MINING VENTURES

Marlborough Express, Volume LXVIII, Issue 148, 25 June 1934, Page 4

MINING VENTURES

FLOTAiTION OF COMPANIES. THOROUGH TESTING ESSENTIAL A warning to the investment public to insist that any mining company should thoroughly test its claim before asking the public to subscribe the capital for working it was given at Dunedin this week by Mr A. H. Kimbell, former Under-decretary to the Mines Department. In seasion and out, said Mr Kimbell, he had during the last few years advocated that more intensive testing should be carried out before operating companies were flciated. Tne pubiic was now wiser and more dtscriminating as to the real value of. the goid mining projects submitted to it for investment than it was two or three years ago. During that time many companies had been floated witnout an adequate testing of the ground. Most of them had been promoted on sh.illing shares, and millions of such shares had been disposed of during the past two years. In the majority of cases no dividends had been paid, and the shares were at a substantial discount. The day of what he termed the "four peg" company — a company which had nothing to, offer but an area of land which had been pegged out, but which had received no testing — was, he be'lieved, gone by. As proof of his contention that the cffering of such companies: for subscription of capital had caused much damage to mining. Mr Kimbell referred to the areas on the Cromwell Flat. The ppsition of stalemate there he attributed to the fact that operating companies and not prospecting companies: had been floated in the first instanee. There was no possible excuse, he claimed, for failure in mining any alluvial area, with the aid of modern methods and expert guidance, provided that first of all the land was adequately, effiiciently and reliably tested by men who understoiod1 the business. AUSTRALIAN INTEREST. During the past few rnonths an Australian company had been intensively boring an area north of Greymouth, ana that company, in conjunction with a, New Zealand company, had put down 450 foore holes, which was a record for New Zealand in testing of that nature. Interest wa® also being taken in more extensive testing areas in Central Otago and Southland. Knowing what was being done, he believed that he was in a position to say that more testing was being undertaken- in these districts than at any other time in the last 20 years. In fact, one of the troubles now being experienced was that there were not sufficient drills for the work in hand. Mr Kimbell said there was plenty of evidence that oversea® capital was interested in mining in New Zealand. The larger the venture, providing it was sufficiently promising, the more attractive it was to overseas companies, and there was an enormous amount of money offering. Two companies had been floated in London to dredge portion of the Molyneux River, and he had reason to believe that another company with a capital of £400,000 would be floated in the near future to work another section of the Otago goldfields.