CONSOLIDATED GOLDFIELDS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17320, 5 December 1921, Page 8

CONSOLIDATED GOLDFIELDS.

ANNUAL MEETING IN LONDON. GEXEBAI/ LABOUR SHORTAGE.- ! (FROM OTB OWK COBRESPONUENT.) LON'DOX, October 25. Sir "Weatby Porcival presided or«r tho annual meeting' of the Consolidated Goldfields of ?*ew 2realand. Oiher directors present were; —Messrs L. E&riich, A. L. Poster, Georgo A. Jones, E. T. McCarthy, and ii» Wtlfitead. * 111 presenting the report and' of the Blackwater Mines, , the chairman •tated that labour in isow Zealand waa m tho earns disorganised state as it was in other parte 01 tiio woriu. i'he result wua they wexe ■unable to suiucisnit labour t-o mainum normal viitptu oi Uio uujiv. xiic yeur ts woming hud snovvn a ioo3. On llio ctvner liana in-© mine ilsoit haa never been in a belter po&iuou. Deveiopmenta «jcbzexuely bAUfciactory, mo valuta wcic* tlie ore rebervca had bn&n well liuonand tiier*> waa eveiy oi A veiy J urge voiunia o: 010 uwaivxnj; eiopinoiii. but inasmuch as thej* could net tho necessary labour to iv, or until haa iioc been able to s-€ uny *lll- - in air«ctiou, tnoy couia ouiy iooß iorwtiid imi.rovecl coiiaiiions wiivn labour in A«w Zcai-cU came to Us seiaeu. As soon as it did tnoy would be a.t>le to inci'ojto their out-put and tiie.r protils. Mr John Cunlilia oxpreasoa tho opinion thut they had notiiing- to bo depressed about. Considering the ciic-umstaiiccs, it seemed to li mi that tne staia of th© bu.'.anc<;-sheet was much better than it rnignt huve been. Ho thought thit iht-y now ought to bs able- to look torwiud with a coosiderable amount oi tope- •, A good mine lilie the Blackwatcr, saia oil' Westby, shouid show better results than it had done. It oniy needed increased labour to restore it to the dividend-paying stag*. With labour as it waß it was very difficult to make any forecast. The directors' report showed that altogether 66 mea were lu nded at the mine, but much to the directors' disappointment an regret the majority of thec.o had proved unsuitable, and a considerable number'■hed left the employ of the company. Latest advices, however, showed that there were some signs of improvement. The balance-sheet, showed the revenue of the company during the year t 0 be; —From gold and concentrat a realised and on hand, £SB,GOV. This, together with £46 for rentß and sundry receipts, made a total gross revenue for the year oi £58,654. The expenditure in New Zealand and London on mining, milling, and 'administration and general expenses, accident and liro insurance, bullion charges, mining rents, exchange, rates in New Zealand, etc., amounted to £48,935, and £1263 for interest, leaving a balance of £3354, which, ac!d-sd to tlic amount brought forward from lest year, £12,097, gave a total of £20.451. Of this amount, £5061 had been written off for depreciation of plant, machinery, and buildings; und £6169 for development (lefs redemption), leaving a credit balance carried forward cf £9221. The estimated ore reserves at the end of the year amounted to 86,600 tona, cf an average value of B.47dwts., over a width of 53.8 inches, a decrease in tonnage of 962 tons aa compared with lapt year, and of I.B2dwts. per ton in value, with an increase in width of four inches. The working costs —mainly as the result of a further rise in w-?cs and materials—showed a further increase during the year of over Ce per ton. To b© worked at a fair profit greater labour efficiency, with a more reasonable output would have to be maintained. The development work carried out during the year amounted t& a total of 1225Jft, 00twisting of 741Jft of driving, 1704 ft of cross-cutting, and 313|ft of rising. Of the distance driven, KJlJft was on reef of on average -value of 11.79dwts. over 21.29 inches, of which 419Jft exposed payable reef of an average valuo of 12.39dwts. over a width of 15.61 inches, and 112 ft 4.95dw15., 210 ft being off i«ef. Progress Mines. From the rejjort of the Progress Mine, eaid tho chairman, it would be seen that on the advice of th© engineer ths mine had been shut down. The future of tlw mine lay in development below number 11 level. It was impossible to .make, the necessary arrangements during the past two years to enable this work to bo undertaken, and in view of that they had no alternative but to shut down the min» until conditions improved. Dr. Henderson, tie Government engineer, had recently made an. inspection of the mine below number 11 level, and. the directors looked forward to this report with much interest, because if he endorsed the opinions which had been given in that connexion by other engineers it was quite possible that some proposal might be made to shareholders for providing the necessary capital to exploit the mine in depth. That waa the only hope of the Progress. The Government had previously made an examination, and had reported favourably. They offered to make a £ for £ subsidy to the company, but the company was not in a position to take advantage of the offer. Dr. Henderson b report would shortly be sent, into the, Government, but whether the directors would bo allowed to have a copy of that report was not very clear. . , . The balanee-sheet showed that the aum 0: £11,140 was realised from gold. This amount, together with value of. concentrates realised and on hand, £1479, and sundry income (London) £493, made the total gross revenue for the year £lß,llß. The expenditure in New Zealand and London on mining, milling, bullion charges, accident and fire insurance, mining rents, interest and general administrative expenses, etc., amounted to £18,950, and the- following amounts had been written off; Development (less redemption), £/79; depreciation of plant, buildings, aerial tramway and water-race, etc., £2280; provision for interest on debentures, £16BB; a total of £4716, and leaving a debit on • the year's working- of £10,553. Consolidated Goldflelds. In presenting the report and. balance-sheet of the Consolidated Goldfleldß the chairman said that the only mining operation carried on under the Consolidated Gold-1 fields was in connexion with the Wealth 'of Nations Mine. A .serious fire occurred at this mine some time ago, and a considerable expense was incurred in re-equipping the mine. They were unable at tho tim<> they hoped to, to begin again, owing to the same conditions M "he had referred to previously^labour shortage. The Wealth of Nations had therefore been ehut down temporarily. Sir Weatby then briefly referred to the position of the other two mines the Consolidated Mines .were interested in, i.e., the Blackwater and the Progress Mines. Mr E. T. McCarthy and M r A. L. Foster were re-elected directors. In asking the shareholders to confirm the election of Mr E. "W. Spencer as a director the chairman said that Mr Spencer had been associated with the cdtapany for years as. general manager (vt Eeefton, but left the company's siervfoe to take other work. He'had always been a shareholder in the company, and they had appointed, him a director and had sent him back to New Zealand to «ce if he could help to put things right. Hs 'wsa a very ponular man in New Zealand, and the directtfrs had' er«ry confidence in him both as a fellow director and as a mining engineer. He was temporarily in charge of v the whole •undertaking, and they looked forward to bis being able to.give them very sound advi<w as lo whf.t .cotu9» th<7 should pursue. • Reports of all the companies wero adopted, and auditors were re-elected. WELLINGTON PTCTT AND HIDE MARKET. The usual Wellington sale of hides, skins, tallow, etc., was held on Friday. Dry sheep skins declined from }d to id per lb, and salted were pnvtioally neglected. Good lines ■old well. ; Prices:—Halfbred, 2£d; fine orotebred, 3d to 4d; medium coarse crossbred 2Jd to 4d; short to half wools, id to lJd-'.lambs, Jd to 3d; dead and damaged crossbred, Jd to lid; inferior and badlydamaisd, Jd to Id; pelts, Jd to dapp, salted, and green, Is 6d to 2s 7d; pelts, saited 6d to Is Sd; lambs, salted, 8d to lOd. ihere wa» good demand for sound heavyweight hides at late rates. Medium weights declined Jd to Id per lb. Yearling and calfskins .firm at late rates, Id up for best lines. Ox, heavy, 591b up, 12|d to 14Jd; ox, medium, 50-68, 6W to 7gd; ox, light, 49 and' under, &id to 7id; cut, slippy, and inferior, 3d to 9d; cow, heavy, ofilb and over, TJd; cow, medium, 42 to 54, 5d to TJA; cow, light, under 42, Gid to CJd; cut, slippy, and inferior, Id to BJd; bull, stag, W. to Sd; yearlings (lllb to 321b), GJd to 132 a; calf, superior (up to 10lb), 13id to 15id; oalf, medium good (up to lOJb), IOJd to lid; calf, damaged, Id *<» WW- . , • T Tallow—Quiet, with wry little enquiry. In casks, S& to 2Ss 6d; in tins, etc., lis to lAj 6d. Hone hair, 15<L SATURDAY'S POULTRY MARKET. Meaara J. B. Merr*h and Co. had a large entry of poultry on Saturday. There wa* a good demand for prime birds. Table chickens realised 8s 65 to 15s 3d, table ducklings 8* to 14s, hens, htavy fia 6d to lis 3d, light 2s 6d to Gs, ducks £• 6d to 10s, goslings lis to 15s, great 7s to 9s, turkeys 16s 6d to 4fia, all per pair. EGG MARKET. Good entries of eggs continue to oome forward. lb ere is a good demand for the Christmas bade, and the market has a firming tendency. Canterbury Egg Circle first grades from Monday's listings ore Is 4d, i aaoonda la Sd, duoka la 8d per dozen. 6