C.—2.

Exploration : From the foregoing it will be seen that during the year no large-scale development work was carried out, such work as was done mainly consisting of following branch lodes and loops and preparing for the extraction of remnants of ore. Output: A total of 175,786 long tons of quartz was mined and treated, from which gold and silver to the value of £336,224 were obtained. The recovery of gold, amounted to 64,105 oz. 12 dwt. .16 gr., valued at £314,120, and of silver 323,475 oz. 0 dwt. 9 gr., valued at £22,104. The company paid dividends during the year to the amount of £99,181 Bs., bringing the total disbursements to £5,941,464 10s. 6d. The average number of men employed was 509. Total yield of bullion since commencing work 24,642,919 oz. 3 dwt. 11 gr. ; value, £16,841,565. Waihi Grand Junction Gold-wining Co. (J. L. Gilmour, Manager).—The Waihi Co. continued the working of this mine under arrangement. A lot of investigation was carried out, and although nothing of great importance was met with, a number of useful small bodies of ore were located. The following is a brief summary of the work done : — Waihi Co.'s No. 13 level (about Grand Junction No. 10) : The trucking of broken ore from Ellis block ,qn the Empire lode was completed, and a new block, known as Fahey's, about 150 ft. in length, was opened up immediately eastward of Ellis block. On the Empire lode the breaking of ore both in Waihi and Grand Junction ground was completed, and all the broken ore in the latter ground was drawn off. Waihi Co.'s No. 11 level (36 ft. below Grand Junction No. 7): The drive eastward on the Dominion lode of McNamara's north crosscut was extended 102 ft. to a total distance of 448 ft. in low-grade quartz. At 445 ft. a crosscut, known as No. 1 shaft south-east crosscut, was put out. This intersected the State reef at 55 ft., and the reef was driven on for 201 ft. east, good values being got for 107 ft. A shrinkage stope was started on this run of ore ; the block will be known as Anderson block. At 146 ft., the south-east crosscut also intersected the main Empire lode in a short block left between two old stopes. The crosscut was carried through the lode, and 21 ft. into footwall country. A footwall gangway was constructed for the extraction of an arch under Grand Junction No. 7 level. Waihi Co.'s No. 10 level (57 ft. sub-level) : The drawing of ore from McNamara's block in this sub-level was completed. Waihi Co.'s No. 10 level (30ft. sub-level): The north-west crosscut was extended through the Martha lode, then turned westward to meet the new footwall gangway coming eastward from Waihi Co.'s No. 4 shaft main north crosscut, No. 10 level. This crosscut prospected the ground between the Grand Junction shaft and the boundary of the property. Several small leaders were intersected in it, but they were too small for working. One of them known as the 103 ft. reef, was followed westward for 177 ft. For the first 76 ft. it contained payable ore about 4 ft. wide, but westward of this point the reef was disturbed by cross-reefs of calcite, and both width and value became erratic. The Martha reef was intersected at 154 ft., where it was 45 ft. in width. Payable values were got in a section of it, 6 ft. wide, between 20 ft. and 26 ft., but when this was driven on eastward the values rapidly fell away, and the work was stopped. On the Dominion lode, a drive westward from the bottom of Harvey's winze revealed a remnant of good ore, which will be taken out later. The southeast crosscut was continued across the lines of the Republic and State reefs, and holed, through to old workings on the Empire lode about 201 ft. south-east of Junction shaft. The Republic reef was met at 110 ft., where it was 12 ft. wide, but, with the exception of 1 ft. on the hanging-wall side, was low grade. It is now being driven on east and west. The State reef was met with at 160 ft., where it was 14 ft. wide ; with the exception of 1 ft., it was, however, valueless. Driving east on the payable portion revealed good values for 60 ft. Waihi Co.'s No. 10 level (about Grand Junction No. 6) : Breaking ore on the Republic block was stopped at 110 ft. up, owing to the values declining. On the State reef the drive eastward from Junction Co.'s main south-east crosscut was continued from 330 ft. to 429 ft., when work was stopped owing to the reef becoming very small. A shrinkage block, 158 ft. in length, was then opened up immediately eastward of the crosscut, Values were good for a start, but at 98 ft. up the reef was split by hard country, and stoping was stopped. Grand Junction No. 6 level (about 4 ft. above Waihi 'Co.'s No. 10) : The only work done consisted of filling up an old stope on the Dominion lode to enable a remnant of good ore to be removed from Shaft block. Waihi Co.'s No. 9 level: Investigation of the hanging-wall of the Martha lode north and south sections was continued. The drive eastward into Junction Co.'s ground was extended from 409 ft. to 512 ft., where it holed to old workings. Two stoping blocks were opened up on this run of ore, one 185 ft. in length and the other 125 ft. On the north section nothing of any value was located. Grand Junction Co.'s Nos. 5 and 6 levels : A good deal of investigation was carried out in the hanging-wall of the Martha lode, south section, without anything of value being met with. A drive eastward from the main crosscut was extended to 134 ft., when it holed through to an old working. At 132 ft. a crosscut (Dillamore's) was then put out due south for 34! ft., in which what appeared to be an upward continuation of the Dominion lode was intersected. This was driven on west for 86 ft. The reef then split up and driving was stopped. A stope 48 ft. in length is being opened on this ore. Output: The ore won from the mine during the year amounted to 23,657 long tons, which yielded gold and silver to the value of £61,523. The gold amounted to 11,013 oz. 10 dwt. 1.4 gr., valued at £53,964, and the silver to 110,626 oz. 2 dwt. 14 gr., valued at £7,559. The average number of men employed was 104. Dividends amounting to £6,905 ss. 4d. were paid. Total value of bullion produced since commencing work, £2,430,055. Golden Dawn Gold-mines, Ltd., Owharoa (J. H. Benney, Manager).—ln the early part of the year the crushing of the test parcel at the Waihi Co.'s Waikino battery was continued, and 288 long tons of quartz was treated for a return of 244 oz. 6 dwt. 3 gr. gold, valued at £1,026 Bs. 9d., and 443 oz. 12 dwt. silver, valued at £43 4s. 4d. As arrangements could not be made with the Waihi Co. for further crushing, the Golden Dawn Co. then purchased the plant of Muir's Reefs Gold-mining Co., and removed such portion of this to its own mine as was required to bring its battery up to date. The removal and re-erection of this plant was completed towards the end of the year, and some trial runs were made, but there was no clean-up. In preparation for the start of the battery, a good deal of work was done underground, mainly by way of filling up the old shrinkage stopes on No. 1 reef, and getting faces ready for working on Nos. 1 and 3 reefs on No. 3 level. A crosscut was also started on No. 2 level with a view to picking up No. 3 reef there. On an average 20 men were employed. Total yield of bullion since commencing work, 1,122 oz. 10 dwt. 3 gr.; value, £1,718 13s. Id. Talisman-Dubbp Gold-mines, Ltd., Karangahake (J. Caisley, Manager).—The drive in the Dubbo section of this company's property was continued on the reef from 556 ft. to a total of 647 ft., the reef averaging about 3 ft. in width. With a view to enabling this ore to be mined and transported economically, a start was then made to reopen the old Talisman No. 1 adit on the other side of Karangahake Peak. This adit is about 100 ft. below the adit on the Dubbo side, and it is the intention of the management to rise from it to the upper adit, and install an aerial tramway to take the ore from the mouth of the Talisman No. 1 to the County road, from which point it can be carted at reasonable cost to a treatment plant. Owing to the portal of the old Talisman No. 1 being down, it was thought advisable to start a new adit in unbroken ground to meet the old adit some distance in. This new adit had been driven 20 ft. at the end of the year. Total yield of bullion since commencing work, 4oz. 12 dwt.; value, £11 17s. lid. Waiawa Claim (L. Turnbull, Owner). —Some driving was done in a low level in this claim on Taukani Hill, Karangahake, to cut a run of stone on what is believed to be the Roderick D'hu reef on which some work had been done in a shallower level the previous year, This low level was carried in farther than should

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