C—3.

property at a depth. 1,096 tons of quartz was treated for 1,508 oz. 11 dwt. of gold, valued at £4,109 6s. Id. An average of sixteen men was.employed. Fame and Fortune. —This mine is under partial protection, and has for some time past been worked by tributers, pending Mr. Kersey Cooper's arrival from England, where he has been for some months past negotiating for further capital to prospect and develop the mine. Lately the work has been carried on principally from the Balmoral level, where the hanging-wall portion of the Golden Age reef is being operated on both above and below the level. Although the prospects at times are encouraging, yet sufficient payable ore has not been obtained to compensate the men for the work accomplished by them. Foxe's leader is also being operated on in the higher workings, where a little gold is occasionally seen. 25 tons of quartz has been treated for 94 oz. 10 dwt. of gold, valued at £258 12s. 3d. An average of nine men has been employed. Nonpariel Mine. —This mine has been steadily worked by tributers, their operations being directed to the Liverpool Boys and Wade reefs. Through the blocks on the reefs becoming exhausted over the back of the main adit level, winzes were sunk and the reef in places blocked out to a depth of 90 ft. below the level; but, as most of the stuff broken out had to be raised by hand-labour (thereby considerably increasing the cost of getting) the ore obtained below the level ha,d to be fairly good to pay under the conditions named. 256 tons of ore was treated for 330 oz. 9 dwt. of gold, valued at £935 10s. 4d. An average of six men was employed. There are still a few men employed on the West Coast, Little Muriel, Ballarat, and Little Maggie Claims, but the returns of gold from those mines have been very small. MOANATAIARI CBEEK. Kuranui-Caledonian.- —This mine has been entirely worked by tributers for the last twelve months. No work of any kind has been done by the company in developing the mine, but from information received it is probable that operations will again be resumed by the company. The tributers have been engaged in working on the various leaders that traverse the property on the hanging-wall side of No. 1 reef, and from No. 3 level upwards. As in gold-mining in general, some have been fairly successful and others quite the reverse. 425-J- tons of quartz and 932 lb. of picked stone has been treated for 1,524 oz. 5 dwt. of gold, valued at £4,154 18s. 4d. ; and an average of forty-five tributers and three wages-men was employed. Moanataiari Company. —There is very little new to report from this mine, as the company has done no work on their own account during the year. The upper section of the mine has been thrown open for tributers. A number of miners have consequently availed themselves of the opportunity, and have directed their attention to working on small leaders (all of which contain more or less gold), and with a fair amount of success. The management is still awaiting instructions from England as to future operations. 1,254 tons 14f cwt. was crushed for 2,262 oz. 8 dwt. of gold, valued at £6,251 12s. Bd.; and two wages-men and sixty-four tributers were employed. New Whau Company. —Operations in this mine were carried on by the company in the early part of the year. The work consisted in prospecting and developing the Sons of Freedom reef at ■the various levels; but, as the ore obtained was poor and the company's funds exhausted, protection was applied for and granted, to give time to raise money for carrying out contemplated works. Latterly there has been a party of tributers working in the ground, but so far they have not been successful in discovering anything payable. Alburnia Company. —This mine still continues to be worked by a few tributers. The company apparently have not been successful in raising the necessary capital to develop the mine, which was anticipated would be forthcoming long before this. The tributers are at present working at the surface-levels, where some leaders are being operated on, and from which 37 tons of ore has been treated for 45 oz. 6 dwt. of gold, valued at £122 6s. 2d. An average of five men was employed. Golden Drop Claim. —This mine has been steadily worked during the year with two men, who have directed their attention to extending the main level a further distance of 300 ft. on small leaders which consistently carry a little gold, and at times small patches of picked stone are obtained. 5 tons of quartz was crushed for 15 oz. 10 dwt. of gold, valued at £39 ss. A little work has been carried out in this locality on the Tudor and Sea-horse Claims, but nothing of importance discovered. KUKANUI. Kuranui Mine. —This company's prospects are more encouraging than they have been for some considerable time past, as some leaders have been met with at their low level which promise to pay for any outlay that may be incurred in opening them up. A survey lately made shows there should be 180 ft. to drive on the principal leader before the boundary is reached, and there is 80 ft. of backs. As this is situated near the place where the rich gold was obtained by the old Kuranui Company, the manager believes something good will be found here. The low level is 40 ft. below the tunnel level, but a rise is being put up to make a connection some 20 ft. to the east of the Deep Lead shaft. When this is accomplished it will give good ventilation, and the company will then be in a better position to develop these leaders. 69 tons of quartz was treated for a return of 58 oz. 8 dwt. of gold, valued at £142 10s. 9d.; and an average of seven men was employed. Taeaeu Ceeek. Tararu Creek Mine. —This mine (which was closed down during the greater part of the year) was sold by public auction, and purchased by the present owner, A. Trower. Operations were again resumed in the month of October. At present the work consists of developing the mine and making some alterations in the battery, in which an additional boiler is to be placed in position as

73