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may be found to be more valuable than the auriferous stone, as great inquiries are made respecting this mineral by Messrs. Blaokwood and Co., of Liverpool and London, who some time ago were offering 10s. per unit for scheelite. Donald Reid's Mine. —A shaft has been sunk following the reef to a depth of 150 ft., and the lode is said to be 2ft. 6in. in thickness, and carrying sufficient gold to give good returns for working. During the last year 1,447 tons of stone have been crushed, which yielded 5490z. of gold, representing a value of about £2,139. Hindon. —A party of three men took up the Gladstone Mine about two years ago. They have been working on a lode about 18ia. in width, which gives an average of about 6dwt. gold per ton, and this gives them small wages. No work has been done at Bigg and Wilkinson's mine during the year. Waipori. The quartz workings in this locality are very limited. Indeed, it cannot be said that ever there were extensive workings on quartz lodes here, although several lodes have been worked, and a fair amount of gold obtained. The greatest amount of work has been done on the old 0P Q reef, where the first quartz-mine was opened in the Waipori district. The lode was found cropping out on the surface on the old road leading from Weatherstone's to the West Taieri, via Maungatua. The quartz was never particularly rich, but, the lode being a good width, it gave during a good many years fair results for working. It has been stoped out to a depth of about 100 ft. for a distance of about 150 yards, and for a short distance to a depth of 100 ft. below this. The lode was originally worked by the OP Q Company, but this company has abandoned it for some years past, and the only party now at work is Mr. Eitchie and party of four men. They are driving an adit on the line of lode, with the view of working it at a greater depth than previously. At the time of my visit, in conjunction with Mr. R. A. Murray, F.G.S., the Chief of the Geological Staff in Victoria, and Mr. A. McKay, F.G.S., Mining Geologist, the adit was constructed for a distance of about 300 ft., and in the face of the drive there was a thin leader of quartz showing gold. The hanging-wall was well defined, but on the foot-wall side the quartz seemed to merge into the country rock. The party expected to have to drive another 100 ft. before they got under the place where the shot of gold was found on the upper levels. A shaft has been sunk in a gully a short distance from the mouth of Mr. Eitchie and party's adit-level to a depth of about 200 ft., and is said to have cut the lode, which was a good thickness, and carrying a little gold, but the quantity of water there was to contend with was too great, and the shaft is now abandoned. Other claims have been worked on the line of reef with varying success. A shaft was put down about half a mile south of the present workings, where, it is said, sufficient gold was found to pay for working ; but, if that was so, it is strange that the whole of the ground is now abandoned. The quartz lodes here resemble to some extent those found at Nenthorn, and, so far as they have been proved, the gold gradually gets less as the lodes increase in depth, and, as a rule, the width of the lodes also lessens. It therefore becomes a very moot question whether payable gold will be found in the lodes at a great depth. It has never been tested, but, judging from the large area of quartzose-schist formation in this locality, there is little likelihood of very rich auriferous quartz being obtained. Bald Hill Bange. On this range, opposite Spear-grass Plat, there are two quartz claims being worked. One of these was opened by White's Company, who went into liquidation, and it was purchased by Messrs. Syme Brothers, who were both mine-managers to the former company. The most of the stone has been stoped out from the old workings above the adit-level, and some of the lode has been taken out under foot. During the last year a shaft was put down ahead of the old workings, and a lode discovered about 30ft. from the surface. Sinking is still being continued on the lode, which is about 2ft. in thickness. A drive is being put in from the old workings, at about 70ft. below the surface, to cut the new block of stone, so that it can be run through the adit to the battery, which is erected close alongside the mouth of the adit-level. Only 57 tons of quartz was crushed last year, which yielded 40oz. gold. The Excelsior Mine is about one mile to southward of White's Reef, and is worked by the prospectors, Messrs. Crossan and Gray. There are now four men employed in this mine, and the lode is 3ft. to Bft. in thickness. Some portions of the lode resemble decomposed quartz, or rotten granite mixed with sand and clay, but some of it is very rich, and yields 2oz. of gold to the ton. The depth of the present workings is about 30ft., but the lode has been sunk on to a depth of 60ft. About 279 tons of quartz has been crushed during the past year, which yielded 5980z. gold, representing a value of £2,360. The claims on this range, being at a very high elevation, can only be worked for about eight months of the year. Bough Bidge. A small quantity of gold has been obtained out of mines known as the Progress and Great Eastern. About four years ago these mines were offered on the London market, but no one would take them up at the price then wanted for them. They were then worked again for a short time with success, but, the block being worked out where payable stone was obtained, operations were suspended, and the properties fell into the hands of the mortgagees, who sold them to Perry and party for £325. At the time of the sale there were seven shareholders in the party, but five of these have since abandoned the property, or, at least, left off working the ground. Only Mr. Perry and another are now working the ground. Mr. Perry was working in the Great Eastern Mine for a long time when it was the property of the company, and he states that from October, 1887, to March, 1889, gold was obtained to the