23

C.—2

A subsidy has been granted the tributers, Moyle and party, to continue the No. 2 adit, and as there is still a stretch of approximately 400 ft. of virgin ground between the present face and the Old Dark workings referred to there is a possibility of a pay-shoot being picked up. The party are now convinced that any stone left in the old stopes above the adits is not of sufficiently good grade to work, but they intend to push the No. 2 adit further. North Big River Mine. —Two men were employed throughout the year in further prospecting. At a point about 600 ft. from the mouth of No. 3 adit a crosscut was put in easterly for a distance of 205 ft. At 145 ft. a small track was cut with a 5 in. leader said to carry a little gold, and on this a drive was extended north for 136 ft. The track in the face widened out to between 3 ft. and 4 ft., showing a number of small quartz stringers carrying a little gold. New Millerton Mine. —No work was done in this mine, the company preferring to concentrate its efforts on another of its properties, the South Blackwater Mine. South Blackwater Mine.—The work at this mine consisted in the starting of a new main shaft, 12 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in. in the clear, at a point about 6,765 ft. from the Blackwater main shaft in a direction S. 30° W. Up to the end of the year this new shaft had been sunk to a depth of 99 ft. A substantial poppet-head was erected, together with engine and boiler house, change-room for miners, storeroom, blacksmith shop, &c. An average of twelve men.was employed. Down to 53 ft. the shaft was in sand and gravel, at which depth it passed into prevailing country rock, greywaeke. It is proposed to sink this shaft 500 ft. before opening out. With the exception of one or two small outcrops in which very little work has been done, no defined reef is, as far as I can learn, known to exist within a considerable distance of the shaft, consequently the results likely to accrue from the proposed work are of a highly problematical nature. South Big River Mine.—Some six men were employed continuously throughout the year. From No. 3 adit a rise was put up which made connection with the winze known as No. 3, sunk from No. 2 adit. No. 3 adit itself was extended north north-westerly a further 34 ft. on reef-track, and a drive was also extended southerly on the same track for about 12 ft. Very little solid stone was showing in either extension. An eastern crosscut which had been started years ago from a point on No. 3 adit about 755 ft. from its mouth has also been extended, to the end of the year, a distance of 188 ft. The purpose in carrying out this latter work was to try and pick up another line of reef which was believed to exist to the east, but so far no reef has been met with, although the crosscut appears now to have been extended sufficiently far to cut it. Scotia Mine.—No work was done here. Evidently the syndicate found it impossible to raise the extra capital necessary to enable it to make use of the Government subsidy promised during 1924, and has since gone into liquidation. Progress Mine. —No mining-work of any kind was done, but retreatment of the old tailings was continued, gold to the value of £431 10s. being recovered, while an adjustment of old treatment accounts with an Australian smelting company added a further £519 Bs. Bd. to the revenue from the mine. Wealth of Nations Mine. —Up till the end of October mining and development work was carried on actively, some thirty-eight men being employed. Until the end of July the work was not very profitable, the stone mined being of rather poor grade, especially that coming from the stopes over No. 13 level south. In September, however, the grade improved greatly, and for that and the following month the crushings showed a decided profit. Towards the end of October the company had the misfortune of having the upper part of its shaft collapse, bringing all work other than restoration of the shaft to a standstill. This work was still in progress at the end of the year, and promised to occupy several months in the New Year. For the period worked 6,790 tons of quartz were mined and treated, for a yield of 2,889 oz. 6 dwt. gold, valued at £11,550 13s. sd. The only development of any consequence carried out consisted in the putting-out of an intermediate drive between Nos. 12 and 13 levels on the 400 ft. south block of stone, and the sinking of a winze for about 30 ft. in the same block from No. 12 level. Alexander River Reefs. —Work was carried on actively, some twelve men on an average being employed. Beyond the putting-out of an intermediate level above the original adit little development has been done, the syndicate having devoted practically all its energies to stoping out the block of stone occurring between the adit and the surface. For the period 645 tons were mined, which yielded, by amalgamation only, ],646 oz. 19 dwt. gold, valued at £6,636 Bs. Id., equal to a return of £10 ss. 9d. per ton, while it is estimated that approximately 1 oz. gold per ton still remains in the tailings, which have been stacked for future treatment. The output of stone was not nearly so large as it might have been under favourable circumstances. Many breakdowns occurred in connection with the small hydro-electric plant installed to operate the battery, and as there was no storage-room for broken quartz the delays thereby caused resulted in frequent stoppages of actual mining operations. On the whole, therefore, the small syndicate owning the mine are to be congratulated in having produced as much gold as they did and proved so effectively the high value of the reef. A movement is now afoot to form a company to work the mine, and it is to be hoped that this is successful and money provided for a more active development of the property. The mine is situated in a part of the district entirely without roads, and as it is not at all likely that the Government will find the large sum of money necessary to make a road to the mine until the reef has been proved to continue both on its strike and in depth the importance of pushing this development on without delay is evident. No work was done for the year in Perseverence Mine, New Discovery Mine, Ready Bullion Mine, and Big River Extended Mine. V/ESTPOKT DISTRICT. Britannia Mine.—A small syndicate has carried out a certain amount of work on this property, chiefly in the adit put in years ago by the old Stony Greek Gold-mining Company. This adit was extended about 100 ft., some 43 ft. of which was on reef averaging about 3 ft. 6 in. in width and said to be highly payable. Efforts are now being made to pick up the stone beyond a fault movement which came in. Two men were employed. This was the only quartz-mine in which any work was done in this part of my district. Dredges. Rimu Flat Gold-dredge.—This dredge has continued in active operation, turning over about the usual quantity of ground. The amount of gold recovered was, however, less than in 1924, for the reason that the dredge was on a section of the company's area rather poorer than the average. Nevertheless, some 8,714 oz. were won, valued at £35,720, making the value of the total recovery to the 31st December, 1925, £190,070. Further dividends to the extent of £3,283 were paid, bringing the total of the amount disbursed to £13,132. An average of forty-seven men was employed. The company continued its prospecting efforts in the hope of locating a further payable area in the Hokitika district, but without any better success than formerly. Awatunn Dredge.—This dredge worked for portion of the year only. It was found that operations could not be carried on profitably, and as a result the company went into liquidation. The dredge and mining privileges were subsequently disposed of to F. G. Dunn, of Christ-church, but the latter has since surrendered most of the rights. In the early part of the year when the dredge worked, 78 oz. 19 dwt. 18 gr. gold were recovered, valued at £313 19s. 3d. New River Dredge.—A new company, known as the New River Gold-dredging Company (limited), has been formed during the year to work an area of some 800 acres of alluvial ground in the neighbourhood of the old mining town of Dunganville. A large dredge formerly worked for a time in the Arahura River, a few miles above the town of that name, was purchased, and has now been removed to this new area. It is, however, the intention of the company to do away with the steam plant with which the dredge was formerly equipped and use electric power for working it, the current being supplied by the Grey Power Board. Some thirty men were employed for a good part of the year in removing and re-erecting the dredge. At the end of the year the pontoon had been practically completed, opportunity being taken during the re-erection to materially strengthen it. All the necessary machinery, with the exception of the electrical apparatus, had also been delivered. A paddock had also been excavated in which to float the dredge. In past days a good deal of work had been done on the area it is now proposed to dredge, many drives having been put in both from the New River and Eight-mile Creek sides, but it is stated that there is still a large area of pay-ground left which the old miners had not been able to work owing to lack of fall for their races.