MINING SUMMARY.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 26

MINING SUMMARY.

TEe conditions prevailing for dredging Hiring the 'pas* three weeks have Tic-en comparatively good, and conseqiscntly the") majority of dredges have bjeen aolo to put In good time and win large returns ; in fact, the total for the week ended the 7th. inst. is the largest this year, and exceeds 200Doz. But, despite ihe fact'that such good returns aTe being obtained and that no less than 13 companies havp been enabled to pay oividenda during the past three weeks, tUe interest ! tafien in mining generally is confined to a *-cry email, section, and none of the returns .fc-on nowadays arc sufficiently-large to excite attention from the outside public or to tempt Rnyone who is not already concerned in sonis venture or other to become a participant in the advantages cr disadvantages to be derived from being a shareholder in a mining company. The famous Hartley and ftiley Joredga \a now seldom heard of, while the even more jamous Electrics, the holders of the records Jot sensational returns, ere om.y mentioned Jn connection with yields averaging about pOoz and sometimes under. The "Waikaia. field is at present providing returns which permit pf very regular dividends. The Molyneux gorge dredges hay.c, as usual, been 'working _ir.termittentiy, and one of them — the New Bsndigc — has been compelled to it bsst. after several vUIET attempts to reach bottom and stiiks gold. The mistake from the outset in connection with these dredges was ihat they were not built sufficiently large or strong to • ccpe with the ever-prevailing drift, ' pnd were they only able to do so tho yields obtained would be oensational ones. Operalions at most of the sJuiciEg claims have been V&ry. jr.uch retards d by the shortness of water, Kud- while in Eonia- cases operations have b&en stopped, in others there is only about a iveek'3 water-supply in hand. Whale working the last shift in tha Premier mine, prior U> closing down, a gold-bearing reef was struck in what is known as the Ko. 1 line ox Victoria drive. The reef is p-bout 2ft 6in wide, carrying gold. At present it is too soon to I Eay what body of stone is behind it. Tho j nature of the country is solid, and tlio men ! are being kept on to further develop tho reef. During a period of 48 years there was

exported from this co-lony: — Gold, 16,626,1410z, of tho valu* of £65,136,648; silver, 5,306,5130z, of tho value d* £657,153 ; —total, 21.932,6540z, of the value of £65,793,801. TKe quantity of gold exported from the colony last month wa5 '42,9950z, valued at £172,896, as compared with 48,0130z, valued at £180,027, in the corresponding month of last year. The gold exported for tho seven months of the present ye-ax was valued at .£1,184,129, or JM.9,983 le-ss fhan feu 1 the first seven months of last year. The value of the silver exported last month was £12,523. The gold won by the Round Hill Sluicing Company's operations- for Juno at Round Hill, was 1240z 19dwt 18gr, valued at £493 13s lid, and for July 2120z 2dwt. 12gr. /allied ai £837 17s 9d; and platinum for six months to 31ot July last 6oz 15dwt, valued at £13 10s. At Winding Creek tbe gold won for Jura® was 420z 17dwt 12gr, valued at £169 7s, and July 60oa 4dwt, valued at £237 15s 9d. Total value for June of gold £663 0s lid, and for July £1075 13s 6d. There has been a shortage of water for sluicing at both mines for the last two months. A West Coast telegram states that rich stone has been discovered at Boatmans, about seven milci from Peefton, once tho scene of gre.Vu mining activity. The new find is on the old Hopeful claim,, adjoining Ihe Fiery Cross and Welcomo claims, which proved veiy rich formerly. It is rumoured "-hat some of the stone pans out at tho rate of lOoz per ton. Great excitemcait prevails. A Nekon talegram states that a copper sulphide oro l<J3e h«'« beon cut in No. 7 level of the Mineial Belt Copper Company's United mine a.t 535 ft. Tho formation and ore are Identical with those in othcT levels, giving over 500 ft of backs and proving a large quantify of ore. It will be some days b'ofore the width of the lode can be determined. An Auckland telegram states that the gold returns for the Auckland district for the three wcoks ended August 5 giro a fcota.l of £71,773. During July the Waiotahi Gold Mining Company treated 330 ton's of ore, including 1301b of picked stone, for gold valued at £3860. A further telegram states that good news rcspaird Img the development of the low level at tho Waiotahi mine, Thames, resulted in nnimerous sakis up to 62s 6d, leaving the aLosmg quotation: Buyers, 60s; .sellers 645. In view of the fact that shares" a few mionths ago were increased! from 6000 to 60,000, for convenience, the share market transactions at the present price are somewhat sensational. During July the New ZeaJand Crown Mines Co. (Limited) treated 1071 tons of ore for bullion valued ail £4524. From July 14 to August 14 the Tarriia .Broken Hills Gold Mining Company treated 369 tons of ore for bullion valued at £1036. The Waihd return for the four weeks ended August 1 was £55,470 from 23,327 tons af ore, maldng a total to date of £4,150,795. A Greymouth telegram states that the Kcep-it-Dark Company reports a return of 4950z 37dwt from 1280 tons of stone. The prospects before this mine are as promising as ever, there beiug a laige body of ore in sight.

COMPARATIVE DREDGING RETURNS

The following table shows the weekly returns reported from the Otago and Southland dredges for this year, together with the figures for the corresponding periods of 1904, 1903, and 1902. Pennyweights and grams are omitted in each instance: —

The following dividends have been dec'ared since the issue of our last Summary: — Clyde, 3s; Inchdale, 6d; Muddy Creek. 2s; Hessey's, 2s ; JUasterton, 4s ; Central Chsrltor., 13 ; Chicago, 3s; Upper Waipc-ri, Gd; New Perseverance, Is; Otago, 2s 6d; V\ T aikaia, 2s; Blackwater River, Is; New Roxburgh Jubilee, 2s.

1903. 11 183 43 1103 52 1357 51 '1196 51 1420 52 1425 51 1337 45 1211 49 12 7S 53 136 1 52 1389 51 1349 49 1351 57 1638 61 1732 52 1444 55 1829 5.3 1739 55 1576 Si 17t)1 1304. 41 834 53 1252 57 1390 53 2047 61 _ 2032 GO 2194 67 2457 61 2133 51 1431 51 1236 55 1253 59 1419 52 1636 59 1654 57 1730 58 1560 54 1728 59 1536 61 2056 58 1989 1903. 4 133 39 310 50 1262 53 1316 59 1460 61 1639 57 1-181 55 1357 G3 1426 61 1-*ls 69 Hsl 62 1331 64 H26 66 1535 63 3599 66 1663 69 1806 63 200fl 64 2032 67 13^1 1002. 14 311 42 10-34 52 1330 51 1207 52 1318 53 1347 52 1337 50 1396 60 1799 a3 ISSI 59 1840 55 1573 62 1685 55 1-tOG 51 1617 65 2211 71 2'i4o 69 2101 74 2545 7Q 2304

48 170S GO 194S 71 1957 68 1913 52 1619 53 1442 67 1978 66 2146 50 1765 58 11S1 G3 1994 64 2082 54 1669 50 1162 73 2459 68 2266 54 1804 55 1449 77 2345 G6 2349 35 796 55 1399 69 20^3 67 2480 45 1255 56 1626 72 2017 72 2530 53 1593 57 1655 64 1552 75 268J 56 1305 63 2021 31 714 76 263.) 59 1853 63 1980 32 811 73 2689 60 2009 57 2035 49 1917 74 3315 57 1714 52 1891 64 2639 71 2555 47,328 54,778 51,616 62,079 The following table shows the weekly re-tiu-ns reported from the West Coast dredges during this year, together with the figures for the corresponding weekly periods of 1904 and 1903 . — 1905. 1904. 1903. 2 23 4 0 15 373 2 0 21 505 0 0 13 408 3 0 14 3?6 10 19 603 11 0 12 319 17 12 17 567 8 0 19 573 7 9 17 472 3 0 24 792 16 0 23 694 13 23 13 412 6 0 23 664 9 2 23 680 5 0 20 510 3 0 24 736 3 6 25 739 0 14 15 461 8 0 22 615 12 0 26 804 6 0 15 478 15 0 26 769 8 0 26 713 11 8 14 CO7 15 0 21 510 10 0 21 583 9 0 13 359 3 0 23 706 14 12 22 608 17 20 10 361 2 0 21 655 18 0 23 574 0 21 12 393 8 0 11 373 11 0 21 640 6 0 13 453 0 0 20 768 13 12 19 611 14 0 14 416 0 0 26 752 11 0 23 782 10 0 17. 392 18 0 18 505 10 0 21 595 2 16 11 344 6 0 15 521 8 0 23 630 16 10 14 369 12 0 18 437 17 0 23 641 12 4 11 326 11 0 24 576 2 0 22 562 3 12 15 417 13 0 21 657 0 0 15 449 15 6 12 351 0 0 24 6GI 11 0 21 496 15 6 11 317 10 15 382 8 0 20 553 12 16' 10 436 8 0 20 511 5 0 25 593 7 9 15 526 2 0 23 570 8 0 19 479 3 0 12 478 19 0 23 651 2 0 22 592 15 0 13 426 9 0 22 517 1 12 18 490 17 0 6 164 415 21 467 14 0 18 551 11 0 14 541 13 0 21 555 16 0 20 584 17 12 10 361 17 0 17 467 14 0 10 252 18 9 15 501 IS 0 14 525 13 0 23 666 IS 13 11 378 9 0 17 535 11 0 19 503 4 0 13 420 19 0 15 364 19 0 IS 435 0 0 14 507 15 0 21 606 0 0 18 595 1 0 12.843 2 3 18,197 1G 20 IS 760 2 16 DIVIDENDS.