H.r-9

2

the principal alluvial workings of Otago, and is being introduced on the West Coast, and ground is now being worked, yielding from £1,000 to £3,000 an acre, which, for want of fall, would otherwise have had to be left untouched. Yield of Gold. The statement to follow shows the export of gold for the year ending the 31st March, 1884, to be of a value of £35,421 less than for the previous year, ending on the 31st March, 1883. The value of the gold exported from New Zealand has kept off and on about a million sterling for many years, and it is not likely to vary much for some time, as the alluvial workings, which contribute nearly twothirds of the amount, are regulated in a considerable measure by the water-supply, which is a pretty constant quantity; and the quartz-mining, although increasing, does so very gradually. The total value of gold exported from New Zealand up to the 31st March, 1884, was £40,707,074. Of the gold exported for the twelve months before the 31st March, 1884, the West Coast and Nelson contributed 49 per cent.; Otago, 35 per cent.; and Auckland, 16 per cent.: or very nearly one-half, one-third, and one-sixth respectively of the total yield.

Yield of Gold during Year ending 31st March, 1883, and 31st March, 1884.

: .- Mining Population and its Earnings. The return of miners (Table No. 9) gives a total of 12,206 employed on the gold fields on the 31st March, 1884. The number returned for the previous twelve months was 14,523. The average number for the year may therefore be stated at 13,364. Taking the value of gold exported at £959,134, the average earnings per man will be £71 165., an increase of £2 6s. on the earnings per man of last year.

Quartz Workings. Table showing the Comparison of the Yield of Quartz Workings in the Years ending 31st March, 1883, and 31st March, 1884.

Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. 1882. June quarter ... September quarter December quarter 1883. March quarter Oz. 40,944 74,776 62,175 £ 164,253 298,445 248,060 1883. June quarter September quarter December quarter 1884. March quarter Oz. 52,401 59,113 65,893 £- 210,205 236,422 262,928 70,967 283,797 62,281 249,579 r 248,862 994,555 239,688 959,134

188: i-83. 188: !-84. Name of District. Quartz crushed. Gold. Quartz crushed. Gold. Coromandel ....", Thames ... Te Aroha ... Eeefton Lyell... , .... Arrow and Queenstown Cromwell Tons. Oz. Tons. Oz. 2,907 25,867 18,928 7,277 6,503 2,900 7,577 43,311 19,194 3,949 4,996 2,400 1,042 36,228 4,316 23,433 2,980 5,500 848 4,018 54,865 4,547 16,547 1,455 4,623 850 Lawrence— Quartz Cement 64,382 81,427 6*,371 74,347 86,905 700 6,150 64,382 87,798 74,347 93,755 Increase 1883-84 9,965 5,957