MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12445, 30 August 1902, Page 10

MINING.

The secretary of the Cromwell Gold Dredging Company reports a return of 520z 18dwt for 136 hours' dredging. The dredgemaster slates that the prospects are good; The secretary of the Junction Electric Gold J>redging Company reports a return of 20oz 12dwt for 30 hours' work. Tho dredgemaster that he is lipping the buckets, . Owing, to a mistake iu tho code the return from the Alexandra Lead dredge last week was reported as 116oz 15dwt, whereas the correct return was l&Goz lfidwt.

Ml J, J. Ramsay, secretary oi tbe New Golden .Gravel Company informs us that the return yesterday was 430z 16dwt for 140 liours. The dredgo has just been put in thorough repair, everything, including wages, being paid up -to date, . The return from the Kohinoor dredge is 16oz JDdwt for 80 hours' work, The dredge has been stopped for a few days. The secretary of the Teviot Gold Dredging Company reports that there will be no wash-up this week. Dredging was resumed on Thursday with tho old tumbler shaft, pending arrangements for the fitting up of the new tumbler.

The dredgemaster of the Great Woodstockdredge stated in his report for last week that the ground was a little easier to work, and he thinks the returns aro likely to improve. The dredgemaster of the Aldiuga dredge ptoted in his report for last week that there was very' little change in the depth and character of the ground, but tho quality was improving slowly, and he expected to see a gradual increase in the returns, provided work went on steadily. The machinery was all running well, although there were two stoppages at the end of the week. The dredgemaster states that he noticed a slight change in'the character of the ■wash on Thursday week, and hopes to see a moro marked improvement shortly. The vdredgemaster of tho Central Electric dredge reported on Wednesday last that the dredge was working steadily up till Friday. He. expected a small return this week, as the ground was very rough and it was impossible to keep on the bottom. There w&s a rise in the river 011 Sunday, which caused a little drift to travel, but the river was falling- again, and the weather was settled. He wired on Thursday that ho had stopped the dredge for repairs to tho bottom tumbler bushes. New bushes are being made in Dunedin, and will b; forwarded to tho dredge on Tuesday morning next. The return is lOoz lldwt 17gr for 98 hours' dredging..

Tho dredgemaster of the Leviathan dredge reports • that last week's return was obtained almost entirely from the western run of wash, which was only 12in in thickness, with an overburden of 24ft of clay, mud, buried trees and roots, which wero very difficult to deal with. He dropped back this week to work the eastern pin, which was very poor, so he does not expect such a good return. All the machinery and gear, except- the screen path and rollers, were running well, the two latter giving a little trouble.

■The Three-mile (Greenstone Creek) dredge was working the north side of the face Inst week. The ground was very hard in-t-he comer, and there wore several large stumps to remove this causing great delay. The wash was very hard to work,-and though there was not a sjreat depth of it it was very good. 'The gold was also a bettor Bamplo than usual on tho north side, ana was finer than that obtained ou the south side qf the face. The dredgemaster intended to work the north side further ahead in order to get the taiKngs right across to the cliff, so as to prevent the creck from cutting away ou that side in time of flood. The creek was high on 'Saturday night, but no damage was done. ' It is estimated that in order to get the Grey River Consolidated dredgo to work again some £500 or £750 will be required in addition to the debenture money, which amounts to £1500, and in order to procure this additional capital it has been decided to endeavour to form a company amongst the debenture-holders and shareholders in tho old company. It is proposed to make tho capital of the new company £2000 or £2250, and to ask the debenture-holders to transfer their debentures into shares. The additional capital will consist of prefereuco shares, tho holders of which will bo entitled to icceivo 20s per share hack before the debentureholders participate in the .profits of the com'paay. Applications should be sent to Messrs Mercer and Mitchell not later than September

The dredgemaster of the North Beac'a dredge states in his report for last week that the .return, whioh was obtained from the sea side of tho out, was not up to expectations. The prospects fell off a little, but may improve

again at any time. Work was resumed on Tuesday week, but a stoppage was found necessary on Wednesday afternoon;' to tighten the elevator trays and put grab hooks on the main bucket chain, with the object, of getting timber up by this means.' The' timber was very troublesome on tho sea side, which until last week was quite free from obstructions of this kind. This ground, which contains the best gold, was worked by miners in the early days, but 'they could not bottom the lead. The drcdgcintwter intended ! to work the same lace this week if the weather kept fine, because the water'being very lotf in the paddock it suited to -work the deep ground, more water bein® required to work the shallow ground, us there is a lot of sand to be contended with. The return ior this week is 31oz 7dwt for 119 hours' dredging.

THE WEEK'S DREDGING RETURNS. The following returns have so far been reported for tho present week:—

Oz. dwt. gr. Electric, Cromwell 231 0 0 Hartley aud Riley, Cromwell, 130hrs .. ... .. ' 95 0 0 Alpine No. 2, Cromwell, 133hrs.. 31 0 12 First Chance, below Alexandra, week 83 0 0 Waimumu, nr Mataura,ll7hrs .. K) ; J , o Cromwell, Cromwell, 136hrs .. 52 IS 0 Enterprise No. ■ 1, ■ Alexandra, 137hra .. .. 43 2 4 New Golden Gravel, Beaumont, 140hrs .. .. 48 16 0 Dunstan. Lead, Alexandra, 5 days 3li 0 0 Enterprise No. 2, Alemdtu, . 136hre '...... 35 8 5 Molyneux Kohinoor, 198hrs .. .. .. 29 6 15 Central Mataura No. 2, ifataura, 130hrs .. .. 25 3 12 Ettrick, Roxburgh, I2ohrs .. 24 2 0 Central Charlton, near Gore, 133hrs .. . ojj go Incailale, nr Palmorston, 12ohrs 21. 12 0 Junction. Electric, Cromwell, SOhrs ' .. .. 20 12 0 Charlton Creek, nr Gore, 12uhrs 19 5 0 Mystery Plat, Waikaia, 120hrs ... 17 9 20 Globe, Waikaka, 133hrs .. 1G 9 0 Spec Gully, nr Mataura, 138hrs „ 14 5 0 Waimumu Central, nr Mataura, „, n< £ ra •• •• -• IS 10 0 Charlton Valley, nr Gore, 127hrs 12 6 0 Central Electric, Cromwell, 9Shrs 10 11 17 The West Coast. Uforth Bcaeh, 119hrs 31 7 0 Kohinoor, 80hrs .. .. „ ig io o Reeves's Proprietary, lOOhrs 15 13 o DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. The share market tos fairly active yesterday, but it was noticeable that the majority of the moat prominent stocks showed a declining tendency, The returns to hand for the week ara fully up to the average, and if those.coming m to-day are as good as usual the market should be firm for a time at least. The river was 2ft 9in above the . normal mark at Alexandra yesterday mornm*. Alexandra, Loads wore in the market at Hs ®d, but buyers dropped back to 14s, and Alpine JNo. 2 shares, which were offered at 21s were not inquired for at all. The return from tho dredge, though good, is not so good as was exported when tho return for the first naif of the week was received, Bendieocs were weaker, and one parcel o: shares was quitted at 13s 9d, at whioh price there were more sellers, buyers dosing at 13s 3d. ContraJ Uiorltons were firm, and Davis's Bends mid Electrics hardened; but Fourteen - mile ■Beaches weakened. Gentle Annies were unchanged, with buyers at 4s M and sellers at 63. A sale of Gold King 3 took placc at Is, and more inquiries were mad© at 6d. hut sellers would not oome below Is 3d. ' Golden Beds improved a little, but Golden Rivera fell back. Great Woodstocks showed a further advance, and two parcels of shares chaagcd ■n? at ss, at which price there were additional sellers, buyers closing at 4s 9d. In consequence of the good Teturn from tho Hartley and Riley dredge, that stock was a, shade timer. Junction Electrics wore steady, as also were Lafranchi's Freeholds, Majesties, and Meg and Annies. Sales of Monta Christocs were effected afc'lOa 6d and 10s 9d, more shares being asked for at the former price, but holders would not come below lis. The quotations for New. Alpine Consols wore very at l\^ CIB v top r?, Rt ' 3d a!,d at 15s Gd. }>ew Halfway Houses imnroved somewhat, and ono sale was made at Is Gd, while the closing quotations were Is 3d and . Roxburgh Jubilees wero a little easier, and one transaction was recorded at -ss, after which sellers wanted 26s Od, but the best response was 245. Old Dunstaas were steady, whilo Olngs, which havo boon easier Wely, recovered to a certain extent. Riley's Beaches were steady, and there was a g<wd b q S ry for thm sal® were effected at Jjs, one at 2Gs 6d, and two more at 265, after which buyers offered 25s 9d, but noiders would not accept less than 2Gs Gd. Umtys showed a further improvement, and live parcels of shares were taken up at 13s inoro being wonted at the same price, but sellers held for 13s 3d. Sales were made yesterday at the following prices :-Bendigo, 13s 3d.; Gold King, lsT broat Woodstock, ss; Monto Chrifito, 10s Gd and 10s 9d; New Halfway House, Is Gd; New S !? 8 ., ®® (paid), 258'; Riley's Eeaoh, 265, 26s 6d, and 265; Unity, 13s. The following aio yesterday's latest quotations, subject to the usual brokerage :~ Aldmga—Sellers 18s. Alexandra lead—Buyers' 14s, sellers 14s Gd. Alpine No. 2—Sellers £1 ls. : Bendigo—Buyers 133 3d, sellers 13s 9d. Central Charlton—Buyers 6s. Davis s Bend—Buyers 3s, sellers 2s dig. Electric-Buyers £113s, sellers £116s. Enterprise-Sellers £1 7s. First Chancc—Sellers 17s 6d. Fourteen-mile Beoch-Buvers Is, sellers 2s. Gtntle Annie—Buyers 4s 3d, sellers 6s, Gold King—Buyers Gd, sellers Is 3d. Golden Bed—Buyers 7s 6d, sellers 10s. Golden River-Buyers Is 9d, sellers 2s 6d. Great- Woodstock-Buyers 4b, sellers fis 6d. Hartley and Riley-Buyers £113s, sellers £1 17s. Inchdale—Buyers 4s. Inch Valley—Buyers 2s 6d, sellers 33 Gd. Junction Electric—Sailers 12s. Lafranchi's Freehold—Buyers Ss, sellers 12s. Lower Enfield—Sellers 12s. Majestic—Buyers 12s, solk-rs 355. Manuherikia—Sellers £1 12s. Monte Christo—Buyers 10s lid, sellers lis. New Alpine Consols-Buyers 15s 3d, sellers 15s Gd. New Golden Gravel—Buyers Is 3d p. ' New Halfway House-Buyers Is 3d, sellers 2s. ■ New Loaning Rock—Buyers 3s Gd p. Nelson Creek—Sellers £3 4s. New Roxburgh Jubilee—Buyers £1 4s 6d, sellers £1 Gs. North Beach—Buyers 19s. Old Dunstan—Buyers 4s 3d, sellers 4s 9d. Olrig—Buyers 18s, sellers £1. Otago—Buyers 13s Gd, sellers 15s 6d. Pactolus—Sellers £3 123 6d. Prince of Wales-Buyers as. Riley's Beach—Buyers £1 5s 9dy sellers £1 6s 6d. Sailor's Bend-Buyers 18s, sellers £1 2s. Trafalgar-Buyers 15s, sellers £1. Unity—Buyers 13s, sellers 13s 3d. Victory—Buyers 12s, sellers 153 !)d. Waimumu Central—Buyers 5s Gd, sellers Gs. Gd. ' ' Waimumu Extended-Sellers lis Gd. DUNSTAN LEAD GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. ; The annual meeting 6f the Dunstan Lead Gold Dredging Company was held in the Dunedin Stock Exchange Buildings last evening. There were 12 shareholders present, Sir Alex. Sligo (chairman of directors) presiding. The Chairman, in moving the adootion of the annual report and balance sheet (already published), said that the dredge thad'started work on the 11th September, 1901, aiid it was 42 weeks between that time and the date of the report and'balance sheet-viz.,' June 30, 1902. No dredgo yet made had run 42 weeks without stoppages, and tho Dunstan Lead wa§ no exception. He reckoned that on account of repairs, shifting, etc., the dredge lir.d not been working for fully a fourth of that time. As to the income and expenditure, they would find from the balance sheet that they were some £1810 to the bad at the end of June last. At that time to make up the full 12 months the dredge had another 10 weeks to run. If the 12 months had been completed the balance sheet would have shown a much better result. Since the 30th June up to'that night thev hail obtained 2480z of gold, worth £954. "This meant that while their debit balance stood at £IGIO at the end of June, tint might be estimated it stood at £1210. In regard to the expenses of the working, he estimated that they amounted to about Uoz 14dwt, or if they added the cost of the office, taxation, etc., to about 17oz per week. As they, would sec by the report, Mr Milne had resigned his position as director, and the other directors did not propose to ask them to re-elect one in his place, so that the number would be reduced by one. It had been said one of the directors on "the board hold only promoters shares. He thought it only fair that be should state, that the gentleman in question had no promoters' shares, aud, indeed, never had any. Tiie Chairman then read a letter from the dredgemaster stating that ho believed the ground ahead of him to" be 50oz ground. In summer, when the liver was high, he thought that 4fioz a week could be obtained from the banks. The Chairman, in conclusion, said that they had proved the claim both in the river and in the hank to a ccrtain extent, and he thought that the compauv was going to forge ahead, and that the returns would probably bo better in the future than in the past. Mr Shaw seconded the molion, which was carried. Messrs A. J. Shain and R. Jf. Thomson were re-elected directors. Mr Jas. Brown was also re-electer auditor. • ARVIJY BURN DREDGING COMPANY. A meeting of shareholders in the Gorvev Bum Dredging Company was held last evening for the purpose of receiving the liquidator's report and deciding as to what should be done with tho company's books. There were ball a dosren shareholders nrescnt, aud Mr W. T. Talboys occupied the chair. The statement of realisation showed that the expenditure, inclusive of a dividend of Cw in the pound to creditors, amounted to £1817 Is, and the assets reached a total of £1827 lis, thus leaving a balauce of

£10 10s in hand. The liquidator's report and the statement of accounts were adopted, and it was decided to destroy the books ot the company after the expiration of throe months. MYSTERY FLAT GOLD DREDGING COMPANY. The second annual meeting of the Mystery Flat Gold Dredging Company was held in the office of Mr W. li. €'. Reid last evening, and, unlike most meetings of dredging companies, was very largely attended, there being 29 shareholders present. Mr A. Cowie (chairman of directors) presided. He said lie thought it fell to very few directors, in those days o( liquidation, to present such a highly satisfactory report as shareholders had before them. Some ot their expenses were no doubt somewhat heavy, particularly for coal. They had tried different coals to be got in the market, and they found that Kaitangata was the' best, and its use would be a big saving. There were other expenses, such as buying grouiid, that- would not occur again, and after working that ground they would go on to their own claim. The formation of a wing-dam had also run away with money. He thought thev had acted wisely in taking up the ground they had, and that it would be a mistake to throw that ground up without working it out. After they had done that they would get into the river and work their own claim, and they hoped to get better returns than they had got. They had wiped off £2*50 since the dredge started, they had placed £400 to the credit of the reserve fund, they had paid 3s in dividends, and they had f 100 cash in hand. He thought shareholders would agree with him that that was very satisfactory. There was, he mentioned, a telegram from the dredgemaster that the Teturn for 129 hours was 17oz 9dwt 20gr. Another saving would be in water rates—instead of £50 they would have to pay £10. Some discussion then took place as to the s.dvisahlenes6 of at once going on to their own claim, or working the one acre that remained of the now ground. Mr Handyside expressed the opinion that the only gold to te got was close to the side of the river. The Chairman said the good ground hod been dipping to the west, in the opposite direction. He then moved the adoption of the report, which wa.s seconded by Mr Dunne. Mr Handyside, returning to the subject, said there was no payable gold on the west side. Mr Hessey contended there was particularly good gold got on the west side of the boundary. The dredgemaster had said that the best gold was got on tho west side. The cost of working the dredge he estimated at llicz. Tho (Mr Reid) estimated the cost at lOJoz, including tho extra charges that had been going. Under ordinary circumstances he thought about 12oz would cover the cost. He mentioned, incidentally, that the company should save £150 in coal during the next six months. _ The report, which has already been published, was tben ; adopted. On the election of directors coming up, Messrs A, Cowie, John Hessey (both retiring), James Handyside, and J. R. Jone3 (who retired in favour of Mr Handyside) were nominated, and on a ballot' being taken Messrs COwie and Hessey were elected, a motion to reduce the number of directors from five to four having been previously lost A special vote of confidence in the dredgemaster (Mr Lawson) was passed, and Mr James i Brown was then re-clectcd auditor. It was decided that the books close on the 30th June, and a vote of thanks to the secretary, Mr Reid (whq had been previously complimented by one iof the scrutineers on the manner in which his books were kept), for the way he had discharged his duties, terminated the meeting. NOTES FROM ARROWTOWN. (Feom Our Own Corkesjokdznt.) August 28. THE MACETOWN HKEFS. ' The crushing for the month of August at tbe Indian Glenrock mine yielded 1930z 15dwt 15gr of smelted gold, obtained from 170 tons of quartz. The mine manager (Mr W. Patton) states that this return goes to provo the gold in thei Macetowii reefs. continues down to a great depth. The reef in : the stopes is looking very well, being more solid, and thero is not so much mullock mixed with the quartz, as was the case some months back. Tho incline adit is pushing ahead, and, the country being favourable, good progress is being made. Wero it not that ,a notion fexpressed bv a semi-authoritative party to tho effect that Otago lodea do not live down beyond 300 ft, had to be disproved and written down, the frequent reference made to the subject in this column might be looked upon as damnable reiteration. As the fallacy of this dictum cannot be too clearly and completely exposed, every particlo of evidence Tcfuting it must bo made known and pubbcly discussed, and it mav therefore once more be pointed out that the recent very reassuring returns from this mine were obtained from a depth of upwards of 3000 ft, iueasuriii". along tho dip of the chute, and considerably upwards of 2000 ft in vertical depth. In the caso of the Macctown reefs' it is proved by exploitation in the Indian Glenrock mine that not only does thtf gold live down, but the quartz increases in value rather than decreases with dopth, the last crushing giving upwards of loz 2dwt por ton, according to the above figures, to which must be added, say, 4dwt per toil carried off by the tailings, but to ba recovered by the cyanide process. In the face of these facts the 300 ft theory looks exceedingly enifflficaJ. Besides there ;s the evidence of the Shotover Quartz Mining Company, on the eaino belt of country, which, after having trs-ced the goldbearing quartz to a, vertical depth of 1200 ft, only begins to realise tho value of its property, "u0 company is about to erect an entirely new battery, with all the latest improvements and returns will probably be hoard of before very long, oa the m&toriiil of the plant is all but delivered upon tho site. In this instance also there is a decided improvement in the value of the quartz as greater depths are reached,

Mr Henry Dunlter, who has for some time beon prospecting the lata Chorazin, or Jennings s claim, at Skipper's Point, has so far not yet struck the roef which was proved to exist at a higher level. The prospects, however, are good, and people who know the locality speak highly of it. Two residents at the head of Lake Wakatipu —Messrs tVdtson and. Weir—have discovered a quartz reef, which they have traced for 60 chains, The quartz, which looks promising yields only at the rate of L>dwt to 4d\vt per ton that k by iough trial, which truats free gold only. The locality of the lode is near Glenorchy, but the exact spot is kept secret. The reason for this secrecy in these days of large claims is not very apparent. A local companv ia forming to prospect the find, and no doubt more will be heard of it soon. .Tho severe frost of the last few weeks lias interfered iv good deal with all sluicing operations, and compulsory idleness prevails on all hands, River-clnim holders, soino of whom did exceedingly well, pre also affected by tho frost. So long as the "water :n their pressure pipe ran they could work, but whw it congealed into ice they had to stop work. The tost, however, did not interfere so much with race construction, and the ituddv Creek Terrace Company (Limited) are making good hesdwiiy with their race from Stockyard Creek, and will soon be ;n a position to start work. Messrs, Davis Bros, have had'?, tough job bringing watc-r on to Bill Guy's terrace, but the arduous work is now nearing completion. NOTES PROM CLYDE. (From Oua Own Coriiespondent.) CLYDE, August 29. The Ngapara Company, purchasers of the Vincent- Extended dredge, is having the drodge floated down to the Ngapara claim, near Alexandra. Mr Scha umau undertakes the removal of tbe dredge. ■ • . The Old Dunstan dredge is expected to have a fair wash .'up this week. The nisny shallows created' by the depositing of tailings at places in the river make it 110 easy task to float down the Vincent Extended dredge. She is in capable hands however. The river keeps at- an advantageous working level, although the weather is mild and occasionally warm. MOUM' LYELL MINING AND RAILWAY COMPANY. > MELBOURNE, August 29. The Mount Lycll Mining and Railway Company's returns fro'o July 24 to August 21) show that 25,012 tons wore treated, in addition to 316S tons metal bearing flux, treated. The converters produced 491 tons blister copper, containing—copper, 485 tons; silver, •lS.Olloz-' gold, 17G20z.