MIDDY TERRACE SLUICING COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 28

MIDDY TERRACE SLUICING COMPANY.

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING.

Thq second annual general meeting of shareholders in the Muddy Terrace Sluicing Company . (Limited) was , held in the legistered office of th© company on Friday afternoon. The following are the principal clauses in the directors' annual report : —

" In the report of directors presented at the first annual general meeting of shareholders the board reported that the construction cf race works had been let. I The whole of the race has now been opened out, and with the exception of some small portions 'at the head of race and the lower end the main excavation work has been overtaken. This work has been heavy cutting for the most part, with long stretches of rock work, but has displayed a generally good class of country for the water race, and shows well for future stability. The work, when finished off, will, it i* confidently expected, give satisfaction alike to the "contractors and the company. During the whole period the works have been under close supervision of the company's engineer-inspector, and have been kept strictly to the traverse survey and specification, thus ensuring correctness as to ievel and stability. A supplementary contract was entered into whereby for the sum of £2320 the contractors agreed to carry out all the work of constructing the syphon, flumes, stone-walling, head works, and securing in threatened faulty country, from which has to be deducted material in hand and provided by the company, amounting in round figures to £900. When this supplementary contract shall have been completed and the Eace works which are going on simultaneously finished off, and the dam now being breasted brought up to the necessary height, the water will be turned into the race. Concurrently w ith these works th<; company is carrying out the work of laying the pine- j line arcl providing the plant and outfit. These latter are bein<r carried out by the manager (Mr Frank Browne) recently appointed. Thrse works which the company's manager is executing will be ready j by the time the contractors finish, and then ! the water will be turned on to the ele- | vators, and the actual working of the . claims started. I " The directors have strained every effort > 1o pu«h on the constructive work?, and rejriot ( that these have not been finished ere this. I It was confidently expected, both by the contractors and by the board's officers, that the claims would have been opened out in October la~t, but weather conditions and i scarcity of hand, have impeded progress cf the worlr, and everything points to the end of January aa being the earliest time | to which contractors can commit themselves as being ready to hand over the work completed. The board has been careful to risk nothing in the way of speed which i sli-mld plaoe the stability at hazard. The J

r ultimate result will, it is felt, justify this caution on the part of- the board and meet with approval from shareholders. Directors have, by frequent visits to the works and by keeping in close touch Tvith the engineerinspector, endeavoured to deal intelligently with every feature of the race construction, so that it may turn out to be one of, the best races constructed in the Dominion. The engineer (>lr C. C. Rawlins. M-E-) has been unremitting in his undivided attention to the wonk, and has merited the thanks an* confidence of the board ; and the contractors are actmg up to specification, and promise a thorough and safe finishing off. " The board takes this opportunity of thanking shareholders for their patie-ncb in the long wait for the desired consummation. The two years which have elapsed in laying: out the race, organising, financing, and construction have been a time "of strenuous endeavour en the part of the board and the company's officers, but it is .confidently x expected that the power for shifting the wash and overburden on a large scale will *be so ample, so thorough, and so elastic that even on moderately rich ground-' the returns should prove . very remunerative. Careful specifications have been prepared for the opening out and developing of the claims. Mr -Frank Browne comes with a good record for aWe and successful manageI ment of mining work of all classes, and is : fully confident of putting up a good record on the claims. He has already laid out and I approved organisation for the first : year — i the most trying year in an elevating and sluicing project, — where the care of a race and works of the magnitude of this com- . pany's is full of hard work, requiring grit, i energy, foresight, and untiring application. | All these are promised and provided for, 1 and the directors bag to assure shareholders that they will loyally and promptly back up I their manager's and officers' efforts with ! every neecfjed attention and assistance. Directors looking back upon these two years of work feel that this project is one of magnitude in the mining industry of the I Dominion, and the determination has been, ; and is, to make it a "Teat success. "As indicated in the last annual report, , the board had then received promise from \ the Mines Department of a loan under the j Mines Act to assist in developing the company,3 project as a work of pioneer mining. : True to this promise, the Mines Depart- | ment has granted a loan of £8000, of which 1 the sum of £6000 has already been received. , The' balance is to be paid to the company this month. The loan is secured by mortgage to the department. The board asks i shareholders to join it in tendering thanks ' to the department for the prompt response I to the company's application, for without this assistance the company could not have carried out the works upon the scale and magnitude upon which they have been ' oarrfed out. Further, this valued assistance has enabled the company to keen its capital down to £20,000, which, it will be readily, admitted, is a very moderate capital for I a company carrying out a scale of opera-- ! tions such as this company is carrying out. ! " When the Government loan was assured, the board approached shareholders for contribution of the additional £4000 of subscribing capital, and this was quickly eng.plied. By these means and with temporary, accommodation which. the board arranged, the cost of the works has been kept fully , paid for as they progressed. | "It remains now for the claims to 6how results commensurate with the hopes expressed by the original promoters, of this enterprise. The means provided for working toe claims and the -water power to be brought to bear on the gireat deposits of auriferous wash found distributed over the Muddy Terraces, and on the flats included "in this company's claims, are of far greater i power and efficacy than those projected afc the outset. Expert specialiete in Jxydraulio elevating and ground 6hiicdng (bofch--of which methods will be adopted by this company) I hold as a. principle of mining that best re- | suite are obtained from moderately good | ground witih great power available for shifting auriferous material and judicious handling and putting through that material, and getting it away. All thce© factors are available and exist in this company's project, and are amply provided for. With' the future, therefore, lies the results. The board has sought to equip the project fully I at every point, and shareholders will be ' made acquainted as early as possible and from time to time thereafter -of results* and progress and prospects." I The meeting w<ae presided over by Mr Peter Duncan (chairman of the company), who, in moving the adoption of the directors' report and balance sheet, gave a brief summary of the company's operation* during th 9 past year, and spoke hopefully of future prospects, which it was gratifying to learn" would soon be placed beyond the region of conjecture, as the water was expected to be turned on, and the company's works -in full operation in "the month or February. ■ The retiring directors— Messrs Thomas Ross and A. E. Usherwootf— were re-elected. Mr Charles Grater was re-elected auditor. I The meeting closed with » hearty vote of thanks to the directors and officers of the company for their services during th« past year.