24 W. H. WARREN. 
accounted for by the disastrous strike in Broken Hill. The total 
value of minerals produced in the Colony up to the end of 1892 
is £98,842,779. 
Diamond Drills.—The demand for diamond drills was not nearly 
so great in 1892 as in previous years, yet the aggregate depth 
bored was four thousand one hundred and thirty-nine feet at a 
cost of 16s. 10;%d. per foot. 
The Government Geologist, Mr. Pittman, has furnished a valu- 
able report on the geological occurrence of the Broken Hill ore- 
deposits, in which he shows the geological formation and origin of 
the Broken Hill lode and the saddle reefs of Bendigo appear to be 
analogous in several important respects, and that if this analogy 
hold, the eastern and western legs of the Broken Hill lode may 
be expected to thin out in depth. Also that there is a possibility 
of other similarly shaped lodes being found more or less vertically 
underneath the Broken Hill lode, which might be tested by putting 
down diamond drill bores through the cap of what is locally known 
as the “intrusion.” Another report of Mr. Pittman’s gives some 
interesting facts and figures on the mode of manufacture and 
quality of coke made in New South Wales, which shows :—l. 
That there is room for material improvement in the manufacture 
of colonial coke, both in the direction of reducing the ash, and 
increasing the density or capacity for resisting pressure, and these 
improvements can best be achieved by a more perfect system of 
coal washing, and by the use of a more modern type of coke oven. 
2. That some of the cokes at present manufactured in New South 
Wales are nearly equal (as regards ash), to the average of the 
imported cokes in use at the Broken Hill smelting works. 3. 
That several of the cokes at present manufactured in New South 
Wales are superior (as regards percentage of ash), to some of the 
imported cokes in use at Broken Hill. 4. That in regard to 
strength or capacity for resisting pressure, the cokes manufactured 
in New South Wales are superior to some of the imported cokes 
at present in use at Broken Hill. 
