MINING.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20102, 4 December 1930, Page 12

MINING.

GOLDEN PROGRESS ASSAYS. The following report of assays made at the Otago School of Mines from samples taken at intervals of Bft along the coarse of the 150 ft level at the Golden Progress Quarte M.mmg Comnanv's mine, litis been, received by the secretary of the Dunedm Stock ExNo. I—Six dwts 12gr of frold 2dwt 14gr of silver; sample No. I—3oz lOdwt 13gr of oi silver; sample No. &—3oz lldwt 20gr of gold, 6dwt 12gr ot silver; sample No. s—2oz 9dwt 15er of gold, lOdwt 10gr of silver; No /- i>oa 16dwt of pold, loz 3 SX or silver; sample No. 9—loz lOdwt lgr oi gold. 3dwt- 2'2gr of silver; sample No. 11 —3oz 16dwt lOgr of gold, odwt 21<t of silver; sample No. 12—20z Sdwt logr oi t;old, 3dwt 22gr of sil- . ver.

NEW COMPANY REGISTERED. The Moutapu Gold Mining Company, which has been registered in Christcburcli, has been formed to prospect for and win gold from an area, partly hilly country and partly flat land, of 2652 acres at Mahakipawa, to the north of the Mahakipawa Goldfields Company's claim. A portion t>f the Moutapu claim fronts on Pelorus Sound. A syndicate already has spent £9OO in prospecting the area and has discovered several reefs. Assays ot specimens have been made at the Dominion Laboratory and at the Reefton School of Mines, and as a result the Mines Department has granted the company a subsidy in connexion with further prospecting operations. It is intended to put down several bores to test the flat count 17 in the company's claim.

NELSON ACTIVITY. During his -week-end visit to the Motueka and Takaka district®, the Hon. A. J. Murdoch, Minister for Mines, conferred with Mr G. C. Black, M.P., regarding tho mining potentialities of Motueka electorate. The Minister made a tour of inspection of the Tarakohe Cement Works, and the Onaknka Iron Works, in which he sees great possibilities, and he was much interested generally in the mineral deposits of tne north-west part of the South Island. The matter of prospecting outback areas, and also areas in the Roaring Lion, Leslie, and Mokihinui rivers, which was shaken by the earthquake, was also discussed. The Minister intends taking up with the Unemployment Board immediately the matter of assistance to the mining industry, on which the Goldfields and Mines Committee of the House of Representatives made certain recommendations last session. Mr Black has suggested that to acquire a full local knowledge of the suggested areas, a conference of those interested in mining in the Collinswood, Takaka, Motueka, Nelson, Murchison, Karamea, and Reef ton districts should be held, and that officers of the Mines Department and the Geological Survey should bo present. It is anticipated that such a conference will be held at Reefton early in the New Year, and that possibly the Minister for Mines will be present. NEW GUINEA GOLD. An important development is disclosed in the progress report of tho week ended November Bth, issued by the Mining Trust, Ltd., consulting engineers for New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd. The crosscut at a depth of 130 ft on location 14 has proved ore of a width of 28ft, assaying 140s gold a ton.

GOLDEN TERRACE DREDGING COMPANY. (PRESS ABBOCTATIOH TBUSGBAU.) INVERCARGILL, December 3. The Golden Terrace Dredging Co. reports a wash-up of a hundred and three ounces for seven days, as compared with the last return of ninetytwo ounces for nine days. QUEENSLAND INSURANCE. NO BONUS THIS YEAR. Directors of Queensland Insurance Co., reporting for the year ended September 30th, state that revenue from the year's operations amounted to a. profit of £62,298 12s lid, to which has to be added the credit balance brought forward from last year of £41,424 9s 9d, a total of £103,723 2s Bd, which it is proposed to appropriate as fol» lows:—Payment of a dividend of 2s per share out of the year's profits, place £25,000 to reserve (making £275,000), and carry forward £28,723 2s Bd. The report adds: "The fullest provision has been made for all known and outstanding liabilities. The directors regret that the operations for the year have not been more satisfactory which can be attributed to the world-wide depression at present prevailing. Results from marine in London also proved unfavourable, but the transaction of this class of busines has now been considerably curtailed. The Hon. Thomas Waddell and Mr A. McVernon, retiring directors, offer themselves for re-election, and no other nominations have been received. The profit last year was £62,508 13s Bd, to which was added £21,415 brought forward from 1928. making a total of £103,924 9s 9d-. A bonus of 6d per* share was then paid additional to the dividend of 10 per cent., as declared this year, and £41,424 9s 9d was carried forward. Principal items in the balance-sheet as at September 30th compare as follows:—— Liabilities. Sept., 1930. Sept., 1929.

WHEAT MARKET. CHICAGO QUOTATIONS. (CKiTIJ) PKBSS ASSOCIATION —31 BLKCXMO TELEOBAJ>H—COPYBIGHT-) NEW YORK, December 2. Wheat was quoted at Chicago as under:— December .. cents per bushel March „. 7gj cents per bushel .. 80J cents per bushel Ju 'y .. 75J cents per bushel tin supplies. (GMiTED PR ESS ASSOCIATION— BY EI.KCTKIO TELEGRAPH—COPTBIGHT.) (Received December 3rd, 8.80 p.m.) supplies are:— NDONj Decemter 2 ' Spo t bl * " • - • 4°? sis "Pot -. va* T>?« at • • 1.100

DRAINAGE BOARD'S LOAN.

REFLOTATION IN LONDON. If the Christchureh Drainage Board's application to raise £90,000 to redeem a loan of £IOO,OOO raised in 1906-6 is sanctioned by the Local Government Loans Board, the Board proposes to issue debentures to the necessary amount. "We are going to issue debentures, though where they will be sold I can't say, said the secretary (Mr C. F. Champion) to a reporter of I'he Press yesterday. A portion of the loan might be refloated on the London market if the Board had & favourable offer, he added- The sum of £45,600 of the original loan was held in Great Britain, and since the exchange rate was so unfavourable, the Board's best plan would be to re-float the loan there. Mr Champion has not recently received any enquiries from Australia. Even there the exchange rate was the trouble. SUPPLEMENTARY FODDER. RAIN PREVENTS SOWING OF C^OPS. -X' [THE PRESS Bpecitl Service.] DTJNBDIN, December 3. The long continued, spell of bad weather in Otago and Southland is becoming most serious for farmers. In Southland it has reduced the usual area generally devoted to the growing of oats and made it almost impossible to prepare ground for -turnip sowing. The latter is the most serious aspect of all, for Southland without its usually abundant supplementary fodder crops ■Would not be able to carry nearly its usual quota of stock. Turnip sowing should be finished early this month, but th-3 wet state of the ground has made tht* preparation impossible, particularly in the districts within thirty miles of the coast line, where the rainfall has been greatest. "There is only one redeeming feature of the present season," remarked one farmer with holdings in several districts of Southland, "and that is the small death-rate among lambs. The pastures are green enough, but very bare, and even where there is a fair growth of grass there is no substance in it. The result is that both ewes and lambs have to travel to crop sufficient sustenance, and this exercise is evidently keeping them healthy.'* In a flock of over 4000 ewes this fanner's losses from pulpy kidney or other troubles have been almost negligible this year, whereas in recent seasons his losses have run up to 20 per cent. Regarding the condition of his ewes and lambs he said that the ewes were in fair, and the lambs in good, order. In Central Otago there has not been the same amount of rain, but the weather has been unusually windy and co'd. In many districts the ground has been too hard to plough, and the same trouble as is feared in Southland, a shortage of supplementary fodder to see the stock through- next winter, is worrying farmers. Feed at the present time is very scarce and many rarmere are already selling sheep and lambs at very low prices. The general outlook in Central Otago is even worse than m Southland. In Southland and Utago the present season is considered the "wettest since the spring and earlv summer of 1912.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES. (BRITISH OFFICIAL WIBKLE6S.) RUGBY, December 2. The following are the current rates of eichange, compared with those of November 27th and par: Par. X0v.27. Dec. 2. Paris, fr. to .. 124.21 123.594 123.544 Brussels, belgas to <sl 35 84.824 34.814 Oslo, kr. to £1 .. 18.159 18.16 18.16 Copenhagen, kr toil 18.159 18.15J 18.154 Stookholm, kr. to £1 18.159 18.09 18.09J Amsterdam, fl. to JEI 12.10 7 12.06 i 12.064 Berlin, Reichmarken to £1 .. .. 20.43 20.37 20.85 Montreal, dol. to £1 4.866 4.85 4.85 13-32 New York, dol. to £1 4.866 4.65 9-16 4.85 15-32 Prague, kr. to £1 .. 164.25 163J 163J Geneva, fr. to fl .. 25.225 25.07$ 25.054 Milmj, lire to £1 .. 92.43 92.924 92.664 Vienna, schgs. to £1 31.585 84.494 34.494 Helsingfors, marks to „ 193.25. 193 193 Madrid, pesetas to £1 25.225" 43.65 43.20 Lisbon, escudos to £1 4.50 108.25 108.25 Athens, drach to £1 375 375 875 Bucharest, lei to £1 813.6 818 818 Rio do Janeiro, penco to milreis .. 4.966 4 11-16 4J Buenos Ayres, pence to dollar .. 4T.577 3SJ 33 9-16 Montevideo, pence to dollar .. .. si 38* SB£ Bombay, pence *o rupee .. 1« J7J lTf Shanghai, penes to tael .. .. 24i 18j Bong-Kong, penes to dollar .. -.94 1415-16 Hf Yokohama, pence to yen .. .. 24.58 24 17-92 24 17-32 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 ) -

£ £ Paid-up capital 500,000 500,000 Reserve 250,000 250,000 Reserve for unexpired risk 400,000 400,000 Sundry creditors 469,891 479.079 Revenue account 103,723 108,924 Assets. Oovt. securities 759,422 762.900 Fixed deposits 236,000 191,500 Municipal securities 107,004, 107,004 Freehold properties 160,223 159,683 Shares and bonds 224,699 161,760 Cash . . , 28,744 85.901 Sundry debtors . • 20,652 25,978 Reinsurances, etc. 22,581 86,725 Branch balances 164,287 141,551 Losses .. . 485,039 494.587 Charges 278,572 275,753 Premiums 774,560 832,418 Interest and tenia . . 79,582 75,584 Taxation 28,232 35,152