GRAND JUNCTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1936, Page 4

GRAND JUNCTION.

!: ANNUAL MEETING HELD. V d I MINE AGREEMENT RENEWED. FUTURE PROSPECTS DISCUSSED. (By Air Mail.) (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, May 30. [ At the annual meeting of the Waihi 0 Grand Junction Gold Co., held in London, t the chairman, Mr. W. P. Gauvain, 1 reported that the working agreement ' between that company and the Martha .' Co., which terminated next July, had been renewed jior a period of 10 years. f , Air. Gauvain said that the total tonnage treated to the end of 1935 amounted to 214,702 tons and realised £450,652. The / resulting profit amounted to £150,279 and s was divided ecjually between the two ,• companies. Since 1020 there had been ■j a great improvement in the company's j financial position. During the period the agreement bad been in operation the dividends paid, free of income tax, amounted to £44,890. Prior to the agreement the • company had been operating at a Joss and there then appeared lio possibility ' of carrying on mining operations with 1 any chance of success. • Last Year's Operations. : After reviewing the accounts, the eh.iir--1 man said that for the current year up to : May 9, 1936, 9256 tons of ore had been ; treated for a return at mine valuation ' of £10,983. For the corresponding period in 1935 the tonnage treated was 8181 tons, i for a mine valuation of £9029. The reduction in the heading value of ore treated was referred to by Mr. ! Gauvain, who said that should this eon- ' tinuc it would not be possible, with the continuous rise in costs, to maintain the • rate of dividend, 4d a share, which had been declared for the past six years. ! During the past year development woik carried out had exceeded that done in 1934 by more than 1000 ft, resulting in an increase in the ore reserves of 2500 tons, ' notwithstanding the fact that a sligjttiy j greater tonnage had been treated. On the other band, there bad been a reduction of I lOd a ton in tin; value of the reserves. There were blocks of low grade ore which could be treated at a small profit were it not for the export tax on gold. Treatment of low grade ore,'made possible by a remission of the export tax, would lie less advantageous to the Junction Co. than to most of the other mining companies because the company was sharing any profits with the Martha Co., but it still remained of paramount importance to the community. It was to be hoped that the present New Zealand Government would view the position in a more broadminded manner than its predecessor. Tin Dredging in Siam. Referring to the company's investments in Puket Tin Dredging, Ltd., Siam, the chairman said the dredge on this property had been in operation for a full year. Although the annual report for 1935 was not yet to band the published returns showed that the working mine profit for the year amounted to about £30,000. Difficulties inherent in the starting of a new property were encountered, but the results so far obtained indicated that prospects were favourable.