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The Thames shows an output of gold valued at £25,372 in excess of the previous year, and now that the large amount of unproductive work necessary to the efficient opening up of the Thames-Hauraki and May Queen-Hauraki Mines is approaching completion it is expected the returns of gold produced will continue to increase. Development-works of a comprehensive character are in progress at several of the mines in different parts of the district, and, after a considerable amount of prospecting on the Thames Peninsula, a discovery of some importance has been made, payable reefs having been found among the ranges to the south of Gumtown, in the Mercury Bay District. Several companies have commenced operations, and it should not be long before the capabilities of the new field are fully proved. Taking the northern district -as a whole, there is every reason to expect the gold-mining industry will continue to afford steady employment to a large number of persons, and contribute directly and indirectly to the support of a very considerable portion of the population for a long time to come. In the Coromandel District the development-works in several mines have not been as successful as was anticipated, and, owing to the unremunerative character of their work, a few of the companies have suspended operations, So far as the Marlborough, Nelson, and West Coast districts are concerned, the chief centre of quartz-mining is at Reefton. Considerable sums of money have been and are being spent in this locality for the purposes of developing the reefs. The Progress Mines have been opened up to a considerable extent and fitted with up-to-date plant and machinery, the ore being conveyed by an aerial tramway (worked by gravitation) to the 65-stamp battery. The chlorination process of extracting gold is being used here, and a cyanide plant is in course of erection, Gold to the value of £91,078 was obtained by the company as the result of their operations for the year, being an increase of £22,169 as compared with the preceding year. Other parts of the field are also being developed with a view to working on a fairly large scale. This feature is specially noticeable in the neighbourhood of Crushington, and at the New Inkerman Mines. At the latter property some £35,000 has already been expended in properly prospecting and opening out the ground prior to the erection of new battery-plant. When the works now in progress at the several mines are completed, increased returns may be looked for. At Lyell the prospects of quartz-mining do not appear promising. As regards the future, much will depend on the result of prospecting in No. 7 Level of the Alpine Extended Mine. Work on a comparatively limited scale is being carried on at some of the outlying mines, and several small mines have ceased operations. The gold won from quartz-mining for the year is valued at £137,905, or an advance of £28,886 as compared with the preceding year. The Southern District shows a decided decrease in respect to the production of gold from quartz-mining operations. The sanguine expectations of a few years ago as to the probable importance of the reefs at Preservation Inlet have not been realised, and during the past year the locality has been extensively depopulated. A certain amount of work is still in progress, and recent reports appear somewhat more encouraging. At Skipper's and Bullendale work has been undertaken which, it is hoped, will tend to materially increase the production of gold there. At Macetown, the Premier Mine is the only one now at work, and, notwithstanding difficulties of a somewhat exceptional character, has more than paid its way. There is a proposal to develop several properties in the neighbourhood. During the year a considerable amount of development work has been done, and a battery plant of modern design erected at the O.P.Q. Gold Mines, Waipori. Several mines in various parts of the district have been worked with varying degrees of steadiness and success. Many of these are on a very small scale. The returns from quartz-mining have fallen off very considerably during the past two years. The approximate value of gold obtained from this source last year was only £21,717, as against £38,493 for the year preceding. This is due principally to the reduced production of the mines at Preservation Inlet, Macetown, and Bendigo.