34

C—3

the foot-wall in the winze being very hard andesite; so that anticipations of the presence of soft country along the western part of the lode are of doubtful realisation. There is ample warrant for the energetic prospecting of this lode in both claims in which it has been traced, and the ore is rich enough to pay for transit to Europe for treatment. Its richness, therefore, to some extent compensates for the smallness of the lode, and in this particular has to be looked at favourably in comparison with the greater mass and poorer ore of the lona lode." In order to afford facilities for working the mines in this district a road is being made from Blind Bay to Whanagaparapara. Attention has again been directed to the reefs containing copper-ore which were formerly worked in the northern part of the island, but very little work was done during the year. COEOMANDEL DISTEICT. The district comprises the northern portion of the peninsula. The country is of a very broken and hilly description, covered chiefly with bush, although in several parts the kauri timber has been removed and clearings effected. In consequence of the continuous rich yields from the Hauraki Mine numbers of claims were taken up, as the subjoined list will show. A large amount of prospecting has been carried on, and many discoveries of gold-bearing reefs were made. It will, however, take a length of time to develop the mines and to ascertain the value of those discoveries, and no doubt in many cases the claims will be abandoned for want of funds to carry on operations.

Abstract of Licenses for Special Claims and Licensed Holdings issued from the Warden's Office at Coromandel, in the Hauraki Mining District, and registered on or before the 31st March, 1897, in the Books of the Mining Registrar at Coromandel.

Date of License. Area. Locality. Block. Survey District. Name of Claim. Name of Eegistered Owner. I 18/5/96 A. B. P. 32 0 22 Matamataharakeke Port Charles Kennedy Bay VI. Harataunga Ada Enoch Richards. 23/12/96 18/5/96 19/2/97 25/6/96 5/11/96 20/11/95 29/10/95 7/10/96 18/7/95 12/5/96 7/4/96 100 0 0 100 0 0 31 3 26 86 0 0 20 0 0 78 3 37 30 0 0 50 0 0 88 2 33 14 0 16 89 1 23 Coromandel II.,111. IX. v'i. v. VI. IX. VI. ii. VI. Goromandel Airlie Castle A.J.C. Alabama Alameda Albion Albion Extended ., Alert Alice All Nations Altai Extended Anglo-Saxon Charles Irving. A.J.C. Gold-mining Co. John Henry Porter. F. Swindley and H. C. Bell. Hauraki Mines Lodes (Ltd.). Hauraki Main Lodes (Ltd.). Alert Gold-mining Co. (N.L.). Simon Fraser. New Zealand and General Mining Co. (Ltd.). T. W. Rhodes. Anglo-Saxon Gold-mining Co. (N.L.). 18/5/96 18/5/96 13/1/97 98 1 0 99 3 20 100 0 0 Tiki Kennedy Bay Coromandel Tokatea Matamataharakeke Gape Colville Tokatea Matamataharakeke Kennedy Bay ii. Harataunga Goromandel Harataunga Moehau .. Coromandel Harataunga Aster Arawa Auriga Frederick Swindley. S. W. Bedlington. Samuel Horace Gordon. IX. 23/12/96 68 1 35 Austral Gold Reefs of Hauraki Avondale Ballarat Baron Rothschild .. Robert Edward Jamieson. 12/5/96 24/4/96 23/12/96 20 3 8 98 3 24 100 0 0 Manaia Matarnataharakeke xi'v. VI. Coromandel Harataunga John Bollard and others. James Edwards. J. D- O'Brien. 23/12/96 18/2/96 22/9/96 63 2 0 100 0 0 78 3 24 Ditto Coromandel Matamatakarakeke Tokatea Coromandel Harataunga Bay View Beatrice Belgic Bay View Gold-mining Co. (N.L.). Hauraki Golden Bay Mine (Ltd.). E. G. Smith. 14/4/96 2/7/95 23/12/96 23/12/96 21/8/95 22/9/96 3/2/97 27/8/95 27/8/95 24/4/96 30/11/96 30/11/96 1/12/96 13/1/97 1/9/96 22/10/96 22/9/96 25/6/96 7/4/96 6/2/97 23/12/96 23/12/96 15 3 35 18 0 30 46 2 25 62 0 0 38 1 8 100 0 0 100 0 0 2 0 12 10 0 96 0 0 63 2 0 85 0 0 11 2 30 100 0 0 13 2 0 100 0 0 98 2 11 98 3 6 97 0 0 74 0 0 54 0 23 100 0 0 i. ii. Coromandel Ben Lomond Bismark Extended .. Blenheim Blucher Britannia Britannic Bruce Bunker's Hill Bunker's Hill Extd. Cabbage Bay Cadman Cadman's Gully No. 1 Caledonian Surplus Canopus Captain Cook Caroline Celtic Charleston Chelsea Syndicate :.. Chidwell Hall City of Chester City of Dublin Montgomery Davis. J. H. Witherford. J. D. O'Brien. Montgomery Davis. [(Ltd.). The Britannia Hauraki Gold-mining Co. E. E. Smith. Thomas Handley. Bunker's Hill Gold-mining Co. (Ltd.). Cabbage Bay Opitinui Coromandel i. ii. v. VIII. V. Harataunga Coromandel Kennedy Bay IX. Harataunga Queen Victoria of Hauraki Gold-mining Co. Cadman Gold-mining Co. (N.L.). W. H. Cooper. Charles B. Stone. Henry Reynolds. William P. Snell, jun. Joseph McRae. E. G. Smith. Thomas Casey. Chelsea Gold-mining Go. (N.L.). John McNeil. J. H. Dalton. Thomas Handley. Coromandel v'i. Coromandel Kennedy Bay Tiki Manaia Cabbage Bay Gape Colville Coromandel Manaia Tokatea Matamataharakeko Manaia IX. x. in. v., VI. II. VI., VII. XIII. II. VII. Harataunga Coromandel Hastings .. Harataunga Moehau .. Coromandel Harataunga 23/3/97 6 19 XIII. Coromandel City of Lucknow Surplus Colleen Bawn Columbia Conquering Hero .. Percy A. Vaile. 23/3/97 13/11/95 27/8/95 12 0 0 63 3 2 12 1 32 Tiki VI. N. II. John Fitzgerald. John Drew Colebrook. Conquering Hero Gold-mining Co. (N.L.). Tokatea