Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1901. GOLD DREDGING PROSPECTS.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 November 1901, Page 2

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1901. GOLD DREDGING PROSPECTS.

Anotheb week brings further confirmation of what is now regarded as a fact that dredging has come to stay, and going to pay. The first week of the current month gave roughly 500 ounces of gold from twenty dredges, or roughly say £2,000. The capital invested in these twenty dredges is about £185,000, but to make figures even and easier to grasp we add £15,000, making a total of £200,000. The working expenses of per week per dredge is £45, making for the 20 dredges £9OO, leaving £l,lOO towards payment of interest on capital, or £57,200 for the year ; equal to £2B 12s per cent. Now last week’s returns shows even a better result, with every indication of still further advance. This is a return that cannot fail to attract more capital, and speedier development with better and more powerful machinery, for if we work it out it will be seen that an investor can get the whole of his capital back in four years, with 8| per cent per annum, and yet have a good paying concern for years to come. Assuming that Bh% is a fair charge for his money, the investor receives in addition at the end of the first year, £2O out of every £IOO invested, reducing the investment to £BO. Thus at the end of twelve months the £200,000 would stand at £160.000 and the profit thereon over 35J%. Again deducting the B|% for interest, we carry forward £27, and deducting it from the £BO, there remains £53 at the end of the second year still out on investment, which brings the £160,000 down to £106,000. Continuing the process for a third year the earning would be a trifle over 53£%. Again, deduct and we have £45 to the good ora further payment of £45,000 which, deducted from

£106,000, leaves 61,000, on which is again earned £57,000, or 93%, or after 81 interest 84-|; equally £84,500, thus leaving at the end of the fourth year but £21,500 of the original investment of £200,000 to repay, and this too while the invested capital has paid 81% per annum, while but a fourth of the claim has been worked and while the investor has still his dredge to the good In other words the investor gets practically the whole of his money back in four years plus 81 per cent per annum; and has still three-fourths of his claim unworkod and a dredge to work it. Such investments should be good enough. It, at all events, is what the average shows, and the average is the correct way of getting at the true result.