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At the Twelve-mile Creek, on Lake Wakatipu, Lee and party and Reid and party continue to work their respective claims. Seller and party have recently taken up a claim in the Seven-mile Creek, but so far have not done much n more than prospect the ground. These are the only claims at present being worked on Lake Wakatipu. Quartz. The Shotover Gold-mining Company are still steadily at work driving their main prospecting tunnel. The claim is under the management of Mr. Bishop, and employs on an average about eight men. At Skipper's the Mount Aurum Company, referred to in my last report as having acquired the old Achilles Mine and battery, continue to prosecute the operations therein referred to. Under the present management the property is receiving a thorough trial, and if it has in it the elements of success there is little doubt, I think, that these will be developed by the present owners to the utmost. Scheelite. This mine, situated at the Bucklerburn Creek, near the head of Lake Wakatipu, and owned by George Reid and party, is being worked. The mine has been opened up, and a battery and concentrating plant erected, and work is progressing. The quality of the ore obtained is good. There is a fair demand for the product of the mine, and the prices obtained leave a payable margin for profit. The mine has been worked under the present ownership since January, 1906. The quartz in the lode is obtained from three levels. Arrowtown and Macetown. Gold-mining about Arrowtown and Macetown has not varied much during the past year. If anything, more prospecting, particularly for quartz lodes, has been done than for some years previously. This is to be attributed to the fact that one of the quartz-mines in the neighbourhood of Macetown, worked by an English company for many years with varying success, was closed down, and the miners who had been engaged in working there, instead of seeking employment elsewhere, turned their attention to prospecting the many reefs known to exist in the Macetown district. Among others, Mr. R. Balch worked on a reef in Scanlan's Gully from which he got highly payable returns, but the lode cut out and the lead was lost. Messrs. Hamilton, O'Neill, and Mackay also took up a reef in the same gully, and are now working it. They purchased a battery from the Indian Glenrock and Premier Sunrise Company, and crushing operations are being steadily carried on. Messrs. Anderson Brothers and party are also working a reef in the same locality, and quite recently they purchased from the same company a battery situated near the Premier Mine" and known as the " Sunrise battery." They have removed it on to a site at the foot of Scanlan's Gully, and the battery is now in course of erection. As the battery will not be completed before winter it is not likely that crushing operations will be started until next spring. Other parties are also engaged prospecting for quartz lodes in this district. It may be mentioned that at Macetown there are many reefs showing on the surface yet to be developed, but the cost of working these is too great for the ordinary miner. From the head of Lake Wakatipu across the mountains to Skipper's, and thence to Macetown, there exists a belt of reefing country on which as yet comparatively little work has been done. In Rogers's Gully, at Macetown, Mr. B. Ritchie is at present prospecting for antimony, indications of a lode having been discovered in the neighbourhood —at least sufficient to warrant prospecting. At the back of MacetownMr. R. Balch has been hydraulicing a terrace, but work is at present suspended. At Eight-mile, Arrow River, Messrs. Reid Brothers are still engaged working a terrace by means of sluicing. This claim has been continuously worked for a number of years. The party owns an extensive pipe-line which provides a plentiful supply of water with good pressure. A new company was formed a short time ago to work the old Arrow Falls Claim on the Arrow River bed, about four miles distant from Arrowtown. The new company is styled " The Arrow River Sluicing Company," of which Mr. J. Ramsay is manager. The company has an inexhaustible water-supply from the Billy Creek, and sufficient hydraulic pressure to meet all requirements. Floods affect the claim at times, but not sufficient to cause any material damage or great inconvenience. Several individual miners are engaged in alluvial mining on the terraces and on the creeks of the Arrow River Gorge, and are meeting with more or less success. At Bracken's Gully, in the neighbourhood of the Crown Terrace, two parties —Stephenson and Dakers, and Soutter Brothers have been steadily engaged sluicing ground, but with what success is not*known. Recently Messrs. Feehy and Naylor Brothers have been working ground on the Crown Terrace Lead, which proved very rich some years ago. They have a good water-supply, and are able to get over a quantity of ground during the season. The past season has been drier than usual, and the water-supply on several claims consequently more or less limited ; but there are few instances, if any, where work had to be suspended through the shortage of water. A syndicate with a capital of £200 was formed in Arrowtown some months ago with the object of prospecting what is known as the Lucknow Reef, situated on the Crown Terrace. A low-level tunnel was put in a distance of over 100 ft., and the reef sunk on to a depth of 30 ft. Prospecting has been discontinued for the present. At Whitechapel Flat, once the scene of great mining activity, only a little fossicking is being done. Dredging. From the gorge where the Electric Company's dredges are at work, near Bannockburn, to the source of the Kawarau River, at Lake Wakatipu, there is only one dredge at work—the sole survivor of a fleet of dredges that some five or six years ago was launched upon this river. This dredge i? situated on a claim about fourteen miles from Cromwell and within the Lake County. It was formerly the property of the Meg and Annie Company, but was sold by them a year or two ago to a party of workingmen. Since acquiring possession, this party have successfully worked their claim. Recently, how-