THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13006, 25 October 1905, Page 3

THE GOLDFIELDS.

AUCKLAND DISTRICT GOLD RETURNS. £79,814 FOR THE PAST THREE WEEKS. The gold returns from the Auckland district mines continue to be highly satisfactory. During the past three weeks bullion of the value of £79,814 17s has been won, of which no less than £58,240 's contributed by the Waihi mine. The monthly output from this wonderful bul-lion-producer continues to increase steadily. WAIOTAHI. PICKED STONE FROM No. 6 LEVEL. Shares in the Waiotahi Gold Mining Company tinned yesterday, and sales were made at 71s 6d and 72s 6d, the market closing with sellers at 735, and buyers offering 725. Tjje improvement was due to the following telegram received from the mine manager during the forenoon:—"No. 5 level: Selected 701b of picked stone. No. 6 level: Selected 411> of picked stone from the small leader ; n the crosscut." The picked stone from the No. 6 level comes from tho sin stringer "ecently cut in the Kuranui-Caledonian crosscut. As the point at which the stone was secured is about 50ft west of where the rich ore worked in the level above should be met with, the news is extremely gratifying, and lhe, discovery greatly increases the prospects of the run of gold carrying down to vhe present lowest workings of the mine.

Mr. O. S. Kissling, legal manager for the Waiotahi Gold Mining Company, received the following telegram from the mine manager yesterday: — Holed through to the Kuranui-Caledonian crosscut." [FKOM OUR OWN' CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Tuesday. At the No. 6 level crosscuts several small leaders have been cut in both faces, which appear to be a portion of the hangingwall of the main reef, and these are carrying nice silica and mineral, and in one of these, which is about Sin thick, about- 41b of good picked stone were selected this morning. These leaders are running towards the main reef going east, and will junction with it when driven on in that direction, and there is not much doubt that when the reef is driven on eastward to under where the" gold is being obtained in the upper levels, it will be a more compact body than where it was first cut through at this level. At the No. 5 level the work of driving eastward on the main portion of the reef is being continued, and the reef is being carried along in the face for a width of about 12ft, and is now within about Ift off the western end of the rise. This is producing a good quality of ore right through, and 701b of picked stone have been selected during the last day or two. One of the shots fired in the face of the No. 6 crosscut at the Waiotahi mine this afternoon blew through to the otlie.' drive, so that tho connection is now made at one corner, and another day will probably complete this work.

MINERALS, LIMITED.

The directors of the Minerals, Limited, have sold in Hokitika 3864 ordinary shares of 5s each, fully paid up, and have paid off the mortgage on the property of £1066 13s 4d. The fact of these shares having been taken up in Hokitika, the locality of the property, is regarded as evidence of faith in tho mine The only liability of the company now is the £400 called up from 'the special preferential shareholders, as, in accordance with the agreement at the time of issuing these shares,, this sum has to be repaid to them before the company can pay a dividend on til© other shares. The company has now a credit balance of £549, and the manager lias commenced blocking west, and reports good ground ahead.

TALISMAN CONSOLIDATED. The following cable was forwarded to tlie Talisman Consolidated, Limited, London, on the 23rd inst. : —"Driving No. 10 south, 1273 ft. No. 11 level: Driving south, 155 ft; width of reef, 4ft; average value of assays, 9s. No. 12 level: Driving north, 423 ft; width of reef, 2ft; average value of assays. 4s 2d; driving south, 313 ft. Drive in fault. Crosscut from No. 13 level, 35ft." KURANUI-CALEDONIAN. The drive east on the Cambria reef is still being continued at the No. 4.level of the Kuranui-Caledonian mine, and the country in the face is now of a very good description, and favourable for gold. The quartz of the main reef is looking better as the drive advance.*, the mineral Doing of a better nature, and a quantity of silica is now making through the quartz. Although nothing more than colours of gold have been seen in it as vet, there is a fair prospect of a more decided improvement at any time, BIG REEFS PROSPECTING ASSOCIATION. [BY TELEGRAPH. — CORRESPONDENT.] Coroman Tuesday. The work of testing the big reef is proceeding uninterruptedly. In order to test the value of the ore below, where the recent trial crushing was obtained, a level is being put in from the hopper and another from the old Tokatea Road. Within a fortnight the drives should be under the point already worked. Another prospecting drive is being put in from the Tokatea Road, above where the recent crushing was obtained. Prospecting is also being carried on on the surface along the line of reef. LORD BERESFORD CLAIM. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Coromandel, Tuesday. The syndicate owning the Lord Beresford claim, Waikoromiko, have decided to erect a small battery, to enable a trial crushing to bo made on the ground. The results so far are of an encouraging nature, the ore being fairly uniform in grade, while the gold is worth £3 9« 6d per oz. The run of gold has been proved to be of considerable extent, and the reel has been intersected at a depth of 100 ft from the surface. Operations will in future • be under the supervision of Mr. W. H. Doherty (manager of the New Four-in-Hand mine). HIDDEN TREASURE. The annual general meeting of shareholders in the Hidden Treasure Gold Mining Company, Limited, was held in St. Georges Hall, Grey Lynn, last evening. Mr. Charles Grey, chairman of directors, presided over a large attendance. The directors, in presenting their annual report, stated that they had to report that considerable delay - va experienced in disposing of the reserved shares .authorised by the general meeting of October 31 last, and that it was not until March of this year that they felt justified in starting operations at the mine and works. Mr. C. Whisker was then engaged, and sent to the mine for the purpose of breaking out 50 tons of ore, and contracts were let to Mr. J. W. Flowers for the cartage of the ore to the works, a distance of some seven miles. Negotiations were completed with Mr. S. S. Bastard, and, acting on his advice, Mr. Campbell was sent down to the works to make such alterations as were necessary for the carrying out ot Mr. Bastard's process. Mr. Campbell's and MrBastard's reports, which would be submitted, would explain the amount of up-hill work with which they had to cpntend in treating the ore. Owing to the mills and appliances 'at the works being unsuitable, they (the directors) were only able to have 16 tons treated instead of the 50, as they had wished. The bullion won front this 16 tons realised £89 lis Id, equal to £5 12s. per ton. The cost to produce this amountof gold greatly exceeded the result. The directors, in conclusion, said. that they did not feel called upon to make any recommendations,, as their resignations were before them. The statement of receipts and expenditure as presented balanced at ,£5313' 13s lOd, and showed a cash balance in the

Bank of New South Wales of £241 7s lOd. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said that the unissued shares which were placed upon the market »vere being applied for. Troubles arose at the mine, and the company were summoned by some of the creditors at Waitapu. He and Mr Brown, accompanied by Mr. Whisker, the manager, visited the mine in connection with the matter, and, as some of the creditors refuse to wait, they were obliged to use their own cheques to stop proceedings. Arrangements were, made with Mr. Sofer, on whose land the works were situated, and who had threatened to re-enter for a three years' lease. The directors then had about two tons of powdered ore treated by Mr. Bastard, of Auckland, and when assayed by Mr. Poind, the Bank of New South Wales gave 28s per ounce. Arrangements were then completed with Mr. Bastard to have 50 tons treated at the works at Waitapu. The object of this was to thoroughly test the ore on a commercial basis, before moving the works of (ho mine. This 50 toils [brindled down to 16 tons though, from M;\ Campbell's report 50 tons were crushed. It was difficult to arrive at the cost of the treatment. A great deal of work had been done which could not be fairly charged against the result, which apparently demonstrated that, with new works erected close to the mine, tinder the supervision of an expert, it would be :i payable property. In conclusion, he said that the directors had had several consultations with the investigation committee, and l at their request Messrs. Purcell, Battley. and Grey would remain on the Board, and they had jointly agreed to suggest that Mr. Storey be engaged to report on the mine and works. The motion was seconded' and carried. Reports were also submitted by Mr. R. A. Campbell, works superintendent, upon the work lone at Tafcaka from April 3, 1905, to August 12, 1905, and Mr. S. S. Bastard, who was appointed by the company to treat the ore by a special process. These were received.

The secretary read a report from Mr. Charles Whisker, the mine manager, giving an account of what had been done since he took charge ot the mine upon March 13 last. Mr. Whisker stated that now that the mine was opened up the company could' break out ore at much less cost than hitherto, as all the approaches were made :i«nd necessitated no second handling. The present face presented a magnificent show of ore. The ore was lying in the valley in huge boulders, which had been shed from the surrounding spurs, which, as ho had' stated before, appeared to be one mass of ore, Light prospects of alluvial gold could be obtained by panning from tho wash dirt, in which the ore was embedded. Personally he had every faith in tho mine, and he hoped to see all doubts dispelled shortly, and the mine placed in its proper position—in the forefront of all Now Zealand's mines. He felt confident that good returns could be obtained from the ore upon any part of the claim, and as there was no limit in quantity, it remained with the shareholders to make the output as largo as desired. (Applause.) The reduction works, he sa.id, should not have been erected six miles away from the mine, and he would advise that the company should remove the works as soon as possible to tho foot of the range, where every facility offered for working cheaply. A site could be secured at a nominal cost. There was plenty of standing timber in the locality, and a good supply of water, and when the company was in a position to erect an aerial tram and a rock-breaker the cost of breaking and transit would be reduced to a minimum. (Applause.) . The election of directors was then proceeded with.

Mr. Deeble, another shareholder, pointed out that Mr. Bastard had only treated 16 tons of ore, whereas, he contracted for 50, and yet he had been paid £70 for the whole job. The Chairman said the directors were of opinion that Mr. Bastard was entitled to receive £70. He contracted to treat 50 tons, but as it turned out only 16 tons were available for him, and that was not Mr. Bastard's fault. Another shareholder said that while shareholders were satisfied with some of the directors they were not satisfied with others. The Chairman pointed out that the shareholders had appointed an Investigation Committee, which was now recommending the re-election of three of the directors. After further discussion the chairman announced that the following gentlemen had been elected to the directorate : —Messrs. P. Bryant, H. C. Choyce, Johnston, and J. Kennedy. The meeting then concluded.