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In other portions of the Coromandel district some mines have closed down, but at others, such as the Eoyal Oak at Tokatea and the Waitaia at Kuaotunu, work has been steadily prosecuted by the companies. Several properties have been worked under tribute, with varying results, and prospecting has also engaged a certain amount of attention. The Gumtown mines have not yet done much as producers. Excellent prospects have been obtained at the Big Beetle Mine, 2 tons of selected stone having been reported to show a value of something like £75 per ton. A small battery is about to be erected. The Kapowai Mine employs a few men, and a little prospecting has been undertaken in the locality of the mines mentioned. At the Welcome Jack Mine it was found that the payable stone did not live down ; operations have therefore been discontinued. Middle Island. Turning to the Middle Island, it may be noted that a little work is going on at Top Valley, some miles above Blenheim. To the south of Collingwood the operations of the Taitapu Gold Estates, Limited, and the Golden Blocks (Taitapu), Limited, represent all that is doing in that portion of the West Coast district. From these mines a yield of gold having a value of £16,852 7s. 4d. was obtained from 5,844 tons of ore. Two small properties have been worked to a limited extent near Wahnangaroa, and another up the Mokihinui Eiver ; but their united production for the year only amounted to a value of £706 4s. Bd. At Lyell the production for the year was 2,369 tons, for a gold value of £5,218 12s. 6d. As the proved extent of ore above adit level is practically exhausted, sinking has been undertaken, with the object of proving the ground at greater depth. Taking the Eeefton district as a whole, gold to the value of £188,839 15s. Id. was obtained during the year from 98,665 tons of ore, the principal producer being the Progress Mine. The foregoing figures give a district average value of rather more than £1 18s. 3d. per ton. The methods of amalgamation, concentration, cyanide treatment, and chlorination are all adopted in the general battery practice. The developments at the New Inkerman Mines prior to the erection of a modern battery plant have been carried out at a cost of something like £57,000, and a considerable area of ground has been opened up. A portion of the old battery plant has been put into repair, and concentrators and cyanide plant added. With this it is intended to thoroughly test the commercial value of the ores. Should these operations prove satisfactory, a modern mill and extraction-works will doubtless be erected, and the gold-production of the Eeefton district materially increased in the near future. It is also expected that mining on the Paparoa Eanges will soon help to swell the returns from this district. The returns from quartz-mines in the Southern district only amounted to £24,533 15s. Id. for the year. It is, however, to be remembered that no large mines are at present working, and that the Achilles Mine at Bullendale, the Cromwell Mine at Bendigo, and the O.P.Q. Mine at Waipori have been idle during the year. Efforts are being made to float several claims in the Macetown district, and if these are amalgamated into one or two concerns and worked on comprehensive lines, instead of on the small scale which has hitherto characterized quartz-mining in many places in Otago, it is quite probable that satisfactory results will be obtained. The only mine working in the locality is the Premier-Sunrise, and this, although a small mine and working under rather difficult conditions, cleared the sum of £1,200 for the year after all costs and charges were defrayed. Gold to the value of £7,025 was obtained from 2,178 tons of ore, equal to an average value of £3 4s. 6d. per ton. Barewood Mine, a property taken over by Home syndicates about six years ago, and abandoned by them before the possibilities of the ground had been fairly tested, has also been worked on a small scale, for a yield of gold for the year valued at £8,553 6s. lOd. from 2,133 tons of ore by amalgamation only, or just over £4 per ton on the average. The proved values per ton quoted are, I think, quite sufficient to cause more attention to be paid to quartz-mining in Otago than has been the case for the last few years. That investors in the district have neglected this branch.of mining for a considerable time past is no doubt largely due to the fact that the quartz-mines which gave such rich returns some years ago were working ore from near the surface, and this, being naturally oxidized, was very free milling, and the gold easily extracted by amalgamation. At greater depth oxidation ceases and the ores become refractory to some extent, necessitating a change in the method of treatment. This was found to be the case at mines which, when working oxidized quartz some years ago, yielded splendid returns. At that time the modern methods of treatment had not been perfected, and, as the alluvial fields of Otago presented considerable scope for the lucrative investment of capital, interest in quartz-mining naturally declined. It is, however, only a matter of a few years when much of the alluvial ground will be worked out, and the possibilities of the quartz reefs must again command more earnest attention. Interest is already manifesting itself in a few places, and as a result of pro-specting-work which was undertaken during the year it may be reasonably inferred that develop-ment-works will follow. Loss op Tailings. It is now well known that since the introduction of the cyanide process of extraction several mines which could not previously be made to pay, owing to the amount of gold carried away in the tailings, are now profitable concerns. It was a frequent practice to sluice away the tailings into rivers and streams, and thus place them in most cases beyond the chance of recovery. At a few places where such facilities did not exist the tailings were stacked in heaps. It is almost needless to add that upon the introduction of the cyanide.process at those batteries where stacks of tailings existed, these stacks have been, or are being, treated for the recovery of the gold they contain. Not only is this the case, but small works have recently been erected for the purpose of collecting and treating tailings from mills where the amalgamation process only was 2—C. 3.