THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11365, 7 May 1900, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS.

AUCKLAND SHAREMARKET. ;'.) The market was quiet on Saturday. In in-; ■ vestment lines National Insurances sold at lis 2d, with further buyers at 17s. In mining lines Monowais had inquiry at 6d, sellers Is. ' In Upper Thames lines Alphas were wanted at 6Jd, no sellers quoting ; Komata Reefs had buyers at Is 9d, sellers 2s;, Tairua Broken Hills, with sellers at Is lOd, had buyers at Is 9d ; Waihi Extendeds were in demand at 10id, sellers Hid ; Waitekauris, quoted at 60s, had buyers at 545. In Coromandel lines Bunker's Hills sold at 6d and 6Jd, latest selling price being 9d. In other lines lato prices ruled.

WAIHI G.M. CO. (LIMITED).

7774 TONS YIELD £20,459.

TOTAL TO DATE, £1,279,872.

The returns just to hand from the Waihi Gold Mining Company's mine for the four weeks ending April 28 show that 7774 tons were treated, for a yield of bullion valued at £20,459, or an average of £2 12s 7d per ton. Last month 7570 tons were treated for a return of £20,198. The total amount won from this mine to date is now £1,279,872 10s 2d, as shown in following detailed table : — Date. Tons. Value of Bullion. In 1890 - ... £21.112 13 0 In 1891 - ... 23,935 6 11 In 1892 18,256 ... 44,888 2 4 In 1893 19,805 ... 61.900 10 11 In 1894 24.864 ... 82.827 22 In 1895 33,670 ... 120,334 22 In 1956 34.400 ... 137,321 8 2 111 1897 40,764 ... 144,040 9 7 In 1898 77,929 ... 256,494 12 7 In 1899 102,383 ... 300,156 3 4 Period endingFebruary 3, 1900 ... 9,933 ... 25,649 0 0 March 3 8.307 ... 20,556 0 0 March 31 ; 7,570 ... 20,193 0 0 April 28 7,774 ... 20,459 0 0 Total to dato £1.279,872 10 2 NEW WHAU G.M. CO. ■ A crashing of 15 tons has just Isecn completed by the New Wb.au Gold Mining Company, at Thames, for a return of 13oz 16dwt melted gold, valued at £36 4s 6d, or 52s 6d per oz.

This return, although scarcely up to anticipation, is a remunerative one, and is such as to warrant the vigorous working of the block now opened up, and available for stoping upon the Sons of Freedom reef. Tributes engaged in the company's mine have also crushed six loads of ore, during the past week, for a yield of gold valued at £20 17s 6d.

IRONCAP G.M. CO. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT ] Thames, Saturday. At the Ironcap Gold Mining Company's mine during the past week, stuping operations have been carried on as usual upon the Kaiser reef, and a very fair class of oro lias been broken out. Tlio reef has averaged about 18in in thickness, and colours of gold have frequently been seen. Very little work has been accomplished in the matter of forwarding quartz to the Alhurnia battery, only six tons having been sent down, but this is duo partly to the bad state of the road between the mine and battery and also to the fact that the carter had other work on hand.

ORION G.M. CO. [bt TELEGRAM. correspondent.] Thames, Saturday. I understand that the lien laid upon the Orion Gold Mining Company's property, at Puriri, in settlement of a debt of about £300, was withdrawn to-day by the payment of the sum named. In consequenco of this the sale of the property by auction, which was announced for Monday, 7th inst., has been cancelled.

KOMATA REEFS G.M. CO. [by telegraph.— correspondent.'] Paehoa, Saturday. The Komata district has lately been under a great cloud, owing to the fact that tho Komata Reefs Gold Mining Company had pretty well worked out their rich blocks of ore in the upper levels, and before any new blocks could be opened up it was necessary to put in a low level. 'This was. a work of considerable magnitude, as the level had to be extended over 2000 ft through very hard country. The level, however, was steadily advanced, and after the face had been extended a distance of 2452 ft, a channel of soft country was encountered. The change 'also brought the level into the reef-hearing stratum, for a small lode has also been passed through. The level will be continued until the Komata and other lodes have been met. after which the development of these ore bodies will be vigorously prosecuted, and it should not be very long now until the Komata Reefs Gold Mining Company has once more resumed its place among the bul-lion-producers of Ohinemuri.

WAIHI G.M. CO. (LIMITED), [m TELEGRAPH.—OWN' correspondent.] PAEROA, Saturday. A rumour has been persistently circulated lately that the Waihi Gold Mining Company (Limited) intend erecting immediately still another 100 head of stampers, making in all 390 head. Mr. Barry, however, informs me that there is no truth in the rumour.

WAIHI EXTENDED G.M. CO. [m TELEORAPn.—own correspondent.] PAEROA, Saturday. The bores in the Waihi Extended Gold Mining Company's mine have, now reached a depth of 372 ft, and are penetrating a nice channel of country. The bore is down about 20ft or 30ft on the other side of the lode recently passed through, and. as the borings" show a good class of country Mr. Johns is forwarding samples to Auckland.

KURANUI G.M. CO. [by TKt.EGß.u'n.—own CORRESPONDENT j Thames. Saturday. At the Kuranui Gold Mining Company's mine the drive upon Barry's reef is now abreast of the old deep lead' shaft, and during the past few days an improved class of sandstone country has been entered upon, which leads the manager to believe that Ire will soon be meeting with the precious metal. The reef itself is about lOin in thickness, and is composed of a very favourable class of quartz, in which nice mineral indications are met with.

GRACE DARLING G.M. CO.

RECONSTRUCTION DECIDED UPON.

A special meeting of shareholders in the Grace Darling Gold Mining Company was held in the office of the secretary, Mr. J. B. Sheath, on Friday last, when 'there was a large attendance, Mr. J. M. Sharp presiding. The secretary read the directors' report as follows :—" Your directors have found it necessary to call you together to consult with you as to the present financial position of the company, and to decide on the course to be adopted under the circumstances. The whole of the capital has heei nlled up. and received (excepting £7 10s). namely, £5992 10s; tho cash received from the old company was £626 12s lid, making the total cash'available for erection of battery and other works £6619 2s lid. The estimates supplied by the engineer engaged to carry out the erection of the mill and appurtenances were well within the funds available; but, for reasons to bo explained, the liabilities on completion of the works exceeded the above cash receipts by some £2000. You reasonably will ask why liabilities were incurred exceeding means of payment. Tho explanation is this: As the works progressed it was discovered that' tho cost of "construction, which, in part, was carried out by wages men under the supervision of the company's engineer, was greatly exceeding the estimates. At this stage your directors carefully looked into the position, and ascertained that to complete the works as originally intended the liabilities in excess of receipts would be some £2000. Under the circumstances tho only course is to reconstruct tie company on such lines as will enable the debts to be paid off, and your directors submit to you the following proposal :— That a new company be formed, and registered under the Companies Act, 1882, with a capital of £15,000, divided into 150,000 shares of 2s each, paid up to Is 6d per share, to be offered to the shareholders of tho present company and the, general public on the following terms: — 3d per shave on application, and the unpaid balance (3d) in calls, if required, such calls not Jo exceed Id abate, -i^^ryad^-oB-

not less than one month. .' It is proposed to invite applications from tie : general public as well as from the shareholders of this company, but shareholders are to receive priority of allotment, as it is only right and just that present shareholders •■ should :be ; allotted all shares they apply for before any are allotted to the public. • This scheme- is recommended for your approval arid adoption i as being the only feasible one. '"» A report by Mr. b. Drama; dated August 17, 1898, very fully describes' the- development works, amP the gold-bearing reefs, and he at that date estimated the ore in sight to be 34,900 tons, of a good average recoverable value. Other mining engineers and ■ experts, namely, Messrs. E. A. Paterson, T. T. 'Wynne, John Pascoe, and A. H. Morrisby, have also reported most favourably on the property. Tho mill and cyanide works were completed in February last, when crushing was commenced, but the results were unsatisfactory. The directors made a change in the management, placing Mr. S. Draffin in charge of the mine, and Mr. A. T. Day in charge of the battery and cyanide work's. Mr. S. Draffin now reports that he can forward payable ore to the mill, and that' he is still of opinion that if tho treatment of the oro proves satisfactory the mine can bo made a payable going concern.' "

The secretary also read the balance-sheet, as follows:—Receipts: Calls, £5992 10s; cash from old company, £525 15s 8d; cash from bullion, £384 10s Id; transfer fees, £9 16s; sale of logs, £18 10s; refund of deposit, £20: total, £6951 Is 9d. Expenditure : Mine development, £593 5s 3d; battery construction, £4181 10s sd; cyanido works, £2127 2s; water-race, £916 16s 9d ; buildings, £362 12s Id ; tools, £94 16s 8d ; laboratory appliances, £17 5s 4d; office furniture, etc., £63 10s sd; residence sites, £33 Is; stores, £237 3s; mine working, £215 4s 3d; battery working, £343 Is sd: total. £9174 8s 7d. Debit balance, sundry creditors, £2223 6s lOd.

Tho Chairman said that if the 150,000 shares in tho new company were taken up, a call of 4d per share would pay off the liabilities. A discussion followed, and it was finally resolved, "That the company be reconstructed with a capital of 200,000 shares of 2s each, 150,000 of same to lie paid up to Is 6d, and offored to present shareholders and the public generally, tho balance of 50,000 shares to be reserved."

SOUTHERN MINING. [NY TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION'.] Greymouth, Sunday. The following are the gold returns for the week Big River. 770z Mdwt 18gr retorted gold from 98 tons ; Duller Dredge, 13oz gold from 154 hours' work. The opening up of a new paddock accounts for smallness of the latter return.

DtJNEWN, Sunday. The following arc the dredging returns for the week :—Clyde, 18oz ; Golden Treasure, 20oz 6dwt ; Otago, 1807. 6dwt ; Chatto Creek, lloz 3dwt 12gr; Perseverance, 650z 13dwt25gr ; Nil Desperandum, lOoz ldwt; Earnscleugh No. 1, 320z Bdwt ; Earnsclcugh No. 2, 650z l&dwt 12gr ; Maori, Boz ; Vincent, 48oz 14dwt ; New Alexandria, 15oz ; Empire, 540z 9dwt 12gr ; Golden Gate. 41oz 16dwt ; Junction Electric, 320z lOdwt ; Success, 15oz 4dwt; Waimurmi Extended, 18oz s}dwti ; Enterpriso, 260z 18|dwt ; Sunlight, lloz ldwt ; Chariton Creek, 19oz ; Waimumu, 21oz ; Dunedin, 9£oz.