35

c.—2

Glenorchy. Glenorchy Scheelite-mining Company (Limited). —Glenorchy lode •: No. 3 level has been extended 220 ft. (total length, 807 ft.), and the presence of scheelite-bearing ore there settles the doubt as to whether scheelite lived much below the outcrop. Stopes from No. 3 and No. 7 levels produced most of the ore sent to the mill. Twelve men employed. Treatment plant: 514 tons of scheelite-ore .was treated, for a eturn of 80 tons 8 cwt. concentrate (70 per cent. WO 8 ), estimated value, £7,500. Junction lode : Only a few tons of ore was removed for treatment. During the later part of the year the adjoining property (Bonnie Jean) was acquired, and since then five men have been employed upon development. The treatment plant was also put in order, and would start treating ore in January, 1913. Six parties are carrying on work on the ranges on both sides of the Buckleburn Creek, at an altitude of up to 5,000 ft. The belt of scheelite-bearing country is very extensive in this district, and the returns obtained are good for the amount of work accomplished and the shortness of the season during which operations can be carried on. The work so far has only been at shallow depths. A total of forty men find employment in the scheelite industry in the Glenorchy district, and it is capable of great expansion. Southland. Morning Star Gold-mining Company, Preservation Inlet. —The No. 4 or low-level tunnel, 115 ft. below any of the previous workings, was extended along the southerly strike for some distance. Driving was discontinued in a large body of ore up to 20 ft. in width. A trial crushing was taken out and treated, the result being very disappointing, 50 tons yielding 3 oz. of gold, valued at £11 11s. Bd. Six men were employed. The other mines in the district were not worked during the year. HYDRAULIC SLUICING AND ELEVATING. This branch of mining was conducted under more favourable conditions than those obtaining the previous year. Rain has fallen more generally throughout the Southern District. The industry has not expanded in any noticeable degree, but the existing plants have had a more continuous run, the enfo ced idleness due to lack of water-supply not being of such long duration as was the experience in several previous years. The very low grade of some of the material treated profitably is a marked feature. One hundred and sixty elevating and sluicing plants were worked", providing employment for 670 men. A brief report of the more extensive mines follows. Tuapeka. Blue Spur and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Gold Company (Limited) , Blue Spur. —All the mining rights held by this company were sold by auction last October to satisfy the mortgagees' claims, and the lot was purchased by the Gabriel Gully Sluicing Company for the sum of £3,600. The property originally cost the company £115,000, and consisted of valuable water rights, miles of races, several dams, and thousands of feet of pipes. It is to be worked in conjunction with the purchaser's adjoining property. Golden Rise Sluicing Company, Wetherstones. —Operations are being conducted in the terrace known as Ballarat Hill, whore an overburden to the extent of 70 ft. has to be contended with. The ground has all previously been driven out by the early miners, but apparently sufficient gold remains to enable the company to carry on profitably. The water-supply comes from a dam at Malone's Flat. Five heads are required to work the plant, and the available static head is 300 ft. Golden Crescent Sluicing Company, Wetherstones. —This company is now working the cement deposit at the site of the old Wetherstones cement battery. The bulk of the cement is very friable, owing to having settled down over the old workings where the ground was taken out by the Battery Company. In the solid portions of the face it is very firm, and the fact that the company are enabled to bring the water to act at a high pressure alone makes the treatment possible without the use of explosives. The water-supply is brough-t in across the Waipori River at an altitude of 700 ft. above he claim. The elevator has a lift of 75 ft, vertical, and works well with a jet If in. in diameter. Gabriel Gully Sluicing Company, Blue Spur. —Work for some years has been carried on in the gully below the Blue Spur property. The face averages 20 ft. in height, and the material is hydraulicelevated 30 ft. by water, having a static head of 350 ft. This company have purchased the Blue Spur property, and contemplates alterations in the method of working to allow of the two claims being operated conjointly. ~."'.. : . . Waipori. Bakery Flat Gold-mining Company. —Work has been commenced below the las paddock—only partially cleaned vp —at the lower end of the claim. The pipe-mains had to be removed to command this portion of the claim. The anticipated depth of the ground is 100 ft. Two separate lifts, one below the other, are to be employed, and the estimated water-consumption when in full work is eighteen heads. Lammerlaw Flat Hydraulic Mining Company. —This company works to the false bottom, an average depth of 20 ft., being unable to reach the main bottom with the power available. Automatic nozzle-operators are in use. Gold-production decreased by £552 from the previous year. Five other plants are at work in the district, the faces varying from 12 ft. to 100 ft. in height.