MINING NEWS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 373, 2 July 1903, Page 5

MINING NEWS.

The river has been falling steadily during the week, the height at the Alexandra bridge last evening being 3£ft above the " normal" mark. The New River Molyneux dredge 1 stopped work on Tuesday night, pending arrangements being made to proTide funds to carry on operations. Mr S Ooard, late manager of the Goal Creek dredge, has been appointed to a similar position on the Waikaka No 2 dredge. Mr H. Bryce, late of the Kelly and Casey dredge, has been appointed dred&emaster of the New Teviot dredge. The Perseverance No 2 dredge resumed work on Monday night The No 1 dredge is working steadily. The Coronation dredge was closed down last Saturday, the returns not being sufficient to warrant the continuance of dredging operations. The Prince Arthur dredge sank last Sunday. It is not anticipated that there will be any serious difficulty in raising the dredge. The cause of the mishap is at present unknown. We hear that the Chatto Creek dredge has struck good wash. The Qreymoutn ''Evening Star" says:—Mr John Gordon who is in charge of the work of dismantling the Great Woodstock dredge (which was recently purchased by the StaffordWsimea Company), reports that the work tj practically completed. The dredge should therefore be ready to start work in about twelve or thirteen weeks.

The operations of the New River Molyneux Company's dredge have so far not been successful, and as the hinds are about exhausted the directors have decided to request the shareholders to provide additional capital in order that the claim may be thoroughly tested. The old company, which was working last year, was unsuocesful for the reason that the dredge was unable to bottom, and the present is the first season that the machine has had an opportunity of working to the best advantage. The dredgemaster reported on the 19th inst. that he had bottomed halfway across the river at an average depth of 40ft, and also that there was a little wash showing. The sum required to put the finances on a satisfactory footing is £750, and in order to raise that amount the directors propose to ask shareholders to contribute to a levy of Is 6d per share, or to take up debentures, interest being paid in each case at the rate of 100 per cent. The position of the company, roughly, at present is that there is a deficit of £528 9s 4d. A meeting of shareholders has been called to consider what is best to be done.

The following items are taken from from the "Cromwell Argus":—The housing of the Rising Sun is now in position, and the engine, boiler, and winches fitted up. When the elevator, which was expected to arrive yesterday, is put in place, the dredge is ready for a start—The slight rise in the Olutha last week was sufficient to allow the launching of the pontoons of the Rise and Shine No 2, which was delayed on account of the lowness of the river. The work of getting the heavy timbers (gantry and tumbler framing) in position, will now be put in hand.—The Junction 2 has been pulled ahead and is going to work a bit at the junction of the two rivers.

Saya the "Evening Star":—Some little surprise was expressed on Monday morning when it was announced on the Stock Exchange that the directors oi the Meg and Annie. Company had closed the dredge down and recommended the liquidation of the company. The gold obtained last week was 9oz 7dwt, It appears that there is only a narrow strip of solid ground left between the Meg and Annie and Annie Queen claims, and beyond this there is a bar of bard reef. The return for the previous week was about 250z, the dredge having only resumed work two or three weeks ago after undergoing an extensive overhaul.

Mr James H Moir, of Forth street, Dunedin, gives the following account of his experiences on the Arltunga goldfields, South Australia:—" We did not have to good a time going up the track to Arltunga, only covering 114 miles in thirteen days at one stage of the journey. The longest distance we had to carry stores was 130 miles'from Horseshoe Bend to Alice Springs telegraph station, which is on the line to Fort Darwin through Central Australia. The trip was full of the usual battling experiences, but I will not go into them here. I have been on the field a week, and I have only seen one color of gold in stone inoneof the leases. Ihave been out every day myself, but so far have not yet raised the color. It is a very hungry country. There are only three men here on alluvial workings, and they are just making wages. In general I consider this field about the biggest "frost" ever boomed. The papers in Adelaide are full of reports from it, but these are very much exaggerated, and if people were only here to see for themselves they would find things very different. It is the most miserable place I was ever in. This is no life such as One sees on any other rush, which is probably due mainly to the fact that there is no gold. If' there were gold speculators would soon be showing some flash stone to make things boom, but there isn't any. Whatever works are being carried on are of the most primitive kind, and there is not a single shaft as deep as 20ft. Wages on these are about JB3 10s a week and water. There are three stores, of which on* is run by an Afghan, and another by a Chinaman. Stores are fairly cheap—l6s per 501b bag of flour, tinned meat Is 3d, preserved potatoes Is 6d, sugar 6d, and tea 6s. All the carrying is done by camels iiiTftfi % A%fe*ti».—« gffriiag Star,"

The Monte Christo dredge commenced work on Monday on the claim lately owned by the Old Dunstan Company. ALEXANDRA COAL MINING COMPANY. The annual meeting of shareholders in the Alexandra Coal Mining Company Limited, was held in the company's office, Alexandra, on Tuesday evening last. Mr James Kelman (chairman of directors) presided. There was a good attendance of shareholders, and several were represented by proxy. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. TheCJhairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said he was pleased to see that the company was getting into a better position. A lot of new machinery had been purchased, and the mine was now in very good working order. At the present time the mine had a very large output, and he hoped that before very long the shareholders would receive a dividend. The motion was seconded by Mr Spencer and carried. Proposed by Mr Spencer and seconded by MrPattison— That Messrs Samuel Luke and William Noble, jun. be re-elected directors of the company. —Carried. * MrC E Richards was reappointed auditor. J*£}™*r!P»* the directors' fees be £SO, and the auditor's fee M sa, the same as last year. A vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings, DIVIDENDS The following dividends have been declared during the week: Baccess Gold Dredging Co.. 2s per share Mystery Flat Dredging Co., Is per share Sandy Point Dredging Co., Is per share Chicago Dredging Co., Is per share. Alpine No 2 Dredging. Company—ss per DREDGING RETURNS. The following are the returns for the week ending Saturday, June 27th, 1903: *i 1 - « . „ ozdwtgrs Electric No. 1, Cromwell ... st S 0 Manuherikia, Alexandra, 127hrs 81 10 0 Lady Roxburgh, Roxburgh ... 79 0 © Alpine No. 2, Cromwell, ... 7a |g 0 New Half-way House, Clyde Sd . 74 9 0 Bailors Bend, Alexandra, 6dys... 70 10 0 Hartley and Riley, Cromwell ... II 0 0 Rise and Shine, TJp'erOlmtha ... 56 4 0 Cromwell No. 2, Cromwell ... 66 14 0 Dunstan Lead, Alexandra. ... 60 7 0 Gold filing. Roxburgh, week ... 49 0 0 Upper Waipori, Waipori. 136br... 48 0 0 Enterprise No 2, Alexandra ... 41 612 Sandy Point, Alexandra, ... 40 4 0 Perseverance No. I. Alexandra.. 37 6 n Sneddon's Freehold. Waikaka. wk 37 0 0 Golden Gate. Millers Flat. 6dys 35 0 0 Molyneux Kohinoor. Roxburgh ... 33 13 0 Prince Arthur, Shotover ... 33 0 0 Alexandra Lead, Alexandra, ... 32 5. 0 Enterprise No 1, Alexandra ... 32 5 0 Electric No 2, Cromwell ... 33 15 0 Barnsclengh No 1, Alexandra, 126b 31 5 6 Golden Treasure, Miller's Flat, w*k 31 0 0 Ettrick, Roxburgh, lOShrs ... 29 6 0 Unity, Clyde, 5 days... ... 29 0 0 Mystery Flat, Waikaia, 28 2 0 Junction Electric No 2, Cromwell 27 19 0 Grand Junction No 2 ... 25 10 0 Royal Waimumu, near Gore 25 8 0 Inch Valley, near Palmerston ... 25 0 0 Earnscleugh No 2. Alexandra 55h 23 8 0 Waikaka, Waikaka, 136brs ... 23 8 0 Bendigo, below Alexandra ... 22 3 0 Reliance, Tuapeka Flat ... 21 13 0 Waikaka United No 1, Waikaka 21 0 0 Muddy Creek, Waikaia, 120h ... 20 15 0 Bnccess, Waipori ... ... 20 10 0 Golden Bed, Miller's Flat, 127hrs 20 0 0 Roxburgh Jubilee, Roxb'rgh, 140h 19 15 0 Otago No 2, Beaumont ... 19 10 0 Chicago, Alexandra, 126brs ... 19 122 Central Mataura, Mataura, 131h 19 0 0 Janotion ElectricNo 1, Cromwell, 18 19 0 Waimumu Queen, Gore 18 16 0 Riley's Beach. Cromwell, ... 18 12 0 Golden Run. Millers Fiat 18 5 0 Waikaka Queen, Waikaka, 127hrs 18 6 0 MacOharlton, near Gore ... ,18 3 0 Waimumu, near Gore. 131 hours 111 li 0 Charlton Creek, near Gore, ... 17 3 0 Inchdale. near Palmerston, I37hrs 17 2 0 Matau, Clyde, week ... . ... 17 0 0 Davis Bend, above Clyde, 130hrs 16 15 0 Gabriel, Tuapeka Flat... 16 14 0 Island Block, Beaumont, ..." 16 11 0 Waimumu Central,near Gore, ... 16 0 0 Tuapeka, Tuapeka Flat, wk .„ 16 0 0 Happy Valley. Tuapeka. wk 15 0 0 Peterson's Freehold No 1 Waidaka 14 0 0 Central Charlton, near Gore. 136br 13 6 0 New Paul's Beach, Beaumont ... 12 11 0 Enfield, Waipori, .„ ... 12 7 0 Otago. Miller's Flat, 6dys .. 12 0 0 Spec Gully, near Gore, ... 10 10 0 , Globe, Waikaka, 134hrs ... 913 0 Meg and Annie, Kawarau River... 9 7 0 Olrig, Manuherikia, 106h ... 9 0 0 Molyneux Hydraulic, Alexandra 812 0 Lower Enfield, Waipori, 72hrs 6 7 0 Empire No I, Waipori ... 5 10 0 Total for 67 dredges ... 2044 622 Average per dredge ... 30 0 0