NEW ZEALAND SINES IN LONDON. (From Our Own Correspondent ) London, November 27.

Otago Witness, Issue 2289, 13 January 1898, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND SINES IN LONDON. (From Our Own Correspondent ) London, November 27.

A snmmsrjof the latest New Zealand Mining B'li is published without comment by the Finacciftl News. .A ci-culsr haa been forwarded to the shareholders of the Glenrock Consolidated Company giving a very favourable account of the progress made during the pa»t five months in the Premier mine of New Zealand, fiom which, it is &t*ted, good ctushings have been ob*»ined. With regard to the Sunrise mine in New Zealand t.he circular gftjs:— >v Yuur directors f-el that the time has come when operations in New Zealand may to extended, and» wifch the substantial encouragement from tha Premier m<tie, that attention should be directed fco the Sunrise, as it is considered to be a property that may prove oE great advantage to this company, aod that the necassary expenditure should be authorised for opening up the property so &3 to bring it into tha producing stage." The directors further remark: "New Z^alaud is at preeefafc overrun with exploration companies lookirg out for desirable properties, and the ground will be jumped very quickiy if we do not work it."

The purchase of the cyanide pa' eat by the Government of New Zealacd for £15,000 is regarded as "a »ignifieant cireum>t*nc<j" by the Financial News, which goes on to say : " The process of cyanidiopcis yet only in its infansy, though at one time it wa» reported that the royalties paid by user 3 oE tho proces*, piiacipally in Sjuth Africa, amounted to £1000 daily. In Victoria and New Zealand a wide fkld of usefulness has bean opened up for it ia the 'treatment of heaps of tailings hitherto be'ieved to be valueless, and even in South Australia great accumulations of battery sand are being forced to >ield up much of tbe gold which, escaped the plate* in the palmy days of gold mining properties." The Achilles mine i* receiving a gcod deal of vigorous boomiDg, favourable extracts from the 'New Zealand Mines Record being extensively quoted. UNITED NEW ZEAI/.ND EXPLOHATJON COMPANY.

The first Riiiuiil meeting of the Uuitsd New Zealand Exploration Company (Limited) was held on the 15th iusfc. at Winchester House, OSd Broad street. Mr W. F. Turner presided. The directors' report showed thatlhe expenditure on properties and" options amounted to £9049 4s 7d ; the coat of the Auckland office furniture. laboratory, and fittings accounted for £269 5t 7ii ; and the salaries cf engineers and clerical fctsft", " remuneration " of the Advisory Council (Messrs Seddon, Horfron, and Murray), and other expanses in New Zealand came to £7603 10s lid, and the London expanses to £1523"0s 2d. The total earnings of the company were, on June 30, £5345 12i lOd, this amount being made up of engineering fees received, interest, dividends, commission, and transfer fees.

The Coairman in moving the adoption of the report said they had an issued share capital of £149,000 and share premiums received amounted ti £21,750, ihe premium being about 15 per cent, on the total shares issued, making in nil £170,750. They had practically no liabilities, the *x*et amount thf-y owed being £16 5s 2d. Their 1 quid assets amounted tj £8^,4-78, or over 55 per cent of the issued shire capital. The investments (£73,188) stood in the balance .sheet at cost price. Some had since been realised at a profit. The it-em "investments" really represented a larger value than appeared, because the company had acquired large holdings of fully-paid shares io certain companies which weie not brought into the investment account or balance sheet. Many properties in various parts of tho colony had been tubmittcd to the director.?, both in Lor. don and in New Zealand, and their engineers had been constantly occupied in the examination or development of the properties offered, with the result that most of the options had been relinquished. Owing to the great care exercised by their advisers the expenditure on abandoned options had been comparatively smsll, and the greater part of the item they were now dealing with represented expenditure in connection with certain properties which have excellent prospects, and which they believed would in due timo result in substantial profits The report was adopted.

Mr Henry A. Gordon, the general manager and chief engineer, afc the invitation of the chairman, addressed the meeting', giving a large amount of information as to the history and position of the company's properties, and as to the work done and doing.

After dealing with the Moanataiari and May Queon mines he said that in the Sooth Island they had a large interest in an option at B*i"ewood, which was being actively developed with satisfactory results. The reef had been proved by three different shafts, about 60 chains apart, to contain ore to the value of about £2 per ton. On the Victoria Range, where an option had been taken OTer, there were about 3000 ton 9 loose (tones or boulders on the surface, which, he estimated, would yield about 20z of gold per ton, equal to about £20,000. The reef had not yet been located, because until recently the ground had been covered with scow. Should

tie lode be" discovered, it would undoubtedly be one of the largest acd richest enterprises in the colony. On the whole it was the rnobfc promising find he had known during the 35 years he had been engaged in mining in New Zealand. They also held an option over the B itanuia mine in the Westporb district;, the L^dy Agnes and Carson's Eeward situate at Mokihinui, ani had under offer seven other properties. Mr Bishop, oue oE their engineers, wrote that at leisb four of these properties had a go-d "show," and were well worthy of being tested. Since the formation of the. company the engineering sfcaff had not been idle. The expenditure which had been incurred had been undertaken with tha greatest care and caution, and in the properties he had mentioned they had valuable assets from which they might expect, in due time, l>o reap substantial pr. fits. The auditors were rcappointed, with a fee of 30gs. MKLVII/LE's NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION. On th^ 17th insr. the second ordinary general meeting of Melvillt'* Near Zealand Corporation took place- at Winchester House. Sir Westby B. Perceval occupied the chair, and in moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet pointed oct thai it civcredthe period repret sent ing the firßt 18 months of the compa.ny'6 I existence. Their issued capital waj 35,705 £1 stures, oa which 10s each had been paid afc the da'e of the b -.lance sheet, but a sub-cqueut cull of 5s had been ma.de to provide for contingent liabilities amounting to £8481, chiefly in connection with the Kur-Miui-paledoniaa and New Zealand Jubilte coupsnifs. Tue directors regretted thit no dividend had been earned fi r the year, bub with a small c&pit'-l bu&iuess had been restricted and bid been directed mainly to the fl /tilion of th". KuranuiCalvdontan and the rfccomtrucfciou tf the Ne<v Zealand Jubilee mine, neither of whJc'a companies at nreeenb paid dividends. Melville's Corporation, however, had large interest; in both these companies in th* stupe* of fully-p%id shares, so that although there had boeu no prcfij earned in cash, there was a substantial asseh, which, if the expectations formed of ihe»& two companies were realised, would prove most valuable to them. The report w*s adopted. MISCELLANEOUS. Meetings have been held of shareholders of the Moanataiari G M. Company. May Quara Company, and B G. VI. Company, at each of which Me 11. A. Gordon entered fully into the prospects of Ihe mitirs. Oa the whore, I- am inclined to tbink there is a flightly improved ton« this week in the ■ London mukeb for New Zealand mines. Bab it is difficult; to- state any specific fact's- iv Bupi port of thi* idea. Most* of tha broker* still ■ complain of deadly dulnesf, and declare- that i such quotations &3 appear in tha- financial I papers aie purely nominal, aa no business is dob g. However, speaking generally, the;e certainly does seem an upward tendency in Ihfc&e nominal quotations. That is something. Any crumb of comfort is batter than none. Jnsfc now a strong feeling exists in the City iv the direction of usiug every effort-, fco discover sens'* cheaper and lnora efficactsu* method of extracting gold from the ore than is ?ffis>rded by the present cyanide process. I hear that inducements have been offered to certain scientists to take this matter earnestly in band, and that experiments are actively proceeding with the view of discovering some new process which shall practically revolutionise gold mining so far as concerns refractory and low grade ores. Sanguine hopes are entertained that tt v >e*e experiments may have a | favourable result. It i» greatly to bo wished ] lh*fc such may prove to be the case 1 , as th'S would inaugurate an entirely nsw era in the mining industry of the colony.