C—3

1890. NEW ZEALAND.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Mr. H. A. Goedon, F.G.S., Inspecting Engineer, to the Hon. T. Fergus, Minister of Mines. Sm, — Mines Department, Wellington, Ist June, 1890. I have the honour to submit my annual report for the year ending the 31st of March last, on the different works undertaken and constructed either wholly by the Mines Department or by subsidies paid to local bodies, also on the water-races which are under the control of the department, and generally on the development of the mining industry throughout the colony. The different subjects arc classified under the heads of "Subsidised Eoads and Tracks;" "Grants for the Construction of Eoads;" "Schools of Mines;" "Quartz-mining;" "Alluvial Mining, including Dredging;" "Antimony-mining;" "Tin-mining;" "Explorations, Southern Westlaud;" "McQueen's Patent Amalgarnating-machiiie;" "The Progress of Metallurgical Science;' " Macarthur-Forrest Process;" "Milling Gold-ores in California;" and statistical tables snowing the expenditure on works, and a list of the Mine Managers in the colony who have certificates, &c. SUBSIDISED EOADS AND TKACKS (NORTH ISLAND). COEOMANDBL COUNTY. Boad, Mataraugi. —This includes the road from the sea-beach to Kuaotuna, and gives facility to get goods and machinery, which are landed in fine weather on the ocean-beach at the mouth of the Kuaotuua Creek, to be conveyed to the reefs at Kuaotuna. It is constructed as a dray-road for about two miles, and afterwards as a horse-track. The estimated cost of completion is £600. Of this amount a subsidy has been authorised to the extent of £300, of which £100 has been paid. Harbour View Extension. —This is the continuation of a narrow dray-road that leads from the Coromandel-Tokatea Eoad round the range to give facility to the claimholders and tributers who are working on this side of the range to get their quartz conveyed. Formerly they had to carry it in small bags over the range to the road that is constructed from the Tokatea Saddle to the Eoyal Oak Mine. The cost of this extension has been £222. Of this amount a subsidy of £111 was authorised, of which £105 has been paid. Coroinandel to Cabbage Bay. —A horse-track has been constructed from Cabbage Bay, on the east coast, to Paul's Creek, a distance of nine miles, and it only requires about five miles to complete this track to Coromandel. The estimated cost of completion, together with an extension which has recently been made, is £700. Of this amount £350 has been authorised, and payments have been made to the extent of £150. Mercury Bay Boad. —This is a horse-track leading from the Coromandel-Thames Eoad at Tiki Bridge to Mercury Bay. It has been in course of construction for several years, and different subsidies have been authorised from time to time; but the track is now nearly completed, the distance being about twenty miles. The total cost of the work has been £2,780. Of this amount subsidies have been authorised to the extent of £1,656 13s. 4d., of which payments have been made to the extent of £1,426 13s. 4d. The Mercury Bay end of this road was known as " Makarau to Waiau," and appears in the list of constructed works. Mercury Bay to Kuaotuna. —As Mercury Bay is the place where all supplies will have to come from to the Kuaotuna field, unless in very fine weather, when goods can be landed from small steamers in boats on the ocean-beach at the mouth of Kuaotuna Creek, it is necessary to construct a horse-track to afford facility to get the supplies delivered. The length of road to construct is about five miles, which is estimated to cost £360. Of this amount a subsidy has been authorised to the extent of £180. Wainaru to Kuaotwna. -*-Tbis is a horse-track from the end of the track coming from Coromandel to Opitonui. The total distance from Coromandel to Kuaotuna is about twenty-two miles, and there is a horse-track constructed fer a distance of twelve miles, leaving ten miles to construct. The estimated cost of the work is £450, and of this amount a subsidy has been authorised to the extent of £225. I—C. 3.

GOLDFIELDB; ROADS, WATER-RACES, AND OTHER WORKS IN CONNECTION WITH MINING.