C.—2

Magnetite. —At Upper Takaka 171 tons of magnesite, valued at £154:, was quarried. Manganese. —At Moumoukai 10 tons of manganese-ore was mined, and from a mine near Clevedon 500 tons, worth about £2,000, was won. Mercury. —The large landslide at the Puhipuhi opencast working was not completely cleared away until late in 1943. From then until the end of the year 1,010 tons ot material was treated for a recovery of 63 cwt. of mercury worth £7,192. A little work is still being done at the Ascot Cinnabar mine near Karangahake. Mica. —A track 24 miles in length is to be constructed to gain access to the mica deposits on the Matukituki Range in South Westland. Petroleum. —At Uruti, in North Taranaki, two bores were put down, the No. 1 to 1,173 ft. and the No. 2 to 5,096 ft. Both bottomed in greywacke and were unproductive. The Superior Oil Co's plant completed the Marsden bore, and New Zealand Oil Exploration, Ltd., did 571 ft. of structural drilling. A short bore, also unproductive, was drilled in the Arahura Valley by the Superior Oil Co. From the three producing wells owned by Moturoa Oilfields, Ltd., Nos. 1, 2, and 4, a total of 73,487 gallons of petroleum was obtained, and was treated by New Zealand Oil Refineries, Ltd., New Plymouth. Platinum. —Together with the gold recovered, a Southland sluicing claim produced 5| oz. of platinum during 1943. Pottery Clay.—Near Kaka, in the Nelson District, 1,300 tons of pottery clay, worth £1,722, was mined. Fifty tons of inferior pottery clay worth £31, was mined near Tadmor. From Kakahu and Mount Somers 1,173 tons of high-grade clays was produced. Serpentine. —To augment the supply of fertilizers 59,445 tons of serpentine, valued at £49,537, was obtained from Wayby and Kaukapakapa quarries. From a quarry near Mossburn, Southland, 2,200 tons of serpentine, valued at £1,100, was won. Talc. —From the Upper Takaka district 62 tons of talc, valued at £202, was quarried. Silica. —From the Wanganui and North Auckland districts 17,398 tons of silica, valued at £38,813, was produced. In the Southern District 2,349 tons, valued at £2,313, was mined. Sulphur. —No work was done on any sulphur deposit during the year. Tungsten. —From the Glenorchy and Macraes districts, Otago, 110 tons of scheelite concentrates, valued at £52,215, was produced. STONE-QUARRY INSPECTION AND STATISTICS By section 2 of the Stone-quarries Amendment Act, 1920, the application of the Stone-quarries Act, 1910, was extended to include every place, not being a mitre, in which persons work in quarrying stone and any part of which has a face more than 15 ft. deep. The Act also applies to any tunnel in the construction of which explosives are used, but it does not apply to any Government-operations or any road or railway cutting, or excavations for buildings. The following is a table showing the number of quarries under the Stone-quarries Act, also the number of persons ordinarily employed thereat, and the annual output and value,of crude stone during 1943

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m ® g xj Output of Stone. "n <3 ® ° S 2 I ® .2 <3 ! «§ u •g ** & g !§ o § ® ! *" a „ b u . . , Name and Address of "3 © o0 "£ q I 2 £ 2m •*» £ 2 « Government Inspector of oj>> 21 o° o 5, District. Stone-quarries. =| 1 gl| * . Sf «S I *1 § J © £ Sfl § =3 S J2 c?3 «§ « 8 »§ * rt all ll S?* §S 3| S| ||i || 1 § b<=M go i Jog -gS ,2-n .233 -cC « -j fc £ | oi S « J hi S > — - - — —| Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. £ Auckland.. R. C. Ruffin, Mines 153 814 521,304 .. 11,725 168,848 271,246 .. 223,752 251,654 Dept., Huntly E. ,1. Scoble, Mines 23 84 72,793 .. 293 26,281 Dept., Waihi (Hauraki Mining District only) Hawke's Bay R. C. Ruffin, Mines 21 82 11,140 .. .. 42,771 .. .. 2,859 27,216 Dept., Huntly Taranaki .. Ditto ..20 57 16,530 . . 52 3,735 Wellington „ .. ..31 104 55,623 .. .. 78,835 .. .. 3,166 51,054 Nelson .. "1 Westland .. I G. W. Lowes, Mines 25 106 7,284 4,702 3,000 21,430 58,510 .. 5,027 21,388 Buller .. [ Dept., Greymouth Marlborough J Canterbury ] Otago .. r'l\ McMillan, Mines 52 425 90,319 47,212 2,694 440,719 81,289 9,241 2,200 198,969 Southland.. J Dept., Dunedin Totals, 1943 • • 325 1,672 774,993 51,914 17,712 752,603411,045 9,241237,056*580,297 Totals, 1942 .. 334 1,559 1,330,177 50,950 2,924 613,168381,870 .. 63,412 539,904 * Inoludes 02 tons talc, value £202 ; 171 tons magnestte, value £151; 3,571 tons dolomite, value £1,098 ; 2,200 tons serpentine, value £1,100.