MINING NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13523, 22 August 1907, Page 3

MINING NEWS.

TALISMAN ' SHAREHOLDERS. * MEETING IN AUCKLAND. WELLINGTON COMMITTEE'S ATTITUDE. JOINT ACTION AGREED UPON. Tin-; meeting of Talisman shareholders, convened by the Auckland Stock Exchange to enable the representatives of the Wellington committee (Messrs. S. Weston and S., Whyte) to be present, and Ho! give an op-, portunity for ti general expression .of opinion us to the offer received from the Home directors regarding colonial representation on the directorate and reduction in remuneration of directors, took place yesterday afternoon. Mr. G. A. Buttle, who occupied the chair,; said that shareholders, one and all, desireddirect representation on the board, and wanted matters arranged in an amicable way. They had no antagonism against the board, but wanted their views represented on it. *'

Mr. Weston, one of the Wellington representatives, said 'that Mr. Whyte and, himself represented practically the whole of the colonial shareholders, except those in the Auckland district, as Duhedin, Christchurch, New Plymouth, and .Nelson shareholders had all fallen into line, and unanimously signed the power of attorney that the Wellington committee had sent them.. He read a telegram from one of the large shareholders of Nelson, stating that he expected to obtain signatures representing 8000 shares. That meant the whole of the Nelson shareholders practically. Mr. Weston went on to explain that the object of the Wellington shareholders was to ob ; tain for colonial shareholders the rights they thought they were" entitled to. In the South they were not in a position to see the mine and its working. They could only buy in and hold foi developments. ' They wanted to feel fairly safe in such an investment, and to know that the mine would be .well. run.. In going into the affairs of tlie Talisman Company, they had discovered that the articles of association were so drawn up that no colonial shareholder could influence the policy of the directors through proxies. That should be remedied at once. To have directors at one end of the world and shareholders with no voice in'the affairs of the company atthe other, was neither right nor fair. What Wellington shareholders were asking was that this should be put right, (Hear, hear.) First, therefore, the Wellington committee aimed to 'have the matter of colonial representation put right. Secondly, they thought that the remuneration of the directors was excessive. He quoted the Waihi mine—the second biggest i"■ the world stating that the directors in that case, with huge responsibilities, only got just half the remuneration of the Talisman directors. - Was there any reason why they should not find in England directors who would do the same as the directors of the Waihi? Thirdly, colonial?, were now owners of more ■ than two-thirds of the shares in the Talisman, and the Wellington committee contended., the New Zealand shareholders were entitled to have as their representatives on the. board, not men suggested by the. English board, but men nominated by the New Zealand shareholders, men who would look to the latter, and only to them as to security of position. Mr. Weston did not anticipate any difficulty in obtaining the support of-' the Auckland shareholders once the,views, of the Wellington committee had been clearly placed before them. He claimed that he had done this, and taken up a reasonable, fair, and common sense standpoint. He did ask the Auckland shareholders, ' in . common with the rest of the New. Zealand shareholders, to support the Wellington committee, which had only the interests of New Zealand shareholders generally at heart. Regarding Mr. Stan iwld, the mine manager, Wellington shareholders did not know him until recently, but having met him, they were left with the opinion that the shareholders were ex-tremely-lucky; in getting a mining .engineer like him to" look after the mine.':'.' (Applause.) They considered he was a man who, had discovered a property such as he 'was never expected to discover, that he was. in fact, the right man in _ the right place. It was therefore a, cardinal plank in the platform of the Wellington people that Mr.' Stansfkld should be left in charge of the mine, with entire and full discretionary powers. As to Bewick. Mureing, and- Co., the attitude of the Wellington committee was that, as consulting engineers;, they were entitled to credit for what had been done in that capacity, and. provided that their contract with the company was a reasonably one, no reason was seen why they should not continue to act. If colonial shareholders could attain the objects he had outlined,' they could look forward to ,a long period of fat dividends. Let them have an -undivided -New Zealand. With it they would get all they wanted, ivecanse their demands were reasonable, and the Home directors would recognise the fact, ami give wav. (Applause.) - ■/ Mr. "A. Hanna, attorney in Auckland for ilie Talisman Company, refering to an interview that appeared in the New ZeX-i..-.xo Hbrat.d wilh Dr. Newman by a Wellington Post reporter, said it indicated that objection was taken to non-prosecu-tion of development works in the mine. He had drawn the attention of Mr. Stansfield to this statement, and the latter had telegraphed him that day stating that he had" an absolutely free hand to go in for any expenditure, and also that the directors had urged him to undertake further development. He added that he had not felt warranted in doing so at present,, According to that Mr. Siansfield had had an absolutely free hand In the past. A Shareholder: With a colonial directorate he would not have one. A supervisor would be appointed. Mr. Hanna: No ;'the Wellington people don't want that.

Mr. Weston: Since we have met Mr. Stansfield we are so thoroughly convinced thai we have the right man that we do not. want to fetter him with an advisory board. Mr. J. M. Lennox suggested that Mr. Weston should put his point in the form of a resolution. Mr. Francis Hull thought it would be better to have the opinions of those present first. His idea was that they were beating the air. The first objection made was as to the active development of the mine. From a letter in the Herald that morning he gathered that the new policy would be to give Mr. Stan-field instructions to go in for more development work. If .Mr. Stansfield was given a- free hand he would go on as.at present, but if the policy was to be altered it meant that he was to lie interfered with, in which case the natural tiling for him to say would be that if they knew so much bettor in Wellington what to do than he did, they had better send a gentleman up from Welington to manage the mine. As far as he understood it, the directors had voluntarily' renounced £1500 per year, and hod suggested that the Agent-General should represent the New Zealand shareholders <fa the board. ]f Mr. Reeves was not able to do that, he (Mr. Hull) thought it would be a fair thing to ask him to nominate a man to do so. ('"No, no.") Nothing could be a belter guarantee of the directors' willingness to . meet colonial shareholders than the offer they had mrt.de. (Applause.) He doubted if any New Zenland board of directors would make a similar offer.

Mr. W. B. Colbeck explained that it was. perhaps, owing to action he had taken" that the offer from the board had been heard so iin.!i of. He had cabled to Mr.. Turner, chairman of directors, to see if the board was prepared to do anything to meet- the colonial shareholders. In reply, Mr. Turner cabled in the. terms published, suggesting the appointment of the Agent-General, and stating that the uiieelors were willing to take a reduced

remuneration. They would gather that the board was willing to treat with the New Zealand shareholders, arid also to grant any reasonable concession thev might ask. It was also clear, he thought, that the board had no intention, of thwarting colonial interests. He considered that demands formulated by the Wellington people were reasonable, and suggested to Mr. Weston that possibly the best way to settle matters would be to cable to" the board «tating what was required, and see what they said. He moved : " That this meeting appoint a committee of Auckland Talisman shareholders to confer with Messrs Weston and Whyte, with the view of cabling to the London board the minimum demands of the New Zealand shareholders, such committee to have full power to act.

Mr, ' Chas. Leeds considered that they should not overlook the fact tfiat the directors on the other side of the world had acted without bias or prejudice, and -under the advice of a manager who was the best man they, could have. He believed the present directors were to be thanked for the flourishing state of the mine. (Applause.) He advocated leaving well alone. Mr. G. L. Peae&cke seconded the motion. It was in the interests of everyone that there should be no friction between one section of shareholders and another. The' appointment of this committee would lead to something being done in a reasonable way. Mr. E. Mahony, speaking on the question of New Zealand representation on the board, said that the man on the street said the nominee suggested (Mr. Wilson) was a sharebroker. He thought it would not be advisable to appoint anybody in London to represent New Zealand who had to do with buying and selling shares. (Applause.) Mr. Weston said it had not occurred to the Wellington committee', to object to Mr. Wilson on the ground that lie was a sharebroker. He would not, however, be the. only. New Zealand representative- on the board, and a very free choice would be given to shareholders in selecting nis colleagues. He. (Mr. Weston) did not like to pledge Wellington shareholders, but they would be glad to consider any Auckland objection. The main points were that the whole of the directors should be turned out, the articles of association altered, and Mr. Stansh'eld 'retained.

Mr. Whyte, the other Wellington representative, explained how the present position had come about. There was, he asserted, a hotbed of indignation arotlnd the present directors. The Wellington committee had got signatures representing 150,000 shares .to the power of attorney, and intended seeing the matter through. If it was necessary to buy shares to get control of the mine, the Wellington shareholders would do it. They wanted development pushed ahead as fast as was compatible with safety. The manager (Mr. Stans.rJ.eld)..was,of the opinion tlxat a large amount should he spent.in order to nearly double the output, and this lie (Mr. Whyte) thought lie would recommend in the course of the next month or two. The Wellington committee, and shareholders generally, were in n measure indebted to Mr. Wilson. He had been righting the battle of: all of them, and should not be thrown over. There was, however, no intention of allowing that question to interfere with an amicable settlement as between Auckland and Wellington. (Applause.)/ . Mr. Weston, after some further discussion, remarked that the Wellington committee had fixed its minimum demands, and would not go back. If they could not get them they were going to fight, and with 150.C00 shares they practically commanded the situation. they wanted £100 per year to be fixed as directors' remuneration, and the board's object was to fix it tit £500. • His committee might be prepared to consider making 'tlie colonial representation, two, but that was the bedrock. ' . ■, .••.';

Tho Chairman ' having spoken, in support of the motion, and the following names having been included to constitute the committee, viz., Messrs. E. Anderson, 0. A.* Buttle, W. B. Colbeck, F. Kneehone, G. L. Peacocko, and Captain Smith, it was put to thb, meeting, and carried unanimously. - . ~. - A vote of tlinnks to the Wellington visitors terminated the proceedings.

The committee is to meet to-night in conference with Mr. Stnnsfield, who has been requested by Mr. Harxna. to come to town for the purpose. The cable Home will, in all probability, be forwarded tomorrow. , ■ . ,: KOMATA REEFS. ".•" £3327 FROM 2150 TONS. TOTAL TO DATE, £253,666. For the four weeks ended -August 10 the Komata Reefs Gold Mining Company crashed and treated 2150- tons of ore for a yield of bullion valued at £3327. The total amount won from the mine to date is £253,666, as shown in the following table of details : ■ ' ' ' ; To December, 1900 ... ... .. £30,369 0 0 In 1501. 8670 ions 11.092 0 0 In 5902, 52,260 tons ... .„ ... 27-.085 0 0 In 190.?. 14,73-3 tons • 37.157 0 0 In 190', 16,900 tons ... ... ... 34.4.30 0 0 In 1905 ......' ... ... . ... 43,136 >0 0 In 1906, 20,490 tons 42.779 '0 0 ; ': '' '' £226,048 0 0 Period ending— ■ . ' January 2f>. 1907. 1720 tons ... 2.755 0 0 Febrnarr 28. 1907. 1920 tons.. 3,348 0 0 March 33. '.Wl. 2000 tons ... 5.104 0 0 April 20, 1907, 2260 torts. ... 3,526 0 May 18. 5907. 2150 tons 3,953 0 0 .rime 15; 1907, 2300 tons ... ... 3,64:; 0 0 July 13/1907, 2300 tons ... v ...y "3,960 0 0 August 10, 1907, £150 tons- ... 5,327 0 0 Total to date ... ...' ... £253.666 0 0

- TAIHOA. [BY TELEGRAPH. — OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Wednesday. This company, which has been reformed from the old Chelmsford Gold Mining Company, lias decided to commence active operations at the mine, and Mr. W. 15. Martin has been appointed manager, and leaves here to-morrow for Neavesville to take charge. The first work done will ho that of connecting the lower and upper levels of the mine by means "of a big rise, so as to provide easy transit for the ore from the upper level to the .battery. MINE MANAGERS' REPORTS. Golden Cross: The level is now in good order for over 600 ft, and a start has been, made to continue picking it up New Monowai: The crosscut on the hangingwall portion of the reef has been extended a further 10ft through a solid body of mineralised quartz. So far the reef from the footwall to the present face of tho crosscut shows a solid body of good ore 23ft wide. At present the quartz being broken out looks well. We have not been able to get any quartz away from the mine until to-day (Saturday). Reliance : The' drive south on No. 2 reef has been advanced 101 c: total from surface, 40ft. The reef formation in the face is about 3it wide, and the footwall portion of the lode shows some very fair dish prospects of gold. We have laid down a new train line and have now gut two shifts on. so that better progress will be made. Cornstock United : Am working one shift - in the crosscut and one in the face. Have not cut the reef in crosscut as yet. The ground looks inure favourable for gold, and I may fret it thin week.

Rising: San : The crosscut into the liangingwa'l from the' bottom of the winze is now in a total distance of 31ft. The country is stilt of a favourable character. Two quartz veins have been intersected, from which a little sold can be obtained by mortar tests, and yesterday we intersected another vein, but cannot tell whether it is the hanging-wall reef Until we have cut through it Fair prospects can be obtained from it by the dish. The ah shaft > down 311; and timbered up We were unable to resume work here until the latter part of the week, the shaft being full of water, the soakagc from the heavy rains. , . Temple Bar: The winze has been sunk lit lor the week. The reef has all the mineral indications that can be wished 'and colour.; of gold were seen in the *tone. The drive on the reel in the low level' lias been extended Sit. The country has greatly improved for the last in, and I' think we are petting near 10 the belt where the Stdping took place in the upper workings. No breaking down has taken pUce this weeK.