MINING NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15645, 26 June 1914, Page 5

MINING NEWS.

ROSS GOLDFIELDS.

THIRD ANNUAL MEETING.

GOOD FUTURE PROSPECTS.

The third annual meeting of shareholders in the Ross Goldfields. Reconstructed, Lt<l., was held at the Chamber of Commerce ' yesterday :ifterno.»n. the chairman r.f directors, Mr. George F. Davis, of Christ-church, presiding. There was an attendance of about 30 shareholders.

In inuring the adoption r.f the an"'.!::! report and ualane"-hcc-t (details of which we;v published in the HkbAt.i) of June '4), '(be chainnau paid that a large amount { of development work bad been done- in j tho mine, and enormous' difficulties had been encountered in it-gard to water and , getting tho plant in order for tW- pur- . p ( ,-?e iii proving wheti.i't _ payable wash •existed. There. ii.vl been indications that I a large amount of wash had been left >n ( 'the Caseins mine and on the Cassia love!. , ■ However, after the expenditure of treat ( ] deal of money in getting into the level. ( ' the present company had found that the , ! wash in the (.'nnsins level had been r<--I moved I)v 1110 f'dssius Company It had j I been imperative. *.•• unwatr-r too I'assius I workings before mining would have boon j I s.»fe. Tho mino superintendent thought it would tip advisable to develop an area 'of wash abov<* ihc- 6tli level, *1 lie directI ors thought at the tim« that the layer jut" wash In to \voul<4 bo payable. *'n<l it I was the (minion of <*"> !r.;i.«- Mi|irrintcwl- , lent iMr. ",)<>hn Cork) that if this wash ; i were opened tip in larger quantities it , (ould be worked pavably at the pre.-ent | value. The list drives put in had p.ver. j considerably letter results than had been the case with the former ones, and thvalue? in the mine were improving Ino plant, was in excellent 1 condition, and the facilities in the mine were all that I tne directors could wish, but the cold i had not been located in values whi. .t ! v art considered would be payable. To be payable the wash must be worked 011 a larger scale than the finance? would at present permit. However, the mine manacrr was of opinion that, the com- [ pany still had a reasonable prospect "f j heoomin j a trood cold producer, and won d l-pav its shareholders for (he trouble. I expense, and delay which they had exi perienced. ~ I A call of 2d per share was outstanding, ; and the chairman regretted to say that . i; would probably be made in the course j 1.; a lew days. Exclusive of the Govern- ] men! loan of over £3000. the liabilities 1 amounted to £1500. I Superintendent's Resignation. j Mr. Davis announced that Mr. Cock had resigned his position .is mine super- . intendent, to take up a position that be j fnrmerlv held 111 Australia. In leaving ■ (lie company, Mr. <.'ock firmiv believed | that the mine wan likely to heroine a : -c>il one, and had a very reasonable | J pro>pect. The directors regretted ha vine , j been compelled to accept Mr. Cock's ! resignation. , , . Mr. V*'. It. Wilson seconded the motion j i for the adoption of the report and balance- ' j ali^et. j A Good Proposition. I ! ficiore tli-'* resolution was put. the : ! mine superintendent cave a review of to : , ! work done at the mine, aH answered a : number of questions. Ho recommended . the romnany to continue driving in .in | easterly direction, a.'< the ground was im- ' ! proving as .driving east progressed. Ho considered that the company should not 1 close the mine down, as the proposition j I was a good one. I i To close down now would be unfair 1 'to the mine and unfair to the share- j I holders themfelves, said Mr. Cock. Tt j 1 was worth spending another £10.000 or j [ £15.000 on the mine. The Ross Goldfields ; J were unique. Nowhere in the world was . I there an alluvial mine where work was j | done on so many layers of wash. In ; ! Australia, work was done on the main : I bottom, but in the Ross mine work was j ! done on false bottom.-;. The main bottom ( ! could not. be found. I The report and balance-sheet were j | adopted. The two retiring directors, Messrs, G. | 'F. Davis (Christchurch) and H. M. j 1 Smythe iHokitika) were re-elected, there j i l.eintr 110 further nominations. I ! Mr. H. Bicknell, F.1.A.N.Z., was re- , i elected * auditor. J j Raising More Money. , j The chairman said it was guprcC4»tod that I ; a sum of £7000 should bo raised to enable | i the company to-do further _ prospecting | ion the Ross"Flat. Dr. Rossiter, Messrs. j 'W. F. Whittnkcr. G. Creaph, G. A. ! ■ Buttle, find S. M. Moore-Jones were ; ■ an pointed a committee to confer with the 1 : directors as to the hc=t means of raising | the sum named. ■ j ! On the motion of Mr. Moore-Jo-ie*, ; seconded by Dr. R-ossiter, the shareholders j placed on" .record their appreciation, of j I the good work which Mr. Cock had done on behalf of the company. | A vole of thanks to the directors closed the meet-ins:. | £176 FROM 4W.. j The Ross Ooldtiebls return for the past j week was 440z of gold from 1171 trucks of | wash dirt. The value of this return is I about £176.

GRAND JUNCTION LOW LEVEL DEVELOPMENTS. [Ny TO.ECR.VPH.-- I'ORRI.SI'O.VDKNT.] W.Aim, Thursday. In company all tin- mine lnuiagcr (Mr. W. Mcl'unadiie) a Hkiiai.d ic.>resfntat:\ to-day inspected the pnnci'iJ development points in tin; Grand J .iKtion mine. As driven upon at No. 7 level the Empire mam lode, the Empire lootuall leadei. and the Dominion reel disclose strong bodies of quartz of good average value, the ore in the west face of the Dominion "lvinu assay values ranging from £5 t>. £4 per ton, whilo ijoing east tho lode also shows improvement. the development el the three lodes mentioned, both -;ust and west, is to be vigorously proseru.ed, and at. the same time flic main south-east crosscut will be pushed out to cut I ':«■ Hoy I and George reefs. Tin Republic and State reel's will also bo opened out on at this level later on.

Th,> main north-west crosscut, which J passed through two or three classes of j quartz. the la.st, apparently the Martha., heme about 20 ft wide, is now out between 120 ft, and 130 ft from the shaft, and i-' kino advanced iu a favourable class of country rock. At No. 6 level the most int "resting development has Keen the intersection of the Eiupne reef beyond the disturbed .section of country going cast The crushed country was encountered at about 940 ft east of the southeast < ioss, iit, and the drive was continued on the lino of the reef in the disturbed aira lor slightly over 100 ft. The > the ground became free from disturbance, and ill lOflOfi east the Empire lode was 'licked up I. ii feet further oil a cross.'i:l was lin th h the lode, proving it io be 28ft «ide aim v I'll defined body <' stone. .'•V\en (>• ' •>[ he reef on i'e .it, -all in rll *hi "t m:ilmg glade. md tie remainder. though not payable has mineral iv el distributed throughoii it.

1 roni the present face t'lere remains about 1900(t to bo driven through virgin countrv on tbo lino of reef before the eastern boundary of the property is reached. At No.' 5 level the Umpire carried little or no value beyond 1000 ft east of the south east crosscut, and it will thus be seen that there are decided possibilities as far as this ore body is concerned at a depth. The faulted country was also met with in driving east on the. Grace reef, and the drive was put out on the line of reef. In the last few feet the country lias become more settled, and shows one or two mineralised quartz stringers. Hp crosscut north from the ("trace, east of the main crosscut, to intersect tbo_ Jlartha reef, is now- out about the required dis-

tance, and from the appearance of the face tho reef is close to hand. _ _>-• '1 he slopes on tho Empire and Empiru : footwall loader over No. 6 level aro maintaining- their widths and values, and in beating out the leading stopo on tho Emmre, going east-, the lodo has been proved to be much bigger than was expected from its development in the drive. . Tho installation of 20 additional stamps at the mill (making 60 head in all), has now been completed, and tho new stamps will be given a trial run in a day or two. In view of the satisfactory mine developments the management contemplates increas ing tho monthly output, and it is anticipated that at an earlv date the tonnage of ore to the mill will be raised by 1000 to 1500 tons per month. I TANG I CONSOLIDATED. A PROMISING FUTURE. The half-yearlv report of tho directors of the Wttitangi Consolidated mine, Tararu, has been supplied to shareholders. The report states that the bo; rd i* well satisfied with tho results t6O f-.r, and hopes soon to be in '.ho position to report gold r'T.irn-. A batten' has been purchased ami slu.tld bo crushing within the next three or f'nr months. Th« mine has been fuily develojied, save f- r tile ore pass between h vi Is Nos. 2 and 3; this pass is now goin,: in ar.d should bo through within a few weeks. Xf» !,inie win be lost in cutting til" battery into order. Everything r.o-v points to a very suecr--liii niiure for tti-> mine, the. assays fop the last few months indicating that there is navnhle <«re to work ..n. There is rverj* reason to »*- lifv.. th.-.l tin- values •„ •> ri = tl,r"ll;h t1,.J stone. Very .jnaiititieA ~f ..r.- l.a\ • I been opened up 011 ti.e four 'eve!-, the | stone beini: heavily mineralised, and r <c gold C'litilltiallv visible. 11l i■. in 1 si'. n. the dim to:? urge the shareholder not to permit their shares jo conic "ii tin* market at trivial prices, when so promising a future is ,n sijhl. The halaiiic.sheet, 11? at April ?J, 1914, show:, a bank Ktlanc> to credit of £284 16?. Unpaid calls amount to £508 2s 6d.