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Drepotng. The number of dredges continues year by year to decrease. Twenty-six were at work, being five less than in the previous year. Three in the Waikaia Valley and the remaining two in the Waimumu ceased operations. Good returns were obtained from the fourteen at work in the WaikakaVVfllley ; the deep-level dredging having been very successful, future prospects of tin's field are assured. Alluvial Mining. Alluvial mining remains in much the same condition as last year. Scarcity of water during the greater part of the year hampered operations, and retarded new ventures. Development-work was actively carried on in and about the Waikaia Valley, the Shotover and Arrow Rivers. Copious rains during the last quarter enabled most of the claims to be worked to the full capacity, causing increased interest to be taken in these fields. Quartz-mining. Prospecting operations were carried on in connection with the reefs at Macetown and Skippers, but nothing worthy of note was disclosed. SCHEELITE. A good deal of attention continues to be directed to the scheelite-bearing lodes on the ranges at the head of Lake Wakatipu. and several prospecting parties were at work. Nine licenses were granted over new ground. The Glenorchy Scheelite Syndicate continues to be the principal producer, and paid royalty on 643 tons of ore from the lode. I have, &c,

H. A. Young. Warden. Mr. Warden CruICKSHANK, Riverton, to the Under-Secretary, Mines Department. Wellington. Sir, Warden's Office, Riverton. 18th April, 1912. 1 have the honour to present my report on the subdistricts under my charge for year ended the 31st December. 1911. Round Hill. The only miners' claims being worked here are those of the Round Hill Company and the Ourawera Company. The latter company has had a. disappointing year. Instead of being a dividend-payer as of yore, the company made a loss of £160 on the actual working. This is attributed to poor wash, want of water, and rough ground. The Round Hill Company have their No. I elevators working in ground which it is stated will take five years to work out. No. 2 elevator will shortly be shifted to a new position, which, it is stated, will permit five years' sluicing without its removal. The total amount of gold won during the year was about 1.800 oz., tin' value being £7,170 12s. Bd. The working-expenditure during the year was almost as much, being £6,913 10s. Ltd., so there was no dividend. The company are employing thirty-eight men. Both companies suffer from the irregular nature of the water-supply. Pahia. Messrs. Hueklebridge and party have just shifted their plant, and are now commencing work in ground that promises to be payable. Wyndham. Ln this district there is usually nothing to report, but this year there are signs of increasing activity. A syndicate has taken up two claims at Long Beach beyond Waikawa, and has brought in water at considerable expense. Sluicing operations are just beginning, seven men being employed. Between Fortrose and Waikawa the only mining is the work carried on in the claims of Messrs. Brunton and Bennett. Preservation. During the past year there has been more activity in mining than for some years past. The Tarawera Company, at great cost, erected a large smelting plant, but the initial trial was not a success, and the company has had to go into liquidation. The shareholders, however, are pluckilv arranging to give the venture another trial. The Morning Star has been working steadily all through the year. Several other small private parties are working with varying success. From what 1 hear from the various miners interested the district is one worthy of thorough prospecting, being rich in minerals of all kinds. The Sound is twenty-eight miles long, the country is precipitous and heavily wooded, and the climate is very wet and severe. 1 have, &c, (J. Cruickshank, Warden.

ANNEXURE C. REPORTS OF DIRECTORS OF SCHOOLS OF MINES. Professor James Park M.lnst.M.M., M.A.1.M.8., P.G.S., Director of the Otago University School of Mines, to the Dndbr-Secbetary, Mines Department, Wellington. BIK, Otago University, 17th April, 1912. I hay he honour to present my report on the work done at the Otago School of Mines during the year ended the 31s December, 1911. The mining school for the session of 1911 showed an attendance of twenty-nine students, of whom twelve were entered for the full associate courses, and four for the surveying course, the remaining twelve attending the classes in geology. At the annual examinations one failed in mathematics, one in senior surveying, and three in computations. As a result of the New Zealand University Examinations, James Allen Thomson, B.Sc, Oxford. A.0.5.M.. obtained the D.Sc. degree ; and William Andrew Alexander first-class honours in"physics and the Senior Scholarship in geology.