SHAMROCK LEAD COMPANY.

Press, Volume II, Issue 8704, 29 January 1894, Page 3

SHAMROCK LEAD COMPANY.

The annual meeting of the shareholders in the Shamrock Lead Company, Limited, was held at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the rooms of the Caledonian Society. v^ Dr Stewart occupied the chair, and there was a good attendance of shareholders. The annual report, which was taken as read, was as follows :—" As the close of the year of office, during which the Directors have met with many difficulties aud some disappointments, they have much pleasure ii« laying before the shareholders the following statement of work rtone and of the future prospects of the Company:—The water .race (some 4j miies long) ia now all complete, together with the necessary fJuming, tuunelliue, &c, connecting the race with tne Totar'a river, tire ground to be worked by sluiciug and hydraulic lifts ; the mining plant is now also erected, together with gold-saving tables, races, <&c., and they have pleasure in informing the shareholders that goid-saving started in earnest ou Friday, sth January. Abqat 2>iay last it was found that the condition of our tiun.nee3 rendered necessary very considerable changes in the management aad working of the claim. At present Mi K. McGregor is managing the concern, and he has been ably aided by our Mining Engineer, Mr Rene Proust. The retiring Directors are Messrs W. Hay wood, N. B. Archer and T. Ritchie, who'are eligible for re-election. To fill extraordinary vacancies on the Directorate, which have occurred during the year, Mr George Coup, of Kaiapoi, Mr David Neave, of Sydenham, and Mr Philip Mclnroe, of Westport, have been duly nominated. The Auditor, Mr E. F. Moore, also offers himself tor re-election." ?.

The Engineer's report wa£ read, from which the following extracts are made, as ehowing the prospects of the mine:—"On the Ist November the elevfctor was started at 5 p.m., since which ~tiiji& we have sunk the elevator 29ft, 26ft of .which is barren overburden. This is in the deepest part of the paddock, for the layers rise so abruptly that 100 ft back from the elevator the overburden is only 17ft deep. This overburden is a tertiary formation of marly blue clay, intermingled with which is an enormous collection of ancient forest timber; immediately underlying this is a layer of very heavy boulder wash j carrying a little gold, but not in payable quantities. Underlying this boulder wash is a deposit of black and ruby sand, mingled with jfrne gravel; this layer carries payable gold.'* As to its thickness I can give no idea yet* as it was onlydeveloped on the morning of the 12th January. Referring to" its value, I reckon ie will run 350z of amalgam a day (twentyfour hours). The probabilities are that this layer may run richer tinder foot; a few days hence will decida this. It must be borne in mind that all this time I am sinking the elevator, consequently you cannot expect the same returns as if we were running permanent. The amount of amalgam to date is 350z 9)tyt llgr. There is, I reckon, another 16oi'to churn; thus, as the tables were started tlast Friday, this would give, for a week'# work on upper layers, about 42£oz amalgam, and considering that we are working "slow for sinking, and have such a small spread of tables, I think the result very fair." The balance-sheet, which was also taken as read, showed a balance" of £7929 13s of assets over liabilities.

The Chairman said that they had cause to congratulate themselves on the position of the Company, despite the prognostications that they could not keep the water out of the mine. They had, however, overcome these difficulties, and the Company were now saving gold, though at present only a part of the time could be devoted to this. In the meantime, until the machinery was fixed, they were working easy, not up to the full power of the plant. He was glad to be able to state fchat-Ihe believed that they would at no distant date show that their faith in the Shamrock was not unfounded. Mr McGregor ■'.•: had : at bis own expejse gone down to Otago to see some machinery which was working. He said this was the proper-jinachinery to use in the Shamrock. . Was engaged as their raining enginejßr.~to work the machinery, and assured issSwn.,that he could work the machinery successfully. He had now got down to a certain depth and had got payable gold. They had, therefore, got to this position, that the machinery was working, and that they might look forward to good results.at an early, date. As to the balance-sheet, Mr Proust had told them that it was difficult to value the claim, and so it undoubtedly was. 'But they were «.old that the Shamrock lead wae the richest on the West Coast and that their claim was the basin of the Shamrock lead. Men had made very good gold but the ground being so rotten they were working' iv great danger; The Carmody claim was estimated to have produced £10,000 worth of gold. Now r.heir claim was admitted to be richer than Carmody's, and be estimated that in their claim there was half a million pounds worth of gold. Taking the expenses even at £100,000 they would have £400.000 to divide on their capital of £12,000. But if this were too sanguine an estimate he said that the claim was capable of producing gold to the extent of 75 per cent, on their capital. Their claim itself to-day was worth £50.000 cash. He now asked some shareholder to move the adoption of the report and. balance sheet.

Several questions were asked by the shareholders present and answered by the Chairman.

Mr Hay'den moved the adoption of the report and balance sheet. ' ' Mr McGregor seconded the motion, which was agreed to. ■■'.., ; Messrs Hayward, Archer, and T. Ritchie were re-elected as Directors.

The following were also elected as additional Directors of the Company :—Messrs G. Coop, D. Neave, and P. Mclnroe. Mr E. F. Moore, the auditor, reported very favourably on the manner iv which the books of the Company had been kept. Mr Moore was re-elected as auditor of the Company. •■ \ It was resolved that the shares held by the late MrHannibell, who died from cold contracted in the working of the claim be paid up out of the funds of the Company for the benefit ql the widow.

The Directors were authorised to pay dividends whenever _they, had sufficient funds in hand to do so.

Votes of thanks were accorded to the Mining Manager and Engineer, and a special vote of thanks was given to the Secretary, Mr L. Davies. '

The Secretary read a telegram from Mr J. J. Moynahan, Westport, stating that he had been offer a price for the whole property, and asking, for terms. Mr O'Brien said he was prepared to offer £24,000 for the propertyj' £12,000 iv cksh, and £12,000 in paid-up shares. The Chairman said that the Directors ■were not prepared to accept the offer now made, as he felt sure that for years they .would be receiving a sum per annum fnlly equal to it not exceeding the amount now offered.

Mr Hayward was of. opinion that they should hold on to the claim since they had got it up to the present condition. He had been on the claim and had seen the work done there. He was perfectly satisfied with what he had seen, and be hoped they would hold on to the claim.

A hearty vote of thanks to the Directors of the Company concluded the business of the meeting. (FROM OUR COBEESPOJTDEST.) REEFTON* January 28. The following are tne battery returns for the week : —Big River, 480oz of amalgam from 200 tons of stone ; Cumberland, 180oz of amalgam from 134 tone j Hercules, 121oz of amalgam from 62 tons; Progress, 148oz of amalgam from 120 ions ; Wealth of Nations, 107oz of amalgam from 145 tons.

Saturday's share quotations are: —Big River 13s 6d, Cumberland 4a 6d, Dillon 6d, Globe ss, Hercules 2a '■ 3d,~Keep-it-Dark Is to la 6d, Lyell Creek 2s to 2s 6d, No. 2 Dark 2s 5d to 2s lOd, Progress 133 6d, Sir C. Russell Is 8d to 2*, United Alpine 21s 6d to 235, Welcome United Is 10d, Wealth of Nations 3s-