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Mercury.- Prom the Puhipuhi opencast workings 2,500 tons of material was treated early in 1942 and over 5 tons of mercury was recovered. A fall of 40,000 cubic yards of overburden buried the available ore, and production is not expected to recommence before July. A small quantity of good cinnabar-ore is being won at Karangahake. Mica,—From outcrops in South Westland a 2 cwt. sample of fairly-good mica was brought out. Further prospecting of the field is being done. Petroleum. —Two bores were put down in the North Island by the Superior Oil Co. of New Zealand, Ltd. during 1942—0ne at Marton to 6,877 ft. and the other near Palmerston North to 3,361 ft. Both proved unproductive. In the Taranaki District the New Zealand Petroleum Co. put down the Devon bore to 9,420 ft. without success. From the three producing wells owned by Motorua Oilfields, Ltd., Nos. 1, 2, and 4, a total of 86,173 gallons of petroleum was obtained, all of which was treated by New Zealand Oil Refineries, Ltd., New Plymouth. In the Kumara district the Superior Oil Co. of New Zealand, Ltd., put down a bore which at 5,450 ft. was abandoned. Near Marsden the site for another bore was then prepared. In 1942, 793 ft. of structural drilling was done by New Zealand Oil Exploration, Ltd. Platinum. —Together with the gold recovered, two Southland sluicing claims produced 21 oz. 8 dwt. of platinum during 1942. Pottery Clay.—Near Kaka, in the Nelson district, 690 tons of pottery clay, worth £914, was mined. From Kakahu and Mount Somers 1,647 tons of high-grade clays were produced. Serpentine.—To augment the supply of fertilizer, 31,248 tons of serpentine, valued at £26,037, was won from Warkworth, Wuyby, and Kaukapakapa quarries. Talc.—From the Takaka district 15 tons of talc was mined. Silica.—From the Wanganui and North Auckland districts 463 tons of silica, valued at £939, was produced. In the Southern District 1,412 tons of silica sand was mined. Sulphur. —No work was done on any sulphur deposit during the year. Tungsten,—From the Cllenorchy and Macrae's districts of Otago 67 tons of scheelite concentrates, valued at £32,309, were produced. At a Wakamarina mine about 1,000 ft. of driving and rising was done, but the results were very disappointing. , STONE-QUARRY INSPECTION AND STATISTICS By section 2 of the Stone-quarries Amendment Act, 1920, the application of the Stone-quarries Act, 1910, was extended, to include every place, not being a mine, in which persons work in quarrying stone and any part of which has a face more than 15 ft. deep. The Act also applies to any tunnel in the construction of which explosives are used, but it does not apply to any Government operations or any road or railway cutting, or excavations for buildings.

The following is a table showing - the number of quarries under the Stone-quarries Act, also the number of persons ordinarily employed thereat, and the annual output and value of crude stone during 1942: —

11

S-d Output of Stone. Ss Ifi- 1" ft g o og S Ph 0 1 £3 'K g "-* S £*» Pi*r>irin/iiai Name and Address of § « o'l ■£ gg «« " o" «• S District Government Inspector of "g oh go g p Stone-quarries. J J g || « ° 3 || -| g J C 55 cl «2 J2 a += 03 y w a> as Is g?w go sl a & a®a ° 1 S « Is Jog | is 3 a .20 ,2SJ J3<! .§ I £ £ 55 pq > Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. £ Auckland .. R. T. H. Dale, Mines 156 790 1,058,506 .. .. 210,413 278,389 .. 36,142283,051 Dept., Huntly E. J. Scoble, Mines 22 86 61,880 .. 273 .. .. .. .. 21,928 Dept., Waihi (Hauraki Mining 1 )istrict only) Hawke's Bay B, T.' 11. Dale, Mines 21 66 17,482 .. .. 36,049 14,160 Dept., Huntly Taranaki .. Ditto .. .. 24 58 26,991 .. .. .. .. .. .. 6,105 Wellington „ .. .. 36 110 73,303 720 .. 74,889 .. .. 22,500 42,645 Nelson .. "I G. W. Lowes and 24 80 14,869 4,344 .. 13,801 61,410 .. 4,770 16,434 Westland .. ( R. C. Ruffin, Duller .. 1 Mines Dept., Grey - Marlborough J mouth ' Canterbury Otago .. )>T. McMillan, Mines 51 369 77,146 45,886 2,651 278,016 42,071 .. .. 155,581 Southland .. J Dept., Dunedin Totals, 1942 .. 334 1,559 1,330,177 50,950 2,924 613,168 381,870 .. 63,412 539,904 Totals, 1941 .. 395 1,972 1,223,141 47,255 7,892 728,474362,921 .. 57,708 528,313