NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10731, 20 February 1897, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

A CHAT WITH MR DAVID ZIMAN.

(Fbom Our Own Correspondknt.*)

London, January 1,

Mr David is emphatically the author of the new era iv Westland gold mining, but his influence extends over a much wider scope/ aud I fancy he will yet be heard of as the originator or active mover in important enterprises affecting other parts of the colony than Westland. However, lam not at liberty to give any information on this head as yet. But I had a long and interesting chat with Mr Ziman a few days ago, when he talked very freely about the position and prospects of New Zealand mining interests generally On some . points the purport of his observations was to much the. same tffecfc as that of a good deal which has.been said to me lately by other eminent experts, and which I have duly conveyed to my New Zealand readers. But coming freiri such a riaan as Mr Zimanj his utterances tend to accentuate and drive home the; moral that ifc is so important fco inculcate. . " I need not teil yon," said Mr Ziman, j "thafc tha London mining market is in a state ! of great depression at present, and that this I affects New Zealand mining shares as moch as { any others. But this in itself is nofc the fault of New Zealand. Far from ifc. The fact that i the Home mining, market has gone to pieces j jußt now is simply New Zealand's misfortune, j The real slump is in-South African, shares, and this has affected all others. The value of those South African shares has fallen greatly, and holders begin ..to realise that originally they" paid a great deal too much for oheir shares* This discovery has caused them to lose confidence to some extent, and the loss of-' confidence* has necessarily extended to all other mining.shares in a greater or less degree." "You.see," continued Mr Ziman, "people who have -no practical knowledge of the cir--cumstances naturally think thafc whafc applies to one class of mining shares must of necessity apply to other classes, and so tliey regard New Zealand and Australia and South Africa in j much tha same light. Bufc there is every probability of an early recovery, and then | New Zealand mines will share fully in the benefit. - For it is undoubtedly the fact thafc the English public are beginning to think a great deal of New Zealand mines ; bufc still you 6hould warn people in-New Zealand that they.must.nob run away with the idea thattheycan stick, in.four; pegs, enclosing an area of land, and .then come to the London money market snd sell that piece of utterly untested land to the British public for a large sum in hard cash. If the owners of New Zealand properties really have confidence in them and know them to D 6 genuine, they must give their proofs by producing some, gold and doing legitimate work if they-Wish to (ell them satisfactorily iv London." ..*...,.

"Now, look for instance at the caße of the Consolidated Goldfields Company," Mr Ziman went on fco say. "Some of the first financiers in Europe are connected with that company. Its shareholders include such men as the Rothschilds, Hir'sches, Mosenthals, and others, bufc everybody is satisfied with it because it haa not only been proved definitely to be auriferous, but also is. an actually going concern which is< yieldinsyaud has yielded, large quantities of gold, and has paid dividends. There is something solid aud definite there. It is a Very different case when people in New Zealand stick in four pegs, and then coolly come Home and ask-European capitalists to give them £20,000 or £50,000 in cash, or £150,000 or £250,000 in shares, or thereabout, for an area of land thafc has never been proved to be itself auriferous, and that may in fact possess no more value than that; of, the grass on its surface. How can they expect this mode of proceeding to result in anything but disappointment, loss of confidence, and what is worse, discredit to New Zealand mining properties generally.. You cannot lay too much stress upon this view of the case."

Oa my inquiring what Mr Ziraau thought of the present prospects of New Zealand mining, he replied.—"l think that the prospects of genuine New, Zealand mining are decidedly goad. I fully believe that the West Coast country will ba more and more widely developed as its value becomes better known, and to my own. knowledge much more prospecting is being done now than was formerly the case. The Bfcsrfcing of such a large and active enterprise as the Consolidated Goldfields Company could hardly fail to exercise a favourable influence upon its surroundings, for we are going to do everything in the best possible style, and although we shall keep down expenses as much as possible we shall employ a great deal of labour at fair wages. There ia another, point worth bearing in mind. The mines now owned by the Consolidated Goldfolds Companybave produced in the past some \j27,0000z of fine gold from about 400,000 tons of_ stone. Bufc ifc must be remembered that this gold was obtained from the plate 6 alone, no treatment processes being in use on the Reeffcon field. The reefs or quartz veins vary in width from 2ffc up to 20ft in thickness, and it is an encouraging feature that in many cases they carry the gold in a finely divided state* and uniformly distributed. None of the mints have been worked below 1000 ft, but so far as work has proceeded there is every evidence of their permanence, and, as the New Zealand formations resemble those of Australia, I see no reason why mining should nofc bo carried on. to the depths already reached in Australia—2oooffc or 3000 ft. A striking peculiarity of these New Zealand reefs is that the wider the reef becomes the richer are the gold contents. At tbe lowest depths they are found persistent and continuous, and fully maintain their former grade. j Thiß opens cut important possibilities for all [ the quartz-reef mining districts of New Zealand."

" You may be interested to know," continued Mr Ziman, •' fchsfc I have just formed a new

1 company with a capital of £250,000 to take ov. er the Progress mines. Its working capital W*N hs £50,000." I . Wifch regard to thin company, by-the-bye, I r, oufcjlde that the shares will not be offered fc° the Pabl^ e. ** all £or subscription. People lfc IS tbe U8"al Ziiu<in business." *tL of to AS ,w. th V"vl ° ?"*"* f^f Y^ppTe treVno' reason why Mr Zioian should admit the public at par, seeing that he evidently has plenty of friends willing and ready to go into the thing and to subscribe all the required capital at par.