MINING NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16309, 16 August 1916, Page 5

MINING NEWS.

♦ WAIHI GRAND JUNCTION. ' ( QUESTION OF EXCESS DUTY. [FROM OTTR OWN' CORRESPOjrDEJTCj LONDON. June 30. Mr- H. B. Bishop presided at the annual meeting of the Waihi Grand Junction Gold Company held this morning in the city. He referred with regret to the loss which the company had suffered by the deaths of three directors in one month namely, .Mr. W. T. Holland, who joined the board in 1909, Mr. George Rothwell, their late chairman, who on two . occasions went to New Zealand on behalf of I the company, and owing to whose foresight and supervision the company was able to surmount its initial difficulties, and Mr. J. \V. Broomhead, one of the original directors, of whom he, the chairman, alone remained. Two of the vacancies had been led by the appointment of Mr. Stanlake Lee and Mr. H. J. Rothwell. Tho chairman.briefly referred to the excess profits tax and the possible liability of the company thereunder. When the proposal was first mooted, he said, the suggestion was that excess profits earned by businesses in the supply of. munitions, or benefiting from the war, .should be heavily taxed. But on obtaining a copy of the Bill they found that all businesses were to be subjected to the tax. Naturally their company stood to be prejudicially affected. " On the advice of their solicitor they wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on October 20. and also i communicated with the High Commis- ; sioner for New Zealand. The Bill was inI adequately discussed in the House of ComI mons, and passed into law with the main provisions practically unaltered, though in the debate it was suggested that gold | mines and rubber companies would le- ! quire further consideration. Their comI pany, in 1911, spent on machmerv and j plant, some £30.000, and in 1912 there was I the strike, which naturally affected their profits, while, in 1914, their profits were unduly increased by crushing a large amount of high grade ore which had to | be removed for the more efficient work"i in K of the mine. The payment of excess j profits would be a grave 'injustice to the shareholders of the company, especially as they claimed that the profits of the'last I year or two were mainly the result of many years of industrial development. They now awaited, the decision of the authorities, and proposed to adjourn the meeting to a later date for consideration of the report and accounts. .| second interim dividend at the rate of Is per share for the vear ended December 31 1915. was declared. Mr. Stanlake Lee was re-appointed a director, and tho meeting was adjourned. FOUR-IN-HAND. RETURN OF £450. The manager of the Four-in-Hand mine, j Coromandel. reports that the battery has I treated 72 tons of general ore and* 421b !of picked sU.no for a return of 1650z of I retorted gold, valued at £450. I ; WAIOTAHT. I The cleaning up and timbering of the i surface drive in the Waiotahi mine, Thames, is being continued, but a.s the' : drive has completely collapsed and re- | quires widening to make room for the • timber, the manager considers it will | take another week to reach the face. I j I COROMANDEL WARDENS COURT. I [BY TKL(|iSAFH. —OWN- CORRESrONDKNT. J COROMANDEL. Tuesday. At the monthly sitting of the Warden's | Court before Mr. !■'. J. Burgess, warden, the following applications were dealt with : —Mount Welcome Gold Mining Company, to suspend labour conditions for six months, granted by Minister for Mines from July 11 ; C'oromandel Hydraulic j Elevating Company, extended river claim, Driving Creek, leasee granted for 42 years;! Alfred Nathan Nathan, application for several mining privileges, Kuaotunu, and residence site 205, renewed for 21 years ; Montague Harrison Wynyard, prospecting licenses Golden Ray and Waimata claims, granted for 12 ' months ; C'oromandel ) Hydraulic Elevating Company, special J river claim Hftrataunga Stream, ad- : journed to September 5 for plan ; Four- ! j in Hand Mines, Limited, for certificate reduction, granted for six months for 18 men: John Bremner. special quartz claim, Kauri Block, adjourned to September b; Alfred John. Joyce, special quartz claim' Harataunga East No. 2 Blocktwo applications affecting 38 acres —granted for 42 years, operations to betrin within four ■ months ; Walter Sydney Sewell. extended I quartz claim Harataunga Block No. 1, ! adjourned for the filing-of a declaration.]