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CoLLING-WOOD DISTRICT. Golden Ridge Mine (Area, 88,350 acres; owner, Taitapu Gold Estates, Limited; minemanager, Hugh Pulton). —The mine is worked from an adit-level at a depth of 270 ft. below the surface. ■ 600 tons of quartz was crushed, for a yield of 154 oz. of gold, value £616. All operations were suspended on the 31st August, 1898. Since that date ten men have been prospecting on the surface all over the estate. The battery consists of twenty stamps, one Blake stone-breaker, and four berdans, driven by a Pelton water-wheel. Aorangi Mine, late Pioneer (Area, 100 acres, in two blocks of 50 acres ;, owner, the Australasian Gold Trust, Limited; mine-manager, Frank H.Johnson). —The mine is worked from aditlevels. The 100 ft. level is 115 ft. long, the 200 ft. level is 300 ft. in to reef. The greatest depth prospected is 200 ft. vertically below surface. The reef varies in size from 1 ft. to 6 ft. The quartz is also various, in some places being hard and solid, and slightly glassy; in others it is crushed, and more of a friable nature. The reef lies.between two belts of hard sandstone, almost a quartzite, cased in slates in thickness from 2 ft. to 30 ft. The walls in No. 1 level are sound and strong. The casing in No. 2 level, being much thicker and softer, causes the roof to be in places somewhat heavy. During the past year No. 2 level has been prospected by driving 250 ft. on reef north and 80 ft. south. Two rises have also been put up to No. 1 level, some 200 ft. apart.. In No. 1 level the drive on the reef has been extended north to connect with the rise from No. 2. Beef has been winzed on in two places ; and three rises have been put up towards surface, carrying a strong and good reef the whole way. The machinery consists of a three-stamper battery of 250 lb. stamps, with copper tables and inside copper plates, by Praser and Chalmers, driven by a 2-horse-power horizontal engine with vertical boiler. The stamps have a 7 in. drop, and are run at 90 drops per minute. The average quantity of quartz crushed varies from 2 tons to 2£ tons per day for the three stamps, depending on the hardness of the stone. The battery has been worked for ninety-seven days, and crushed 223J tons of quartz, which produced 691 oz. 19 dwt. bullion. In addition to this, 20 tons was crushed at Taitapu battery early in the year, producing 65 oz. gold. Fourteen men were employed. . , . Lyell Disteict. Alpine Extended (Area, 57 acres 3 roods 2 perches; owner, Alpine Extended Gold-mining Company, Limited). —Operations on this property continue to be actively carried on, but the general character of the stone throughout the mine is of comparatively low grade, with occasional patches of better quality. The development work consisted of opening up at No. 10 level two blocks of stone from 60 ft. to 80 ft. in length, the reef being from 4 ft. to 20 ft. in width. The No. 10 prospecting-drive north has been enlarged and retimbered for 192 ft. preparatory to sinking a winze at the face. The country passed through for the first 50 ft. was a mixture of broken quartz and slate, and in the next 30 ft. solid stone was struck about 2 ft. in width. At a depth of 80 ft. a cross-cut was put in which intersected a solid reef; work was then suspended pending the extension of No. 11 level north. The shaft from No. 10 level has been sunk to a depth of 110 ft. and fitted with winding machinery actuated by compressed air. No. 11 south has been driven 249 ft., making a total distance of 409 ft., of which the first 170 ft. was on a reef from 4 ft. to 5 ft. wide. Afterwards the country was hard and of an unfavourable character. During the driving of this level several cross-cuts were put in on both sides without favourable results. Stoping at the back of No. 11 level has been carried to a height of 39 ft., the reef varying in width from 2 ft. to 8 ft. No. 9 was driven north 111 ft. on a reef which varies from 5 ft. to 8 ft. in width, at which point it pinched to lft., but shortly widened out again. Since September stoping has been vigorously carried on, the reef ranging from 4 ft. to 7 ft. wide, and the stopes averaging 111 ft. in length. In the early part of the year prospecting was done on the upper levels, but beyond a few gold-bearing quartz boulders no reef of a solid character was found. The mine machinery consists of one airwinch, two 10-horse-power air-compressors, one Tangye pump, and the mill machinery (twenty stamps, 8 cwt. each, and four berdans). Two Pelton wheels drive the whole. These are driven by water derived from Lyell Creek, the race being 35 chains in length, carrying fifteen sluice-heads of water; from Irishman's Creek, 15 chains, five-eighths of a head; from Brown's Creek, 27 chains, one head—the whole giving 60-horse power. The quantity of quartz crushed for the year was 11,286 tons, for a yield of 3,245 oz. 7 dwt. of gold, valued at £12,656 10s. Fifty men were employed. Westpobt Disteict. Waimangaroa. Britannia Mine (Area, 99 acres 3 roods 39 perches; owner, James Gardener and party).—-The reef which was discovered in this ground exists in broken country, and the lode itself is of a similar nature, fragmentary and disjointed. The company intends erecting a small battery, to be driven by water, for the purpose of crushing a quantity of ore that has already been brought to grass from portions of the reef 6 in. to 18 in. in width, and carrying on mining on a small scale. Beaconsfield Creek will supply the water for the motive-power, which will be conveyed by a flume race of 5-J chains long. Six men were employed. Twins Mine, late Beaconsfield (Area, 97 acres 1 rood 10 perches; owner, Mr. C. Lempert, as attorney for British syndicate; mine-manager, George Edwards). —The works are situated on the Waimangaroa Stream, about a quarter of a mile south from the foot of the Denniston incline. Water for motive-power and other purposes is obtained from the Waimangaroa, and conveyed by a race half a mile in length, which carries fifteen heads. The race is chiefly fluming, with 300 ft. of tunnelling. A substantial and complete ten-head battery, with one berdan attached, is driven by a 6 ft. Pelton, under a pressure due to 46 ft. The ore delivered to the battery is raised through the shaft, 110 ft. in depth, by means of a 24 ft. diameter water-wheel with 8 ft. winding-drums attached. The shaft, which has three equal compartments, is fitted with substantial poppet-head 12—C. 3.