MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14380, 25 November 1908, Page 10

MINING.

The hoight of the rivgr. was 6ft 7in above tho normal mark at Alexandra yesterday, and tho weather was cojd. The-following returns are reported from tho I'aterson's foeohold dredges:—No. 1, 14oz lOdwt for 134 hours; No. 2, 17oz lOdwt •lor 129 hours. Ono.hundred and,thirty forfeited shares in tho. New Fourteen-mile Beach Dredging Company were oHorod for sale without reeorve by Messrs Park, Reynolds, and Co. yesterday, and.fell to the only bidder at the low prico of Id par share. 'file Mystery Jflat dredgo worked chiefly i:i the .eculire and eastern sections of the cut lust week. _ The wash in the latter was much heavier than, usual, and carried very fair gold. The bottom, was of red clay. Tho master of the South Waikaia dredge, wiling on, tho 20th inst'i, reports having Hiad alow stops during tho week. The timeworked was 128 hews; The ground is looking very poor and drifty. The width of the faco is 'some six chains. He expected that the ground wouH look much| better than it is'in'going across, but it may yet changei at any.time. A sniall run wasjexpected in' going up the flat, .which'may open out and' get better. ■. •• ■ ' The mineral exports of Broken Hill (New South Wales) for October were ae follow; — Lead in ore, 12,359 tons, £102,500; silver - ait ore, 492,1020z, £31,241;", zinc concentrates, .35,711 tons, £74793;. silver lead crudes, 2833 tons, £5912; copper ore, 12 tons, £591; gold in. ore, 1920z, £768. The 1 world's production of gold during 1907 is 6et down as 19,958,764 fine ounces, valued at. £82,511,227. To this total Australasia contributed l 3,669,&300z, valued at £15,169,870; tho United States, 4,315,0810z, valued at' £17,839,743; and the Transvaal, 6,451,4940z, valued at £26,670,477. The world's production of silver diking the' Earn* period is given as 193,542,381 fine ounces, valued at £25,504,006, Australasia's contribution being 17,516,4330z, valued at £2,288,592;. while the United States produoed 58,850,61502, worth £7,689,047, Mexico being in the lead with 65,600,0000z, worth The secretary of tho Nokomai Hydraulio Sluicing. Company reports that work at No. 1 is proceeding satisfactorily. Water is at; present plentiful, but the weather keeps warm and dry: The manager of No. 2 reports that tho weather keeps dry, and he has now to draw supplies from the dam, which had been reduced, and was now. 3ft from being full. The dam was closed at midnight on Saturday to store the water. Elevating was started on Monday, and'; good progress lias been .made. Tho ground 'continues 6tony and firm. No. 3 bad a full' week's sluicing, and good work was accomplished. There is plenty of water in the Lion race at present. | pUNEDIN" STOCK EXCHANGE. ;Sa{e: Talisman ConsoMdated. £2 2s 6d. r The following are .yesterday's latest quotations., subject to-the usual brokerage:— ~ I' "■ Dredging 'Stocks. Alexandra Eureka—Buyers 3s 6d, sellers "bod. _ Elootric—Buyers 2s 6d, sellers 3s. ■ Lady Roxburgh (contrib.) —Sellers ss. Manuherilcia—Sellers 12s. . . Muddy Creek—Buyers £1 15s. No Town Greek—Buyers 12s 3d. ■Bising Sun-Buyors £1 12s, eellere £1 15s. Stanley Paracale—Sellers 5s (prem.). ,' : > ■ ■ Mining Stocks. Barewood-SeHeTS £1. , Big River—Buyers £1 16s 6d. \'Welcome Quartz—Buyers 2s (prem.). •Talisman : Consolidated—Buyers £2 2s 6d, Bellors £2 2s Bd. . Woihi Grand Junction—.Sellers £1 13e 6d. ~• Investment Stooks. .-'• National Bank—Buyers £419s 6d. Bank of Nov/ Zealand—Buyers £8, sellers £8 Bs. ' '■■'■■' Union Steam Ship Company—Buyers £1 14 6 9d. Westport Coal Company-Sellers £7, 2s 6d. Wcstport-Stockton—Sellers 10s 3d. D.1.0. (pref.)-Buyere £1 Os 6d, sellers £1 Is 6d. - Kauri Timber—Buyers 15s, sellers 16s, New .-Zealand Drag (£2)-geJfen, £2 10s. New Zealand Paper Mills-Sellers £1 ss. New .Zealand' Portland 'Cement—Sellers £18s9d. ..-■!' "' • ■ Oamaru Woollen Factory Company (pref.) -Sellers £15s. ' «~ * u- / ROSS GOLDFIELDS, (Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) ' GREYMOUTH, November 24. In speaking at tho annual meeting of the Ross Goldficlds Company yesterday, Mr Michel (chairman- of directors) et-atexi that one point in connection with the importation of the plant which he would like to emphasise was that, • although it • was for the uriwatering and of a gold mine, the contractor were paying over £2000 Customs duty on' it; some heavy items coming under a 33 per cent, tariff. Thus the total duty "paid to the Government amounted to about one-seventh of the .£15,000 subsidy granted to the company. At a subsequent •meeting of directors Mr William Wylie, of Dunedin, was appointed mine manager. CENTRAL CHARLTON COMPANY. The /following report will be submitted to- the ,'coniAng annual meeting of shareholders, in the Central Charlton Dredging Company:—"Your directors are pleased to be able to make another favourable report on the year's work. The gold won for the ,12. months amounted to 9300z fxlwt, valued at £3719' 14s Id; making the total amount'of gold got from the dredge 76820z lfxlwt 6gr, valued at £30,292 Is sd. Out of -this the, shareholder have received back: Money 'advanced on debentures, £1058; in-terest-on- debentures; '£136 3s lOd; bonus on debentures, £136 3s lOd; bonus on debentures, £251 ss; 24-.dividends of Is each, £8400-makin ff a total of £9845-<Bs lOd. In addition'to this a reserve fund of £629 3s'4d. has been set aside. ' During the year the dredge has recorded 46 weekly returns, worked 6150 hours, and has lyorkod 92 yards up the claim, leaving approximately about 233 yards up by 4-78 yawl* aoroas the claim etill to dredge'; The drdgemastor reports that at the same rate as last year we have two and a-half years' work- yet, but. tho ground is expected, to'<lip a little, and in that case it would take over three years to work.the ground out. The dredge' W, , machinery have been kept in good repair, and no extra heavy expenditure is expected during the current vear. Messrs' G. M. Marshall and C. S. Reeves are the retiring directors. Mr- George Blyth, F.N.Z.A.A., auditor, al6o retires. . All'being eligible offer themselves for ' rs-olecticn." Tho - , balance sheet shows .a credit of £816 15s 4d.

MOUNT LYELL MINING AND\RAIL- ■ WAY.COMPANY. ' , HALF-\"EARLy RjiFOltT. 'Tho annual meeting of shareholder* in the Mount Lycll'Mining and Railway Company takes place in Melbourne next Friday. The following extracts are ta!;en from the directors' report for the half-year ended September 30, which will, then be Submitted :- " Tho removal of. overburden and winning of ore ha 3 proceeded at the Mount Lycll Minb as usual, the total output of ore being tons. The average assay maintained, the'higher level referred to in last report, being:—Copper, 0.85 per cent.;

silver, 1.84oz; and gold, ,06}oz per ton. The North .Mount Lyoll Mino lias produced 65,446 tons of ore, which exceeds the output of any previous half-year. The copper assay is higher, the average metallic contents of tho ore being:—(,'oppcr, 6.18 peV cent.; silver, 1.390z; and'gold, .007oz per ton. Notwithstanding the 65J446 tons of ore extracted during the half-year, there is an increase in the reserves of ore in the North Mount Lyell .Mino'. of 103,675 tons as compared with last half-year's estimate, The main shaft has been sunk' to a depth of 119 ft below the 1000 ft lcvt'i, and preliminary work for opening out at.the ilOOft level in now in hand. The ore, etc., smelted during the half-year amounted to 201,697 tons, made up as follows:—Mount Lyell-Mine, 134,153 tons; North Mount Lyoll Mine, 65,816 tons; metal-bearing fluxes', clays, eto,, 1575 tons; purchased ores, 153 tons; total, 201,697 tons, The blister copper produced amounts to 4450 tons, being an hiqreafce of 149 tons over last half-year's output. The cost of producing blister copper during the halfyear has been 14s "11.91(1 per ton of ore treated, being 4.48 d per ton less than for the previous period. The traffic on the company's railways shows a' total profit of £3812_7s 5d lot the half-year. The Port Adelaide chemical and',, superphosphate works were completed during tho half-year, and have since been in, full work. Everything at both Yarraville atui.Port Adelaide has proceeded satisfactorily, and the company's fertilisers continue to meet with aj read; and increasing sale. After .writing oft'' £16,007 10s lOd for prospecting and development not charged to mine preparatory works overburden account, and £10,011 for depreciation of plant and buildings, the net profit for the half-year is £152,157 Os Id being an increase of £23,176 9s Id over the profit of the previous six month?. .The 908 tons of copper unsold at the beginning of the half-year realised ari 1 average price of £58 Us lOd per ton. Of the copper produced for the half-year under review, 3542 tons were sold at an average price of £60 9s Id per ton, leaving".Bs2 tons' unsold on September 30, which, quantity has, been taken into the profit and loss account at £50 per ton. The valuation of 'the other: slooks on hand at the olose of the half- 1 ' year has been made on the usual-conserva-tive basis. The balance of the £140,000 <le- i Dentures taken over from" the North Mount Lyell Company, amounting to £40,100, was paid off during the half-year. The premium ' payable on redemption (£2005) . has been debited to profit and loss account. The liquid assets of the company on September 30 show a surplus of £446,646 16s, • j

SAILOR'S BEND trOMPANT. . Ninth Annual Meetinr. . . The ninth annual .meeting of shareholders in the Sailor's Bend Dropging Company was held in the company's', office yesterday afternoon. Captain U F. Sundstrum, chairman of directors, presided, and there were nine shareholders present. 'In .moving' r-He, adoption.''of the report and .balance sheet, the Chairman said the directors were extremely■' sorry to have to meet the shareholders with'a report and balance sheet not rnore favourable. At the oild of last year they had fully expected that they woudl haxe been- able to pay one or two more - dividends;' but they all knew the result of, the ycar'svopefations. They kd started the, year l with a (balance of £2627 12s sd, £800 had "been, absorbed in a dividend, and the year had <?nded with n balance of £920 3s ,7d' in'hand: Since then_ they had spent a considerable sum in repairing the dredgo and : putting it into good working order, and. the result'now was that they had outstanding liabilities amounting to £388 ss'3d, and a sum, of £1026 with which to meet them. ' The position had not materially 'altered since the balance. sheet was drawn-'up. ■ The poor result, of the year's operations was due .to > the unsatisfactory state of the river,,and they would see from the report that they had really dono- ho work during the whole of the year. The river was'so unsettled that it was impossible to do aii successful dredging/.especially on account of the great amount of drift coining dowii the Manuherikia. This increased to such an alarming, extent, that it, was found impossible to Icope with it. ] However, this might prove to be a not unmixed evil, and they hoped next, year to be free from drift. They had every, reason to .believe that the gold was there. They ha'd never worked a week in. the history of the claim without, getting from, COoz to' lOOoz whenever they could bbt'tom. ' Tho;claim 'had not yet. been worked for, more titan a quarter of its extent at the outside". If the ran right through; the ground they had every reason to l}e satisfied. Tho only trouble was to get.a,suitable season." The dredge was in good order. She had beon thoroughly caulked, and the 'whole of the machinery overhauled. It only remained for'the' river to bo'at. such a level as to enable them to bottom and'beat the drift. , The directors had done everything possible ,to keep the expenses low consistently |with keeping the .dredge in good repair. He would: be pleased to do his beat to answer, any questions.. He would move the adoption of tho ■ report, and balance sheet. The, motion was seconded by Mr E. E, C.. Quick and carried unanimously; after several questions had Deeri; satisfactorily answered. ■. In reply to a question as to whether it would hot be possible to work the dredge all the year round, the chairman said he thought not'i ■ When tß'e river was moving up and down the work of beating the drift was. like trying to bale the ocean dry.' The Sailor's' Bend was. not a bank cJiiim, and it was only the mid-channel stream they, had got/to worL They were -hoping that" the Manu- 5 herikia had been so thoroughly scoured out during the past season that'there would be very little drift in the coming one. The retiring - directors,'-' Captain Sund.strum and Mr A. Kyle, were re-elected, and tho retiring auditors, Messrs Barr, Learyj and Co., wore also re-elected.