburn, otherwise very little mining is being carried on near the margin of the lake. Quartz-mining has not added very greatly to the gold-returns for the year, but the outlook for the future is encouraging. The Shotover Quartz-mining company has been working all the year, and the crushings have yielded fairly well. The small cyanide plant has proved itself a very serviceable adjunct to the battery, and its use will be continued. Mr. Robert Lee has transferred his claim (the old Bullendale property at Skipper's) to the Mount Aurum Gold-mining Company. Work has been continued through the year, and about twenty men have been employed prospecting on the lode. Payable gold has been found at the east and west ends of the claim. The battery has been put in order, and crushing has lately started, but the results are not yet known. Considerably over 1,000 ft. of driving, besides crosscutting, has been done. The state of the mine is very promising. On the Arrow River the Indian Glenrock Company have been working their claim during the past twelve months, and the operations have left a margin of profit to the company. Operations are now suspended, but it is expected that arrangements will be made within a few months for recommencing work. During the latter part of the year several quartz claims have been taken up in Scanlon's Gully, near Macetown,