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to 574 ft. east the Empire lode assayed £1 3s. 3d. per ton for a width of 8 ft. No. 4 winze was sunk a total of 14 ft. below the level, the assays averaging ss. lOd. per ton for a width of 3 ft. 3 in. I'he lode-matter contains 40 per cent, country rock. No. 5 winze sunk 22 ft. 6 in. Assays over width of 3ft. 5 in. averaged £1 3s. per ton; neither wall was exposed. No. 6 winze sunk 9 ft. 6 in. Over width of 3 ft. 8 in., assays averaged ss. Bd. per ton. Neither wall was exposed and the lode-matter contained 60 per cent, country rock. No. i winze sunk 19 ft. Over a width of 3 ft. lOin. the assays averaged .£5 15s. 2d. per ton, and the walls are not exposed. No 8 winze sunk 48 ft. The first 13 ft. assayed I3s. 6d. per ton over a width of 3 ft. 2 in.; from 13 ft. to 30 ft. assays averaged £2 17s. 6d. per ton over width of 3 ft. 4 in.; from 30 ft. to 46 ft. assays averaged £1 13s. Bd. per ton over width of 3 ft. 4 in., neither wall being exposed. Royal lode : Drive west was advanced 92 ft.; total, 692 ft. Assays averaged Bs. lid. per ton over width of 6 ft. 7 in. In order to explore the country between the Royal and Empire hides a crosscut was started at 230 ft. west and advanced 186 ft. without intersecting any reef. The intermediate drive from No. 9 rise (55 ft. above this level) was advanced 57 ft. west—total, 133 ft—and holed through to the old No. 8 slopes. Assays from 80 ft. to 105 ft. over width of 6 ft. 1 in. averaged lis. 2d. per ton with the south wall exposed. From 105 ft. to 130 ft. west Ihe assays averaged £2 -Is. 2d. per ton over a width of 5 ft. 4 in. At 120 ft. west the lode was broken out a width of 27 ft. 6 in. The first 10 ft. was quartz, value £1 lis. lOd. per ton; next 9ft, country rock; then 3ft. bin. quartz, value 14s. id. per ton; the remainder quartz and e.alcite of no value. George lode : The main south-east crosscut was advanced 375 ft.; total, I,oloft. The course of this crosscut is 136° (true). At 714 ft. the George lode was intersected; width, 3 ft. 3 in.; value, lis. lOd. per ton. The George lode was driven upon 15 ft. east, the width being 1 ft. 9 in. and value Bs. per ton. It was also driven upon 70 ft. west, the width being 4 ft. 1 in. and value £1 2s. per ton, with both walls exposed. No. 7 level (Empire lode) : An intermediate level was driven from No. 6 rise, 25 ft. below No. 6 level, a distance of 39 ft. east, disclosing a width of 4 ft. 6 in. of payable quartz on the footwall. No. 6 level (crosscut from Dominion lode) ; A crosscut, started at 227 ft. east of the southeast crosscut on the Dominion lode, was advanced 61 ft., making a total of 288 ft. through country rock and quartz of no value. This crosscut will connect with the main filling shaft, which will be sunk to No. 7 level. Mary lode: The drive east was advanced 1.6 ft. —total, 370 ft.—from the north-west crosscut on the line of the lode. The drive is in country rock, no quartz being discovered. A crosscut at 335 ft. east was advanced a total of 17 ft. north and 38 ft. south. In the crosscut to the south two narrow veins of quartz of no value were passed through. No. 5 level (Mary lode) : The drive east into the Waihi Extended section was advanced 297 ft.—total, 437 ft.—from the main crosscut. From 140 ft. to 400 ft. over an average width of 5 ft. 6 in. the value was £1 12s. 2d. per ton. In breaking out preparatory to stoping from 203 ft. to 305 ft. the value over an average width of 4 ft. 6 in. was £I. 16s. 9d. per ton. A branch lode was intersected at 212 ft.; width, 3 ft. 6 in. j value, £1 17s. 2d. per ton. As the values obtained in this lode necessitated further exploration, work is now in progress at Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 levels, and the prospects of opening up payable runs of ore on this lode in the Waihi Extended section —recently purchased bj* this company—are distinctly encouraging. West area: Work in this section, which has been suspended since 1909, was resumed towards the end of this year. In the interval since this section was closed down the B shaft has collapsed through the decay of the timbers. A cavity has been left 20 ft. in diameter and- 25 ft. deep. Work is now in progress sinking a winze, endeavouring to locate the undamaged portion of this shaft. Waihi Gigantic Consolidated. —The only work done in this mine during the year was repairing the crosscut leading into the large reef at No. 3 level, Favona shaft, to enable samples to be taken. The results, however, did not come up to expectations, and, the capital of the company being exhausted, protection was applied for and the mine closed down. OHINEMURI COUNTY. Rising Sun, Mine, Owharoa. —Work has been confined during the year to stoping above the low level. In the back of the stopes in No. 1 block, which is up 155 ft., the values are low. At No. 2 block the lode continues to carry payable ore, but, owing to the hard nature of the quartz and country and the inadequate air-pressure to work the drills, work was suspended pending the installation of a more powerful electric motor to drive the air-compressor. This motor is now to hand, and preparations are being made to test this lode, by means of a winze below the lowlevel. Samples recently taken for a distance of 300 ft. along the floor of this level averaged £5 19s. per ton over an average width of 12 in. Talisman Consolidated (Limited), Karangahake. —The principal work in progress is sinking No. 10 winze on the main lode below No. 15 level, which has now reached a depth of 130 ft. At the bottom of this winze there is a strong body of ore, 4 ft. wide, with sulphide veins showing, but the footwall is not exposed. The values over the distance sunk have varied from £1 to £7 per ton. Immediately above this winze a block of payable ore was driven through for 50 ft., and stoped to a height of 80 ft. —the average crushing-value being over £7 per ton. Boring by means of a Government diamond drill is also in progress. No. 1 borehole in the Woodstock section proved the existence of a strong body of quartz, the values, however, being low. No. 2 borehole in the Bonanza section had only been sunk a short distance when the necessity for casing became apparent. As this was not obtainable a start was made with No. 3 borehole, which has