37

0,-3.

and has eleven men employed. Sufficient capital is, however, provided to develop the property thoroughly; and, as soon as the Tokatea of Hauraki Company's arrangements are all completed (which is also a company formed in London with, it is said, a capital of £150,000 in ss. shares, of which £87,500 is to be given the vendors in fully-paid-up shares), these two companies propose to ■work amicably, and develop these two adjacent properties in a practical and methodical manner. Waikoromiko. This section comprises the Florence, Halpins, and Lillis's, &c, Mines, in which there were nine men employed, who obtained during the year 3-J- tons of quartz for a return of 89oz. 12dwt. gold, as against a return of 8 tons of quartz crushed and 2550z. 6dwt. gold for the previous year, thus showing a decrease in the yield of gold last year of 1650z. 14dwt. Pukemaukuku. This is a new locality where gold was discovered last year. It is situated about two miles southward of the track where it crosses the Whangapoua Saddle, and is near the head of the Kuraka Creek. There are two claims in the locality—namely, Murphy's and Power's. In Murphy's claim two men were employed, who got 1 ton of quartz crushed for a yield of 18oz. lOdwt. gold. There were also two men employed in Power's claim who got 2 tons of stone crushed for a return of 4oz. 12dwt. gold. Previous to this discovery being made this locality was not deemed to be auriferous. The land upon which Murphy discovered the gold is private property belonging to Mr. W. Aitken, who would not come to any reasonable terms to allow Murphy and party to work, so that they had to give up possession. Tiki. This was in former years a locality where a large amount of work was carried on and some very good returns of gold were obtained. Of late years very little work has been done. During the past year only three men were employed who obtained from 211b. of stone, 3oz. 2dwt. gold. During the previous year only soz. gold was obtained. Opitonui. It was thought at one time that some good claims would be found here. When the discovery was first made, the lode near the surface was a good width, and blotches of gold could be seen freely in the stone. Some of the first crushings yielded about 2oz. of gold per ton, but of late years very little prospecting has been done in this locality. Mr. Lanigan, who discovered the reef here on the Kauri Syndicate's property, considered the find of sufficient magnitude to erect a crushing battery of ten heads of stamps, but after working his claim for some time he abandoned it; but others have taken up the ground and are getting a little gold. There are only two claims in this locality, in which two men are working, and during the year they had 43 tons of stone crushed for a yield of 430z. IBdwt. gold. Otunguru. There is only one claim in this locality, from which 31 tons of stone was crushed, which yielded lOoz. Bdwt. gold. Owera. This is on the Kauri Syndicate Company's property. It was at one time considered that some good claims would be opened here. Some years ago when the reef was first discovered it was of considerable size and gave a fair return. The company was so satisfied with the appearance and the quality of the stone that they erected a crushing battery on the flat and connected it with the mine by a ground-tramway. The mine is now worked by two tributers, who had 230 tons of stone crushed last year for a return of 670z. lOdwt. of gold. Mahakirau. Small parcels of gold have been found in this locality for a number of years, but no defined lode containing payable stone has yet been discovered. Some rich specimens have been obtained from small leaders of quartz, and on my last visit to this place some men were working in a clay formation and getting a little gold. Last year Goonan and party of three men obtained Bcwt. of stone, which yielded soz. 18dwt. of gold. This party contemplates putting in a low-level adit; but before incurring any large expenditure in speculative work it would be well to prospect near the surface to see if any indications of a lode exist. Matarangi. A considerable amount of work has been done here from time to time, and payable stone and fair yields of gold obtained About three years ago stone from this locality was taken to the Thames, and the results of the crushings gave the owners of the mine a fair profit. Since then a crushing battery has been erected on the field during the last year. Three men were employed in the mine and 30 tons of quartz was crushed for a yield of 9oz. Bdwt. gold, a result which would not pay for working, and the work in the mine has been suspended. Hopes are, however, entertained that by further prospecting bettor stone will be discovered. Kuaotunu. The returns from this field show a considerable falling-off from those of the previous year; still there are some of the mines doing fairly well. It is a field which has been comparatively little prospected yet, and yet a large quantity of gold has been obtained. There is no goldfield in the-