COMMERCE AND FINANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23693, 28 December 1938, Page 12

COMMERCE AND FINANCE

LOCAL AND OVERSEAS MARKETS

MINING NEWS ARGO DREDGE The Argo Gold Dredging Company, Ltd., reports a return of 105 oz for the week ended on December 24. The dredge worked for 131 hours, treating 14,000 yards. BIG RIVER MINES RETURNS FOR THE MONTH Big River Gold Mines, Ltd., reports the following returns for the month of December:— Battery Department.—Two hundred and thirty-six tons of ore were crushed for 140 oz 16dwt of melted gold. Cyanide Department.—Three hundred tons of sands were treated for 320 z 2dwt of bullion. Total estimated value, £ll2O. Three tons and a-half of concentrates were saved, valued at £9B. (In estimating the above values, gold has been taken at 140 s per fine ounce.) WEST COAST DREDGE RETURNS (Per United Press Association) GREYMOUTH, Dec. 27. The return of the Mossy Creek dredge was 40oz for 140 hours. 12,000 yards being treated. The Worksop dredge obtained a return of 420 z. The Blackball Creek return was 670 z for 110 hours. 10,000 yards being treated. DOMINION TRADE THE EXPIRING YEAR Dealing mainly with 11 months’ business, the Government Statistician deals in brief with the import and export control and exchange regulations. Other points in his review of business statistics are summarised.

Average weekly /alue of bank debits to individual customers’ accounts with the trading banks during November showed a slight recession, the amount being £17,040,960, as compared with £17,714,301 in October. A similar decrease was experienced during the corresponding period of the previous year, the average amounts for October and November, 1937, being £18,237,762 and £17,682,408 respectively. Average weekly net note-circulation has been running at a particularly high level throughout the present year. The average for November is £ 1,265,065 above that for November, 1937. Advances continue to increase, the November average establishing a new high level. November figures for deposits with trading banks, both fixed and free, show a further slight falling-off. The ratio of free to fixed deposits in November was 95.58 per cent., as compared with 95.24' per cent, in October, and 88.44 per cent, in November, 1937. The figures for the Post Office Savings Bank again show a substantial excess of withdrawals over deposits, the difference amounting to £856,613. Railway traffic returns for November reveal an increase in the volume of passenger traffic and goods over the figures for the November period of 1937.

The amount of sales tax collected in November amounted to £304,381. compared with £308,579 in October, and £307,824 in November, 1937. For the expired eight months of the current financial year the amount collected was £2,343,269, a decrease of £38.980 as compared with the total for 1937.

The value represented by building permits in the larger centres in November was £831,237, an increase of ,£109,908 over the corresponding figure for November, 1937. Totalisator investments, which are generally regarded as affording a reliable indication of spending power, have been maintained at consistently high levels during the current year. The amount invested in November was £835,916, compared with £747,175 in November, 1937. The amount invested during the 11 months ended November was £6,545,632, corresponding figures for the same period in the immediately preceding three years being: 1937, £6.016,204; 1936. £4,670,406; and 1935, £3,712.296.

BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR’S TWENTIETH YEAR It is announced that the court of directors of the Bank of England has agreed to recommend that Mr Montagu Norman be re-elected governor for the ensuing year, and that Mr B. G. Catterns be re-elected deputy governor. Thus next April Mr Norman will achieve the remarkable record (says The Times/ of entering on his twentieth year of service a. governor of the bank—a record which has few precedents in any public position of such importance, and none, of course, in the annals of the bank itself. Few people in the banking and financial world can let this annual occasion pass without thinking of the far-reach-ing changes in central bank practice which have occurred during Mr Nor„man’s governorship, and of the dominating place which Mr Norman has won for himself in the financial sphere. It is u matter of general satisfaction that he remains at the- head of affairs at a time when new monetary methods and a new type of exchange technique, devised to meet circumstances in which the old system was no longer tenable, have still to read, their perfection and maturity. Mr Catterns, who will be entering on his fourth year as deputy governor, has been at Mr Norman’s right hand during most of the period during which these new systems have been in process of development. There is,' perhaps no better testimony to the general appreciation of the services of the present governor and his deputy than the fact that few peopl.' can think without a slight feelin< of trepidation of the old system under which those elected to these offices served for a period of two years only.

TARANAKI OIL FIELDS RELATIONS WITH NEW ZEALAND PETROLEUM In their annual report, the directors of Taranaki (New Zealand) Oil Fields, N.L., state that they recognise the desirability of arranging to bring about a position whereby Taranaki shareholders may rely on:— (a) Continuing interest in the com pany’s royalty rights irrespective of how they may deal with (b) The opportunity for finding money for maintaining participation in the capital of New Zealand Petroleum Company, Ltd., and profits which may be derived from such participation. They feel that shareholders would welcome a plan which would achieve this objective, such as divesting the Taranaki company of the right to subscribe further capital for the activities of New Zealand Petroleum Company Ltd., and by vesting this right in a new no liability company, in which Taranaki shareholders would have opportunity to acquire shares pro rata to their Taranaki holdings. The possession of royalty rights only by the Taranaki company and its subsidiary and associated companies, would involve relatively small administrative expenditure. The directors are considering proposals along these lines, and hope to submit them to shareholders soon. “The taking of cores for geological examination in.the Totangi well, which is being drilled by the New Zealand Petroleum Company, Ltd., near Gisborne (New Zealand), together wiljh the harness of the sandstone, has prevented higher drilling speed in the 17in diameter hole,” the directors state. “A very thorough geological examination is being made by New Zealand Petroleum of the structural areas and the surrounding country in the Gisborne district, while in the Taranaki province, on the western side of the island, geological examination is being aided by the application of geophysical methods of survey. “ The development of geophysical methods in regard to the search for concealed rock structures, which may contain oil,” the directors add. “has made marked advance in the last 10 years. The search for oil in the Taranaki province, where the sedimentary rocks over relatively extensive areas are concealed by superficial beds of volcanic ash, should be greatly facilitated by the application of these modern methods of survey.”

MOUNT LYELL YEAR HIGHER ORE RESERVES NEED OF GREATER OUTPUT “The financial result of our mining operations will depend on ti e price of copper,’ said Mr P. C. Holmes Hunt, chairman of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company, Ltd., at the annual meetjng in Melbourne on December 16. “So far this year the price has been satisfactory,” Mr Holmes Hunt continued, “ br. + no one would care to prophesy the future of the metal market. The factor that will have the most important bearing on the price will be the extent to which production is adjusted to meet demand.” At September 30 total ore reserves had been calculated at 11,146,000 tons, averaging 1.52 per cent, copper—an increase of 1,251,000 tons over the previous year, after allowing for the year’s extraction. The whole of the increase had come from the main and Prince sections of -he West Lyell mine. A still further increase in output probably reaching 1,300,000 tons of ore annually would be necessary within the next two years. This increase would be needed t- offset the decline in the North Lyell mine tonnage, reserves in which were being gradually exhausted. No new ore was in sight and the end of the life of that mine was in sight. Last year it required about 72 per cent, more ore than in 1935 to yield a ton of copper, said Mr Holmes Hunt. Commercial working of low-grade ore deposits could only be borne by carrying out operations on a large scale and handling a tonnage of ore sufficient to give an output of copper adequate for the economic requirements of the proposition. As output from the higher grade mines had declined, copper production had been compensated by supplies from low-grade deposits. That had called for vigorous development of the open cut workings and for substantial additions to various sections of the treatment plant. Mining and treatment of the West Lyell ore had enabled ore assaying as low as 1 per cent, copper to be included in reserves, he continued. No difficulty should be experienced in keeping supplies o. ore to the mill at the required level. The scope of operations was beyond the capacity of the existing primary crusher, which was being replaced by a new machine capable of handling up to 5000 tons a day. The new crusher should be in commission in about five months. The capacity of the smelting furnace would also be increased.

Production for the year was U. 766 tons of blister copper and concentrates from ore mined during the year, but not smelted at the close of the year contained 350 tons of copper. Thus, the company’s objective of 13,000 tons of copper from one year’s work had been reached. SALES TAX YIELD THE NOVEMBER REVENUE DECREASE ON LAST YEAR Sales tax collected in the Dominion during November totalled £304,381 and fell £3443 below the figure for the corresponding month of 1937. Compared with October receipts last month’s revenue was £4198 lower. Monthly collections for the first 11 months of the past two years compare

For the expired eight months; of the current financial year the amount collected was £2,343,269, a decrease of £38,980, as compared with the total for the same period of 1936-37.

AUSTRALIAN CANNED FRUITS In a record season Australia produced 3,030,928 cases of canned fruits last year. The production comprised 380,082 cases of apricots, 1,790,742 cases of peaches, and 860,104 cases of pears. Of this production 2,000,000 cases were available for export, and the burden placed on overseas markets was so great that the Canned Fruit Board expects a substantia] carryover into the coming season. Latest figures available indicate that up to date 1,350,000 cases have been exported. Reports from London indicate that British buyers admit great improvement in the packing and labelling of Australian canned fruit in the last few years.

as follows:— 1038, £ 1037 C January 317,508* 201,131 February 230,525 104,024 March .. .. 277,000 200,037 April .. 202,281 295,082 May .. .. 273,087 300,700 June .. .. 285,738 283,004 July .. .. 205,001 278,008 August 287,510 301,002 September 200.020 300,714 October 308,570 305,700 November * Record. 301.381 307,824