EXTENDED WAKATU GOLD MINING COMPANY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 280, 1 November 1889, Page 3

EXTENDED WAKATU GOLD MINING COMPANY.

The baH-yaarly meeting of shareholders of I the above Company was hela ia the offlae of I the manager (Mr S. Reeves,), yesterdny ■ovening, whqn a lnrge number of Bhore*< holders were present. Mr Pell, who was voted to the chair, stated that 9347 shares I were represented, and as 8000 wore necessary I to constitute a legal meeting, hedeolared the I meeting daly constituted, and called on Mr Hee?ea to read The DiRECtOBS' Repobt. Gentlemen, — We beg to submit to yon our teport on the operations of the Company sines we took office in April last. I At that time Mr Harris, the Mine Manager, 1 was ptospeoting on the Bulwer Greek part of the lease, and two men were sinking on the stone in No. 2 Wakatu level. Harris' method 1 ol piospeoting the mine net proving eatiafac- I tory, we decided to dispense with his services. I This was done, and Brennan, who had charge I of the sinking in No. 2 level, was appointed j in his staad as Mine Manager. ' I An exhaustive report from our Mino Manager, on the works carried out in the mine I since his appointment, is subjoinod, and renders it unnecessary for us to go much into I details on this subject. 1 ' The coarse of the reef referred to in his re- I 'l port being north and eonth, it was apparent I v that a short distance would take it out of our I lv ground, an.d we deemed it advisable to apply I | for a special claim of 30 aores over tbs ground h lormerly held by the Golden Hill Company. I; It will be seen from the Mine Manager'^ i teport thai to systematically work the reaf i now being opened up, a good deal of worfchaa 1 • ' yet to be done. In the first place, an uprise 1/ to the surface is retired, the height of which $•■ - would probably be 150 feet, and would cost §?■ about 87a 6d p« foot for rising.- The total cost of this work, therefore, would be about ':% dB2BO. The next necessary work would be a i ; ; tunnel of about 70 feet to the surface, and H ; this, at the rate of 27s per foot for driving, P- would moan a total cost of £95. The other \ ;"' necessary works to put the mine and bjattery V" in thorough working order would be, repair i ■ to water raoe, aerial tram and battery about V: £$&, soaking a total expenditure si £425.

We think it advisable, however, before I these works are taken in hand {to have a i trial washing of 200 or 300 tona of ston J to ascertain its value, and Bhould this prove j satisfactory, the works can then fbe under- J taken. I While speaking of the value of the stone I we may Bay that a fair sample from the j reef was was sent to the Geological Depart- j ment in Wellington, for assay, and yielded I at the rate of within a fraction of 18 dwts J per ton. No bismuth, or any trace of it I was found in the stone, and the absence of I this metal should greatly facilitate the saving I of the gold. j An assay was made of the same stone by j an expert in Nelson, and the return was I over 2oz per ton. These assays in our I opinion only prove the stone ,to be gold- I bearing, and cannot be taken as an indication I of what the stone iB really worth, and which j can only be ascertained by crushing a quan- I tity. If re-elected it is the intention of one or j two of the Dixeotora to visit the mine immed- j iately after the half-yearly meeting, to make I arrangements for a trial crushing of 200 or J 300 tons of stone. Every care will be taken J ' in getting thoroughly experienced and reliable I men in the battery, so that, the saving of the I gold may be properly attended to. j ' With reference to the financial position of j the Company, the Directors are pleased to be j ' abla to eiate that it is more satisfactory than j. when they last reported. Over 2000 shares j whioh were held by persons totally unable to j pay the calls, and jn which a considerable j ' amount of calls had accumulated were sold I by auotion laßt week, and are now held by j shareholders able to pay, thus bringing tne j number of contributing shares up to 17009. I It has nob been possible to pay muoh off the J bittery aocount, during the past term, owing j to the increased working expenses during the I last three months. We hope, however, when the batiery gets to work that this account will soon be paid off. The other liabilities are ordinary current expenses wages, &o. In conclusion the Directors consider they may fairly congratulate shareholders on the improved prospects of their mine, whioh now seems to have a reasonable chance of becoming a paying property, We are Gentlemen, Tour obedient servants, Ohablbs Y. Fill, B. Atmoee, H. Merbiok, Peter Cookh. Mr Beeves then read Thb Manager's Refobt. Gentlemen,— l bog to submit the following report on the work done in your mine from 7th of June np to dute, The work I was engaged upon at the time I took charge of the mine was the sinking of winze on No 2 reef, south of No 2 main level, which I extended a distance of ID feet making a total of 45 feet of sinking and driving on the stone in the winze. I was obliged to abandon this part of the mine owing to the influx of water. I may state that the stone worked upen here was superior in quality to anything I had previously seen in the mine. I drove 40 feet on a leader, about six inches wide, going north from No 2 level, the prospects being good up to that distance. The leader pinohed out here in the' hard ground. I drove 15 feet further through blank ground, when I struck the reef we are now working on, and I drove 5 feat through the reef before reaching the foot wall. The stone where we struck it was of a bluish colour, and heavily charged with minerals. It was also gold bearing, as I got gold in the drillings of the first hole we bored. The reef is in dry solid country, with a strong northerly strike and an easterly underlie. I reported the disoovery to the Directors, after whioh I reoeived instructions to put on three shifts of men to prove the reef. Since then there has been 78 feet driven on the reef in the north end, the stone varying in i thiokness from 5 feet to 18 inches, and in some places prospecting remarkably well. The foot wall all along this end was hard and well defined. I had to stop the work here owing to the insufficiency of air. There has beea 26 feet driven on the reef in the south end, the stone looking remarkably well, being 3 feet solid, and good prosspects obtainable. The reef in this end has altered its course from pouth to west southwest, and consequently it is likely to continue on longer than we at first expeoted it to do. We are at present following a new make of stone in the foot-wall, whioh appears to be going north-weßt, but as it not very well defined, I cannot speak with any certainty as to the true course of it, or its permanency. There is from 3to 4 feet of it, some of it oarrying a little* gold. We have followed this stone about 15 feet; and it still appears strong in the face* Should this turn out to be an important discovery, it can be intersected by extending our main drive farther ahead from where we struck the reef. Should the stone overhead live up to the surface we will have about 150 feet of backs, and as there will be over 100 feet in length of reef proved along the level, we should have stone in this blook to keep the battery going for a considerable time. To work this block of stone it will be necesaary to put an uprise through to the surface from where the reef was first struck, as it will be required for ventilating the mine, and also as a main pass to work from and for filling in the stopes. I would recommend the driving of a tunnel through to the surfaoe to connect our present workings with the shoot and paddock, the tunnel to be a continuation of our present main drive, bo as to give us a straight tun out to the surface. Messrs Merrick and Saxton can certify as i to the necessity of carrying out this work, as I they are aware that the present connection j with the surface works is only temporary. I I have given an estimate of the oost of the uprise and tunnel in my last report, and also I the probable cost of repairing the water -race I and aerial tram. These are the principal works required to be done to place the mine and. battery in order for crushing. The main pass will re--1 quire some repairs, but they are only of a trivial nature. I Tenders can bo called for supplying mining timber, or if the Directors wish I can let it I privately at a slight advance on former prices. I Altogether I consider the future prospects of I the mine to ba encouraging for the shareI holders. I Thomas B ken an, I Mine Manager. I From the statement of asaotsand liabilities in appeared that the i&orer amounted to £1043 15s 4d, inoluui.-.g £860, balauoo due I for battery purposes. Tho ussetß consisted ol £47 12a calls paid since b\Ja;'.ce, £249 17s 7d I in tho Bank, £37 15a 7d unpaid cslla due, I £7 19 a 6d balance due for sbarH> - , and uncalled J capUal ca 1709 stums £2763 19a 3J, leaving I a bulanco lo t,h» good of £2063 83 7J. I The Cho/irmaa cxjhv BtifKl ecmc surprise that J the Chrisfschurcb. shareholder!-, wore not repro--1 Bented, It might have h<?,en ftcoiclent, but ho 1 thought thai ut the present time it would I have been weli had they Bbown more I interest. Regarding the assets and liabilities I of tbo Company, which had been read, he I understood that Mr Reeves had not iucluded I tho mice and the battery in the asset?, to 1 tue valuo of whioh they would, of courae, materially add. They had given £1000 I for the mine when things were at their J lowest, and the value now might he put I down af; something considerable. T&e I finauoial position of tho Company was I satisfactory, anji, what was rather »n anoinI aly, they had a substantial sum to their credit I at> the Bank, instvari of p, large overdraft, I which he tudugh& Wi.s due to loe ready way I in whioh the shareholders had responded to 1 the calls.- The directors have had a most nnxioas tjme. during the last six mouths. At the beginning of tho half year they were at their wits' end to know wb.at to do, ' for Mr Harris, their old mauagor, had given them little hope of finding any payable stone.

I They therefore let him go nnd pat Mr Brea- | nao, the present manager, in his place, and I do doubt they had all watobod his proceed' I rings with eager interest"'. (Mr Mwriok here, I at Mr Fell's request, pointed onb to the nbareI holders the spot where the reef was met, art! I the way in which it ran. (Mr Fall than con* I titmed — They would see that as the xv«f was I rnnning 1 dua north and aontb, it would soon I loavo the properhy, to the directors thought I ir. admirable to apply for th«. ground lately i I oaoupied by the Golden Hill Company, Had j fsb. • di ive teen two or three feet further to the j tx-atb, fch^y would very poeeibly nevsrhave I I discovered the reef, but would have mipsed it I I sltogether, Mr Brennan had also found a I J branch to the westward, though how far it j might go that way be oould trot say, but no j I doubt a considerable utnount of Bione would I J b-i found. They would understand from I JMr Merrick'fl ohowing that they bad j I four faoPB to work upon, bat the j stone could not be worked until they got an I j uprise and level to ventilate the mine, as at J I present the air was too foul to work in. This I would cost nearly £300 altogether, but bb the j directors had been most anxious to keep down j expenses, they had thought it best to get a j trial crushing of stone before any money was j spent. (Hear, hear.) Should it turn out j I satisfactorily they intended putting in the i uprise and level, which would be to the profit I of one and all conoerned. The thanks of I the shareholders were especially due, eaid Mr I Fell, to Messrs Merriok a,nd Saxton, who, at a I most inclement period of the year, and aft great inconvenience to themselves, had per- j eonally visited the mine, and be hoped the shareholders would recognise their efforts. I After the manifold disappointments which [ had arisen out of the Owen, they must not j be too sanguine, but he thought they might congratulate themselves an this most fortunate nnd at a time, as he had said before, when the Company was in a most critical condition. He himself looked forward with great expectation to the result of the trial crushing, Mr Wix moved a hearty vote of thanks to the directors, especially Messrs Merrick and Saxton, for their services, which was seconded by Mr Millar, and carried unanimously. Mr Marsden then proposed that Messrs Fell, Merriok, Gooke, McKellar (Ohriatohurob) , and Saxton, be re-elected directors. The motion was seconded by Mr Millar, and carried by acclamation. ' Mr Acmore tben proposed Mr Tat ton, who waa seconded by Mr Millar. — Carried. Mr Wix proposed that the balance sheet be adopted, Seoonded by Mr Atoheaon and carried, Mr Cook a enid he should like to mention to the meeting that the present position of the Company waa largely duo to Mr Brennan, and had its not been, for his meat fortunate disoovery of the reef the Company would now be in liquidation. He would like to so Mr Brennau s services substantially reoog nised. The Chairman stated that before Mr Brennan had taken charge, the Company had offered all sorts of inducement to get people to searoh for stone, which the directors were certain was there, but without Bucceee, and he suggested that Mr Bronnan be presented with 500 shares. Mr Cooke formally moved that Mr Brennan be given 500 of the unallotted shares. — Mr Attnore seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. Messrs Glenn and Newman were proposed by Mr Wix for re-election as auditors.— Carried. Mr Fell stated that nearly 7000 shares were held by the Company, and now that they had a value in the market, they ought td be disposed of, He thought the shareholders should have the first chance of getting them, and if they did not avail themselves of it, the outside public would buy them. Mr Reeves remarked that the shares yesterday were 2s 3d. Mr Marsden moved that the shares be allotted to the shareholders, and those which, were not accepted by them be put up to auotion. — Carried. Mr Fell then made a few remarks, stating that if the mine did turn out well, it would do an immense deal for the town, and would be a great inducement to the Midland Railway to push on their operations. He would like to show the pessimists and the persistent croakers that there waa good gold to be found at the Owen. The success of this mine would mean more than they could imagine, and he looked upon the develop r mentof it as of the greatest importance to Nelson people generally. After a hearty vote of thaaka had been passed to the Chairman the meeting terminated.