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AURIFEROUS-QUARTZ MINING. The value of bullion obtained from our quartz-mines during 1915 amounted to £1,030,524, as a result of treating 484,629 statute tons of ore, in addition to which seheelite concentrate, value £29,989, was also obtained from such ore. The dividends distributed by gold-quartz mining companies amounted to £237,165. The following is a statement of the quantity of quartz treated, the value of bullion obtained, and the amount of dividends paid by the more important quartzmining companies during 1915 : —

The average value per ton of ore treated amounted to £2 2s. 6d. ALLUVIAL AND DREDGE MINING. The value of the production from alluvial claims amounted to £1,)3,360, as compared with £157,323 during the previous year. Th's bran:h of the gold-mining industry remains stationary, but the return for last year would have been greater but for the prolonged periods of dry weather experienced in parts of Otago and Southland, where the principal claims are situated. During the year a small rush took place to the valley of the Howard River, a tributary of the Buller River near Tophouse. About 150 miners were employed during November working in the beds of the streams, but the few returns available do not indicate any sensational finds but rather that it is a poor man's field. A steady decline continues in the dredge-mining industry, and the number of gold-dredges in commission, of which during 1906 there wei-e 167, at the beginning of 1916 were reduced, to 52, the production from which amounted in value to £164,605 during the year, as against £191,112 during 1914. The most productive dredge was the " Success," operating at Brennan's Creek, near Hokitika, which obtained gold to the value of £7,126, and distributed in dividends £2,000. COAL-MINING. The output of coal during 1915 amounted to 2,208,624 tons, as compared with 2,275,593 tons during 1914, being a decrease of 66,969 tons. The principal activity in the coal-mining industry occurred in the Westport, Greymouth, and Huntly districts. The following is a comparative statement of the coal and lignite raised during the years 1912, 1914, and 1915 :—

n ... Dividends paid. Quantity Va , ufi f* Name of Company. n ° * of ' ' Quartz, Bullion Total to End treated. 1915. of December. 1915. Statute Tons. £ £ £ Waihi Gold-mining Company (Limited) .. .. 171,725 327,394 99,18] 4,676,902 Waihi Grand Junction Gold-mining Company (Limited) ' 112,321 200,270 46,047 151,750 Talisman Consolidated (Limited) .. .. .. 26,230 188,620 64,688, 1,030^222 Blackwater Mines (Limited) .. .. .. [ 54,643 109,285! 24,999 j ' 137,'195 Other quartz-mines .. .. .. .. 119,710 i 204.955 2,250 ! * Totals .. .. 484,629 1,030,524 237,165 * ' . . L_ I * Unknown.

Inspection District. OntPUtfor Output for *%%££ 6tt *?»* for Increase, between 1 1914- »»1B. i 91r , 1913. Years 1914 and 19<3. Tons. Tuns. Tons. Tons. Tons Northern (North Island) .. 440,453 t 460,415 Inc. 19,962 349,586 90 867 West Coast (South Island) .. 1,361,182 1,278,994 Dec. 72,188 1.057,564 293.618 Southern (Canterbury. Otago, 183,958 469.215 „ 14,743 480,855 3.. 103 and Southland) — Totals .. .. ! 2,275,593 2,208,624 Deo.66,969 1,888,005 287,588