0.—3.

94

Macetown District. Premier Mine (Area, 108 acres 2 roods 33 perches; owners, Glenrock Consolidated, Limited; general manager, Walter J. Stanford). —This mine continues to be, worked in a systematic manner. The long incline has been further extended, the haulage from which.is effected by electric power, a very eompacFand useful machine~6"eing placed underground at the head of the incline. The yield of gold has been somewhat less this year than that of the previous year, although the tonnage of quartz treated was 1,278 in excess of the quantity operated on during that period. The manager has furnished the following information about the mine and workings:— "Incline-work has been the principal work of the mine during the year. For the twelve months 312 ft. have been driven, and the tunnel measured on the 31st December, 1898, 979 ft. The cost of ..driving this 312 ft., all charges included, came to £917 195., or an average of £2 19s. per lineal foot to drive and timber. For the greater part of the year the tunnel was not on gold, but was being driven immediately adjacent to the golden stone. The ground was very hard, but, owing to the fact that we were going to stope in close proximity to the incline, we had to timber all through, which increased the expense considerably. The grade of the incline was never altered, and is still maintained at its original grade of 1 in 4, and at this grade has kept below the golden stone. During the year 5,126 tons of quartz was crushed for a total yield of 2,787 oz. 4-J-dwt. melted gold, valued at £11,211 15s. Bd., or an average yield of lOdwt. 21 gr. per ton crushed, the highest yield being 18 dwt. 2 gr. in January, and the lowest 8 dwt. in September. To obtain this 5,226 tons a great deal of dead-work had to be done. We were stoping. on two, lines of reef, one of which was easily got at from the incline, but the other line of reef was at a considerable distance from the incline on the foot-wall side, and inclined rises had to be put up every 45 ft, to pick up the foot-wall stone. The chutes are very small, both in width and thickness. All our time and money has to be expended opening: up- new ground, which, when opened up, yields a comparatively small quantity of stone. Latterly the stone on both chutes has pinched considerably, and it has been a great struggle to keep the mill going. Prospecting in the mine for a new chute has been carried on in the old high-level tunnel. This tunnel has been during the year retimbered practically from end to end, and the old wooden rails replaced by steel rails. Some prospecting was done by means of cross-cuts from the tunnel, but without success. On the 31st December, 1898, the tunnel measured 2,113 ft., giving a distance of 149 ft. driven during the year. There is just a chance of striking a new chute in this tunnel as we proceed westwards into the mountain, and if such a chute were struck it would convert the mine into a very valuable property. In the Sunrise Mine work was carried on from the Ist January, 1898, until the 30th April. The work was confined entirely to prospecting in the old company's lowest tunnel, and, while a little gold was discovered here and there, nothing really payable was disclosed. We are too near the surface of the mountain, and the ground is broken and disturbed. I have a very high opinion of this property ; but to prospect it successfully a long cross-cut tunnel will have to be driven at a much lower, level and solid country obtained, During the year the mill ran 214 days 18^-hours. The greater part of that time twenty head of stamps: were running, but occasionally when the supply of stone was short, we reduced it to fifteen. Appended is a tabular statement showing the returns for 1898, month by month. There is a slight falling-off in the returns from the mill of about £100 as compared with the previous year, but there is an increase of over £300 in the gold obtained from concentrates by the cyanide process, making the, total result of, the year's operations the best the company has ever had. The Glenrock Company first took an interest in this mine in 1890, and since that date to the 31st December, 1898, 18,184-J tons of quartz has been crushed for 10,110 oz. 19 dwt. melted gold, of a total value of £40,672 17s. 10d.; thus the yield of gold averages 11 dwt. 3 gr. per ton throughout the eight years' operations. The tabular statement attached shows that 185 tons of concentrates has been treated during the same period, yielding 461 oz. 0-J-dwt. melted gold, valued at £1,411 9s. Bd. The financial result of the year's operations has, on the whole, been satisfactory ; the mine has paid its way from start to finish, and remitted a sum of £18,050 to the London office. In addition to this we have spent £400 on New Plant Account, £270 on New Buildings Account, £458 on Prospecting Account, and £265 on Sunrise Account; also, on Mine-development Account, or the driving of the incline, £917- 19s.—all of which works are chargeable to capital. On Mining Account—that is, stoping pure and simple—the sum of £4,424 2s. has been spent to obtain 5,126 tons, or an average of 17s. per ton. To mill this quantity it has cost £981 14s. 9d., or an average of 3s. 7d. per ton. The total expenditure on Eevenue Account for the year, all charges, amounts to £9,009 18s. 2d., or an average of £115s. per ton. The total expenditure on the mine for the twelve months amounts to £11,322 16s. 6d., or an average of £2 4s. per ton mined and milled. 24 tons of concentrates was treated during the year, producing 142-J-oz. melted gold, which sold for £477 18s. 9d. Since the Glenrock Company first took an interest in this mine, in 1890, capital remitted from London amounts to £20,802 2s. 6d., and there has been remitted back to London during the last two years the sum of £4,150. Gold has been won during the same period, £42,084 Is. 6d., making the total expenditure on the mine £58,736 10s., of which capital has supplied £16,652 2s. 6d. A number of new huts has been erected for the use of the workmen, and the whole of the buildings,; machinery, and plant have been kept in good repair. The electric-power plant used for hauling in the mine, which was erected in October, 1895, continues to give the greatest satisfaction. On an average about forty men have been employed by the company throughout the year, though at times there were as many as sixty names on the pay-sheet. Mr. William Patton, who has recently obtained a first-class mine-manager's certificate under the 1897 Act, takes Mr. Stanford's place in charge of this property from the Ist April."