NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 18, 22 January 1897, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

{FBOH OOK SPECIAL COKKESPONDENT.)

London, December 11. The tale of the past week in connection witb New Zealand mining; is soon told. Then hare been no new companies placed before the public, there are no new registrations to chronicle.and nothing of importance has tranepired in the market). Prices have been fairly steady on the whole, the advances and slips back day by day being unimportant;. The most active shares have beea Consolidated Goldfielda (which have been freely bought up to 3J), Arohas, Waitekanris and New Zealand Crowns, bub in no caao has an advance worth crowing about been registered. The irresponsible gossips of the city are chiefly concerning thomselves just now with the affairs of the Waihi-Silverbon mine. The price dropped to 10* and 15a yesterday from 17s 6d and £1, bub bhc latest) available quotation shown a slightly improved tone, tha price at one o'clock coining over the tape at 15s to 17s 6d. .

NEW ZEALAND JOINT STOCK. ! Tho first ordinary general meeting of the 11 New Zealand Joint Stock " was held on Monday, under the presidency of Mr A. W, Biggs, who gave the shareholders a clear and straightforward account of the present position of the company. He said, ' "The company was registered early in Augusb, since which time 100,000 shares have been applied for and duly allotted. Upon these, 10s per share has been called up, giving us a working capital of £50,000. i Thero is still a liability upon these shares of 10s per share, bub we do pob * intend to call up this amount, as we think '. it is in the interests of the company to keep , ife in a sort of final reserve. Ib is also our intention aa we make profits to carry a large proportion of them to a reserve fund, .co that as these accumulate year after year 1 there will be less chance of this uncalled c capital boing called up. The company, as 1 told you, was incorporated in August, and, as we all know, business in August ' and September generally is very quiet, and i this year was no exception to the rule— !in fact, to call ib quieb would be very • complimentary to ib. The trouble in 1 the East, the uncertainty as to i the election of President in America, . all caeb a gloom over the market until 1 practically the end of October. There \ fore, we did but little business until rets cently. Since then I think we have made » up for losb time. We have now several pieces ot business in hand, which as far as we can see, are likely to result in very large profits to tho Company. This Company was incorporated, as you may remember, with the object, mainly, of doing bu&ineßß .in Nsw Zealand properties. New Zealand r is rich in minerals, and ib is likely to j become one of the most profitable goldproducing countries. This Company has special facilities for.ielecting and acquiring t properties out there, and at the present time we are in treaty for a large area, : which if we succeed in getting will prove 1 a very valuable acquisition to the company. We have already acquired an interest in - two properties, tho prospects of which ore ■ very promising. One of these we , have already practically disposed of, and it will give us a satisfactory profit. I expect we shall receive it early in the new year, Not to have all our egg» in one baskei', we have taken a large interest) in tha Northern Territories scheme. As thia matter is still in progress of development, ib would be unwise for ma to give you any details, but I may tell you that the terms arranged are quite satisfactory to your Board. Facts are always moro satisfactory than probabilities; nevertheless, wißhouO being too^anguino,-.1 .think 1 may aaeuro you that us.less matters fail entirely bo go as we expect, wa have already earned for you a very bamJaoiae profit. (Applause.) As soon as these masters now in train are finally completed, I think we shall feel justified in declaring an interim dividend. Do not run away with the idea that we in this company are going fco divide profits up to the hilt, for that is nob our intention. We hope to make this a stoady dividend-paying enterprise, year in and year oub. In order to do this we shall, ac we make profits, whilst giving our shareholders reasonable dividends, accumulate a reserve and also a dividend reserve fund, so aa to equalise our profits in dull times,which in the long run will be to the interests of all concerned." NEW HAURAKI GOLD PROPERTIES. On the same day the annual genaral meeting of the New Hauraki Gold Properties occurred, over which Mr Henry Wilson presided. He was commendably brief in Ifiis speech upon the report and accounts, and the following is an outline thereof. The Chairman, after expressing regret at the loss of Colonel G. C. Thomson, said :— " In the statement of accounts you will observe tbattheexpenditure, especially in New Zealand.haa been very considerable. That is common to all mining properties during the first twelve months of existence, bus I think on investigating tohe various items you will see that they were all necessary with a view of laying opeji thia large block of mining property and testing it thoroughly from end to e»d and in depth. We still have a considerable balance in our hands tor working capital, and as far as we are capable of judging an present, it will be quite sufficient) fop nil our purposes until this mine is brought) into a paying condition. We have at present £13,000 deposited with our bankers, earning 2^ per cent, and we have the 160,000 sbsrea of the Success Goldmining Company whick We will hold until better times come when we may dispose of them at a premium. To thoroughly prove and develop a company of, the extent of the New Hauraki requires a ljirgo expenditure of money as well as an expenditure of time .ajjd in all a considerable exercisei of patience. policy that is being pursued ia a. policy of progress which has for its obiacb the opening up of the mine thoroughly and nob feo pick the eyes out of any parb of the mine before ib in thoroughly developed. A bold policy of that description necessitates a good deal of delay and an enormous amount of work. Captain Hodge is laying open the mino thoroughly from end to end, and although up to bhe present time the results of his operations have been most disappointing, etill ib is well to bear in mind that you eannob possibly treat a mining property as ib ought to be if you are merely to halt aba particular point oi abandon one which at the present moment hapipens to be poor. Yon must progress with your developments in accordance with the original intentions and carry them out right manfully. Seeing tho management of your property is under a man who has gained notoriety for his experience, energy and probity, you may rest assured that your mine will be in a thorough and minor-like manner. Our property is almost too large to be treated in the form of one mining area and it is jusb possible that the time may come when we shall find it advantageous to dispose of a portion of it. In point of face we have been approached already, but tha $ negotiations were not of a very satisfactory nature, and for the present tbab is ~ abandoned. As the property becomes developed you may depend upon it that £ there are numbers of people both here and . in the colonies who are perfectly ready to „ appreciate the known wealth in the .. lokatea. On the whole, although you may £ be disappointed, we are not. We are £ >atisfied thab the original method of „ ieveiopmenb as determined on after •oneultatioh with Captain Hodge p ias been faithfully carried oub by lira, and we propose to continue hat method of development, and we can * inly hope thab if nob at all .the points, afcl

least ab tome points, success will a"e°d our efforts." The Chairmantconcluded by moving the adoption of the report and accounts. .. „, Mr F. G. Lane seconded bhe motion, ana said the Chairman had omitted to mention thab the company had acquired at no cost to itsolf a piece of leasehold ground extending to over 14 acres, to the west of their property. The directors considered it a property of great value. Although they were unsuccessful in findiDg gold at the intersection of the South Tokatea reef, still, there was no cause for disappointmoat: Aa regarded the working of tha property, they had natuial facilities and advances thab scarcely any other property in the district had. Their agent was positive of success, and their development showed clearly that they had prospects second to no other mine in the district which was not ab present returning ore. , After a brief discusnon the report and accounts wers adopted, and the proceedings closed with a vote of thenke to the chairman and directors. ~ GOLDEN PAH. "* >: Mr Wilson next pub in half an hour as Chairman of the statutory meeting of the Golden Pah Company. He had not; much to tell the shareholders anenb bhe davelopment of the mine, beyond wbab had already appeared in the newspapers. Having givan bhia he eaid: —•' You mueb give us a little bima to pursue development work and exercise a little patience before you can expecb anything like substantial returns. Meanwhile, the indications are now such tbab you need not have tho slightest) doubt that you are in possession of a property maybe to the same extent as the parent company, the Hauraki. I would not venture to prophesy it will be equal to that, but ab all events we know thab there are five distinct lodes running through this property, and that two of these lodes have exactly the same bearing as the principal main lodes on the Hauraki, which is so far satisfactory, The capital of the Company was fully subscribed, and the working capital baa been secured, viz., that of 50,000 shares." A shareholder: As moab of us are shareholders in the parent Company as well as in the Golden Pah, we should very much like to know whab you propose bo do with the profits made by the disposal of the area of the Golden Pah Company. The Chairman : It is a little premature to talk about) the diviuion of profits yet, though profits will be obtained undoubtedly by the disposal of the shares that we hold. These profits will be divisible, and you may take it irom me that the profits will be participated in by the present shareholders of the Company. The profits ot course will not belong to thti Golden Pah, but to the Hauraki. I hope before we have another meeting matters will have progressed to such an extent as to at least enable me to soy something even more cheerful and cheering than I have done today. A cordial vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings.