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Prospecting-work has been undertaken, and it is to be hoped that results will be obtained which will enable the mines to be again vigorously developed. The Komata Eeefs Mine and Mr. Hardy's mines at Waiorongomai have been successfully worked during the year. In the Thames County, the Tairua Broken Hills Mine has established a reputation for its regularity as a gold-producer, and satisfactory dividends have been earned. Similarly good prospects are entertained as to the success of mining at Neavesville, where a reef is being developed and a thirty-stamp battery and cyanide plant are being erected. At the Lower Thames, mining is being carried on at quite a number of places on a small scale; but operations now in hand for the extension of the Moanataiari Tunnel are expected to prove a considerable tract of country at a much lower level than has hitherto been attained in this portion of the goldfield. These, if so successful as anticipated, will admit of developments on a fairly large scale. Boring, with the object of testing the deeper ground in the vicinity of the Big Pump shaft, is in progress; but, owing to sundry mishaps in connection with this undertaking, no definite results have as yet been attained. At Tararu Creek and Waiomo, mining is at present at a standstill, but fresh energy characterizes the operations at Tapu, and satisfactory results are looked forward to. In the Coromandel County there are no productive mining operations on such a scale as characterizes those of the Ohinemuri district, the reefs being much smaller, and the gold, instead of being generally disseminated through the lodes, is found more in the form of " specimen" stone, usually small, but rich. Some good returns have been obtained from several of the mines; prospecting is being carried out on Tokatea Hill, and a new low-level tunnel has been commenced at the New Four-in-hand Mine. Work at Kuaotunu is principally represented by the operations of the Waitaia Mine. At Opitonui, the Kauri Freehold Gold Estates Company's mines are closed down, and the battery has been sold to the Waihi Grand Junction Gold-mining Company for removal. Quartz-mining in the Middle Island is carried on in each of the inspection districts. At Top Valley, near Blenheim, mining operations are at present practically at a standstill. Amalgamation of interests and reorganization are being undertaken. Should mining be resumed on a more comprehensive scale than formerly, it is more than probable that appliances for concentrating the scheelite (which is associated with quartz in this locality) will be adopted, as there is a demand for the mineral named. Successful operations are being carried out at Taitapu (Collingwood). At Lyell, the Alpine Extended Mine has not been very successful at the lower level owing to the irregularity of the quartz-deposits, but at the old United Italy Claim, in the same locality, some really excellent results have been attained; whilst work has also been profitably carried on at Victoria Kange and Big Eiver. The principal centre of quartz-mining in the Middle Island is at Reefton, where the Progress Mines of New Zealand (Limited), together with the parent company, the Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand (Limited), employ about five hundred persons. The Keep-it-Dark and New Inkerman Mines are also producers of gold. The owners of the last-named mines have spent large sums in development-work, and are now subjecting the ore to treatment on a commercial scale. During the year the Progress Mines of New Zealand (Limited) paid dividends amounting to £34,375, and the Keep-it-Dark Mine, which, relatively speaking, is a small concern, paid £8,750. Recent arrangements for the working of the Victoria and Inglewood Mines are likely to add to the local production of gold. In the Otago Mining District quartz-mining is not anywhere being prosecuted on a large scale, but operations are carried on at Macrae's, Barewood, Old Man Range, Macetown, and Skipper's. At Bullendale, the Achilles Mine (which has been idle for some time) has been purchased by a private party, and operations resumed by driving an adit to win quartz not worked by previous owners. The O.P.Q. Mine at Waipori is still inoperative, and mining at Preservation Inlet is practically in the same category. Some prospecting (said to give excellent indications) has been done near Newton's Beach in Stewart Island.