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Company's dredge is to be removed to a beach claim known as the " Golconda," near Cameron's, and suitable portions of the Marsden No. 1 dredge will be used to replace defective and worn-out parts of the New Eiver dredge. The Golconda Claim has been well prospected, and there is a reasonable probability that this venture will redeem at least a considerable portion of the capital which the companies mentioned have lost. At Dunganville, Maori Creek, a dredge is being worked by the Maori King Company, and there is now some promise that this company's operations will be attended with a measure of success. Eecent returns have been as high as 40 oz. a week, and taken over a considerable period the average has shown a profit. Having regard for the richness of this locality, it is quite probable that the dredge will obtain very high returns if the lead, which runs across Maori Creek, can be picked up by this dredge. It is to be regretted that the machine is too weak and defective for the heavy ground on which it is employed. Constant breakages are occurring, and the profits which would otherwise accrue are largely disturbed through such mishaps. This dredge was formerly the property of a Wanganui company known as the " Maori Queen," but the company was involved in financial difficulties when it started dredging, and the defective nature of the plant added to the company's troubles and caused its failure. The dredge was bought at auction by the Maori King Company for £1,200, and, after making a few additions to the machine and strengthening the weak parts, this company continued to dredge where the old company left off, and, as stated above, there is evidence that the Maori Queen Company might have survived its financial troubles if it had persevered with its work. The Marsden No. 3 Company partially constructed its dredge to work a claim on the New Biver, near the Marsden Township, but the company has gone into liquidation and the machinery has been sold for removal. Dealing with the four companies which are engaged in dredging the marine deposits along the fringe of the Tasman Sea, the only company that has been successful in its operations is the North Beach Company. The company's dredge has been winning profitable returns consistently throughout the year, and the weekly average has been approximately 40 oz. The debt with which the company was encumbered has been cleared, and substantial and useful alterations have been effected on the dredge by substituting cast steel for iron in parts which were found to wear badly through the grinding of the sand; besides this the company has paid 4s. in dividends, equal to 20 per cent, of its capital. The Leviathan Company, which is engaged in dredging a beach claim a few miles south of Greymouth and some six miles away from the North Beach, has had an unprofitable career, and the outlook is not good. The company raised £3,000 by the issue of preference shares to enable it to tide over financial difficulties, and half this amount was speedily refunded in preference dividends ; but poor ground was then encountered, and lately the dredge has barely covered its working-cost. The Leviathan Freehold Company placed a useful and powerful dredge on a claim comprising about 200 acres of ground south of the Leviathan Company's claim, but the results have been unprofitable, and it is fairly certain that the company will be forced to liquidate and sell the dredge. The Stony and Mosquito Lead Company are operating on a beach claim on the north side of the Leviathan Company's ground, and occasional returns have been secured which suggest that the average yield would be satisfactory if the machine was capable of dealing with the ground in an efficient manner. Frequent breakages have, however, disturbed continuous work, and the dredge is not sufficiently strong to cope with the lower wash, which is very tight and does not yield readily to the buckets. The No Town Creek Company's claim is registered as being in this district, though it really forms part of the Ahaura division. This dredge has been working to profitable advantage from the time the machine was started, and during the year the company has cleared a substantial debt and has paid ss. per share in dividends, equal to 25 per cent, of the total capital. The machinery has occasioned a good deal of trouble through wearing badly, but gradually the defects have been overcome, and it is likely that the company will now work to better advantage than formerly, and afford profitable returns to the shareholders for several years. Anyhow, the immediate prospects are very satisfactory. The general want of success of the river-dredging may be attributed to various causes. A valued correspondent favours me with the following remarks: The frequent stoppage of work caused by the flooding of the river has to some extent been conducive to the failure, for it is evident that a dredge working in an intermittent manner requires richer returns when working than a dredge which is not interrupted so frequently; but, apart from the disturbance of work, the fact remains that the auriferous dirt in the rivers is more patchy than it is in the tributary creeks and on the ocean-beaches, and though the persons who have bought the companies' dredges at low prices may make good profits on the small capital now involved, it is clear that the original outlay was ill-advised. Auriferous Marine Deposits. Whether any substantial success can be achieved by dredging these deposits remains to be proven. The operations of the North Beach Company's dredge serve to show that, given reasonable advantage in locality and general conditions, the work can be undertaken with considerable profit on a capital of about £9,000, but against this success it has to be remembered that three other companies have either failed or partially failed up to the present. These gold-deposits consequent upon marine action occur in places stretching over some hundreds of miles along the coastline, and I have little doubt that considerable attention will be directed to the possibilities of dredging the best of these patches in the near future. In some places the locality is against the