GOLD MINING AT THE BLUE SPUR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10597, 18 February 1896, Page 6

GOLD MINING AT THE BLUE SPUR.

INTERVIEW WITH SIR WALTER BULLER. Sir Walter Buller hsring returned from a visit of inspection to tha Blue Spnr and Gabriel's ' Gully Consolidated Gold Mining Company's I property at Lawrence wa3 interviewed by a representative of this journal yesterday, and very kindly gave information a3 to matters ascertained during his visit, and what was Baid will doubtless be read with interest as it shows that the mining operations of the comI pany,' which have been carried on with great i enterprise and correspond! Dg skill, have resulted I in well-merited success, and that the prosperity of thi» vast undertaking is assured. The interview was sb follows :— '

Reporter: Would you, Sir Walter, kindly give me some account of your visit, as I understand you have made a full inspection of the company's property ? ' '

Sir Walter Buller: Yes, I visited the Blue Spur for the purpose of making an inspection in order to report upon the condition of the property for the information of the board and shareholder* in England. I spent threo days with the managing director at the mine and made a most exhaustive examination of the property and the workings there. I also, for my own satisfaction, visited the Island Block mine, which is man»ged by Mr Rawlins. It is just three years sinco I last visited our company's mine, and I am bound to aay I was very much pleased with tha progress made. At the time of my last viiit our company was very heavily in debt to the Colonial Bank and ths Bank of Now Zealand, aad the whole of its property was under mortgage to those institutions part ptissu. Under the agreement of 1891, the term of 10 years was allowed to the company by the two banks for paying off the debt of £18,000, it being a proviso that there should be a sinking fund of not less than £2000 per annum. In less than five years the company has paid off the whole of that debt, together with 8 per cent, interest to the banks, amounting in the aggregate to £5200. We have also paid 8 per cent, per annum interest on the whole of the preference shares that were issued under a special resolution of the company to raise funds as fresh working capital in 1891, to •which I was myself a large contributor. We have also paid maintenance expenses, amounting to about £500 per month, and yet in the first week of November last Mr Howard Jackson was in a position to cable to London: "Debt extioguinhed." The property cow is entirely free, and we are banking the proceeds of the gold, less working expenses, for the payment of the first dividend, which will probably be declared at the end of the current financial year.

Can yon tell me what the yield of gold from the mine has been ?

Well, since our company commenced operations we have taken out of the claim and sold to the banks gold to the value of between £72,000 aud £73,000. The whole of the work is conducted by hydraulic sluicing, the cement in: which the gold is deposited being firet brought down by heavy charges of roburite, which we have t'onnd cheaper and quite as efficient as Wanting powder. Then the debris that come 3 down is passed up by hydraulic sluicing through an elevator at tha rate of a ton per minute, and that goes on all the year, round, Sundays and holidays alone excepted. ' Ths gold, whioh is all "free gold," is deposited on mecal rippfe) in the aluiciog boxes, which are cleaned up at regular intervals and treated in tbe usual manner for assay. Formerly, the practice was to clean up every month, bub as this involved much lo6b of .time, ths directors agreed to a quarterly " clean up," ths iast of which took place in November, and yielded 13070z of gold. During the short winter day* th« work is doDe under 'electric light, the plant for which has been put up under the personal supsrinteudence of the manager, atid is very complete in every way. If a larger supply of water could by any means be obtained, there in nothing to prevent another shift of men workiug the mine all the night through. Not that the water supply is in any way deficient, for tbe company commands neariy the whole of the water of thu district, its license embracing 166 miles of water races, supplying 44£ " heads " of water. I might expUin that "one head" of wat«r represents one cubic loot of water per second. The whole of the3e races are kept up in an excellent state of repair, and this is, of course, a heavy item of expenditure, some of the races having to be cut through rocky ground. Is the yield of gold not liable to great fluctuations? The yield now is very steady; It can be calculated almost to a few ounces per month, and represents a total of 4000oz per annum— eqnsl to about £16,000.- The gold sells for £4 0s 6d per ounca, and that fact sufficiently indicates its quality. When do yon expect to pay a dividsod ? We hope to' be able to pay one at the end of the next financial year—February 1897; that is to cay, supposing there should be no unexpected material drain upon oar resources for repairs or working expanses, a dividend of 10 per cent, on tbe paid-up capital. I do not hesitate to say that these most satisfactory results are almost entirely due to the energy, ■prudence, and skill of Mr Howard Jackson, who has devoted himself to the interests of the mine in the most unflagging spirit from first to last. Are you one of the directors, Sir Walker ? Yes. I w»s the first chairman of the company, and retained that position from 1888 to 1891, when, after rehabilitating ths company out here, I resigned the office to Lieutenant-general Sir John Stokes. I have continued to be a director oE the company, and I hold the company's power of attorney iv the colony. If it is a fair question, what fees do the directors draw ? For two or three years past the directors have voluntarily, at meetings .of shareholders, waived their fees, on the understanding that the shareholders would not press for an immediate dividend, bat would allow the whole of the net earnings to go towards the liquidation of the debt to the banks. I presume you have allowed them to accumulate as a debt, as the directors of the Waihi Company did ? Oh, dear, no. We make an absolute present of them to the shareholders, and in that way reconcile them to the non-payment of a dividead; and I must say they have waited long and patiently for the present satisfactory results. ■ How long do yon purpose to forego your directors' fees ?

The■• chairman has declared to the shareholders pur intention not to raise the question of remuneration for our services as directors nntil the shareholders are receiving a dividend of 10 per cent.; that showed our faith in the enterprise and our desire to promote ' its success. .

Has the general manager, of whom you spaak so highly, introduced any improvements in connection with the working of the mine ? ■' What struck me most was the. economical way in which everything was managed, compared with other gold mining works taat I have visited. There are many time-saving appliances that have been intrbduced by the manager. For example, there is an engineering shop established on the property, in which all the necessary machinery is driven by an eight horse-power engine worked by waste water from the mine, and here nil the repairs to the working plant,' the adaptation of iron pipes, and everything else is done both expeditionsly and cheaply. Then again, as a further means of economising time, Mr Jackson has rigged up two cheap aerial tramways, constructed of thick fencing wire, measuring eight chains and nine and a-half chains respectively, by means o? which the tools required, repairs, brushwood from the' hill, and other supplies are passed rapidly from one part of the mine to the other. I just mention this as an instance of- tho excellent management which obtains at the Blue Spur mine.

How -do- you manage about the tailings of the present workings ? ;

Well, owing to the great accumulation of stuff the old "paddosks," which were yawning chasms at tho time of my last visit, are now filled to overflowing with the.debris, bub the general manager is about to rai^e the principal elevator by heightening the trestles 10ft. This will give him a sufficient field for his tailings over the valley for probably some years to

How about the pressure of the water ? That has been satisfactory so far, but to inset our incrensing wants, Mr Jackson hopes soon, by an alteration of the pipes, to obtain another 70ft of altitude. In connection with the pipes I may say the manager has planned a very ingenius Byphon on a large scale which overcomes some of the difficulties of the ground, and promises to work very, well. The whole of this work is done iv the engineer's shop on the premises, which aleo contains a carpenter's b9nch, so that all the woodwork in connection with the trestles and other things is carried out on the spot. The efficiency.of the working plant is at once' apparent owiDg to the entire absence of leakages. In all respeots I found the mine in the best working order and condition, and the report which it will be my .pleasure to Bend to Eugland musb be to that effect.