C—2.

framing and house is built of heavy sawn square balks of kauri, all closely fitted and bolted, so that there is not the slightest movement in the buildiug or framing occasioned by the working of the engine. The pump in the main shaft is worked direct from the beam of the engine ; and the pump in the Palmerston shaft, which is about 360 ft. distant from the main pump-shaft, is worked with balance and T-bobs, having solid connecting-rods made of kauri timber, supported every 30ft. on a roller or pulliss. The mouth of the Palmerston shaft being at a considerable elevation above the main pump-shaft, the connecting-rods work on an incline up the face of the hill, and are about 400 ft. in length. The water from the pump in the Palmerston shaft is discharged at the 180 ft. level, and led to the main pump-shaft. The operations in the mine are confined to prospecting, and sinking the Palmerston shaft, whr&h was down at the time of my visit 96ft. below the 180 ft. level, the intention being to open out from this shaft at 100 ft. below the present level, and work three lines of reef—namely, the Black, Cross, and Green Harp Beefs. The two latter reefs run in a generally northerly-and-southerly direction, and the Black Beef in an easterly-and-westerly course. Until such time as these reefs are cut there will be no returns from the mine, unless some fresh lode is struck at the 180 ft. level. The whole of the workings and the manner in which the machinery is erected indicate that no legitimate expense will be spared in thoroughly prospecting and opening out the mine in a proper manner. Up to the time of my visit the company had spent £13,000 on plant and mining operations. The Kapanga and Coromandel Companies are both under the management of Francis Hodge, a gentleman sent out from England to represent these companies, who, while exercising the strictest economy in carrying on the works, has spared no legitimate expenditure in making arrangements to work these mines on a purely commercial basis. And it would not only be gratifying to these companies to be well recompensed for their large expenditure, but it would be of great advantage to the colony for enterprises of this nature to be brought to a successful issue, as other capitalists would be induced to embark money for similar ventures. Tokatea Range. —The mines on this range have afforded profitable employment to a number of men since 1864. Claims have time after time been occupied and given up as worked out, and no sooner were they given up than they were taken up again by other parties, and found to give good returns for working. There is no quartz-field in. the colony that is better adapted for working by individual miners than this range. There is no expensive mining plant required, no large crushing machinery to be erected. A small outfit of picks, drills, gads, and shovels is all that is required. The whole hill is burrowed in every direction, following small thread-like veins and leaders of quartz, which widen out occasionally to 2in. and 4in.; and when this takes place there is generally a good patch of gold found. Men sometimes may work for four or five months and scarcely get anything, and afterwards come on a patch which remunerates them for all their labour. The quartz is considered by the miners here of poor quality if it does not average lOoz. of gold to the ton. This may appear a high average, but it requires a high yield to pay for working the thin veins in which the gold is found. It is a range in [which the present generation will not exhaust the supply of gold. Indeed, after it has been entirely given up as worked out it will then become a question if the whole hill will not pay for working in a face if a large and efficient crushing-plant were erected on the flat, and the whole of the material sent down by tramways and put through. This plan is being adopted for working the Kuranui Hill, at the Thames, at the present time, and very low-grade material made to pay for working. The yield from some of the principal claims on this range last year gave a very high average for the quantity of quartz crushed, as will be seen from the following statement: —

It will be seen from the foregoing returns that 42 tons of stone were crushed during the past year, which averaged the high yield of 40oz. Bdwt. of gold per ton. This amounts to 340z. 12dwt. 6gr. per man for the number of men employed. There are twelve other claims at work on this range, from which no returns could be got—namely, the Young American, Eegan's, Scanlon's, Ogilvie's, Mayflower, Simms's, Mason's, Waverley, Eathbone's, Pilot, Stirling Castle, and the veapai. Some of these may not have got a great deal of gold, but no doubt some of them have paid Kry well for working. The West Tokatea, one of the claims mentioned in the foregoing statement, is held by an English syndicate, and comprises an area of thirty acres, through which the main Tokatea reef runs. This reef is of a great width in places, and contains a little gold ; but it has heretofore been termed a buck reef, that will not pay for working. The syndicate, however, intends to construct several adits to cut this reef at low levels, to prospect it, and, if they find anything payable for working, to erect a large crushing-plant to deal with low-grade material.

34

Name of Claim. Number of Tons I of Quartz crushed. Yield of Gold. (Ounces.) Number of Men employed. Tokatea Queen of the North ... Bachelor's Eob Boy ... Boyal Oak Bismarck West Tokatea 14 7 a_ 3 9 2. 4 459 106 52 25 789 160 45 20 7 2 2 10 6 2 Total 42 1,696 49