WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19452, 17 December 1934, Page 14

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

GOLD MINING INDUSTRY. AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. FAVOURABLE 'GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Empire Press Union.) PERTH, December 4. A gold And that appears to be of considerable importance lias been made by a Palmer prospector, 9J miles south-east of Yellowdine, which is 257 miles from Perth on the Eastern Goldfields railway. The State Government has cabled to the AgentGeneral (Sir Hal Colebatch) for- publication in the London Press, a report by the Government Geologist (Mr F. G. Forman) and a summary of a favourable report by the Acting-State Mining Engineer (’Mr R. Wilson). The Government Geologist states that the gold is contained in steeply-inclined quartz reefs. Three reefs are being developed with high gold values over an aggregate length of about 700 ft. He adds that" the even distribution of values 'throughout the stone, with no spectacular showing of free gold, suggests the absence of extensive secondary enrichment, and that high values can be expected to continue with depth. /

Mining Reservations.

■Defending the Government’s action in granting reserves to companies for gold mining, the Minister for Mines ('Mr S. W. Munsie) said in the Legislative Assembly that he believed that by giving these reservations he was doing something for the State, and; that' when companies proved their bona fldes, as had the Western Mining and Machinery Company, they would always get reservations from him. Referring to the 1200 acres reservation covering the Big Bell mine, a big low grade proposition, he said that he had received a letter announcing that the American Smelting and Refining 'Company had taken a I*2 months’ option over the mine and agreed to spend £6OO a month,, on development work. It was stated definitely in the Tetter that, if the,'Big Bell lode would average 3Jdwt per ton, the company would spend £2,000,000 on development work. That, he said, was something that had never been attempted in Australia be-, fore. The Minister expressed satisfaction with the work that the companies holding reservations were doing. Gold Profits Tax. The Government Is proposing to impose a tax of Is 4d in the £t. beginning with the year 1933, on the net profits of gold mining companies. The two bills involved have been passed by the Legislative Assembly, and t lie principle has been approved by the Legislative 'Council. The bill providing the machinery for assessment and eolleotion\yvas at the final stage in the Legislative Council at the end of the' third week in November, only a

minor amendment having been made. The second bill, which fixes the rate of the tax, was before the Council at the second reading stage, and was expected to 'be passed without amendment. The chief principle underlying the bill is that compensation to miners diseased as the result of their occupation, should be a charge on the industry and not on the Government, In which principle the mining companies have concurred. Ootober Gold Yield. The SLate’s gold yield for October was 52,90i0z, wort'll £446,206 in Australian currency. This,, was 22040 z less than the September output, and i 870 oz below that for October of last year. 'Production for the expired JO months of this year is 538,27i0z, valued at £4,577,293 In Australian currency, compared with ;>23,9240z for the corresponding period of . the previous year. Poor Harvest Prospects. The Government Statistician’s estimate of the forthcoming'wheat yield is 24,'506,793 bushels from 2.710,141 acres, an average of 9.04 bushels per acre. Tills is 12,798,303 bushels below the last yield, and the average' is down 2.7 bushels. The expected return is the lowest since the 192526 season, while the average is the smallest since the 1922-23 harvest.

£3,160,000 For Works.

Government works to be done out of loan funds during the current financial year are estimated to cost £3,-1-50,000, an increase of £400,000 ovef* the expenditure of last year. The allocations come under the following headings:—Departmental, £87,104, an increase of £6189; railways and tramways, £471,250; increase £151,360; harbours and rivers, £317,000, increase £82,339; water supply and sewerage, £1,330,500, increase £337,705; goldfields development £70,000, decrease, £3701 ; agricultural development, £485,000, decrease. £425,401; roads and bridges, buildings, etc., £381,465 increase, £129,806. The biggest work in hand is the construction of llic great Canning Dam.