C—2

37

The Reefs Syndicate. --This syndicate took over Mr. A. C. Buckland's mine during the year. A crosscut was driven and the Barewood reef intersected 34 ft. below the outcrop. A 5-stamp battery and amalgamating-tables for saving the free, gold were installed. 100 tons of ore were crushed for a yield of 30 oz. gold, valued at £116 ss. Barewood No. 1. —H. S. Molineaux, the owner of this mine, is working a stockwork formation, about 20 ft. wide, in the footwall of the Barewood reef. Scheelite occurs in veins and leaders throughout the formation. The ore is dressed by hand to bring it up to the required standard. WAIPORI. Cosmopolitan Mine. Alfred Rogers and party reopened this mine, which, had been abandoned for years. A 5-stamp battery was erected, and 1.6 tons of ore taken from the reef at the 70 ft. level of the Cosmopolitan shaft yielded by amalgamation process 8 oz. gold, valued at £31 4s. lid. Assays of battery concentrates showed that they contained, high values, and crushing was discontinued until suitable machinery could be installed for saving them. A discovery of wolfram and scheelite was made in the lode outcrop west of the Cosmopolitan shaft. An analysis of a general sample of the wolfram showed it to contain 39 per cent, of tungstic acid, and picked samples analysed as high as 60 per cent. G. Bertenshaw was the only producer of scheelite in the Waipori district during the year. His workings consist of open cutting and shallow shaft on a small scheelite vein. BALD HILL PLAT. While's Reef. —R. T. Symes crushed 130 tons of ore from the stopos below the battery level for a return of 115 oz. 15 dwt. gold, valued at £445 135.. Excelsior Reef. —Surface prospecting with a view of locating this reef north of Gray's old. workings has been carried on by Symes and party without any discovery of importance having been made. BANNOOKBURN, Otago Central Consolidated Gold-mines. —This company has acquired the Garrick Company's mine and plant, and is proceeding with the development of the Royal Standard and White Horse reefs at the low level. Alluvial Mining. TUAI'ISKA DISTRICT. Gabriel's Gully Sluicing Company (Lawrence). Two elevating plants have been steadily employed treating the tailing-dc posit from Blue Spur. The returns show a failing-off in the yield of gold for the year as compared with J 916. Lawrence Sluicing Company.— This company is working old tailing from Blue. Spur at the head of Munro's Gully. Payable returns are being obtained. Golden Crescent Sluicing Company (Weatherstone's).Shiicißg and elevating auriferous cement from a depth of 100 ft. with payable results. Waitahuna Claims. -The Havelock and Sailor's Gully Sluicing Companies worked steadily throughout the year. The former company is still on the list of dividend-payers. Waipori, Claims. — Eight parties were working in this locality. iMuuro and George, Post-office Creek, were the most successful, producing gold to the value of £1,493. Teviot-Molyneux Gold-mining Company (Roxburgh). Elevating has been in progress during the year, but numerous stoppages were caused by breakage of elevator castings. Difficulty has also been experienced in obtaining suitable labour to keep the plant in continuous operation. Gold to the value of £1,659 was obtained. Ladysmilh Gold-mining Company (Roxburgh). This company's operations were not as successful as in former years. The deep ground in this claim cannot be effectively dealt with by the available water-supply. Coidter and Parly (Commissioner's Flat). —The schist bottom in this claim rose 70ft. to 10 ft. on the west side near the river, and the wash is not as good as that in the deeper ground. Sluicing claims in this district suffered considerable damage by the heavy rain and floods in May. The water-races, dams, and pipe-lines of the Tuapeka and Tamiti claims were very badly damaged, and owing to the high price of material and difficulty in securing labour to carry out repairs the owners were compelled to suspend operations. NASEIiY. Dry summer and autumn seasons caused a scarcity of water, and several claims suspended work. Heavy rains in May replenished the supply, and sluicing operations were carried on steadily during the remainder of the year. About twenty small parties of miners find employment in this district. ST, hathan's. Scandinavian Water-race Company. —Operations wen; confined to the Kildare section, where elevating from a depth of 80 ft. was in progress, Morgan Bros. (Cambrian). -This party is working a seam of quartz drifts that they discovered in the bed of Cambrian's Creek. It is about 10ft. in width, and is dipping towards the foothills at an angle of 30°. Payable returns are being obtained. Other claims working in this district are —Vinegar Hill, United M. and E., M. Gannon, and O'Hara and McCarthy. The returns obtained during the year were barely payable.