Page 3 Advertisements Column 3

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3430, 26 November 1900, Page 3

PROSPECTUS OF THE PRIDE OF MARLBOROUGH GOLD DREDGING COMPANY, LIMITED, [ TOP VALLEY, MARLBOROUGH. CAPITAL £9000, In 9000 shares of £1 each, of which 2250 fully paid-up Shares go to the Vendors ; 1000 reserved, and the remaining 5750 contributing Shares are now offered to the public on the following terms : — - > One Shilling per Share on Application, One Shilling per Share on Allotment, and i the balance as required, m Calls not to exceed Two Shillings per Share, at intervals of not less than one month. PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS-.-SAMUEL McBRIDE, Monumental Mason, Timaru ; DUGALD SHAW, Settler Timaru ; THOMAS PRINGLE, Contractor, Timaru; JOHN McRAE, Factory Manager, Timaru ; PRINGLE WALKER, Woollen Manufacturer, Timaru : ANDREW GIBSON, Settler, Timaru. BANKERS: THE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND. SOLICITORS : SMITHSON AND RAYMOND, Timaru. CONSULTING ENGINEER : F. W. PAYNE, DUNEDIN. INTERIM SECRETARY : ■'••■• A. H. KITTO, Timaru. BROKERS : KITTO AND CO., Timaru; R. COCKBURN, Roxburgh; HARVEY AND CO £^S^5Ur fl( l WA ? D ' Blenheim; HULME AND CO., Christchurch; E. RICHARDSON, Temuka; R. HUTTON, Alexandra. mHE COMPANY is being formed, and will be registered under "The Companies , Act » 1882 > and its amendments ; and the Provisional Directors will register the same, allot shares, and do all other necessary acts and things until the statutory meeting of shareholders, which will be held as soon after registration as possible, when a permanent Board and other officers will be appointed by the shareThe Company is projected to acquire and work a special dredging claim on the Top Valley Stream, Marlborough, consisting of One Mile of the stream and including the Reserve Banks, as shown on the plan. The claim contains the whole of the river-bed and alluvial flat, and is held under license as a Special Dredmne Claim, Marlborough Goldfields District, the application being finally disposed of by the Warden on the 25th day of October, 1900. The whole of tha claim has been thoroughly prospected by sinking and boring, and the vendors secured the services of Mr James Kitto, the well-known mining expert from the Molyneaux River, and who holds 'a deservedly high reputation m dredging circles throughout Otago. Several holes were put down- m different places on the claim through highly payable wash running from top to bottom. The bottom was reached at 25 feet from the water-level, the last 6 feet) of wash going over Bdwts to the yard. Several other holes were not bottomed owing to the continuous flooding of the river • but the ' returns of gold got are mentioned m Mr Kitto's attached report. There is an abundant supply of firewood. An up-to-date dredge, putting through 60 yards per hour, with an average yield of 3 grains to the yard— a very low estimate, considering the top 6 feet of prospect goes over 2£ grains and the bottom . 6 feet over Bdwts — will give a return of 6idwts per hour, equal to 7£ ounces per day, or a total of 45 ounces per week (6 days) ; and, taking the working year at 44 weeks— allowing 8 weeks for repairs, stoppages, etc.— the return will be 1980 ounces of gold, which, at the current price for gold m the Top Valley District, will give an ANNUAL RETURN OF SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS. From this a deduction must be made: for one manager at £5 per week and 6 men at 9s per day (£llO2 8s), and, allowing £1000 per annum for fuel, depreciation ,repairs, contingencies, etc.', there will be an ANNUAL NET PROFIT of between FOUR AND FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS. ! The Vendors are so satisfied_with th e property that they ask for NO CASH for their interests ; and although they ha v e expended over £ito m prospecting the ground, making good their title, rent, survey fees, etc., they are taking up a large number. of contributing shares. The Vendors expressly stipulate that they will not sell, assign,- or dispose of 2000 of the paid-up shares, or any of the 1000 reserved shares, until the dredge ,is at work, and the share certificates to be issued to them m respect of the said 2000 shares shall bear on their face "not transferable until dredge at work." ,Only the remaining 250 paid-up shares are to be disposed of to meet current expenses. This should be a sufficient guarantee of their entire good faith and bona fide belief m the prospects of the claim. The only agi-eement that has be9n entered into by or on behfllf of the proposed Company is dated the 13th day of November, 1900, and made between the licensee of the claims of the one part and the Provisional Directors, as Trustees on behalf of the Company, of the other part. This can be inspected at the office of the Company's solicitors m Timarn. The cost of flotation and incorporation will be borne by the Company, and, as already over 3000 shares have been applied for, early applies tion should be made to the brokers. Ko application for less than 25 shares- will be entertained. REPORT OF MR JAMES KITTO, Mining Expert, Molyneaux River. Moa Flat, Ettrick, Otago, October 25th, 1900. GENTLEMEN, — In compliance with your request, I have thoroughly boTed and prospected your dredging claim m the Top Valley stream, known as the Pride of Marlborough, and now beg to hand you m my report as follows: — "The claim comprises one mile of the main stream of the Top Valley Creek, taking m the reserve banks on each side ; total area, 33 acres. During my inspection of your property I sank several holes m the bed of the stream without' the aid of the boring rods, but, owing to the amount of water m the stream, I could only sink from 3ft to 4ft. The gravel contained m each hole was carefully washed, with a result of 3to 7 grains ta the yard. Numerous dish prospects were taken at different points widely separated, and m every case fine gold was obtained. On boring I found the first 3 feet to consist chiefly of silt and stones carried down by floods from time to time. From 3to 11 feet a mullocky gravel wash with gold all through it. Then 10 inches grey river sand ; and to the bottom, which was reached at 25 feet, a beautiful tight stoney wash carrying splendid gold all through ; the bottom six feet, m particular, being a tight blue wash, and carrying gold at the rat© of Bdwts per yard. The nature of the ground passed through shows no signs of large stones, which would interfere with dredging. There are certainly a few lying on the surface, but none but what a man could turn over. A first-class modern dredge, running from 9 to 12 buckets per minute, holding from 3 to 4 cubic feet each, would, m my opinion, win gold averaging 60 to 100 ounces per week, and, at a weekly expenditure of 12 ounces per week, shows room for a large profit. I should recommend you to start immediately with an np-to-date steam dredge, fitted with all the latest improvements {special attention being paid to the means of gold-saving), capable of dredging to a depth of 35 feet, with a tailings elevator 55 feet long, ns there is not sufficient water to keep the tailings down. In conclusion, I consider the ground eminently suitable for dredging operations, nnd the claim promises to be one of the richest m New Zealand. I say this after an intimate knowledge of 30 ye its' standing with most of the best known dredging ground on the Molvneaux River, Otago." * JAMES KITTO, i The Provisional Directors, , Mining Expert. "Prido of Marlborongh " Gold Dredging Co., Ltd., Top Valley. REPORT OF CHAS. JACKSON, ORIGINAL PROSPECTOR OF THE MAHAKIPAWA GOLDFIELD, AND TO WHOM THE GOVERNMENT REWARD WAS GIVEN. Top Valley, October 22nd, 1900. GENTLEMEN,— I hereby state herein the information I promised to give you regarding your claim m Top Valley. First, the depth would be about 2& to 30 feet, containing fiuei gold almost from the surface, but at the bottom the proper wash will be 4J to 6 feet, with gold all through it, what I have seen and. know of. It will run about idwt to the dish. The wash is not heavy, pretty regular, and will alter its colour, as the slat* reef is blue or brown. The reason the Top Valley Creek has not been worked individually by miners is that being so flat it is hard to get drainage m anything like 20 feet m depth, as there is hardly any fall where we would wapt to get m. Pumps have been tried repeatedly, but could not cop© with the water. I myself havo had two large pumps and the help of 30 men, and then could not do it, or keep the water down. I should say that there will be pretty heavy gold at the bottom, as I know of pieces 2± to 3oz each being found. I never worked the top by sluicing. I only worked where I could get to the golden wash on the bottom ; but passing through to that I came across a stratum of sand about 3 to 4 inches m thickness, with fine gold plainly to be seen. This would not pay a party workiug as we did; but it would cro about 10s or 15s per day if stripped about 10 feet deep. CHARLES JACKSON. The Provisional Directors, "Pride of Marlborough" Gold Dredging Co., Ltd., Top Valley. REPORT OF JOSEPH BRADCOCK, ORIGINAL PROSPECTOR of ARM CHAIR '*• AND TOP VALLEY (JOINT HOLDER of the "PROSPECTOR'S" CLAIM.) Top Valley, Augnsfc 28th, 1900. GENTLEMEN, — I and my party of four men worked at the mouth of Jackeon's Creek, where it junctions with Top Valley Creek. We sunk a shaft and took out two small paddocks, with a result averaging about one pound weight of gold to e^acU paddock. The gold was very coarse and heavy ; but we had to knock off on account of too much water. I might state that m round numbers over 60 miners were on payable gold. They were working on a false bottom, about two feet from the surface, or water level, of the main creek. lam of opinion you havo one of the best claims m the creek.— Respectfully yours. nri nv ■ J. BRADCOCK, The Provisional Directors, - Prospector. "Pride of Marlborough" Gold Dredging Co., Ltd., Top \ alley. EFFORT OF J ? W4.RD, LATE MINING REGISTRAR, MARLBOROUGH GOLDFIELDS. Blenheim, 25th October, 1900. GENTLEMEN,— With reference to your "Pride of Marlborough" Special Dredgintr Claim, Top Valley Creek, and my opinion thereon, I might say that I know the cround comprised "within your pegs most intimately for several years past, and hxve much pleasure m reporting on it as follows :-" The Pride of Marlborongh is a special dredging claim, comprising one mile m length of the bed of the lop Villev stream, together with the four chains of reserve banks (two chains on each side cf the stream), and the adjacent river flats. Whafc the total average of the claim is I «vnrot say. The creek bed within your claim is mno way d s fferert from what maintains throughout all other creeks of its class m this mining district beinc composed of -the usual " shingle " and quartz, ore, schist, and boulders —-ore of which latter present the slightest difficulty to » dredge master working with s-n vp-fo-«!ftte dredge, aimed with ordinary " grapplef* "; — and the same remarks apply to the "wash" m the reserve banks and river flats aforesaid. Ab to ihe dop 4 h o{ tha "wash," on this point .f have at present no reliable data: bm. juriirifff by "the .appearances of the bed-ode, wlifro the same can b^seen i* edd deen pnoV m W • claim. I should say it would ha ret less i than from ?-8-t Jn 30* tr-ronVhr.wt- the whole area. As to the «oM-be&rinj» qualities of the wasa ir ,'vor.r 'dainV I wish it to be understood that my " pro.pectir.g consisted only of "dWiinjr off" at water level (or at most, say three feet rwW water levc:V j "panne* '^" nltogether some 30 odd < dishes " throughout- your elaun .and only b,ul thf « "cJffeiV i/the lot. whilst the average per oib> yarrt from the re^r las equal to ei^ht grains; and when it is consWere-l that he >roM to by ire ™ "float gold," carried about by eveiy "^fy * J^ mv,b ,i,h.~ .remits nor vord and heavier roW may confin^t v b« looned for "» yjptn - -re^ne* The Vipper half of yp,,r. rlaim w rov^re-l wnb tu^.-.-.vefl/ mu,i. Kffk and white birch, with a little t; Iree-ali fuel T Tmve no hesitation whatever m saym* tbat. v.-i«u an iip-to-.at.. .. rJ£ n! np Ihvou K h from 1200 to 1500 yard, per <Jnv fof t™.ty j ■• - Pri.ie nf Marlborough" will return your shareholders hcuvb-.no mviv-cju* ,p. m..~y years to come.— l am, gentlemen, yours, etc., p WARP. The Provisional Directors. _ Villev I "Pride of Marlborough" Gold Dredging Co., Ltd.. Top Valley.