THE SILVER AGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7383, 18 July 1885, Page 5

THE SILVER AGE.

In former issues we have referred to the important results which followed the starting of the La Monte water jacket smelting furnaces by the Sunny Corner Silver Mining Company (Limited), New South Wales. On the 26th of Juno last, the shareholders held their first meeting after the starting of these furnaces. On this occasion a sum of £16,000 was paid away in dividends, and the directors' special report adopted stated : —

In inviting your presence hero to-day for the pur- [ pose of declaring the first dividend from tho profits of the company, we think it "disable to acquaint you with a few facts affecting the value of your pr perty. Since January 31 last, when the firs', bullion refined at .Sunny Corner was shipped to London, there ha* been exported a total quantity of 252,0030z5., or 8 tons 14cwt., which, at an average of iho value realised, os per or., is equal to a total value of £70,725 15s Of this amount a large sum has been expended in opening ui) the mine, and the purcha«e and addition of new plant. The snieltinz opacity of the two futpace« now running is equal to 53} tons per day, thin being the average of the last month's work. The average vn'.ue of the ore furnaced for the past month has been equal to 4Gozs. per ton. making the daily average value of the ore treated £615 ss. The new plant now in course of erection comprises four Pacific eruelter3 of a nominal capacity of 30 tons a. day ; bin assumiug that cheir actual work will prove equal to 20 tons a day, and making provision for trx average stoppage of one furnace for repairs, &u.. «e j •hall have an Increased daily output of tiO tons per day, or equal to a total quantity of, say HI! tons per day. Should the weather prove favnurablo, two of the new 'urnaces will aliaost certainly he at work ou the Ist of July, and should no unlooked-for stoppage occur, the additional reducin; power will enable your director! to fleclaio a further dividend in July. Meanwhile it is our pleasing duty to now recommend that a. dividend of 5s pur share, being equal to JilG.i'OO, bd now declared and paid, and that a sum of .£SOOO be placed to credit of a re ervo fond for the further lecurlty of the c >nipany. Wo may state for your information that after the appropriation of these sums the company has silver already tnicited and stored at the mine of the value of £561. The prospect of getting £16,000 in monthly dividends from thia mine, must be very encouraging indeed to the shareholders. In referring to the report above quoted, the Sydney Daily Telegraph of the 27fch June last, makes the following remarks :— New South Wales is now entering upon its silver age. Unless fresh aud large discoveries of alluvial fUlds and impregnated reefs be made in tho near future, the gold will become a m»«niScent memory. Only a" small section of the population is now in gold mining. The days of sensational rinds of tin and copper alao belong to the past. The iron ace still keeps away in the distance But the ceotennitl yeir should show a numbr of silverproducing mines of enormous value. We publish, this morning, the Sunny Corner Silver Mining Company's lirst dividend report, It is sprinkled with figures which arc far more eloquent than words. No more words are used, indeed, than are absolutely necessary to fully expose the splendid figures to view. It will l>.) reinotnberoii that when the first furnace was started, we sent a special reporter to the mine, and it in not exoneration to say that his description of what he saw made thousands of metropolitans wish thoy wero shareholders in the company. And the property is rapidly fulfilling his v»ry sanguine— but not too sanguine—expectations. We aro now told that though the first bullion was refined onlv on January 31, the quantity already exported aggregates 232,903 ozs., or 8 tons 14cwt., the market value of which was £70,725. But this pace of production will son bo greatly surpassed, 'the averaee dally value of the ore furnacerl during the past month is £615. Other furnace 3 now in cou'se of erection will bring the daily i.input up to from £1200 to £1508. hat should be good enough for the lucky owners, who hive just pocketed their first dividend of £10,000, and possibly are ready for more. If the impression mads upon all visitors to the mine of tho enormous amount of payable ore broken down and In sigbtbenoi a fallacious one. then the shareholders are looking down a long vista of big dividend!. Their lives are safely insured agniast poverty, and we shall probably hear of a few of them in the general elec ion«. But this mine, though the best developed, In not tho only one in its district. Much of the country near Mitchell's Creek is manifestly argentij ferous.'and the intelligent investment of capital will probibly soon tell it- own bright story. And .silverton in the far west i« sto.tdily disclosing its remarkable wealth. Kieh finds are being reported in rapid succession, and the completion oi the South Australian Hallway to our bordor will probably bo immediately followed by a greatly multiplied activity at tho mines, and a corresponding production of bullion. Altogether the outlook of the silver mining industry is one of sunny promise to the colony, and we may confidently look to it for a considerable settlement of a very desirable class of population.