McMahon and Lee joins worldwide group

Press, 16 July 1979, Page 12

McMahon and Lee joins worldwide group

McMahon and Lee, Ltd, a firm which began more than 75 years ago as a two-man partnership refining gold in a shed in Reefton, has become part of the largest dealer in precious metals in the world — Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals Corporaticm, of the United States. Amoil, Lte, acquired the business of McMahon and Lee in 1973 from Mr J. P. Lee a grandson of the founding partner who had bought out McMahon as early as 1918. About the same time Amoil itself was taken over by Brierley Investments, Ltd. Amoil, for long the only substantial gold producer in the country, operates the Kanieri dredge which is — after an absence of some years — back to dredging in the Tarmakau River. Amoil has now sold 75 per cent of its interest in McMahon and Lee to Engelhard Industries N.Z., Ltd, a subsidiary of the huge Engelhard Company, and is retaining 25 per cent. “The ~ business of McMa-

ihon and Lee will be as usual,” said Mr A. Alexan- ■ der. the managing director of Engelhard’s N.Z. division, who visited Christchurch on Friday to meet the firm’s clients and associates. “We should be able to give even better service: dealing in precious metals is a specialised business, and Engelhards are the largest in this field.” Asked about the reason for the move, he said: ‘‘l suppose Amoil wanted to team up with the world’s experts. We are very happy to have them as partners — it is a good combination.” Engelhards does not own

or operate any metals mines — as a merchant and marketer it does not matter to it where the gold comes from.

Engelhards has offices all over the world, including Moscow and Peking — it buys tungsten from China and Russia.

The Engelhard Corporation operates in three divisions: Engelhard Industries, which is concerned with fabrication and refining, Philipp Brothers, the largest commodity dealer in the world, and Minerals and Chemicals, which is mainly a miner of clays such as Kaolin.