C—B

34

APPENDICES.

REPORTS OF INSPECTORS OF MINES. Mr. James Coutts, Inspector of Mines, Thames, to the Under-Secretary, Mines Department, Wellington. Sir,— Inspector of Mines' Office, Thames, 31st March, 1906. I have the honour to furnish herewith the returns and report on the gold-mining industry in the Hauraki District for the year ended the 31st December, 1905. During the year nothing important has been discovered, in the Coromandel County, although a number of men have been employed in prospecting at different places ; and the returns of gold from this part of the goldfield have been the smallest for a number of years past. At the same time, the number of men employed on wages looking for gold has been very small indeed. In the Thames County there has been quite a revival in mining, caused, no doubt, by the rich shoot of ore met with in the Waiotahi Mine, from which good returns of gold are being steadily obtained. In Ohinemuri County excellent returns have been produced from the Waihi and the Talisman Consolidated Mines (the former yielding no less than £693,671 145., and the latter £129,088 Bs. 10d.), bringing up the total yearly return to £1,020,030, or nearly three times as much as it was ten years ago. Waihi. Waihi Gold-mining Company (Limited). —The various and extensive operations in the mine, batteries, and surface-works have been carried out in a systematic and careful manner, every precaution being taken for the safety of the men employed, and anything brought under the notice of the officials by the inspectorial staff which was likely to render the place or appliances more safe has been willing\y attended to. Adverse comment has been made by some people outside of Waihi regarding the number of accidents in the Waihi Mine, but considering the number of persons employed and nature of the work (which latter is in some cases dangerous and cannot be avoided if the works are to be proceeded with) the number of accidents is not excessive. The ventilation in the mine is very good (especially as it is " natural,"no fan or mechanical power being used to force the air into the workings), but the reason of this is that there are numerous shafts and passes from the workings to the surface, and little or no noxious gas is given off in the mine to pollute the air, also the sanitary arrangements entered into have given entire satisfaction. The mine continues to produce a large quantity of valuable ore, splendid returns being obtained, and the developments lately made at the lowest levels prove that the ore-bodies continue to keep up their values and width, therefore the prospects are even more encouraging than in the past. Three shafts are principally used for raising the quartz and lowering material, &c, but I am informed the No. 6 shaft (at present used for filling-in purposes) is to be fitted up at once with up-to-date winding machinery and appliances, and will eventually become the principal haulage-shaft. The shaft, having been sunk on the foot-wall side of the lodes, is not likely to be disturbed by any movement of the countrythrough the reefs being worked out, and it will be of a more permanent character. The work of excavation to make room for the machinery—viz., the winding-engine, boilers, ore-bins, railway, and other buildings —is now being proceeded with. The following is a summary of operations in the mine for the year 1905 : — No. 7 level. —Main crosscuts : A north-west crosscut from No. 4 shaft to No. 1 shaft was driven a distance of 616 ft. The Empire Lode was intersected at 35 ft. from No. 4 shaft and was 4 ft. wide. At 597 ft. the Albert Lode came to hand and proved to be 9 ft. wide. No. 1 shaft, north-west crosscut : This was extended a distance of 126 ft. Martha Lode :At point of intersection the width of this reef is 97 ft., and it carries a band of soft friable ore for a width of 15 ft. ; the remainder of the lode is composed of sulphides. Driving : In dealing with this immense width, the drives have been cut along its course close to the walls and connected by crosscuts at intervals to prove the widths and values. The footage recorded on the Regina section of the lode is 360 ft. east and 360 ft. west of the main crosscut. The distance driven on the north section is 355 ft. east and 320 ft. west of the main crosscut. These four drives have been driven in the sulphide ore for the whole of the distance stated above. Crosscuts through the lode have been exploited as follows : East of main crosscut —at 100 ft., lode 88 ft. wide ; at 196 ft., lode 97 ft. wide ; at 296 ft., lode 89 ft. wide ; at 355 ft., lode 77 ft. wide. West of main crosscut—at 105 ft., lode 110 ft. wide ;at 257 ft., lode 111 ft. wide ;at 357 ft., 110 ft. driven, 29 ft. quartz exposed, crosscut not complete. Main Royal Lode : This lode was intersected at the end of last year (1904), and since then a total length of 1,034 ft. has been opened up—viz., 607 ft. east and 427 ft. west of north section junction, having an average width of 12 ft; in the present western face the lode is a strong body and will require further exploration. Eastern drive :At the 607 ft. mark, the lode reduced to a few inches in width and junctioned with a new lode 4 ft. wide ; this lode has an entirely different course to the Eoyal and strikes across at a right angle; its course has been followed south for a distance of 45 ft., the reef varying in width from 2 ft. to 5 ft. Empire Lode : This