THE WAIHI MINE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1037, 28 January 1911, Page 6

THE WAIHI MINE.

IMPORTANT CIRCULAR, FUTURE POLICY OF THE COMPANY. PROPOSED REDUCTION IN TONNAGE. ; INTENTIONS AS TO-DIVIDENDS. (By Telegraph.—Press Assoclatton.l' •'''.' Auckland, January.27.' : - Mr. Charles Rhodes, local director of ;tho Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd., .has prepared the following important circular for tho information of share■holders:—

; : "The London directors of tho coni:pany, are.issuing on January 28 a circular . to shareholders, and havo authorised the local directors to mako a statement on the same lines as to tho future policy of tho company. In view of the numerous inquiries by shareholders they havo also'' had prepared a special report as to tho position and possible future of tho mine. This report .by tho mining engineer of the company goes beyond ordinary official statements, and expresses beliefs and possibilities as to the near futuro of the mine. It is believed that shareholders will at this .juncture bo glad to havo such an expression of tho opinion of tho New Zealand i executive, and tho directors havo therefore authorised the publication in full detail of tho said report, ;which will be found hereunder. At tho ;same time tho full text of a cablegram just received from London-regarding reports, dividends, etc., is given, which fully explains itself. Cablegram from London, The following is the translation of the cablegram:— ■; " 'Tho directors authorise you to publish tho whole of Mr. Williams's report, They think its straightforward character, will certainly inspire confidence. It has been decided, after consulting the local directors and superintendent, and in view of tho continued weakness of No. 9 level, that reduction of the tonnago to bo treated shall ho immediately commenced, so that gradually by the end of next Juno the amount crushed shall be down to 1000 tons per day. This means that an.average of about. 1250 tons per day will he treated until Juno 30. Thereafter for a period of two years at least, tho estimated fourweekly returns will bo about £46,000, equalljug. a-total of, say, £600,000 per annum. During the period of time mentioned; wo shall ,bo able'to see whether the' ore developed equals tho ore extracted. The expected monthly returns meantime will not bo sufficient to warrant moro than 2s. quarterly dividend after June,, possibly - with a small an-, nual bonus, tho first of which is not likely to bo before Juno, 1912; but in view of tho balance of revenue to bo carried forward from December 31 last, and tho higher return than £46,000' per' month, which, to the end of next June, tho ■• board of directors havo-declared a dividend of 4s. per share, payable- on March 1 next, and expect to.pay a dividend of 3s;.'per. share on Juno 1: noxt. It is ■ intended to carry out a specially vigorous development policy, and endeavour to reach No._ 12 level at a depth of 1450 ft,, hoping., by that tinio ,wo shall havo passed through tho.: poor zones of country; also .to push forward the south-east crosscut at ,1000 ft, level (known asßeptilo crosscut). . "It. is also announced in the London circular that the Horahora hydro-elec-tric jschome.is proceeding satisfactorily, and that the board considers it promises a cheap and' convenient power- which will greatly benefit the company. ' This work will.be pushed on as fast as possible."■ ■' ' ■ ,''■.•'. ■".■''■"'■-■ 0 THE REPORT. Tho following is the..report referred to: —■;;■ ■-,- ■•..'.•/'■; '■ .'"At ' the request of", Messrs. Barry arid Rhodes, I shall endeavour to place before,you ,my views.regarding the pre-, sent arid.future outlook of tho mine', which I, have been closely - connected with-for.,tho past-eight.years. .During that time .all: the-, development from: No. '6 level'downward has been directly under, my supervision; so that .1 can speak with-confidence.' In.almost every mine of this magnitudo a i separate stair 1 of samplers is employed to determine tho valuo of the ore bodies, and. on such a staff'a good deal of the. responsibility rests; but in-this mine tho management -themselves have sampled every drive, along 1 the course of tho several lodes, ; also tho crosscuts. For this reason alone wo cannot.'blame,'anyone for misleading results, and I am confident no misleading statements . havo ever, been made or sent to tho directors that, could not.bo born© out by actual results. -This work will stand investigation by any competent person. I urn trying to placo myself in the sn'mo position as if I were instructed by you to visit any mine and give my bedrock opinion, with tho additional benefit of thorough sampling and- knowledge of the mino and general conditions. This mine during tho last eight months has been under a cloud, and tho management have been blamed for not giving all tho information. In my experience . no manager is thanked to prophecy as to .the future, but must. givo as his' duty a truo statement of facts as they occur in the course of devolopnieivts, avoiding, comments open to criticism.' ■ This has been -done, and the value of each foot of ground penetrated'has been reported to and published by the' directors,, so that the publifihavchad placed before them tho actual results of all developmental work even. more fully than.l havo,known of in any other mine. "Serious Set-Back." . "Tho serious setback in tho history of this mine occurred on No. 9 level during the progress Of tho cross-cut from four, shaft to No. 6 shaft. After passing through tho Martha lodo a soft decomposed country rock was met, similar to that found near tho surface, which undoubtedly is a very bad indication tho world over. I havo noticed in tho several mining fields that I havo been connected with that where a good class of country rock is replaced by a soft, decomposed rock it is.an unfavourable sign, and it is my honest opinion that this development will not prove an exception to tho rule, although - w" are hopilig that the new level'will-gov through this barren country. Wo havo evidence that a long. stretch of poor country exists along the north side of 'the Martha. This, 1 think, has additional proof in tho -cross-cut driven north-west from tho Royal lodo'on No. 6 level, which is known as the Scorpion cross-cut, tho country rock in which is very similar, and tho viows .of quartz intersected arc very low in values. The Martha lode having been the chief bullion producer, almost half of tho tonnago for tho mills being won from this great lode, it must be apparent to you that the mino has received a serious sethack. In placo of, getting stoping blocks of ore up to 80in. in width, wo have only lin. and 20in along tho south section, with no available ore yet known 'along the north section. "The Dally Tonnage Must bo Reduced," In view of the small development of oro at No. 9 level it is quite evident to mo that in the near futuro tho daily tonnage to the mills must ho very considerably reduced. I shall endeavour to place before you several reasons for this. On tho, upper levels of the Martha, in 1 places wo havo taken the lodo out in threo sections, filling each stopo with mullock from tho surface,

leaving arches to support tho levels, and in No. 1 shaft wo arc now taking soino of tho arches away, and in consequence a slow settlement, is taking place. Therefore tho ore cannot he produced as quickly, and tho stopes eastward from No. I shaft cannot ho relied on to supply tho stipulated daily tonnage. , Tlio system of working is quite safo from a mining point of view. A level may collapse in places, which would shut off o stopo for the timo being, but tho oro could then bo won by driving levels in the footwall country and crosscuts run outwards from the lode. I claim that no huge collapse can take place, such as has occurred in some mines. Tho precaution of absolutely filling tho mino prevents this. In producing a large daily tonnage it is necessary to have a number of working faces availablo, so that tho breaking of ore can be continuous, whilst tho other jolacos aro being filled. It will bo scon that it is quite impossible' to work at the same rate of progress on, arches* or pillars. Tonnago In Sight. "At present thero aro fully 1,063,000 tons in sight, in addition to, say, 600,000 tons in tho arches! I am, quite confident this amount of ore is available. Every block has.' been carefully computed. I kriow it 'will scoin unreasonable to a largo number of people to make a statement such as mine that tho tonnage must bo reduced with such a largo reserve. I think it is a mistojie for any mine to attempt to keep up tho tonnago beyond what it can safely do. It is quite possiblp.that some 'essen-' tial point may bo neglected which might cause serious troublo. to the safo and economical working of tho mine. Tlio safety of working this mine is to a certain extent accounted for through tlio great'number of. lodes which existed, so that tho management could work tho men to advantage on those various lodes without unduly crowding tlio men in closo proximity, to each other, thus giving amplo timo. to fill tlio depleted'slopes. Unfortunately several of tho small' lodes becamo poor in depth so that to-day' tlio miiio is dependent on four lodes, i.e., tho Martha, Edward, Empire, and Royal. . Therefore a great tonnage. from each is required. I know that everyono connected with this property is anxious to keep tho mills going at their full capacity. Tlioy fully recognise that'oro locked up in any mino docs notproduco dividends. Taking all things into consideration, however, it is my definite opinion the minc'tonuago will havo to bo reduced to 1000 tons per day by December next. In making this statement I,am staking my judgment .that- developments on tho next level iwill not bo any better than tho pre-, sent No. 9 level. I am simply giving my views on tho present prospect of tho mine.' Continuing our usual high pressure work I.think wo might reasonably expect to keep up the. present ton-' nago and quality of oro during .1911, .though in my opinion it would now be wiser to gradually ease off tho tonnago sloped to be more nearly in lino with tho present truo capacity of tho mine. I havo every confidenco that good 'makes' of oro will ho found in- this mine, but I beliovo tho .oro • will bo found more and moro in lenses or bunches. I am doubtful if such long and continuous shoots of oro will bo found in tho lower levels as existed, above tlio -000 ft. level. _ It has been stated that inoro calcito is in evidence along tho 1000 ft: lovel than in tho' levels above. Taking the amount, of development into consideration there is far less. It must bo clearly understood that in the event'of good oro developments taking place. during 1911 there would bono need for a reduction in ton-' nago, and I should then gladly admit that my. expectations were wrong. In ■ this icport 1 have tried 'to place before you tho condition-.of tho mino as it appears .to nip at the present moment. Yours faithfully, " '.' '': "(Sgd.)' R.. G. Williams.''-