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Miscellaneous Minerals (Non-metallics) Bentonite. —Mr. H. F. Stoddart, Porangahau, produced 560 tons, which, apart from a few small processed parcels, was sold in a raw state for £7 per ton. The processed material realized from £lO to £3O per ton, and the sum received from all sales amounted to £4,057 18s. sd. In addition, Clays and Minerals mined some 64 tons, valued at £404 7s. 9d. This was also got at Porangahau. Clays (Brickmaking).— -Some 1,500 tons of alumina, valued at £568 155., and 2,875 tons of clay, worth £865 12s. 6d., were produced by Kamo Potteries, Ltd. The alumina is used in the manufacture of brick for furnace linings, and the clay for making ordinary bricks and for pottery work. Diatomaceous Earth. —A small quantity only was produced, the suppliers being W. Brake, Ngongotaha, and the Clays and Minerals Syndicate, Ngakuru. The formers' output was 17£ tons, valued at £53 10s., and the latter's 25 tons, valued at £37 10s. Fuller's Earth. —S. C. Crawford, Kamo, produced 68 tons, the value of which was £2OO. Kaolin. —N.Z. Mercury Mines, Ltd., and J. J. Craig, Ltd., produced 287 tons and 1,034 tons, valued at £1,146 10s. and £2,528 19s. lOd. repsectively. The kaolin was got at Puhipuhi and Taurikura Bay, Whangarei, and was used by the pottery industry. The Ohio Kaolin Co., Thames, experimented for the whole year. Pumice. —A total of 5,838 tons, valued at £4,670 16s. was obtained from the property of I. Lowe, Wanganui, by A. F. Nicholson. The pumice was used in the making of wallboard. Serpentine. —Some 32,855 tons were produced from Kohua Road, Te Kuiti, and 5,362 tons from Kaukapakapa, North Auckland, or a total of 38,217 tons from both places. It was valued at £9,396 16s. 9d. Seven men were employed. Silica. —Messrs. Gilberd and Son, Wanganui, got 320 tons, valued at £144 from their property at Aramoho. Five tons, worth £3 per ton, were obtained by A. C. Tucker from a nearby locality. Two men were employed. Silica Sand. —The N.Z. Glass Manufacturers' Co., Pty., Ltd., Penrose, dug 14,113 tons, worth £41,870, from its deposit at Parengarenga. The average number of men employed was 5. Lime. —The Gisborne Lime Co., Ltd., produced 1,119 tons, valued at £1,119 19s. lid., from its works at Patutahi. It was all used as top-dressing in the locality. Petroleum. —The N.Z. Oil Refineries, Ltd., Moturoa, New Plymouth, produced 83,112 gallons of crude oil, valued at £2,597 ss. Supplies were obtained from the following wells : Gallons. No. 1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. „. 4,920 No. 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 45,343 No. 4 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32,849 The fractions stilled were : Gallons. Petrol .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. 15,505 Distillate .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4,020 Power kerosene .. .. .. .. .. ..11,460 Heavy kerosene .. .. .. .. .. .. 11,920 Diesel oil .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9,255 Residue oil .. .. .. .. .. .. ..26,155 Total .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 78,315 Loss .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4,565 Crude through still .. .. .. .. .. ..82,880 In August the company started the sinking of a new well, the Dobson No. 1, near the old Taranaki Petroleum Co's. No. 5 bore, and at the end of December a depth of 2,174 ft. had been reached. Drilling was continued in the New Year and completed at 2,236 ft. in oil-bearing sands at the end of February. The well is now producing oil under its own- pressure of gas at the rate of 1,200 gallons a day. Qtr aeries The total production of stone, gravel, and sand for road and concrete work in this district, which comprises the Hauraki, Bay of Plenty, and Rotorua areas, and part of Hawkes Bay, was tons, the amount used for concrete aggregate being 16,257 tons. Two quarries—namely, the Whitehall, Cambridge, and Mangatarata, Hauraki Plains County—were responsible for more than one-quarter of this output, the former accounting for 56,539 tons and the latter for 25,101 tons. The average number of men employed in all quarries was 233.

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