THE TALISMAN CONSOLIDATED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 21, 25 January 1901, Page 3

THE TALISMAN CONSOLIDATED.

According to those who aye presumed to know there's a good time coming- for the shareholders of the Talisman Consolidated. Speaking at a | meeting- held last week for the purI pose of giving1 the proprietors some idea of the nature and extent of their property, the work that has been done thereon, and the work that it is proposed to do, Mr W. J. Turner, after generalising- upon the extraordinary economical conditions this company enjoyed in the matter of mining, said ■that four months had already elapsed since the very large tonnages of ore which the Chairman had reported to them were ascertained by the general manager, and that four months more would elapse before the 70-stamp mill was in operation. That gave them eight months of development work before crushing was started. It was rather difficult to realise what that eight months meant. They had already heard that the reef got wider and wider in each level, and therefore it followed that each succeeding level pointed to a larger quantity of ore ■than the preceding one. Afore important than that was the fact that on the other side of the hill, in the property originally held by the Talisman Consolidated, the ground was still practically untouched, and ihe manager told "them that after the end of this mouth he would be able to open up ore there very much faster than he had been able to do hitherto. There were also other points at which development would be undertaken so that he was sure it was no exaggeration to say that by the time their 70----stamp mill was running there would be certainly 200,000 tons of ore proved. This brought him to his chief point. It was manifest that the development of this mine would easily outstrip the requirements of a 70-stamp mill, and the time was already in sight when they would require additional stampsThey had engine power for 100 stamps, therefore it would be a very small matter to erect another 30, which he anticipated they would have to do by this time next year. The Chairman had told them the* the manager based his calculations on 4000 tons per month from their 70----stamp mill. The exact figure was 4375 tons. The addition of 30 stamps on the same basis would bring up the crushing power to 6250 tons per month1. They had got the power and the cost of 30 additional stamps on the same basis would be quite insignificant; moreover, they had got the1 money. Therefore, he saw no reason in view of the facts which had been reported that day why by this time next year they should not be treaiting 6000 tons per month instead of 4000. Shareholders wourd be able to calculate for themselves what 6000 ton 9 per mouth of the average value of £3 per ton, and a maximum cost of treatment of £ 1 per ton, would mean.

Mr Turner's estimate of 72,000 tons at £3, minus £1, makes the mouth water, but I'm afraid 40 per cent, dividends are not to be reckoned upon from the Talisman Consolidated. The shareholders may think themselves lucky if they get steady 10 per cent.