MINING SUMMARY

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 20

MINING SUMMARY

Mid-winter has come and gone, and still the Molyneux River has dho-nn a strange perversity. At the one time of the year above all others when a low river is to be looked for the river ha» continued to keep several feet abose normal. Tlvm. again, an unusually severe «nowstorm three weeks ago interfered seriou-ly uith the conduct of all mining operations on the inland Otago goldfields. Despite these drawbacks, a nu 'Tiber of working dredges continue to earn good returns and to pay steady dividends, to the fortunate shareholder 5 . A glance at the weekly return* published elsewhere will show that the dredges are winning a good amount of gold from the Molyneux and its tributaries, which before the advent of the modern dredge war not obtainable ~E\en under the disadvantages that have prevailed for some considerable time, the Otago dredges are scooping up between £4000 and £6000 worth of gold weekly, the average being well up to £5000 ; while the West Coast returns are steadily creeping up. The untoward experience^ of a large number of investors during some time back has caused a great deal of mistrust concerning the dredging industry : but the steady and solid returns of a number of working dredges should convince the inventing public that the future of the industry is all right, although in the meantime the sorting-out processmust be rigorously applied, and while liquidation or reconstruction in going on many must suffer loss. When a number of worthless concerns that should never have been foisted upon the public have been laid to us>t by the process of voluntarily winding up, the dredging industry will steadily make headway, and re-establish the confidence vhich has been rudely shaken. The value of a good concern may be best illustrated by referring to the annual report of the Hartley and Riley Company. The report

-■hows that during la&t year the diedge Las s-iooped up out of the Molyneux Rher enough gold to allow the director? to pay dividends aggregating £13,000. During the pti'-t two yearn the amount paid in dividends reaches a total of £57.637— very handsome returns, indeed, on the amount of capital involved. Although this dredge ha<- mad© m phenomenal returns during the pa&t year, ie has been a conuifrtent dividend-earner. There are other dredges wlnc'li have done well, although none have touched the le\ol of the Hartley and Rilry in remuneration to the i-liareholders. Several other dredgei ha\e *hovrn greater returns, but from the larger amount of their capital the dn idends l.a^e been proportionately small. The somewhat unfortunate position of the dredging industry consequent upon so many of the companies floated in the height of the dredging boom having to go into liquidation give-- rise to many evils, which will have a bad effect upon the future of gold dredging* for many yearr. to come. A good many companies aie trying to tide over the evil day by the i c sue of preference shares, which place an undue advantage in the hands of a few at the co?t of the ordinary shareholder. The nii'-fortune of a number of concerns floated vith high hopes in the excitement of the boom days have made place for a -class of mining speculator who find?, a richer golden haivest from exploiting the public than from the legitimate proce»- of gold dredging. A Shareholder's Protection Association has been formed in Dunedin, and it is proposed to form branch a.ssociation& throughout the various mining centre^. Tt is recognised that unless, comething of +be kind is done, the s} r etem of storm finance now in vogue will saddle the new industry with greater burdens than it is able to bear, the ultimate result being the transfer of a large amount of ■< aluable mining prppi-rty from the many 'hareholdeix into the hands of a few energetic (speculators — a result which all having the interest of the mining industry in the colony at heart must deplore. In other branches of mining there is not much to chronicle. The Auckland mines continue to yield good returns. The following results have been published since the date of our !a~t summaiy: — During the four \\peks ended .lune 24- the Waihi Cc-r.paiiy Ueated 12.882 tons- of ore for a yield of Iji.llion va'ued at £33, 1 C". I'he tributers of Kuranui Caledonia mine crushed 29 tons of ore for a yield vahied at £326. The Barrier reefs returns were gold valued at £1106 from 1"*75 tons crushed, exdn-ive of concentrates valued at £85. The tritnrters of <-he May Queen mine banked gfold to the value of £3?0, obtained from a pmali quantity of quartz and picked stone. The following Reefton returns been 1/uMisherl : — Pro°ms? m''ne«. 19S6nz from 4459 tons; Golden Fleece. 7390z from 1205 toiib; Wealth of Nafions, 4520z from 908 tm.s ; or a total of 31480z of ?old. valued at £12.652, from the Consolidated Goldfields Companies for June. The last monthly return from the C4olden Block's mine, Taitapu. war. 2600z of gold from 200 tons cf stone, representing 22 days' crushing. RETURNS. Sluicing and Hydraulic Elevating Companies.

Oz. awt. gr. iioiden Crescent (2 weeks'! .. 29 16 9 Deep Stream Amalgamated 50 0 0 United Mountain and Enterprise "Water Race Company wesson) 717 0 0 Scandinavian Water Race ancl Sluicing Company (partial wash up for the season) . . 1507 0 0 Quartz Mixes. Oz. chvt. gr. jknrock, Macetown . . . 108 18 9