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on the Buller River. They have been working steadily during bhe year, with (airly successful results. The New Mokia. at Three Channel Flat, went into liquidation in the early pari of the year. The dredge was bought by .1 Qreymouth syndicate ami dismantled, for removal to Greymouth. SkdudW 11.1.X SUBDISTRICT . Very little mining is being done in bhis district, l>lll on bhe \\ h<>!»- there arc indications of increasing activity, li is reported thai a rich reef 2<> ft. wide has been etruck at. the Red Queen. It has been driven on for 60 ft., and shows good gold. A company is being formed to develop the find. Charleston Subdibtrict. Six prospecting licenses were granted during the year over 550 acres of Crown land. Three oi 1 he-e have run out and three have been surrendered, ami special claims over 300 acres taken up in their place. Parson Brothers and Hampton Brothers are still crushing cement on Brown's Terrace, and doing well. Powell's claim is still working three shifts, ami is reported 10 lie paying very well. During the year there was a good deal of rough weather on the coast, which canned a fair amount of gold to be cast up with the black sand on the Nine-mile Beach. The clainiholdeis have had almost constant work, and have done better than lor some years past. One of the oldest miners in the district, .i in.il. named " Barney ' Shepherd, was killed by a fall of earth whilst building a dam, and his claim, which was disposed of by public auction, was bought by .lames Butterwortb lor £315. I have. &C., I , ;. Rawson, Warden. Mr. Warden Crooke, Greymouth, to thi' I nder-Secrbtaby, .Mines Department, Wellington. Bie, Warden's Office, Greymouth, 10th April. 1911. I have the honour td present m\ annual report on the mining industry in the mining dist n< 1 under my charge for the year ended Hist December, 1910. GrEYMOOTH StJBDISTRII C. The North Beach dredge, privately owned, sank aboul the middle of the year. but was raised again, and. except for a short lime, has been continuously worked. At Poerua twenty one ordinal".- prospecting licenses, of 100 acres each, together with water races and battery-sites, have been granted in connection with auriferous reefs in that locality. The Po.eriw Gold-mining Company (Limited) has been formed to work a portion of tin , reefs. A stone-quarry at Dobson held under a mineral license has been worked actively during the year, a steady demand evidently being made for the output. A belt of country ing the Kotuku oilfields, and containing 25,500 acres, extending from No Town Creek to the Taiamakau River, has been granted to Messrs. David Ziimm. of London, and Felix Campbell, of Greymouth, under mineral-prospecting wan-ants. An expert in prospecting for petroleum-oil was introduced from Europe, who. after a careful examination of the field, made whal is understood to be a satisfactory report. Geologists representing the Mines Department have also inspected and reported oil the possibilities of the field. Near Barrytown the auriferous jande are siill being treated by means of a large extent of tables, under the management of Messrs. McKay and McKay ami White, with, ! understand, excellent results. AIIAURA SUBDISTRICT. South Siil: i\\ Snowy Creek. -There is still considerable prospecting work being carried out here in the hope of picking up the continuation of the Blackwater reels, bin. so far. nothing permanent has been met with. In Noble's. Duffer's, ami Half-ounce Creeks about thirty-five men are working at alluvial mining, in most cases in old-worked ground. Orwell Civil; and Ahaura. There are about thirty-five men following alluvial mining in these districts, but the results, except in the cases of one or two. are not of a very payable nature. There is a prospect of an Engish syndicate bringjng in a water-race of ( so heads of water from Lake Hochstetter to work rich alluvial ground behind Riverview and Sullivan's Creek. Should tins eventuate, alluvial mining should receive a fresh lease of life. Moonlight and Blackball. — ln these districts, although there is considerable prospecting being done, nothing of a payable nature lias so far been met -with. The Moonlighi Dredging Syndicate are. however, well satisfied with the results obtained from then-diedge. Nelson uml CaUaghan's Creeks. These districts remain about the same. The dredges m the loiiner are Hearing the end of their ground, and probably will cease operations shortly. In No Town Ihe population is decreasing, and consists now of about twenty-five alluvial miners. This district. lik,' many other alluvial centres, suffers from the want of water for sluicing purposes on the higher levels, where goid is known to exist in payable quantities. The construction of races to convex water to the high terraces appears to In- the only method now remaining to enable alluvial mining to be continued. It is manifest that the cost of construction of such raoes can be borne only bj companies wit h considerable capital. The No Town dredge maintains a fair average weekly return, but the ground is now nearly worked inn.