C—3

90

A little prospecting was done in this locality, but no discovery of any importance made. Tui Mine, Te Aroha. —Edwards and party have had men employed on this property, and have broken out several parcels, and have shipped some to New South Wales and other places for treatment. The ore contains 60 per cent, of lead, besides silver, copper, zinc, and other minerals, and on the whole gives a high value, the owners being confident that if they had facilities for treating the ore at a reasonable cost it would pay handsomely. This mine has been tried before, but I understand the ore was treated principally for the gold and silver. Lead, &c, at that time was not considered to be of much importance, whereas it is now contended that if the other metals were saved it would be the means of making it a payable concern. This, like a number of other mines in this district, requires capital to make it a success. Paeeoa Disteict. Komata Beefs. —In the Komata reefs section stoping operations have been carried on during the year from the following levels —viz., No. 4 level, A level, and B level—resulting in an output of 6,685 tons of quartz, which yielded approximately £15,800. This quartz was all obtained from Wilson's lode, the average width being 3 ft. Very little development-w r ork was done during the year in this section of the property, the chief energy having been directed to the opening-up of the Te Ao Marama section, which was acquired by the company early in the year. Te Ao Marama section : A connection was made from the Komata reefs section to this piece of ground by extending the Komata reefs No. 2 level to the Te Ao Marama shaft, a distance of 497 ft. The connection is at the Te Ao Marama No. 4 level, which corresponds to the Komata reefs No. 2 level, or 376 ft. below the collar of the shaft. A considerable amount of development-work has been done on Nos. 2, 3, and 4 levels, resulting in large reserves of ore having been made available for stoping. Stoping operations were carried on for about nine months, resulting in 5,715 tons of quartz having bsen sent to the battery, which yielded £13,800 approximately. This ore was chiefly obtained from the No. 1 reef, the width of which averaged about 5 ft. Battery : During the year the cyanide department has been considerably enlarged, the object being to give the ore longer treatment. This has resulted in a higher percentage of extraction. A great many minor improvements have been made to the plant, the principal being the addition of a second stone-crusher, the erection of a quartz-hopper, and the installation of a small plant for the treatment of slimes. A steam plant has also been put up, so as to insure steady crushing during the summer months. The capacity of the plant is now being increased by the addition of a 5 ft. Huntington mill. The cyanide department will be further enlarged; the slimes plant will also be enlarged, and should be completed early in March. The tonnage treated during the year was 12,190 tons, and the value of the bullion recovered was £27,140 Is. sd. Just in Time Special Quartz Claim. —This claim adjoins the Komata Reefs; the area is 50 acres. About 120 ft. of crosscutting has been done and No. 1 reef driven on. About 10 tons has been broken out and assays made of the ore, which gives a very high value. lam informed that £5 per ton has been offered for the quartz stacked on the surface. Byron Bay. —From two to four men have been employed in this mine during the greater part of the year. The operations were chiefly confined to extending the No. 2 level to prove the value of the reef, which has been opened up on the surface, and from which good dish-prospects could be obtained; but up to the present there has not been sufficient work done on it to estimate the value of the discovery. The No. 2 level will require to be extended a further distance of 112 ft. to intersect the reef. Hikutaia Gold Syndicate. —Operations in this mine were steadily carried on during the year, the work being confined to stoping on the main reef over the Nos. 2 and 3 levels, where the lode was previously opened up to a considerable extent. The syndicate has done a large amount of systematic work, and treated no less than 5,231 tons of ore, but as it was too low grade to pay the working-expenses it was found necessary to stop work in the mine for the present. This is to be regretted, as the shareholders were confident that after getting the small crushing plant on the mine it would have paid and left a small margin of profit. Maratoto Mine. —ln the Maratoto section the No. 5 level crosscut was extended to a distance of 545 ft., where the Maratoto reef was intersected. The reef, where cut through, was 10 ft. wide, and composed of solid white quartz intermixed with bunches of sulphides, these proving to be of good value. Arise has been commenced at this point and is now up a distance of 19ft., and, judging from assays made from time to time, the ore appears to be improving as it is risen upon. The lode has been exposed at six different places along the outcrop, extending about 6 chains north of No. 4 level, and will average 8 ft. in width. In the Pay Rock section the No. 1 level has been cleaned out and put in working-order, and the intermediate level driven 164 ft. south of the rise and 96 ft. north, making a total length of 270 ft. These two drives are still being extended for the purpose of proving the value of the reef. An average of six men has been employed. Khartoum Mine. —This mine has been continuously worked during the year. A small block of ore has been stoped out above No. 1 level to the surface, where the reef varied from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in width ; the quartz obtained is said to be worth £5 per ton. At the No. 2 level about 35 ft. of crosscutting both east and west has been done with a view to testing some of the companion reefs. On the hanging-wall side a reef 12 in. thick was met with, which carries a fair percentage of gold. A crosscut has been driven at No. 3 level for a distance of 90 ft., and three distinct reefs, ranging from Ift. to 4 ft. in thickness, have been intersected. The largest reef is supposed to be the northern continuation of the Melbourne reef, which has been exploited in the upper levels. The starting-point of the No. 4 level is about 30 ft. above the Maratoto Creek, which is on the northern boundary of the mine. It is 1,700 ft. north of and 700 ft. below the No. 3 level. Here driving has been done to the extent of 350 ft. along the course of the Melbourne reef,