MINING NEWS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 353, 12 February 1903, Page 5

MINING NEWS.

The river has fallen about 9in during the week, the height last evening being about s|l*t above " noitual." The fiver is remarkably low for this time of Che year, and some of the gorge dredges ■aay be ab'e to resume work shortly, if the present conditions continue. The Coronation Co'h dredge had a Successful trial run yesterday. Dre-lg-fcg wi I probably be coaimenced dayThe Tairntrodlie dredge (Ida Valley) is operating on fairly payable the return for la-t week being 250z. The Etrnscleugh No 1 dredge i* Stopped for repairs. The secretary of the Staflbrd-Wain-ea Co., informs us that the dredge resumed work on Thursday last. The Moa No 2 dredge is much hampered with silt. Four loads of machinery from the Great Central dredge passed through Alexandra on its road toWaikaia. The Davis Bend dredge startpd to drop down to her claim on Monday, but bar progress been temporarilv arrested owing to the shallowness of the water at the confluence of the Manuhenkia. The Alexandra Lead dredge is •waiting the return of the top tumbler Iron Dunedin, whither it has been sent for repairs. At the fourth annual general meeting of shareholders in the Olrig Dredging Company held at Dunedin bat Friday, Mr T;~ Glendiniog presiding, the report and ba'anee sheet were adopted. The' chairman ex -plained that the average week'v returns for the whole year 1 had been 30ox 15dwt, but as the dredge had worked for only 43 weeks the average Was increased to 370z Idwt sgr. Tho cost of running th» dredge was 16">z 13d wt per week. The retiring directors (Messrs 8. B. Howletfc and H. F Wilson) were re-electe*, and Mr E. R Smith was re elected auditor. The following items are taken from the "Cromwell Argus:—The R'leVs "Beach has pot on good ground at the foot of the Gibraltar Beich, and should have a good long run before her. This dredge is quite capable of dealing w : tb the rooeb ground, and should be ablp '• to break through the false bottom on which, it i<» thought, the Alninp , worked. —The New Royal Maori i° Btill under repair, awaiting thA arrival of a new tumbler.—ln giving hi c decision in Graham's appHcation la*t week. Warden Burgeoa laid down trip . principle that nnv p'ant on a claim, i" Order to validate the title must b» efficient an* in good wording order Miners should keep this point in mind.

Owing to ft plight mishap to the winches, the Unity dredge was not Dot able to get properly to work till Friday l*Bt. Dredging was resumed at the npper end of the claim, near where the dredge was 'ast working. It is expected that the Dunstan Xe<»d dredge, which has undergone a thorough overhaul, will be able to resume work to-dav (Thursday). The 5 dredge will take up the portion of the cut that was left on the eastern side °f the river when the river rose in the Sp'ing. The Last Chance Company, Bald Hill Flat, report a further return of 12nz, making 6-laz from the paddock lately taken oat. It is expected that the Kplly and Oasey dredge will resume work this week. The dredge is now on the claim lately held by the Great Central Company The Golden Beach dredge was cue cessfnlly rs-tioated on Thursday evening last, when it was found that the dredge was none the worse for her temporary immersion. The work was successfulv carried out by Mr G. Ponlter. It appears we were in errcr in referring to Mr Ponlter as " manager," in our last issue, as that gentleman (who is engaged on the Alexandra Lead dredge) was onlv employed by the Company to undertake the work of re-floating the dredge. The directors of the Chicago Dredging Company have declared another dividend (the tenth) of Is per share, which was payable yesterday.

The statement of affairs of the Perseverance Dredging Company for last year shows a very satisfactory position. The quantity of go'd produced during th*» year ending 31st December whs 401?oz 9dwt sgr, valued at £15.606 2s Id, and the amount ex pended in crrying on operfttio r ß during the same period was £BO3B 7s 4-1. The amount of cash at th« bank on December 31st amounted to £BSO 16s (including £SOO on fixed and the rash in hand was £257 3s 7d (bulMon). The amount of debts owing by the company was £9B 15s. Since the company wa» registered, £14,000 has been paid in dividends. The statement of affairs of the Molynenx Hydraulic Company is also a very satisfactory one. During last year the amount of gold won was 1608oz ldwt 18gr, of a value of £6218 2s Id, and r the amount expended in carrying on operations was £3678 14s sd. amount of cash in the bank at December 31st was £825 16° 2d (including £SOO reserve fund), and the amoun* of debte owing by tbe-ccmpsny was £329 2s lid During the year 7s 6d per f % . share was paid in dividends. According to the annual statement of affairs, the Kelly and Casey Dredging Company produced last ye?r 2050z 4dwt 3gr of gold, valued at £778 Is lid. The amount expended in carrying on operations during the year was £ll4l 08 9d. The amount of in hand and in the bank at December 31st last was £4O 12s Bd, and the debts owing by the company amounted to £l5B 2s 7d, ccct-tgent liabilities being *V»t <iewfe a* <M •*,

DREDGING RETURNS. The following are the returns for the week ending Saturday, February 7th, 1903 :

DIVIDENDS / The following dividends were declared during the week : Chicago Dndging Co., Is per share. Matau Dredgii g Co.. Is per share. Upper Waipori Alluvial Co., Is per share.

oz dwtgrs Electric No. 1, Cromwell 218 11 0 Earnscleugh No 2, Alexandra 128h 93 0 0 Upper Waipori, Waipori. 137br... 62 0 0 Cromwell No. 1. Cromwell 60 19 0 Waimumu Queen, Gore 55 15 0 Matau. Clyde. 6dys .„ 49 0 0 Gold Kln£. Roxburgh... 48 0 0 Roxburgh Jubilee, Roxb'rgh, 139b 46 2 0 Empire No 1, Waipori ... 39 1 0 Riley's Beach. Cromwell, 38 0 0 Perseverance No. 1. Alexandra... 36 6 0 Perseverance No 2, Alexandra!.. 34 5 9 Enterprise No. 2. Alexandra, I04h 31 0 0 Otago No. 2, Beaumont 29 10 0 Sneddon's Freehold. Waikaka. wk 28 0 0 Earnscleugh No 1, Alexandra 106b 26 11 17 Lafranchi'sFreehold.Card'na,, 26 5 0 Waikaka, Waikaka, I92brs 26 4 0 Lawrence, Tuapeka Flat, 6dys 25 4 0 Cairntrodhe, Poolburn, ISOhrs 25 0 (1 Wappy Valley. Tuapeka. 6dys 25 0 0 Waimumu Extended, Gore 24 0 0 Jolden Gate. Millers Flat, 6dys 23 10 0 Olrig, Manuherikia, 128h 23 7 0 Royal Waimumu, near Gore 23 5 0 Waikaka United No 1, Waikaka 22 8 0 Central Charlton, near Gore. I12hr 21 2 0 Cbarltou Creek, near Gore, 94hs 21 0 0 Ei trick, Roxburgh, 112hrs 20 10 0 Charlton Valley, near Gore, 117hrs 20 6 0 Success, Waipori 20 3 0 Prince Arthur, Shotover 20 0 0 Waimumu, near Gore, 53 hours 20 0 0 Central Mataura, Mataura, 130h 19 1 0 Gabriel. Tuapeka Flat... 19 0 0 MacOharlton, near Gore 19 0 0 Enterprise No. 1, Alexandra 18 16 9 Globe. Waikaka, 135'nrs 16 6 0 Point d'Or, Cromwell... ... 16 0 0 Otago. Miller's Flat, 6dys 15 0 0 Majestic, Miller's Flat... 14 15 0 Taniwha 14 14 c Gully, near Gore. 127brs ... 14 8 0 Inchdale. near Palmerston, 137hrs 14 6 0 Inch Valley, near Palmerston ... 13 8' 0 Waikaka United No. 2, Waikaka 13 0 0 Waikaka Queen, Waikaka, Ki9brs 12 11 p Vlolvneux Hydraulic, Alex'dra, 132h 12 10 5 Golden Bed, Miller's Flat, 64hrs 11 0 0 N'gapara No. 3, Nevis. 130hrs 11 0 0 Lady i harlton, nr Gore 10 14 0 reviot, Roxburgh, MOhrs 9 1 0 Golden Treasure, Millers Flat, w'k 9 0 0 Tuapeka, Tuapeaa Flat, HOh 8 0 0 New Golden Gravel,Beaumont... 7 10 0 Waimumu Central.near Gore.270b 6 6 r Lower Enfield, Waipori, l2ohrs 5 19 0 Grand Junction, Nevis River ... 5 0 0 New Britannia, Beaumont Total for 59 dredges ... 1 5 0 0 16 6r4 10 Average per dredge 27 0 0 The West Coast. Mosquito .,.,..« 72 0 0 Feddersen _>... ... ." .'.> 50 0 0 Nelson Creek, Westland -.;> t-' . 49 $00 Pactolus No 2 46 10 0 Prince o£ Wales 43 7 0 Sorth Beach 43 2 0 Erickson's Reward 41 10 0 Three-mile Greenstone 36 2 0 No Town Creek 35 0 0 Buller Junction 24 0 0 ommissioner's Flat ... 23 0 0 f'allaghan's ... ... . ... 23 0 0 Manri King ... 22 13 0 Welcome 20 4 0 Watterson's Ahaura 20 1 Blackwater River 20 0 0 Aldinga 18 4 0 Leviathan 16 15 0 Cornwall 15 0 0 Trafalgar 14 15 0 New Greenstone ... Total ... 8 0 0 0 642 3