THE WAIHI MINE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1041, 2 February 1911, Page 6

THE WAIHI MINE.

JIEETING OF WELLINGTON SHARE- |; '"< HOLDERS. ■•.'..'.■; f SERIES oV RESOLUTIONS/ A SPECIAL REPORT ASKED FOR. ii meeting of shareholders in tho Waihi ' Gjbldminins. Company was held, in the ■ i. Wellington Stock Exchange last evening, Eγ. Knight presiding. Fifty-seven, shareholders . were; present," holding. a large '■■ niirober.of shares..' . :■■ .-An animated discussion took place upon " the- position of the mine, as disclosed by ttie-.cireulan-of January .28, issued by '■..- of -the board. of i directors. - Eventu- ; ejly the : following, resolutions were paosedlunanimously';— ■..-■;-.. . - . . - ,&That, the.directors of the WaihiiGpldmining Company; be-requested, to ob- ..'■'": tain a report ■ by-personal investigation fcy? a first-class 'mining engineer non-resi- ■'.-" dent;in New Zealand upon:"~•■■'■'.. • •'" (a)-The tonnage and-value of ore alieady developed in-the'miue, :t (b) To report upon the methods of* ■mining. ' '"■ ■■ •'•' ' .. '■'"■': (c) To report upon the various reduction mills and their situation, par:tioularljv ivith respect, to the / course prevailing/ of "-having three . mills . ■' Iwidely . separated..' ■■. ■ .-;:•• '•: '.■ v («) As to the process followed in the ■ .extraction of the precious metals, and. ':. as to" its suitability and economy. , .*!'(£)' Upon :the machinery as a whole, and as to whether the money has been ■ :''.■'.•■ well.spent or otherwise. (f) To advise as to the system to be ". • ■ followed 'in, developing the mine in the.,future.' ".- i.','".' ~ *> ; '2. That this meeting views with alarm / the statement issued by .the directors on January 23, seeing that it is in such conflict with the statement/ published within ' -the; last; few months,. by the company's -,'-. iittorney! in-Auckland. ' .' '.-<. S.'Thnt the management of .the mine bo ■ placed under the'personal supervision of V ■'. a first-class mining''.engineer. ■ , \ ■ "■:- "4. That all reports,-.cabled or other- . ■wise, bo uublished simultaneously in New ■■': Zealand and in 'London. •■• . ' - ■ : 5.-' That effective steps lie' taken by the • directors to"prevent-the imparting of in- ■- , formation (relative to'the'development of • , 'the! mine)! to'-the detriment, of tho" : great "body'of shareholders, .and. to the great advantage of persons, so.informed. , ,G. That nil shareholders .bo -asked; to . sign proxies in'favour of 'some share-, holder (tcbe;nained!sub'sequehtly), to bo used in London'tit meeting for the'purpose of ensuring the foregoing'r&- '-: y solutions, being given effect to., : . ' ■

'''in admmistratiyo ■ committee'of five ..Tras set. up, -Vith instructions and. power : to-act;-svith.ahy'other,-committee.ofshare-',holders that formed in any. other ' centre. - : '[ - . _'• '.■'■; -.':' . . -iTHE AU.ffKLAND STOCK EXCHANGE ;;'■■ ■• ; !;■ DISCUSSIONL..:; j:. ■>:■..:. •!''• (By .Telcerapb—Press . iss'ociation.i l'!'.';. ■ Auckland,,' February 1.- ■'.'. At.;the. i:onclusio.i of. the. noon- call of the'Auckhind Stock.Exchange to-day the discussion .was , resumed,oh Mr. Masfen's motion reKarding' tiie sending of /a letter . to the ''director's of -the Waihi Company. ■ f-. Mr. Horrocks-said'he considered' -the Wellington' Exchangoihad taken, tlib right ' course "jr.. asking, sllarchpldersi to. partici; pite-in a ; hieetirig to"djs'euss theimatters ; cohnebtcd ivith Companyi'.Per-? sonally he',agree'd,>-ith;Mr.; ,'Biittio that this'was ;Eot "a matter, for the exchango to move in... The'.exchango. had-now taken the initiative, "and , it was-for the sharcHojders' ; to act. ..A'Tesblution.tO' the direc-tlirs'-frpm the shareholders would hayo more attention than' sent "by the chango. r . ... :' ; , . .'. 'The chairman agreed ..that:, it would, h .'irise, to secure:the. cp-bneratioh of ■ share; holders, but he contended that anything of a'client was of interest to-'the client's brokers; Ho also' thought' , tho exchange .was.."cntitled: to know, tho date of Mr. Williams's report.

Mr. Horrocks said he was of that opinion .also.' •,.'.' ,'"' -.;''.,.' . ."

; -Mr.'-- Hull' then referred to the official notice that, was posted , on the Ejchanga some, months .ago,...stating that the returns'would, be .'reduced .to about £68,00(1 ■per' , .month. '-; In-the'r face . of the moro recent, information, he thought they should inquire into the reason why £GB,OOO was I the amount mentioned then, because that' certainly, led to the impression that the matter -mid'been given careful consideration, and that, the yield could be kept up to the amount. . :' ,», Mr. Mackay contqrided that: these matters", should' be discussed ia. the 'presence of brokers only. - .. Mr.' Horricks • said , ,he saw , no. reason why; the press .should not be present.. . ,'llr: Moore Jones said he was going to vote against-Mr.--Masfen's. motion, as.he felt the.course adopted by the Wellington Exchange was the proper one to pursue. ■Ho feared..that, any resolution, sent by the.Exchange, to the directors, would simply be ignored. , He ■ therefore moved: ''That.shareholders in .the Waihi Company, be .-invited' to meet and'discuss tho question.' , , ■ ■ •-.'■'•■ '; -The. : chairman.said if.Mr. Masfen's motion were 'passecWt. would clearly show they, thought any important information from the mines should.bo'promptly sent to the Exchange,,.thq.,saino as" was done toy, other' companies. If that were' not done then the name of. a.company was liable;''to ..be crossed off the list of those quoted on the Exchange.' He did not fay that anything had been'withheld, as they had not the date at which Mr. Wil-liams-furnished his, report. It might ■ also be a. rule of the Waihi Company .not to.'give the news to:.6uaroho!ders in the Dominion at the' eame time as it was furnished to those at Home., During the last eight months these shares had - been falling, and he could not help thinking that if the people here had the information which caused the others to sell, they would not have been buying Waihi shares 60 freely. .What they wanted was the date on which.Mr. Williams's icport was compiled, and also, the date,on which it was-sent to London. ' ■ .

. Mr.. Thompson said there were many people who had; sold out" at. a loss, and. they also,, though , not - now shareholders in, the. Waihi Company, were much interested. Ho thought all who had been shareholders within some months past should be invited. His opinion was that tho shareholders should take up tho position which the Exchange had done. A resolution carried by shareholders would have, more etfoct than if passed by the Exchange alone. -' Mr. Horrocks said, with regard to tho £68,000 return, that no doubt when that announcement was made- ■ tho directors could ■ not know how disappointing the developments in" the low level would ■prove. Now, with fuller information, they realised that to keen up that return they would exhaust their ore reserves before they had time, to open up other ones. No doubt tho directors could havo kept up the returns at £08,000 a month for another year,'■ but to do that,- and deplete the ore reserves, would place the company in an unpleasant position at the end - of that time.. He did not think .these men had wilfully misled the pnblic, and they had . to . bo. guided by reports from responsible persons at this end. No doubt'as the shares were down to a low figure, the directors deemed it the wiser policy to. reduce the return to an amount that would, pay fair interest upon the present price.'. That would prolon:,' tho life of the mine;.and perhaps lead .to'other important developments. He was quite certain thero- was another aspect to this question. ;Mr. Masfen: "Mr. Chairman, '.his is not-a directors', meeting." Mr. Mast'en, continuing,' said 'ho considered his resolution should, bo passed and spijt.Jlomc to-tho:directors.-'' IP- was quite respectful, Mid merely asked for an investigation.. Ho considered' it would not' be possible to get the shareholders together to a meeting. He moved tho further adjournment of the discussion until to-morrow gt noon, which was agreed to. : MOTION AND'AMENDMENT AT CHIUSTCHTJRCH. (By TelCErarh—Press Association.! 'Christchurch, February 1. '■■ Further discussion of the market fluctuations of Waihi shares tookplaco at the. Stock Exchange- to-day upon a motion that the, directors should be 'pointing out that reports from the officials

of tho company havo not been borne out. by the reports of the mine manager. An amendment was moved: "That the shareholders should bo invited to meet' and dismiss- the matters." . No decision had been arrived at when tho Exchange adjourned until to-morrow. (Bj Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) Christchurch,:Fobruary 1. The "Press". has ascertained that the report of the mine manager of t]\a Waihi Company,, which was published on Saturday, was dated December 14. LONDON PRICES. Us Tclec'ropli-Press Assbriation-Oopyrieht.-London, January 31. Waihi shares, .£3 12s. 6d. and .£3 15s. ; (By Telceraph—Press Association.) Dunedin, February 1. ' Waihis opened at 735.' iid. 6a tho Exchange this morning, but went doivn to (ills, at the ■ noou call.