A GOLD MINE'S LIFE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 2, 2 July 1926, Page 8

A GOLD MINE'S LIFE

WAIHI'S FUTURE

SOME CONTRACTION OF ORE

RESERVES

CANDID STATEMENT OF THE

DIRECTORS.

The life of a big low-grade gold mine depends upon its payable ore reserves. If development work discloses wiimabls ore roscrves that will be payable after meeting developmental and other mining costs, the life of the mine is proportionately prolonged. The Waihi Gold Mining Company divides its ascertained oro reserves into two groups: (1) Ore reserves in general account, being ore which, it is hoped, will b?, recoverable in the ordinary course of mining; (2; ore reserves in.suspense account, being ore "which could not be won in tho ordinary course of mining, but which might be won as time went on, though most of it wou require considerably increased expenditure, and some of it would never bo won at all." "GENERAL" AND "SUSPENSE" ORES. The quoted words are taken direct from the speech made at the company's annual meeting in London by the chairman of directors, Mr. A. M. Mitchinson, as reported by the London correspondent of "The Post." It is clear from the terminology that some of tho ore reserves in general account may be lost, and that some of the reserves in suspense account will never be won. As further development proves the winnableness of suspense ores, these are added to the general account ores. For instance, the total tonnajje (wet weight) of ore in the general account reserves at the beginning of 1925 was 448,948 and it was added to by 20,627 tons of suspense account ores that became available for working in the ordinary course of mining, and were transferred to the general account; but, on the other hand, 26,943 tons of ;general account ore "had to be written off owing to stopping blocks becoming unworkable on account of walls breaking in, or to the blocks becoming unpayable on account of exceptionally low-grade ore bein;; found in the centre." At the beginning of 1925 the general account ore reserves totalled 448,----948 tons, of an average value of 33s 7d a ton; suspense account, 259,143 tons, average, value 35s 2d a ton. During tho year 204,905 tons of new ore were developed and placed to the general account. Against that, '-o tonnage crushed at the mill during the year was 215,418 tons (dry Weight), which is, equivalent to 231,267 tons (wet weight), so that, after deducting 441 tons taken from ore "at grass," the general account reserves were reduced by 230,826 ■ wot tons. Allowing for tho give-and-take mentioned in the preceding paragraph? the ore reserves in general account totalled at the end of 1925 416,771 tons, a decrease in the year of 32,177 tons. REDUCTION 0F o 97,111 TONS. The suspense account reserves suffered a bigger contraction (64,934 tons), partly duo to the transfer to general account mentioned above, but mostly due to the writing off of 44,307 tons that were found to be unworkable at a profit.. So the total reduction of reserves at the end of 1925 was 97,111 tons (general account 32,177 tons, suspense account 64,934 tons). But the mine assay value of the general account reserve.stood at 34s 7d, a shilling higher than at the end of 1924. Gold and silver during the year realised £368,717, which is £24,144 less than during the preceding year, but that decrease was entirely due to a fall in the prices of gold and silver— a factor beyond the company's control. The matter of concern, said the ehajrman, was the ore reserves. He quoted the following remarks by the company's superintendent, Mr. E. G. Banks: — "In considering the statement of the reserves it should be noted that any important reduction :in the yearly tonnage treated would almost certainly result in an increase in the working cost per ton. Every effort is being made to discover new blocks of payable ore,' and with some success up to the present, but the undeveloped areas which are at all likely to produce good results have beeu considerably reduced" during the last few years, thus making the task of maintainin.'j; the ore re-serve-an increasingly dflScult one." UNSATISFACTORY LOWEST LEVEL In view of these important observations, continued the chairman, and having regard to the circumstances, it ■was clear that the efforts to discover new blocks of payable ore must be continued and increased, and lateral exploration must bo pushed on in an increasing scale, especially as the developments on the fifteenth level had been so unsatisfactory that they did not feel justified in expending money in sinking deeper and opening up another level unless something better was found in the lowest workings which were now being explored. ( The chairman explained what had been done at tho mine in the way of lateral exploration, and said that he was sure that the New Zealand representatives were fully alive to the necessity of this work. Ho mentioned that an outside mining expert had been invited to go over ( the mine and works and report if there were any improvements or economies which he thought could be effected! After visiting tho mine four times and staying a fortnight on each occasion this expert had not been able to suggest anything for the reduction of costs. "Of course," said the chairman, "we should have been very glad if Mr. Stansfield could have suggested any economies, but on the other hand it is gratifying to havo his endorsement of our belief that the work is being so well done, though we hope that our own officials will be able to improve it still further. On the whole we regard Mr. Stansfield's report as a good, useful, straightforward report, and the views expressed as to prospects are valuable as coming from a gentleman with long practical experience. We regard these views as less favourable than those of Mr. Morgan, the Government Geologist, which were circulated last year, and probably our own views como somewhere between the* two." It would bo noticed that tho capital account stood at £247,953 10s —for the repayment of 5s per share could not be made during 1925. It had-sinco been effected, and tho capital account at the present moment was £123,976 15s. In order to provide funds for tho repayment it had, of course, beon necessary to sell a portion of the investments in London, and they would show a considerable reduction in next year's balancesheet. OIL BORING. An influential body of men connected with mining in Australia had acquired rights for boring for oil in New Zealand both at Taranaki and at Poverty Bay, near Gisborne, and they employed the services of an . oil expert from America of great repute. Ho thought favourably of tho possibilities at Taranaki, but deemed the prospects at Poverty Bay to be much better. The Waihi Company had taken an interest, though a very small one, in tho vonture. The whole amount they had at stake was under £1000, but if tho

developments hoped for at Poverty Bay should materialise they might increase their interest considerably. Tho company had £5000 in tho Anglo-Canadian Explorers Company. This company had boon doing a good deal of work in the Manitoba district near to the Ontario boundary, and in particular were developing a property termed tho Kitchener property. Details of some of the work had been described recently by the chairman of an IndiMi mining company which had a very largo holding in the Anglo-Canadian Explorers, and he said that at a depth of 125 feet the lode had been driven on for a length of 600 feet, and that tho quartz had averaged 11 dwts per ton for a width of some four feet. The chairman then moved the adoption of the report and accounts. A CBITIOAL SHAREHOLDER. A shareholder, speaking on the motion, said that the report emphasised what was quite clear —that there was no future for the gold mining industry in the Southern Hemisphere. He thought they ought, to push on with as much energy as possible to get out of the mine what gold was in sight and not look forward to prolonging the life of tho mine. He had no sympathy with the policy of extending their interests to oil boring, and he thought the money invested by the company might very well be returned to shareholders, who could use it more profitably than the company. The chairman said that the remarks of the shareholder would have the careful consideration of tho directors. Ho did not think the time had arrived yet for closing down' the mine. The chairman's remark was heartily supported, by the majority of shareholders present. The resolution was carried. In moving a'vote of thanks to the directors and the staff in Now Zealand a shareholder stated that .ie was satisfied that the largo majority of shareholders were perfectly content to leave matters, in the hands of -.he directors.