MINING NEWS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 350, 22 January 1903, Page 5

MINING NEWS.

The river has falleu a few inches during the week, the height at the Alexandra bridge last evening being 71ft above ■ normal." Mr W. N. Leeder has been appointed manager of the Alexandra /Bonanza Co/s claim. The Perseverance No. 1 dredge topped the Hat last week with the fine return of 720z 12dwt. Mr R. C. M'Pbail, of Dunedin, is the successful tenderer for the work of shifting the Main Lead Hercules dredge to the Fourteen-mile Beach Co.'s claim. The work is to be put in hand at once. The Unity Dredging Company have Mcured a strip of ground along the river bank, ad joining the Matau Oo.'s daim, below Muttontown Gully. The Matau dredge is at present working up to her boundary alongside this piece of ground, and is getting fair returns. It ia said that the ground is dipping in towards the bank, and the wash carries excellent prospects. The acquisition of the new area, which can beworked in the summer season, augments (he value of the Unity Co.'s property. The Dunstan Lead company have acquired the area of ground on the •astern side of the river lately held by

the New Alexandra Company, The Molyneux Hydraulic dredge resumed work on Friday last, after having undergone a thorough overhaul. The first annual meeting of the New Halfway house Company took place last Friday. The Chairman stated that Mr S. Hoy had expeditiously taken the dredge to the upper part of the claim. The levy in respect of 3922 I •hares had been paid, and after every- ' thing was settled £152 remained in hand, and when the balance of the levy accrued, £3OO would be available wherewith to test the upper part of * the claim. -The prospects of the company were generally spoken of favorably. . t The gold export of the colony for the twelve months ended December, total'ed 508,0430z, valued at £1,951,480, an increase of 52,4820z, or £197,647. The value of gold exported last year was the highest for a period of twenty-nine years. The following items are taken from the " Cromwell Argus ":—The work of removing the present engine from the Hartley and Riley should start early this week, which will be superseded by an entirely new engine, and likewise a ladder. The work will be under the direction of Mr Reese Williams —Rapid progress is being made with the construction of the Rising Sun pontoons, so much so that the launch may take place in about three weeks. Excluding the boiler and ladder, all the machinery is on the ground, and no time will be lost in bringing to a finish what has already been so expeditiously completed.—Mr Donald Reid, MHR. for Taieri, is at present at Bendigo, where he is examining into the prospects of the Cyanide Co., in which he holds a large interest. The statement of affairs of the Unity Dredging Company for the year ending December 31st, shows that the amount of gold producee during the year was 21330z sdwt 17gr, valued at £8213 3s 6d. The amount expended in carrying oh operations was £2784 9s Bd. The total amount declared in dividends is £4725. The company had £630 9s fid in the bank on December 31st, whilst the outstanding liabilities amounted to £l4O 15s 2d. The statement of affairs' of the Golden Bed Dredging Company shows that during the year ending 31st December last, 1070oz 14dwt Bgr of gold was produced, valued at £7627 16s. The amount expended in carrying on operations during the year was £5032 28 Bd. The amount of cash in bank was £242 8s 4d, and cash in hand £1 10s 6£d; whilst the contingent liabilities are put down at £IBO.

OLD DUNSTAN GOLD DREDGING CO., LIMITED. The following is tbe Directors' report to be presented to tbe shareholders at the annual meeting of tbe abovenamed company, to be held at Clyde on Saturday, 31st January:— " Your Directors have to report that the dredge was completed and commenced dredging in August last, and continued until November, when the summer- flood came down. 2050s 17dwt 12gr of gold, of tbe value of £7Bl 7s 4d (assayed value, 76s per ounce), was obtained from about one hundred yards of the claim, and the dredgem aster (Mr J Hewitt) reported that the prospects when he closed down were better than he had previously obtained. " The audited balance-sheet, as will be teen, shows tbe liabilities to be' £1 774 10s 7d, inclusive of a mortgage, „ which falls due on the 27th February current, of £076 15s 10d, against which . the Company have as assets the dredge | and plant, which cost £6981 12s 5d (it may be here specially noted that the dredge is in'a good state of repair and is pronounced to be in all its details a faithfully constructed and well-found machine, equal to any on tbe river), also two Claims, viz., tbe Vincent Extended claim containing one mile of the river—(this claim u virtually virgin river, and was secured by your Directors at a cost of £lO only)—and the Company's original Claim of 49 chains. Accordingly the Company, so far as assets and liabilities are concerned, is found. Money, however, must be had to start dredging when the river allows it, and the question for the shareholders to decide is what to do under tbe circumstances. To allow the ooitfßfecs to foreclose nd rtJ) &j> ta* dredge **uM feeteidwsi*

as thereby the shareholders would lose everything. As an alternative, and after mature deliberation, your Directors submit the following proposition for your consideration: — 1 That, as the Company is unable to pay its debts, it be reconstructed on the following lines:—The new Company to be styled ' The New Dunstan Company,' with a capital of £4500 in 4500 Shares of XI each; 2100 of the said shares to be distributed amongst present shareholders pro rata (being one for every four now held), the balance to be offered in the first instance to present shareholders, all shares not applied for by the 14th February to be put on the open market; terms, 5s per share on application, 5s on allotment, and the balance in monthly calls of 5s each,' "Shareholders at the meeting will be called upon to state the number of shares they will be prepared to subscribe for, and proxy shareholders are requested to fill in their proxies. " In the minds of your Directors, the above proposition is one that should meet with unanimous approval and it is to be hoped it will be adopted."

MATAKANUI. (From oar own correspondent.) All the claims are in full swing, the occasional rainfalls keeping up the water supply wonderfully well for this time of the year. The Matakanui Mining Company (universally known as the Drybread Company) have, after a lot of difficulty, managed to get on the bottom and get a paddock washed up. lam informed that the return was exceptionally good. This company well deserve their good luck, as they have been very unfortunate for some time past, I am sure we all wish them continued prosperity in the shape of large returns. DREDGING RETURNS. The following are the returns for the week ending Saturday, January 17th, 1903 :

esdwtgnl Perseverance No. 1, Alex'dra ... 72 12 0 Upper Waipori, Waipori. 194hr... 72 0 0 Earnsoleugh No 2, Alexandra 118b 67 0 9 Golden Son. Millers Flat 46 0 0 Enterprise No. 2, Alexandra, 135b 43 3 12 Otago No. 2, Beaumont, 208brs 38 10 0 Matau, Clyde, 6dys ... 35 0 0 Waikaka, Waikaka, 134hrs 35 0 0 Empire, Waipori (2 dredges) ... 34 5 6 New Royal Maori, Upper Olutfaa, 33 10 0 Perseverance No. 2, Alexandra... 33 5 0 Roxburgh Jubilee, Roxb'rgb, 139h 33 1 0 Sneddon's Freehold, Waikaka, wk 32 0 0 Mystery Flat, Waikaia, - 29 16 0 Earnscleugh No 1, Alexandra 101b 29 10 9 Lafranchi's Freehold, Oard'na,, 28 10 0 Royal Waimumu, near Gore 27 15 0 Island Block, Beaumont, wk ... 27 4 0 Faterson's Freehold, Waikaka 26 0 0 Ettrick, Roxburgh, 112hrs 25 13 0 Muddy Creek, Waikaia, 90h ... 25 0 0 Golden Bed, Miller's Flat, 128hrs 25 0 0 Charlton Creek, near Gore, I36hs 24 5 0 Central Charlton, near Gore. 135hr 2i 7 0 Golden Gate. Millers Flat, 6dys 22 3 0 MacCbarlton, near Gore 20 16 0 Waimumu, near Gore, 65 hours 20 12 o; Gabriel, Tuapeka Flat... 20 7 0 Chicago, Alexandra, 121hrs 19 6 0 Incbdale, near Palmerston, 138hrs 19 1 0 Globe. Waikaka, 137brs 18 8 0 Enfield, Waipori, 18 7 0 Point d'Or, Cromwell... 17 0 0 Olrig.Manuherikia, week 17 0 0 Waimumu Central.near Gore, 170h 16 15 c Waimumu Extended, Gore 16 6 0 Lady Charlton, nr Gore. 16 12 0 Inch Valley, near Palmerston ... 16 0 0 Happy Valley. Tuapeka. 6dys 15 16 0 New Golden Gravel,Beaumont... 15 10 0 Waikaka Queen, Waikaka, 117hrs 15 2 0 Lawrence, Tuapeka Flat, 5dys 15 2 0 Clyde, Alexandra 14 0 0 Ngapara No. 3, Nevis, 135hrs 13 5 0 Reliance, Tuapeka Flat 13 0 0 Tuapeka, Tuapeka Flat, 6dys 11 6 0 Waitahnna, Waitahuna, week 10 7 0 Otago, Miller's Flat, 6dys 10 0 0 Total for 49 dredges ... ! 1258 6 3 Average per dredge 25 0 0 The West Coast. Mosquito 103 0 0 No Town Creek 70 0 0 Pactolus No. 2 56 0 0 North Beach 48 12 0 Aldinga 42 11 0 Prince of Wales 33 0 0 Kohinoor 32 8 0 Greenstone Creek 29 13 0 Stafford, Waimea, 130brs 24 Q 0 Callaghan's ... 23 10 0 Premier .. .... 22 16 0 Commissioner's Flat ... 22 4 0 Stony and Mosquito Lead 19 1 0 Leviathan ... 19 0 0 Shellback ... ... . 16 16 0 New Greenstone 15 12 c Cornwall 14 6 0 Victory 11 2 0 Total ... 603 11 0