COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2706, 28 February 1916, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

: DJ vestment shakes. There was- no business 4onc in investment 'shares on Saturday. The quotations were as follow *'"' , ' Buyers. Sellers.' . £ s. <!.. - £ s. a; Bank N.Z. f£3 6s. U.) ... 10 11 0 - . Union Bank . 50 10 0 51 0 0 Well. Meat Ex. (£2 12s. 6d.) 216 0 — ' N.Z. Shipping (ord.) 19 0 0 — Union Steam (ord.) 17 3 18 0 UuiMi Sleom , (pret'.j 10b' - Well.' Woollen (ord.) 418 0 — ' Sharland (ord.) 14 6 — Sharlond (pref.) .14 6 — . W.F.O.A. (£5) . - 6 10 Customs duty collected at the port of Vi'ellington „on Saturday amounted t,o £1090 ta.Md.- • LONDON MARKETS. By. Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Bee. February 27, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 26. Wheat Is quiet; cargoes are steady. Chicago Stay options,; to ÜBitc.; July options, 113Jc. to 1155 c. New Zealand Hemp—February-April shipment, £47 per ton.. ;

Jute.—Native first marks, Maroh-April shipment, £33 17s. 6d. per ton. Cotton.—February-March shipment, 7.53 d. pel' lb. liubbor.—Hard fine Para, 3s. 2d. per lb.;' plantation, 3s. 7(1.; mnoked sheets, 3s. 53d. Copra.—February-April shipment, £35 10s. per ton. FKOZEN MEAT. (Kec. February 27, 5.5 D.m.) London, February 26. Tho Incorporated Society ot .Meat Importers' Smithfleld Market quotations for frozen meat are ba6ed on actual sales of not less than one hundred carcasses of mutton or lamb, or twenty-five quarters of beef; of fair average quality. Tho quotations are not for selected lines, but Tor parcels fairly representative <>f tho hulk of the shipments now on the market. The prices which follow are on tho average a farthing per lb: more than tho values ex ship, this difference representing the average cost in expense, handling, conveyance, and soiling of the meat:— Mutton— d. Canterbury, light V 8 Canterbury, light (seconds) none offering Canterbury, medium : 79-16 Canterbury, heavy none offering Southland none offering New Zealand, best none offering New Zealand, ordinary ... nono offering North Island, ewes none offering New Zealand, owes 7} Australian, heavy none offering Australian, medium. none offering Australian, light nono offering Australian, ewes nono offering Kivor Plate, wethers, light % River Plate, heavy 713-16 Itiver Plate, ewes 71 T<B.nib — Canterbury, light 8J Canterbury, seconds 8 Canterbury, medium 8J Canterbury, heavy 7K Southland 7} North Island, ordinary 9 North Island, selected ... none offering Australian, best 81 Autralian, secondary 85 Australian, inferior 8^ River Plato, first quality none offering River Plate, seconds none offering BeefArgentine, chilled fores 7 Argentine, ohillcd hinds fl? Uruguay, fores 7^ . Uruguay, hinds 7J IiABIUTS. Thero is «, better demand for rabbits, and prices. are unchanged. MINING NEWS , WELLINGTON SHARE MARKET In tho mining market on Saturday there were several bids for shares, but no business was done. The quotations were as under:— Buyers. Sellera. £ 8. i. £ e. d. Dominion Developing 1 15 0 — Hurray Creek 2 2 6 — Ross 0 0 2 — Talisman 0 15 0 0 15 9 Waihi 1 16 6 Worksop Dredge — 1 11 0 VALUABLE DISCOVERY CLAIMED » MOLYBDENTE AT TAKAKA. Mr. H. i\ Chaft'cy,' who has' boon -prospecting in tho ranges at the back 'of the o'ppor Takaka for the past eighteen months, has not returned empty-handed. His most important discovery is, ho -states, a threo-l'oot reef of molybdenite ore, which produces an .a&d of immouso value for toughening steel, and in great demand at present. :Jir. Chaffey states that there is a, considerable quantity ot the ore on the land over which lie lias established a claim, but it is in fairly rough country, at ail elevation of 2800 ft., poor land that has been manuka-grown, but has been recently fairly well cleared by firo. The rest of the country round is in heavy bush. The spot is about sixteen miles .back from lipper Taknka, and as tho cost oT packing tho ore out would cost over £22 per wm, Mr. Chaffey is endeavouring to obtain the uid of tho Takaka County Council to construct a light trannvay, which could be taken to within a mile and a half of his claim on a grade of one in sixteen. Mr. Chaffey has a bag of specimens to indicate the richness of the district as an ore-producer In the first place he has been able to keep himself and his wifo on the selection : with the gold washed from tho creeks' thereabouts, and shows a bottle of alluvial gold to support his claim. Ho also has a great piece of ore which-on assay produced 16 ounces of silver and 12 dwts. of gold to the ton; a .pieco of chrome iron oro; and a fins specimen of zinc-lead ore (from a big lode) similar to that produced at Broken Hill. From this district a good deal of asbestos has been won, and the.ro is still any quantity of it to. be mined. As a matter of fact, Mr. Chaffey now owns the old Asbestos Company's claim, which is next to the block on which he has made a. home. It is his intention to «ee the Minister of Mines to-day, to bring under his notice the wealth of minerals that" exist in t-lie district, and in particular to get assistance to develop his find of molybdenite (tho only trace of which hitherto has been found «t Karamea), owing to its special value at tho present time as a steel-Wighener, and as a preservative for cordite.

Tlie Melbourne "Age" recently stated in regard to molybdenite that concentrates should contain 60 per cent, of molybdenite, preferably 00 per cent. In 1009 the price per ton (for pure ore) was £00; in 1.911, £135; in October, 1913, £260; in December, 1913. £326; ir. Januwy, 1914, £462; in April, 1914, £•560; and since tlio war began, £700. All Australian deposits are taken by the Government at 105s. per unit—£s2s per ton for pure oto. 1 I