0.—2

62

Dredging. The only dredge in this district, and which is privately owned, has been working in the bed ot , the „ Greenstone Creek during the year in a special claim of 20 acres, but the licensee at the end of the year surrendered that claim, and the dredge is now being worked on tribute in an ordinary claim of 1 acre. Eastern llohonu Water-race Company. I am advised that this company now propose to develop and utilize the Eastern Hohonu water-supply for mining puiposes on both the New River and Greenstone watersheds. The survey of the Hohonu - Diamond Terrace branch race-, to carry forty heads is completed, at a cost of about £300, and the company are now raising the necessary capital to carry on the construction-work, at an estimated cost of about £7,000 for the delivery of the forty heads, at a pressure of over 200 ft., on the 100 acres recently taken up between Irishman s Gully and Big Fuchsia Creek. At first the race referred to will take water direct from the Eastern Hohonu, but later, when the high-level race to the New River district is constructed, the low-level race to Diamond Terrace will be supplied by an extensive system of storage dams, into which the surplus water in wet weather will be diverted. It is the company's intention to start mining operations first on the Greenstone Terraces, and develop the high-level supply to the New River Terraces as rapidly as the company's resources will permit. Ordinary Prospecting. A considerable amount of interest has been taken in prospecting in this subdistrict during the year no less than twelve applicants being dealt with, comprising an area of 979 acres nearly all of which were in the vicinity of the Taipo and Kelly's Range, where prospecting operations have been vigorously carried on during the year with highly encouraging results, so much so that Messrs. Hopkins and party anticipate that they will, by the time their prospecting licenses (four) expire have sufficient inducement to warrant them turning some of their areas (380 acres) into special claims. One tunnel has been advanced through schist country, containing some nice gold-bearing leaders, a distance of 200 ft. At this point rock exceptionally hard was met with Ihe quartz found has so far been of a very friable nature, but, still, some nice prospects of free gold of a ragged unworn character was found. The most of the stone is highly mineralized and very rusty. ° J s follow t^ ference t0 the New Zealand Greenstone Company (Limited), the manager reports The company was floated in April, 1912, with a capital of £60,000, of which £32 000 in fully paid shares went to the vendors and underwriters, and of the balance £21 000 has been called up as working capital. During the period under review the work of development lias been actively prosecuted and the road from its intersection with the Hokitika-Christchurch Road to the machinery-site of the property a distance of one mile and three-quarters, has been constructed, and a ferro-concrete bridge has been thrown across Lynch's Creek, enabling all the material and machinery to be carted from Kumara Junction to the foot of the aerial by the two company's steam-tractors which have been m commission since May last. A tractor-shed and hut for the tractor staff has been erected at Kumara Junction, where a site is leased from the Railway Department An engineer s house, workshop, stores-shed, five huts, and stable have been erected on the company's property at the foot of the aerial, and another hut has been constructed on the summit of Griffen Range, the whole of the material for which had to be packed up on the men's backs The heavy cuttings, some five in number, on the line of aerial as well as excavations at machinery-site, have been completed, and the sites for the trestles and breakhead nave been levelled. Ihe trestles for the temporary aerial line are almost finished, and the rope is ahoux to be hauled m position, five winches for this work having been carried up piecemeal to the various sites. A heavy retaining-sill has been constructed at the machinery-site to shore up the deep cutting and keep the formation for the line of rails to the stores-shed in place. A Babcock and Wilcox boiler to supply the necessary power is now in course of erection and almost completed Contracts have beet let for the erection of the power-house, and so soon as this is finished the Lmdley-Browett engine, which is assembled on the site, will be erected During the year the vast deposits of nephrite and serpentine on the McArthur's Craggs property have been thoroughly prospected and proved to be of greater mass than originally estimated _ _ A telephone from the property, to be connected up with Government lines at Wainihinihi' is in course of erection, and should be shortly complete. One of the difficulties to be faced has been the necessity of erecting a temporary ropeway to haul the larger ironwork to the trestle-stations for the permanent ropeway. Owing to the rushed precipitous nature of the country it was not possible, in view of the stability of "the permanent trestles, to carry this up by man-power, as originally designed, nor was it practicable without enormous cost to make a track to the several scarps whereon the trestles are to be erected This has delayed the work considerably, but now that the initial difficulties have been surmounted order 6 " " 7 & * '** m ° nths bef ° re the main a€rial wiU b e in running «n tw l th t e v mater . i . a \! 01 ; the permanent roadway is either on the property or at Kumara Junction so that nothing will hinder the rapid completion of all contemplated work. ™ ' I have, &c, J. G. L. Hewitt, Warden