Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd

NZ Truth, Issue 473, 11 July 1914, Page 2

Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd

Report and Accounts for Year Ending, December, 1913.

Records of a Dying Mine. . .. ' ... -v

For the last twenty-five years, the above mine has been the boast of New Zealand, and well it.jnight be. It has stood m the front rank of gold producers for a long period, but now it is 'rapidly falling m the scale of mineral greatness. It is clear that as regards the gold output, the time when it will be' off the dividend paying list is not far distant. Still there are many possi-, bilities before the company. They may purchase mines m new golflfields; they may be able to develop the Hora Hora , Hydro Electrical Works into a highly payable side line, .either or both of which might' prove very profitable to the Waihi Companst Let us look back upon: this.; wonderful company's his- ; tory, and' See ~what its performances have^ been, for there are many lessons . to .be gained from the retrospect. First of all, there has been mined from the earth, during* the" company's twentyfive years work, bullion to the value of £10.454,869. Of this vast sum, £4,---865,307 was- paid to the shareholders m dividends, which Includes £356,76S of Income • Tax, ■mostly, paid m, England. The amount paid last year m London was £18,984,' while the sum that fell into the Treasury of this country was but £3,503. The principalreason for this arises from the* fact that most of/lhe shares are held m London, and Lloyd George is taking good care to . make Plute pay something towards the Dreadnought scare, and other wasteful expenditure. We, on the other hand, have kept the cold shears off the "golden fleece" of this mine, "m order to encoUrage the mining industry." Of course, such encouragement only adds to the burdens of the workers on farms arid m the towns. , However, THIS FACT CANNOT BE HIDDEN— Ten and a-half millions of ■ money has been gouged out of the mine, of which fifty per cent, went iti; dividends, mostly to' people at the other end of the world. This is one of the "benefits" of foreign capital! But whero does this country come in?' And the New Zealander is fond of boasting of his advanced political ideas! • '"" This mine has been fairly well managed, and as a consequence of its methods few blunders have cojne to public knowledge. It has been inspected at different times by experts of all sorts — mining swindlers, geologists, engineers, etc. The reports from this mixed crowd ol experts, seem to agree m one respect— ".That the." mine was an exceptional gold bearing deposit." One point appears never to have been fully settled, and that was whether the reefing system denoted a true Ilssuro vein/. The writer considers the development has proved that the mine does not point to permanency. At , the present time the gold-seems to be petering out m the lower levels and this, to a great extent^ is an indication that .the (issu're veins are alfsent here. It may be said that the gold bearing de-v posits are of a volcanic .nature and do not run to the depths that a true reefing system would. Yet ten and a^half millions have been won to date. f "Where she be, there she be", as the Cornish miner says, applies very aptly m this case. . From the reports supporting the balance-sheet, It would appear that the ore reserves at date give a total of 1,490,359 tons.. Practically one half of this is m the old workings of the* mine, and Is spread- over' the arches and pillars which support the levels i and shafts. The remainder is. in the crosscuts and drives yet to be worked. J The stuff m the old working cannot be, touched until it is decided to pull down I tho pillars and arches, and when this operation Is Carried ■* out these parts must be perirtanently abandoned. The clearing, out of such stock will mean" shutting up shop. It is very nice io mention such large tonnages of ore In sight, but the value of such ore CAN ONLY BE GUESSED AT, until It actually passes through the reduction mills. The directors are careful to say nothing m the report about the value. It is upon this point that the market price of th 6 shares .should bo considered, but neither the accounts or report make the solution easy for the mining punter. O,ne thing is Very plain the assay ' values m the various drives are very low, so low m some cases aa Is 2d to 5s per/ ton. On the other hand, some of the stuff goes as high sis £2 to £9 per ton, but Ihorc Is not much of .tho latter. This gives some Idea of- the vagueness of the guess, and how useless such a guess must be under the circumstances. The heavy drop In dividends which has

come about is very significant, for values, recovered account principally for the amount of dividend payable. All this indicates that the. mine is fast coming to an end, and the market values of the shares to-day are a pure gamble. It would be hard to say. if the present value is too high or too low. Writer would warn . against a^ sanguine view if placed by a sharebrokcr before a prospective buyer. The sharebrokers of this country have proved themselves a pack of liars about this mine. They have bitten the public on both ears. First they snapped up every share for the London market arid advised the local holders to sell. -Then when the bottom was falling, out 'of things they shoved off as many shares as possible at" £9 10/- on the" mugs who boasted continually of the mine. In both the coming and going, the poor New Zealanders were hit up badly. Let them 'turn a deaf ear to the sharebroj£j»r. m future.. ■ ' : The "management -of this company has been fairly .good.. The accounts are excellently set out, and very clearly show the position of its finances. The share capital, with preminrris on shares issued. '.is _ £586,489. The/ premiums total '£84,582 ! and arc practically a reserve fund r as.no dividends are payable on this sum.; Sundry creditors •are. .£42,745, mostly a book entry to. meet income Tax at both ends of the ,world. The reserve fund is £90,000, which is very small, but. there Is' plenty, of free money m securities on the other side of the. accounts. On looking over the. -A.sse.tSi side, it is found that, the value of mines, . properties,' etc., is ■£235j415, .after making liberal p'rovi-' slpn— •£24,do7-^-fpr depreciation on • plant and machinery. The value here ts affected ,to a great . extent by the.life of fnc mine, so it cannot be taken that these, ligures would be maintained should anything happen to the mine, but there are. oilier assets, leaving out the Hora Hora electrical works, of a yal.UQ.pf close upon £500,000, which are absolutely sbund. The biggest is m Inyestments, £379,282 being a choice lot of bonds, r returning on the average .' four per cent., and could be sold as ;easniy as sovereigns. Cash and bullion ;are m -round ligures £G4,000, yhilc £45i906 • covers the values . set upon ►various other items that are 'question-'* able. It will bo seen from* 'this that tKe cash strength of this compuHy is of ;the very best, and that quite apart ■JrohV-'thb nitric, for ail practical purposes, THE CAPITAL ACCOUNT IS ' ;. ■■• ' INTACT. Therjb Is much to go, and come upon, besides one other . item kept separate front the balance-sheet — the Hora Hora /Electrical Works. This asset stands at £186,000 m round figures, all of .which was provided from the.. revenue account of the mine. What tills concern may develqp. into it would /be hard to say, but it is quite certain that it is a very solid asset at the present time, with great potentialities ahead. It is sad to think that the mine does not give much promise, but that is the way of all mines m the course of time. The great Martha Reef is getting poor, while nothing is found to take its 'place, ''.Values, are falling ;away m all directions and the worthy of the reserves, cap be arrived at only Avheh the cost of mining and treating the ore is fully proved by the stampers, and (the cyanide plant. Until then no one can say what the reserves arc worth.