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to the heavy nature of the wash necessitating alteration to the plant, and to the loss of time in removing buried timber, the returns so far from this dredge have not been payable. At the present time one of the Government Keystone drills is employed drilling immediately in front of the dredge, with a view of confining operations to that portion of the Arahura Valley in which the gold contents are highest. The further testing of the Kiinu Flat by Keystone drilling was completed by the late A. E. Gregory early in the year, and a company witli headquarters in New York lias now purchased the property from the Rimu Options and riimu No. I Dredging Companies. Mr. R. E. Cranston has been appointed engineer, and a dredge of the Californian type —more powerful than anything ever before seen in the Dominion—is being built to work the claim. Particulars of this dredge' are as follows : —Pontoons : Length, 11 G ft.; width, 50 ft. ; depth, 11 ft.; freeboard, 3 ft.; draught, 8 ft. Shafting: Upper tumbler shaft, 21 in. diameter; lower tumbler shaft, 14 in. in diameter; main-drive pulley shaft, 6 J in. in diameter. Buckets: There will be seventy-three buckets in the digging-line. These buckets are each one solid manganese-steel casting with a replaceable lip. They are 10 cubic feet capacity, and have a pitch of 30 in. The speed of the bucket-line will be about twenty buckets per minute. The bucket-pins are G in. in diameter. Horsepower : The horse-power of the dredge is 550, and power is supplied from a hydro-electric plant. Capacity : It is estimated that in the ground to be worked the dredge will handle a maximum of 200,000 cubic yards per month. Gold-saving tables : There is an area of 4,400 square feet of gold-saving tables on the dredge. . This is a most importani event in the history of New Zealand mining, for, although the dredging industry was born here and was very successful in its early years, it has not kept pace, as regards the machinery used, with (ho developments in other countries. It will now be proved whether these developments applied here will lead to a revival of the industry. It is important also in that it is the first time a strong American company has acquired a mining property in New Zealand, and because the company is prepared to finance much more extensive undertakings if this one is profitable. In Otago and Southland fifteen dredges were in commission, producing gold valued at £39,501, or an average of .£2,633 per dredge. Compared with last year, when twenty-one dredges produced or an average of .£3,033, there is a marked shrinkage in the output of this class of mining. The following is a statement showing the capacity, production, and profits of bucket golddredges during 1919. (Note. —The profits made by privately owned dredges are not obtainable for publication.)

Name of Dredge. Locality. i.2 HH°3 So «*H —' c - TS-Shh- * H S o en tn o M-a <-- Si o w . is o> ill r-l O a I .0 p. 13 00 . .£ cl art tn O tt,%t HH HH rj H II II II II CC -1 m cu jz, 0-3 bli2 * 2 H O 41 M ■4 9 Sf W 3 HH-^ During 1919. Dividends declared. Total. Otago and Southland. Rise and Shine No. 1 Rise and Shine No. 2 Rising Sun Perry (private.) Electric No. 1 . . Karnsclcugh No. 3 Karnscleugh No. 5 Cromwell . . 5* 5J 7 5 7 6 5 4 H 44 a 64 10 10 10 1U 10 12 13 10J 11 10 12 11 9 20 20 25 16 16 150 150 16 12 12 70* 12 16 S S s s s E i-: s 8 S SG S S Ft, 40 40 45 40 35 50 35 30 10 10 Hi 16 14 £ 4,210 1,176 4,650 2,538 2,835 5,053 456 735 792 1,738 2,630 1,603 1,380 £ ) £ 53,100 24,000 Alexandra.. 1 30,250 Ngapara Lower Nevis Nevis Crossing (private) . . Otakau Lady Florence (private) . . McGeorge's Freehold No. 2 (private) McGeorge's Freehold No. 3 (private) ECura (private) Nevis 225 5.175 2,970 Kyeburn .. Waikaka Valley 300 3,225 oi 9 20 S 35 3,705 Waikaia .. 3i 9 16 S 30 0,000 1,820 6,347 West Coast. Kumara .. Arahura Valley Nelson Creek Capleston .. 5 8 10 15 16 20 s s s s 20 15 4,355 3,465 215 301 500 2,000 Kapitea Chambers Reward Pactolus Hessey, Cameron, and Tacon 7' 11 20 30 6,480 Totals, 1919 Totals, 1918 Totals, 1917 47,838 63,691 91,666 2,845 4,925 4,800 Unknown >> • I Irak 'm liorse-i lower.