C.—2

Atley Bros., Shotover. —Operations on this claim are carried on by the owners when river conditions permit. Water taken in a race from Long Gully is used to elevate wash from the river-bed. Arthurs Point. —Two parties of two men each are ground-sluicing on terraces overlooking the Shotover. At the claim half a mile upstream from the bridge an attempt is being made to locate the old channel of the Shotover, which existed before the river had cut its present course through the gorge on to the Big Beach. Arthurs Point Gold-mining Go. (A. Vernon, Manager). — This company is carrying on ground-sluicing operations on a terrace situated on the south side of the Shotover and overlooking the Big Beach. In order to deal with the large boulders which hamper operations, an electric winch has been installed, power being taken from the Wye Creek Station. Seven men employed. Gold won amounted to 27 oz. 1 dwt. 8 gr., which realized £192 9s. 9d. Ballarat Mine, Advance Peak, Shippers GreeJc Survey District (S. Pascoe, Manager).—A party of five men has driven 150 ft. on the low level. As the reef, outcropping on the surface, was not cut at this distance, 20 ft. was risen from the end of the drive. This work showed that faulting had displaced the ore-body. Further prospecting on the surface was undertaken on the outcrop, and 65 tons of ore won. A small prospecting battery is to be erected to treat the available ore, and with the funds realized from this source further prospecting will be undertaken. Tipperary Mine, Macetown. —Messrs. McLeod and McLean, who hold this claim, are opening out the 2,000 ft. low-level adit which gives access to the lode which was formerly worked from higher levels. Their objective is a shaft which was sunk 92 ft. below the adit on the lode up to 7 ft. wide, and good values reported. The mine was abandoned in 1900 on account of ventilation difficulties caused chiefly by using an oil-engine at the shaft for hoisting-purposes. The Garibaldi, Maryborough, Homeward Bound, and Sunrise Mines were taken over by a Christchurch Syndicate, which, late in the year, erected an assay plant and placed a mining engineer and eight men on the field to carry out a prospecting policy. Levels on the Garibaldi and Homeward Bound were opened and some ore-bodies sampled. A considerable amount of surface trenching was done and some important discoveries reported. Upper Arrow Sluicing Co., Macetown. —J. H. Lynch, Manager, and three men employed. These men reconditioned a water-race and laid a pipe-line for the purpose of hydraulic elevating in the bed of the Arrow River at Macetown and expect to commence mining about the beginning of 1935. Soho Greek.—Two parties of two men each have been engaged during the year on prospecting by driving and sinking on an area at the junction of the Soho and Arrow Rivers. A high-level bed of both streams is believed to exist, but it is now covered with debris, which has slipped from the mountains into the valleys through which the rivers flow. Although a considerable amount of work has been done the problem remains unsolved. Sims Prospecting Syndicate.—A shaft is being sunk by this syndicate in the bed of the Soho Creek, at a point approximately three miles above the junction. At a depth of 50 ft. large glacial boulders were met; a pump has been installed, and sinking is to be continued to the basement schist. Shamrock Alluvial Mine (J. Smith, Owner and Manager).—Two men are sluicing on a terrace east of the Arrow River. The ground worked is in part of the old glacial terrace, which extends to Macetown. Hamilton and Sons, Arrow River.—This party occasionally operates two hydraulic plants in the Arrow River, according to the water-supply available, which" is taken from the Public Works Department pipe-line which conveys "water from their weir to the Arrow Flats for irrigation. Most of the ground has been worked, some twice over. With gold at the present price the claims pay, in spite of the disadvantages of flood, frost, and shortage of water in the summer months. The average number of men employed is six. Golden Arrow Gold-mining Go.—Hydraulic mining is carried on by this company on their claim on the Arrow River close to the township. Water from the Public Works Department pipe-line is used to elevate wash and recently-deposited tailings of a thickness of 15 ft. to 20 ft. Most of the river-bed which is included in their' claim has been previously worked, but the gold recovered by the company now operating covers all working-expenses and leaves a margin of profit. The gold won amounted to 281 oz. 7 dwt. 15 gr., valued at £1,938 lis. lid. Junction Reward Gold-mining Go.—Six men employed. This company is operating a hydraulic plant at the junction of the Bush and Arrow Creeks, Arrowtown, with water from the Public Works Department. Henderson's Claim: A dip drive, under the terrace and starting from the level of the Arrow River, is being put into the claim, which is situated a short distance from the township and held by a Christchurch syndicate. The Arrow River was diverted in this locality by a landslide. The syndicate's object is to prove the value of the wash in the buried portion of the river-bed. There were two men employed. Reef-mining in the Arrowtown District has been confined to prospecting a low-level tunnel on German Hill to find a lode that was followed down 30 ft. by a shaft. The low-level drive is not far enough advanced to prove the downward continuation of the lode. Shannahan and Party drove 100 ft. on a wide lode, situated on the north-west side of the Arrow River, and reported values up to 8 dwt. Further prospecting by a syndicate is contemplated. The Criterion Mine, Arrowtown, was not worked during the year. On the Crown Terrace a winze was sunk by a Dunedin syndicate to a depth of 80 ft. on McFee's freehold. A short distance was driven on the lode from the bottom of the winze, and the outcrop was stripped for 150 ft. The strong quartz lode varied in width from 5 ft. to 1 ft. 6 in., and sampling done as the work progressed gave assay values which were highly payable. The syndicate was preparing to form a company with a working capital sufficient to carry on further development and erect a battery. They were advised to check-sample all the exposed lode in winze, drive, and on the outcrop. The result of the check-sampling caused the syndicate to drop the area and wind up its affairs. Some trenching and sinking on lode formations were done on Martin s freehold, a property adjoining McFee s. Evidently the results were not favourable, as the syndicate concerned ceased operations. Cardrona Valley.—Approximately a score of subsidized miners are fossicking and prospecting between the township and county nursery. The whole valley, from Pembroke to the township, was taken up for dredging, but no boring has been done on these areas during the year. Matatapu River.—A camp of subsidized miners is getting fair returns in the upper reaches of this river. An average of twelve men is sluicing on the banks. The number of subsidized men in Lake County shows a decrease for the year, chiefly on account of many of the men finding employment with companies in the district. The Unemployment Board during the year initiated a lode-prospecting scheme for the purpose of testing the numerous reefs and lode formation which exist in the county. The parties are equipped with tools, &c„ and paid standard wages. The Macetown and Skippers Lode systems will be investigated m a systematic manner, the working parties being under the control of a supervisor with a. knowledge of the fields, who will be directed by a mining engineer, who will carry out the surveying and sampling. In addition, 186 men were employed in alluvial mining in the various districts in the Lake County, winning 805 oz. 10 dwt., valued at £5,507 3s. 4d. In the Lake County at Glenorchy twenty men were engaged in scheelite mining, producing 16 tons 13 cwt. of concentrates, which realized £1,665. Vincent County. Kawarau River.—From the Roaring Meg to the mouth of the gorge at Cromwell several parties of miners are working claims on the terraces above the river. Most of them are subsidized men. The gates at the Kawarau Falls were not closed during the winter, consequently no work was done in the river-beaches, which can be worked only when the river is exceptionally low. fi—C. 2.

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