C.—2.

Round Hill Gold-mining Co—Twenty-nine holes were drilled, to a total depth of 1,678J ft., in Blocks VII and X., Longwood Survey District. The Burma Malay Tin, Ltd., acquired an option from the Bendigo Goldlight Dredging Co., over Ordinary Prospecting Licenses in Bendigo Creek, Clutha River, and bored four holes thereon, a total depth of 324 ft. Six inch casing was used, and a machine owned by J. M. Stewart. E. T. Anderson, supervisor. General Remarks. The year has been uneventful from a mining point of view. Claims have proved unpayable and closed down, and new ventures have sprung up and almost balanced th« number that are producing gold and employing labour from month to month. Intensive prospecting, chiefly by boring, has taken place on many areas. British mining companies are spending freely in the search for dredging claims, their prospecting being thorough and supervised by experienced engineers. Lode-mining has not made much progress, in spite of the fact that gold is at a high price. Practically every quartz and scheelite mine in Otago and Southland that formerly produced is held under either a claim or prospecting license, but the holders, generally speaking, are endeavouring to float companies to provide capital. The decrease in the quantity of gold won by quartz-mining amounted to 39 oz. 17 dwt. 12 gr., with an increase in value of £192 2s. Bd. The number of men employed increased by five. Alluvial mining attracts most attention. Subsidized men and public companies have devoted much time and money to the production of gold from river-beds and gravel terraces. The claims on the Kawarau, Shotover, and Arrow Rivers have been hampered by numerous floods. The increase in the quantity of gold won by alluvial mining amounted to 1,750 oz., with an increase in value of £28,962. The number of men employed decreased by 453. Dredging showed more activity, and gold-production from this source will materially increase in the near future. The decrease in the quantity of gold won by dredging amounted to 663 oz., with a decrease in value of £4,240. The number of men increased by fourteen. The subsidized county mining schemes in the Tuapeka, Lake, Maniototo, and Vincent Counties, together with the 8a Subsidy Scheme in the rest of the Otago and Southland Districts, have continued to operate during the year. No discoveries of importance have been recorded. However, returns are being won and records are being obtained from the many areas being prospected and tested. Special parties of experienced prospectors are now prospecting in the various reefing areas. One treatment plant has been installed in Conroys Gully, near Alexandra, and is being used to crush the ore won by the parties operating in the neighbourhood.

ANNEXURE B. STONE QUARRIES. SUMMARY OF REPORT BY INSPECTOR OF QUARRIES FOR THE NORTH ISLAND. (Jambs Newton.) I have the honour to present my report for the year ending 31st December, 1934, covering quarries worked under the Stone Quarries Act, 1910, with statistics regarding the output of various classes of stone, men employed, values, &c. Working of Quarries. During the year the previous policy with regard to the method of working has been adhered to. A large number of quarries producing stone for roadwork are operating in greywacke with fairly high faces. Owing to the highly shattered nature of this rock, and the prevalence of " backs " running at all angles it is in many cases difficult to work to advantage by a benching system. I have therefore found it preferable in most of these cases, from a point of view of safety, to insist more on a thorough inspection of the face, prompt removal of all loose or hanging stone, and the maintenance of a reasonable backward slope of the face. This, combined with the removal of overburden as required, has given safe working-conditions in most cases. In quarries working other classes of rock, the danger of the high faces has, in some instances been minimized by a system of firing large shots, using tunnels, or large bores behind the face. These methods, combined with careful trimming after the shots, besides increasing safety, considerably reduce the cost of stone at the quarry, and, where the output is large, should be more generally used. Generally, the quarry-managers endeavour to work their quarries in such a way that due regard is paid to the safe winning of the stone, and in very few cases have I found it necessary to point out defects in this respect. Output op Stone. The total output of stone for the year was 749,685 tons, valued at £131,614. This shows an. inereaSe of 179,259 tons when compared with the 1933 output, with a value increase of £36,132. Stone, 'for rOadwork accounted for the greater part of this larger output, production rising from 394,891 tons in 1933 to 521,355 tons in 1934, an increase of 126,464 tons. Agricultural limestone showed an increase of 29,967 tons, building stone 2,904 tons, limestone for cement 19,680 tons, and a soft class of stone used in brickmaking 244 tons. This large increase, over 31 per cent., in the amount of stone won during the period, evidently reflects better general conditions in farming and in the building trade; the amount of stone drawn from county and privately-owned quarries for roading-purposes during the year shows an increase of 32 per cent. Men employed. : A small increase in the number of men employed is shown over the previous year, the numbers being 1,241 and 1,261 for 1933 and 1934 respectively. The number of quarries working increased by one. The following serious accidents occurred during the year : — Thomas McNamara sustained a fractured pelvis owing to a fall at Kallils' Quarry, Ohura, on; 31st January, 1934. On the 10th February, 1934, a fatality occurred at Paekakariki Quarry, Wellington. Thomas Gollop, quarryman, was engaged in barring stone from a narrow bench approximately 12 ft. from the top of the quarry-face, when a small amount of rubble slipped from the face above him. While trying to avoid this he stumbled and fell off the ledge down the quarry-face, receiving fatal injuries. Though his safety rope was in use and securely fastened above, he had evidently not made it secure around his body. On the Ist March, 1934, a labourer working at the Superfine Lime Co.'s Quarry, Hangatiki, lost the seeond finger of his left hand, due to a boulder, weighing about 1 ton, shifting just enough to crush his finger against a spawl he was picking up. On the 14th March, 1934, an accident occurred at the crushing plant connected with Smeed's ' Quarry, Pukekawa, Alfred Charles Baigent being suffocated while unloading a hopper of stone-dust. Baigent evidently stepped into the hopper to run the dust, when the surface of the heap gave way and he was covered and suffocated before he could be extricated. On the 6th April, 1934, B. Bentley had two ribs fractured at the Agricultural Lime Co.'s Quarry, Te Kuiti. Bentley was barring down at the bottom of the face when a small 'quantity of stone, about 12 ft. up became dislodged, a portion striking him and causing the injury.

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