MINING NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 16, 20 January 1910, Page 4

MINING NEWS.

GRAND JUNCTION. fBT IEMGBAPH — PBESS ASSOCIATION.] WAIHI, This Day. The drive going east on the course of the Royal reef at No. 5 level in the Grand Junction mine is being advanced in good-looking mineral ore, thus showing that the improvement recently disclosed- in the face is being maintained. The existence of nice-looking quartz goingouteast is regarded as most encouraging,- and if the run of ore lives, a good blotk - will be available for stoping in this" section of the mine. TALISMAN QUARTERLY DIVIDEND. "f he Wellington Stock Exchange has received advice from the management of the Talisman Consolidated Gold Mining Company, that a quarterly dividend of Is 6d per share has been declared, and will be payable on 25th February. NEW ZEALAND CROWN MINES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) , LONDON, 10th December. . Sir Westby B. Percival presided at the thirteenth annual ordinary general meeting of the New Zealand Crown Mines Company, held on Wednesday. In moving the adoption of the report and accounts the chairman mentioned that after making allowance for the depreciation on plant, machinei'y and buildings, and also the amount expended on mine development during the year, •' there was a loss on the year's working of £5827, which absorbed the whole of the credit carried forward from last year and left a debit of £1253 with which to begin the next year. This year the directors had only written off 5 per cent, from plant and machinery for the reason that it had been laid up and therefore subjected to no wear and tear. A.sum of £262 had been written off ; it represented the loss on the sale of £10,000 Transvaal Government Stock which the company held as an investment, and had to realise during the year. For very nearly the whole of the year covered by the accounts, development work in the mine' as well as work at the mill, had been suspended, pending the erection of the new plant required to work the . lower levels. They had been led to hope that during the process of installing the new plant they rould have continued to work the upper levels of the mine, and so earn sufficient- from the mill to pay current expenses. But it was found that the values in the upper levels were too uncertain to permit of the mill being- run at a profit, and therefore the directors had suspended milling operations altogether until the new plant could be got to work. The new plant was now completed and ready for work, and was considered to be highly efficient. The water has already been pumped from the mine down to the No. 5 level, > and during the last three or four weeks work had been resumed there, and the mill had already been restarted during the current month, -but was not yet running full time. It would soon be possible to judge whether the venture would meet with the looked-for. reward. Whatever the result might be, nothing, else could possibly have been done. The directors -would have preferred to have first proved the quantity of pay ore so that they might have been perfectly sure that there was suffi- | cient of it to justify the expenditure 'involved for the new machinery, but it was not possible to do this owing to ■ water, and consequently a certain amount of risk had to be taken. The position now was one of great interest, and although the modern mine properly conducted was worked when possible on lines which left little to chance, yet in their "case they had to take some risk and lay down their' machinery without knowing as much as they would have liked to know about [ the value of the ground they were about to work. The new plant was, the chairman believed, complete of its kind, and the first hydro-electric power plant in New Zealand. It was to be worked by water, supplemtented by a steam plant wher water was insufficient. Mr. Cutcliffe remarked that it would be of interest to know what the present position was, and whether the board felt perfectly secure in their own minds that everything would be carried through with the money they had in hand. Replying to Mr. Cutcliffe, the chairman said he had expressed what was in the minds of all concerned — namely, the length of time that the work had taken to carry out. With reference to the actual cash resources, they had so far paid their way. The plant was practically all paid for, but arrangements had been made with jtheir bankers so as to' enable them to Tide over the intervening period until the mil was working. Mr. Daw knew that the | directors were anxious that the mill should be quickly restarted. He assured the shareholders that so far as the finances would permit, the wo:k would be pushed on with the utmost despatch. [ The report and balance-sheet were I adopted.