The Waihi Grand Junction

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1110, 4 October 1904, Page 2

The Waihi Grand Junction

Annual feting

Interesting Extracts From Report

'J'uk general'annual meeting o( tho Bbaroholdors of the Waihi Grand Junotioa Gold Company was rccontly held in London. Tho following extracts o of tho report of tho proceedings will no ' doubt bo of interosl to our readers : Tho Chairman, Mr. Geotgo llo'.hwell, said: Tho statement of accounts now presented show 0 , after deducting tho itoms rfceived (orintorost and dijcotinl, tram for fees, and rent, and adding tho amount, £950, spent on additions to plant, machinery, and building?,a total expenditure of £11,314, and a further sum of £1,053 has been written off for depreciation, Owing to' Iho mora extensivo operations carried ow, on tho Grand ,1 unction Minn tho expenditure has oxceoded thai, of i he previous year by £1,701, principally made up lr,' increases under tho following heads: W>igos 1283; fuel, £359; stores. 0621; savvies £100; general expenses, £232; auddebonturo interest 1467, against which sundry doorcases, under other heads, leave tho bnl nice of increased cxpoiuiiiure ns stated. During tbo period covered by tho accounts tho issued shave- capital has been raised to £IBO,OOO by tho sale of 1,300 shares, which realised £2,250, mid further debentures to the amount of £2,500 have iilpo been - issued, making the total debonturc debt at the end of .the .year £22,500. This left us at she commencement of this present year witli nviilahlc funds of £G,U3, uindo up by tho following items; Lout mv security, £3,000 and cash in banks, £8,809, less outstanding liabilities n London and New Zealand, £695. Further amounts since received aro £7,500 arising from tho is-im of £30,000 debentures ciojv.oil, and £532 from tho sale of 200 shares in excess of the number required for the debenture conversion. These two items, added to tho £6,113 on hand at tho beginning cf tbo year, amounted to £14,146, In the ordinary course of events this sum would have been sulliciont to .conduct tho operations of tho company for cbrtab,!/ oUhe present yenr, had not advantage been uko.i oi'an opportunity which occurreii'of acquiring in the colony, on most favourable terms, a first-class ororeduction plant. This was purchased, as it stood, on the property nf another company, ami includes bittery and complete* cyanide plant together witli tho buildings covering tho same. Tho battery of 40 stamps—l,loolb—is by Messrs Frasor and Chalmers- Ii is in sound condition, aud, for all practical purposes, us good aßnew; only such wonring parts as in the ordinary course of work require renewal from timo to time will lmvo to be replaced. The cyanide plant comprises 25 steel vats, elevator, eight Butter's distributers, Huntingdon mill, vaoauui pumps, bell-mill for grinding sings, tabular heater, bullion fnrnance, and other f.rtieles too numerous to mention. Furthor extensive- purchases of mining requisites have boon made, including, what was very nine)) wanted, a complete eiectrie plant lor lighting tho initio and works, which hns now been installed,

Tho debcuiuro dobt having been extinguished, by exchaugo for shares reserved for that purpose, and the 200 rciiinming shim nut required for tho conversion having been di.-posed of, the wliolo '200,000 shares of the company aro now issued. The removal of tho dobouture ch'.rgoon tho property of tho c.'mp-iiiy has li.ft n.i free lo ruiso funds in iiny why we iuii.v think desirable; but, nl'ier (jiving tho mnlter careful comideratiou, jt'lms been decided Hint tho most satisfactory method is by mi increase of sliuro capital.. A resolution will, therefore, bo proposed to create an additional 100,000 shares, ami, if it bo corned, il'-is intended to make mi immediate issue of 40,000 shares to simrolicldcrs on the rcgistr/on Juno 5-1, at file rati) of ono new share for overy five lull. Tho tornißof payment will be 2s 0d on application, 2s fid on nllotrarnt, and the balance in three calls of ss. each, payable at intervals of tlireß months, Tho mill site, being in clone proximity to the working on tiio Grand .1 miction Mine, all thu operations conueclcd with the winning and treatment of ore will bo concan*tmtod within a narrow compass, and therefore nndor tho most favourable condiffona for supervision am) economical working. The long mid vexatious dolnys arising from tho adverso conditious which have prevented our mines from being brought to ut productive stage years ago, havo not been all loss,. Tho improve inaiits in tho methods of oro treatment, and rhe economies now mndered possiblo by dio immonso Btridos which have been mado in tho use of electricity in mining work, will lead to such ut rodnction in working expenses as woald not h ive beou dreamed of a four years back.

THE SUBJECT OP DRAINAGE. Beforo bringing my roinarks to a conclusion 1 will just mako a few observations on the subject of drainage of (he Wailii Mines. At diffcront times wo have | hoard a great deal about tho question; all sort of iimtastio statements havo been made, with the obvious intcuiiou of da* nioging this company, by misleading shareholders who uiny not bo conversant with the true facts; and, after all, what a compmtjvisly iii&iynifieniil matter this is. Thero are many mines in various parts of the world which havo to raise, individually, many times over tho quantity of water so iar met with on the whole of the Waihi . Goldllold, and it is troalnd as an ordinary incident hardly worthy of menliou, 1 think perhaps, it will como as a surprise to those who may havo soen some of the grosslyoxaggorated statements that havo been mado, when I stato that, with an electric pump, such as we coutemphto erecting, actuated by currant supplied from & dentral generating station, tho cost of raising a quantity of water, equal to tho. nmottui raised on tho whole field last year, from an equal depth, would not exceed £I,OOO, and, with tho ohcapor fuel, which would bo available on tho completion of tho railway to Waihi, materially less. Unduimportance may also bo given to this water question by tho necessity of roforriug to it so constantly at our annual mootuigs, With only oxpendituro to bo faced, and no possibility of any return, it has been it great hardship that this company should havo been saddled with tlin burden of pumping tho wator flowing from tho mlthy Waihi Mine, tho cost of which should havo been borne by that company. (Ilcnr, hear), On tho Waihi field the water is almost entirely confined to the lodes. Wo uovor have experienced any diuienhy in shaft sinking or cross-cutting through tho coun*. try rock, although our operations havo always boen conducted at depths far in advanco of tho Waihi Company. Any littlo water mot with has easily been dealt with by small steam pumps, But evor siaco August, 1897, when tho Martha lodo was intersected in our present 500 ft level, at t point about 273 ft iroui tho boundary nf tho Waihi Compai y, and upwards of 330 ft below that cwnp my's then deepest * le?ol, No. % wc havo Leon burdened with tho water flowing fi jui tho vast lode systom of tho Wailii Company.'. A ' ful steam pump was installed, and efforts mado to prove tho value of tho lode; but it was found that, with tho orcoption of draining tho fow yardu of tho lode '.hat existed on our Waihi West property, on ' the other side of tho Waihi Mine, the only effect was to relievo the Waihi Company of tho coat of pumping a large proportion of their wator, without .my prospects what- ; . ovor of benefiting ourselves. A dam was i therefore erected in tho level near the lode, ' '

nnd operations on tlio Grand .)unction Mine >vore confined to keeping the shaft nnd level freofroiu water. Tn December. 1897, four months litter, the Waibi Company, in sinking. their No. 2 slmlt, in preparai lion for tho opening oi levels below No 'l, encountered h voliiino o( water entirely beyond control, Perhaps I must explain to you that this difficulty nrtwo Iroin the fact that tho shaft is in toe close proximity to the lodos and vouhl not Imvo occurred had a better ntc been chosen. The inllnw of water being altogether too great to allow sinking operations to bo continued, the two principal oltiuials of the Waihi Company applied to Mr. Evans, our then manager, to assist them out of their trouble by losuuiing pumpini! operations at our 500 ft. lovel. Terms were arranged and our pump was restated, which onablod tho Waihi Company to sink their shaft tj the depth required for opening their Nos. 3 and 4 lovels, But as soon as thoir sinking difficulties were over, and their pump was installed at No. 4 bvel, all contributions wero discontinued by the Waihi Company, notwithstanding tho fact that our 500 ft. level was still IHO ft bolow tho dopth tlioy had readied, mid consequently we could not conduct any operations on tho Grand Junction Mine without draining tho Waihi Mino. This was bad enough; but what followed was worso. Not satisfied with loaving us to drain the Martha lodo and its branchos, they put out a crosscut of groat length to tho south intersecting numerous otltor lodos, and thus increased the volume of water, all of which were lod to thoir So. 5i shaft and tho Martha lode, from whenco it flowed into our mino at the lowor levol. I daresay somo of our older shareholders may remember I called particular attention to this at our meeting in July, 1901. Tho Waihi Company, so far 89 sinking operations arc concerned in thoir No 2, shaft, have, from No. '2 lovel down to No. 6, b?en entirely depenrtent on tho assistiinco our pumping operations havo afforded thorn. 'Notwithstanding the groat services wohavei'dulored, every attempt we havo nnde to come to fome equitable arrangement for sharing the cost of pumping has, up to now, been unsuccessful, and so far from the Waihi Company having any claim against us. they are under heavy obligations to.us for pumping during several years. 1 have gone into all these details because I know that somo rcnmiks, mado at tho recent meeting of tho Waihi Company have been taken lo refer to tins company, although it was not montioned by name, Ido not think any remarks tint have been made, howover, need causo the least anxiety to any shareholder of this company. I havo now to move tho adoption of tho report and accounts,

Mr H. 1). Bishopp seconded tbo motion. After joints wither explanations by the chairman as to llio water dilliculty, a shareholder suggested that, as Mr Walker, from Now Zealand, was present, lie illicit favour them with somo rouictrka as to the position ofaflairs.

Mr Walker, in response, said the chairman had gone over the rh.-'- :;ri"ii ri, r,nd he could fay nothing: .niJitioit ■ :■ what Mr BotlWl had 5,..t.i. 'lk .o:;.l, of course, corroborate una. '..'•■ In- : :n ,•:'.} as to tho width of the lode W.l its valu.-; but the chairman seemed to have nil the particulars at his finger onds. He must say that, from his expononco oi gold mining and other companies, he bad never met a chairman raoro carefully po'tcd in all matters of detail than Mr Rothwoll seemed to be. Ho was very pleased to find, when lie tamo to London, that the coinpnny was in such able humb ns those of their chairman,

Tho resolution was tlion adopted. The retiring director iMr.), W. Uroonv head) was re-elected, an:l tho auditor (Mr Sydney W. Jackson) was reappointed. The Chairman then moved: " That the capital of tho company bn incrcasod from £200,000 to £iX)o,ooo,' by iho creation of 100,000 shares of ill each."

{|Mr J. W. Broouihoad seconded tho motion, which was unanimously adopted,

On tlio motion of Mr Packman, a cordial vote of thanks was given to tlio chairman for presiding, and tlio proceedings terminated.