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Omata No. 1 well. Up to the end of the year the well had been drilled to 280 ft., and lOf in. casing had been run to 273 ft. During the time the work was in hand an average of six men was employed. Whanga Petroleum Prospecting and Development Co., Ltd. —On 22nd March this company started the drilling of a well at Aotuhia, about ten miles north-west from Whangamomona, in Whangamomona County. Up to the 15th April a depth of 454 ft. was reached. At 265 ft. fine sand was penetrated, which caused much difficulty in keeping the well open, but the driller struggled along to 454 ft., when he found it impossible, owing to the constant inrush of the sand, to get any deeper with the small 4-in. hole. The well was then reamed to take 5 in. casing, and by the 31st May it had been reamed to this size to 301 ft. By the 19th June the 5 in. casing had been run to 345 ft., but the sand still continued to give trouble, and it was found impossible to drill an open hole through it. It was then decided to run 3 in. casing inside the 5 in. By the 7th August this 3 in. casing was got down to 395 ft., and drilling was continued until the 30th August, when a depth of 640 ft. was reached. At this point another bed of fine-running sand was entered, and as it was now realized it would be impossible to reach the depth aimed at, 2,000 ft., with so small a drillhole, and as finance for enlarging the well was not available, it was decided to suspend operations. New Zealand Oil Syndicate.—During the year desultory efforts were made to carry the Prospect Valley No. 2 bore at Whangamomona on from the 1,230 ft. mark it had reached during the previous year. The work met with little success. Up to the end of the year the well had only been deepened to 1,340 ft. The failure to do any better with the well may be attributed to the extremely primitive and ineffective plant used, and it is not likely that so long as this plant is retained any progress of consequence will be made. Traces of oil and gas are said to have been got at various points. Accidents. I am pleased to be able to record once more that during the year no fatal accidents have occurred at any of the mines or quarries in the district, and there was only one accident reported as serious. This happened in the Waihi Mine, where a miner named Thomas Berry man had his left arm broken. He was working a machine drill at the time, when the column bar loosened, and a piece of wooden blocking fell from the top of it, striking him on the arm and fracturing it. WEST COAST INSPECTION DISTRICT (E. J. Scoble, Inspector of Mines). Quartz-mining. Marlborough District. Dominion Consolidated Mine (Mr. R. W. Fisher, Manager).—Eight men employed. Work at this mine was intermittent, on account of inadequate water-supplies during the early part of the year, and ceased altogether in June, as values recovered from the stone exploited were proved to have fallen below paying-point. Development work carried out for the period consists of the following : No. 3 level was advanced 64 ft. north in country the full distance. The Intermediate level was extended 45 ft., all on quartz wider than the drive, values low. The mill crushed and treated some 780 tons of ore for a yield of 141 oz. 2 dwt. gold, worth £528 9s. 4d. Recoveries were obtained by amalgamation alone, no equipment being provided for the process of cyanidation. An Ingersoll Rand petroldriven air-compressor (capacity, 120 cubic feet of free air per minute) was installed to make up for the deficiency in water-supplies. The machine is rated to work two rock-drills at a pressure of 90 lb. When operated it gave entire satisfaction. Reefton District. Blackwater Mine (R. A. Stewart, Manager).—This mine continued active operations during the year, the average number of men employed being 170. The ore reserve amounted to some 84,660 tons (non-inclusive of ore in pillars) at the end of December, with values of 9-60 dwt. This estimate, compared with the previous corresponding period, shows an increase of 11,160 milling tons of ore, also a slight rise in values (0-09 dwt.) over those formerly obtaining Development work has occurred as follows : — Driving : No. 6J level was extended south (on fault line) on the 220 ft. line of reef for a distance of 57| ft., but failed to disclose anything of importance. No. 7 level was extended 93J ft. beyond the known reef, but driving was discontinued at the point mentioned, notwithstanding that the country traversed had a most promising appearance. A crosscut was laid off from this level with the object of reaching a point vertically under the Prohibition shaft, as it is intended to ultimately sink the latter down to and below No. 7. The crosscut has been advanced 91£ ft., but a further 25 ft. requires to be driven before the objective is reached. No. 8 level was extended-for 1 ft., mainly through blank or faulted country, which same separates the main reef from the Prohibition block. The block referred to remains to be located. No. 9 level was extended a distance of 145Jft., all on reef averaging 13-13 dwt. over an average width of 31 in. Approximately 55 ft. of additional driving is expected here before the fault connecting with the Prohibition block is reached. The whole of the estimated ore on this level, 15,195 tons, is confined to the last 500 ft. of drive. No. 10 level: The progress here was 419 ft., of which 381 ft,. exposed reef worth 13-16 dwt., the average width being 25 in. Stoping on this block north and south of rise 1,400 north was discontinued at 55 ft. below No. 9 level, as the reef at that point proved to be unpayable. No. 11 level south : The total distance driven was 127ift., of which 58 ft. exposed reef worth 22-13 dwt., the average width being 17 in. Driving was discontinued at a total distance of ft., as the southern extremity of the known reef had been reached. No. 11 level north : The total distance driven was 812J ft., of which 345 ft. exposed reef worth 13-1 dwt., with an average width of 31 in. The most important development on this level consisted of the opening-up of Hughes' block over a length of 305 ft., with values at 13-43 dwt., and an average width of 36 in. The block mentioned shows an increased length as compared with the corresponding block on No. 10 level. In the next block ahead winze 700 north is down to a depth of 50 ft. on reef worth 14-86 dwt., with an average width of 39 in. Rising : The total amount of rising done for the year amounts to 314Jft., of which 249 i ft. exposed reef worth 16-41 dwt., with widths averaging 37J in. Winzing : The total amount of winzing was 510f ft., of which 441 ft. were on reef worth 15-13 dwt., with a width averaging 29-4 in. The total footage of driving was 1,886 ft., of which 986 Aft., or 52 per cent., was on reef. This proportion is low, and is accounted for by the extra driving done (prospecting) on Nos. 6i and 7 levels, and also the blank encountered on No. 11 level north. Crosscutting in all amounted to 187Jft. It should be noted that the whole of the ore reserves, those below No. 10 level excepted, are now confined to the north end of the mine, with the result that underground transport has become an expensive item. The consequent limitation of trucking roads has made it difficult to maintain output also. Provision is being made for deepening the Prohibition shaft in the first place, and afterwards introducing either horse or motor transport underground so as to overcome the difficulties referred to. The battery crushed 41,112 tons of ore for a yield of 17,781 oz. 9 dwt. gold, of which 14,135 oz. 2 dwt. were obtained by amalgamation and 3,646 oz. 7 dwt. by cyanidation and the treatment of concentrates, the value of the whole recovery being £70,094 os. Id. As the quantity of ore crushed was greater than that of the previous year by 3,368 tons, and the total value shows an increase of £5,699 17s. lid. for the same period, it appears that a slight increase in values has occurred. Alexander Mine. —Development work for the period has been confined to the Bull, McVicar, and McKay sections. Stoping has been chiefly carried out on the Bull and McVicar blocks, but the completion of the tram-line (referred to in last report) to the north end of the property in November enabled a small tonnage of ore to be drawn from the

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