THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6148, 1 August 1881, Page 5

THE GOLDFIELDS.

; [FROM OtTR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] L ■ i - L Thames, Saturday. [ Thk Week.—The past iweek-has been a somewhat eventful one, so' far *as regards mining affairs~"on~the'" Thames goldfield. Yesterday's operations'in the . Moanataiari. mine .on behalf, of the company were entirely suspended, arid to-day the .final cleaning-up i at the battery took place. Whether the directors ane really determined that no further work. shall be done in the mine until funds hs;ve accumulated from tributers' peror otherwise, does not appear very clear y .but whatever course i 3 adopted in the future, the discharging of all hands is an occuyrcnce so rare that much importance attaches to it. As a gold-mining company the Moanataiari can only be characterised asa very successful one, for during the ten or eleven ; years the company has been organised, the mine has produced gold sufficient to pay £9 pef ; scrip share in dividends besides meeting all. expenses, and supplying the funds by whicU large areas of ground have been added to the original property. It is but little over four years ago that the mine produced the extraordinary yield o£.-lo,oooozs. of gold' in one fortnight,, and-although of late the returns have been somewhat poor, still, no one can foretell what change might take place in a few hours- so long as prospecting operations are continued. , To-day tho property, notwithstanding' that, the . results of the last twelve months have been somewhat discouraging,, is' one of the most valuable on the field, including as it does so many of the smaller mines, which at one time ranked among the best igold-producers here. The whole of the ground : held by the company is noted for its auriferous character, and it is simply ridiculous to .suppose that all the deposits of the precious- metal in it have already been exhausted. The day will come, whether soon or late, when deposits of gold equal in richness to those alr<v,dy worked will be discovered in the ground now held by the company, and, although appearances are anything but bright, shareholders may rest confident that there are good dividends yet in store for. them. Another incident of no little importance, and in contrast to the above, is the excellent return to hand from the Waitekauri —in fact, this has been the all-absorbing topic of conversation here. The-yield has already brought the Waitekauri district once more into prominence, and the whole of the ground adjoining the Waitekauri mine has been again taken up. In one or two instances companies have been formed with a view of prospecting the ground, and no doubt in a few days others will follow. Several who have visited the district during the week have expressed the opinion that Butler and party's run will produce £50,000 worth of gold. That this estimate is not a wild one is proved by the fact that the late return was considerably over. £6000, besides which, this field is famous for its enormously rich depositsdeposits which lie in a very small area of ground, as, for instance, the late patch in the Alburnia, or- the Moanataiari, or even the now historical deposit of the Caledonia. If, however, there is anything like the above amount of gold in the block of ground immediately at command, it must be very evident that, during the next few months, the district will receive considerable impetus, and that it is more than probable there will be no lack of capital with which to open up tho adjoining claims.

Another event of the week is the rumours which arc obtaining circulation with regard to the amalgamation of several companies' interests. Among these are that the Moanataiari and Kuranui arc about to amalgamate, as also the Alburnia, New Whau, New North Devon, Columbia, aud Albion. That much good would be done by the uniting of smaller interests and creating large and powerful companies in place thereof there can be little doubt.. With extensive areas of ground at command a simple but.effective system of working could be projected, which would thoroughly prospect the mine in every part, while', the cost would be almost a trifle when compared with the expense of maintaining the present companies, ea«h of which has a manager with a staff, &c., under him. In the higher ground main low levels could be driven from the bed of the creeks, which, as they were extended under the hills, would command immense backs, and would dominate the country on either side for long distances. Much is to be gained by judicious amalgamation, and it is to be hoped that in some instances the rumours will not end in talk only.

GOLD RETURNS FOR THE WEEK ENDING' JULY 30. Oz.dwt.gr. Don Pedro, Kneebone's tribute.,. 3 12 0 Hape Creek, He'arn's tribute ... 43 15 0 Joker, James' tribute 9 5 0 ~ Agnew's tribute 5 4 0 ~ Elling's tribute 1 9 0 ~ Robinson's tribute 6 2 0 Kuraniii, John's tribute... ... 7 5.0 „ Floj-d's tribute ... -5 9 0 Moanataiari Company, ... ... IS6 0 0 ~ Boxall's tribute ~ 314 0 „ . Rea's tribute ... 50 9 0 Waitckauri, Butler's tribute ... 2071 17 0 Total ... ... ... ... 2394 1 0 [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Saturday. Moaxataiabi.—The final cleaning up for this company took place to-day, and produced the fair return of lS6ozs. gold. . This is the result of the past fortnight's operations, during which time 19S loads of general stuff have been crushed. The return shows a considerable improvement upon late yields, but it is probable that, being the last crushing for the company, only the very best portions of the lodes were worked.

. Waitekauri. —There has been much excitement here to-day over the Waitekauri district. As you are already aware the whole of the ground adjoining the Waitekauri mine has been taken up by different parties, and there are now at least half-a-dozen. " good things" in the market. Whether all have the excellent prospects attributed to them, it is difficult to say, but that some will be valuable properties in a short time there can be no doubt.

Thames Gold Mining Company.—The annual meeting of the Thames Gold Mining Company was held on Saturday forenoon, at j the company's office, Mr. C. J. Stone occupying.the chair. The report was very brief. It stated that, owing to the falling off in the return from the mines, no dividends had been paid. One hundred shares in the New Golden Crown Company had been purchased, on which one dividend of 2s per share had been received; £2500 remained out at 5 per cent, interest, and £600 at 6 per cent. interest, as a reserve fund, The balance-sheet showed the receipts including £3000 loan fallen in, and £1267 2s 6d, dividends received, to be £477114s 4d. Expenditure, including reinvestment of £3100 at interest, and payment of dividend, £4575 8s 4d ; leaving a balance to credit at bank of £196 6s. The assets were : balance at bank, £196 6s; loans and interest receivable, £3288 5s sd: total, £3484 lis sd. Liabilities, £113 10s. Net assets, £3371 'Is sd. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. Mr. C. J. Stone was re-elected director, and Mr. John Buchanan- auditor. This con> eluded the business of the meeting.