THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 24, 1855.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, Issue 69, 24 November 1855, Page 2

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 24, 1855.

Journals become more necemry as men become more equa •nd individuMiim more to be feared. It would be to underrate 'their importance to suppose that they lerte only to secure Übtrty: tht/ maintain civilization. Dl TOCQVBVILL*. Of Democracy in America, rol. t., p. 830.

As there must he many of our readers who liear frequent mention made of the Dun Mountain copper mine, and who aTe speculating in their minds upon the changes which the successful working of this mine may have upon the Town and Province of Nelson, and the value to which their shares may rise when the mine gets into work, but who are, nevertheless, totally uninformed upon mining matters, and are ignorant of the value of copper ores, the yield of mines, and the returns which capital invested in copper mining sometimes realizes, we have thought it worth while to throw together a few facts concerning copper mines, for the information of those who need it. On locking over a not very recent copy of the Mining Journal, bearing date August 12, 1854, we were Btrnck with the great difference in the value of the different ores as sampled and sold at Redruth, July 26; for we find that while some of the ore sold for Is. a ton, other ore, from the Wheal Buller mine for instance, sold for 55., and out of the 112 lots sold, the prices ranged freely between these two -sums. To show the profits which !have attended the working of some of the more successful mines, we will give the present

price of shares in a few of the principal ones, and our readers will probably be surprised to see how large the returns to the capitalist have been in some instances. Pkid on Share. Value of Share. £ £ Burraßurra 1 ... 160 Whcalßuller 5 ... 800 Wheal Basset 10i ... 620 Devon Great Consols ... 1 ... 400 These are truly great results ; but they are not uniform. The mines which yield only the low-priced ores afford little, if any, return to the shareholders, and some, we dare say, are worked only at a loss. But it must not be concluded that all the ore taken from the same mine sells at the same price. The plan appears to be, to sort the ores before they are offered for sale, and thus, while on the catalogue before us we see that three tons of the Wheal Buller ore sold at 55., 158 tons from the same mine sold at £6 Os. Gd., 132 tons at £5 13s. 6d., and several other lots at prices .varying from £7 13s. down to £4 16s. -6d. a ton. But the best information we can give is perhaps contained in the report read at the 9th general meeting of the South Australian Mining Association, which we must confess gives some startling facts, particularly as to the cost of working the Burra Burra Mine. As this large outlay must chiefly be spent in the colony where the ore is raised, the advantage which the copper mines of South Australia are to that colony may readily be conceived, without any reference to the benefit derived by shareholders. Here we see that was spent in the colony in a single year, upon the works of one mine. Should the Dun Mountain turn out a second Burra Burra, or something approaching it we may conclude that the value of such a mine in the close proximity of our town will not be slow in being felt. The following is the report of the South Australian Mining Association referred to : —

At the South Australian Mining Association (Burra Eurra) ninth genoral meeting, held at tho office, Rundle-sh'eet, Adelaide, on tho 19th April (Mr. William Peacock in tho chair), the accounts to the 31st March showed : — Net proceeds of 2,761 tons of oro, £-13,892 os. 3d. ; expenses of tho associtition, including cost of producing 2,761 tons of ore, £32,362 3s. 9d. ; leaving balance (profit), £11,529 16s. 6d. ; and the profit and loss account, after payment of the 21st divideud, amounting to £12,320, exhibited an available balance of £12,61 1 12s. 3d. Tho balance-sheet, showing the stato of tho current accounts of the association to tho 31st March, returned tho general balance in tho Bank of Australasia at £16,291 17s. 4d., and cash in hand £'159 7s. 9d. Tho ore raised in the half-year to the same date was 2,267 tons 3 cwts. 3 qrs., and tho oro on hand at tho mino 2,088 tons 11 cwts. 1 qr. Tho capital Btock of the company originally subscribed by the shareholders is £12,320, which has been augmented by tho sum of £123,200, derived from clear and available profits after payment of 21 dividends, amounting to tho enormous sum of £369,600, and the total assets on tho 31st March were estimated at £184,929. The directors report that, notwithstanding tho continued inadequacy of labour, a slight increase in tho number of hands, and a more than proportionate production of oro has taken place during the past 6ix months. Tho operations during that period have, however, been, and are still, limited to the working of the pitches in tho shallow levels, which, it will be seen by the ore return, havo yielded 2,267 tons of oro, estimated to contain, on an average, from 17 to 18 per cent, of copper — an extraordinary yield, considering the many years these pitches have been in work : 60 tons of copper havo been export ed for sale, and 73 tons remain on hand ; of the latter quantity 50 tons aro now being shipped to India. The year to which these accounts refer was less productive than any in tho history of tho association. It was, in fact, when tho abstraction of labour to fcha neighbouring gold-fields most prevailed, when the mine wa3 threatened with total abandonment, when the number of underground men was reduced to about 30, and when tho produce of six months of the period did not amount to 400 tons of ore. The directors, in announcing tho valuable discovery of new ore ground, refer to the report of Captain H. Roach, who states, " that in extending tho 12 fra. level sovith from Aryre's No. 1 shaft, wo havo driven several fathoms through a magnificent bunch of red oxido of copper, which will bo worked either on ton work or at a low rate of tribute. In driving the 12, north and south from Paxton's shaft, wo have opened tribute ground to a great extent. I hope beforo my next that tho engine will be at work, and tho water pumped out, so as to enable mo to report on the splendid lodes in tho deep workings. From the daily arrival of miners here 1 have every reason to think that such will be tho case." The report concludes by observing that, although the want of labour is most acutely felt, tho directors are, nevertheless, encouraged to hope, from tho improvement already made, that their greatest difficulties in this respect avo past, and that they may reasonably expect that every month will bring them additional hands. The board of directors elected for the ensuing year wero — Messrs. W. Allen, T. Watcrhouse, N. P. Lo Blair, a. Strickland Kingston, a. Hall, W. Peacock, W. Paxton, and F. J. Beck, and Mr. John Brown a3 auditor, in tho placo of Mr. G. Tinline, who had resigned previous to leaving tho colony. Tho number of persons employed, including officers, were only 191. Tho dividend, amounting to £12,320, was declared payable after the 3rd of June last, and ia equal to 100 per cent, on tho capital stock for the quarter, or 400 per cent, per annum.

In our paper to-day will be found a highlyimportant article, headed " The Coming Harvest," which we have extracted from the Adelaide Observer, a South Australian journal of considerable reputation. The writer, it will be seen, makes it appear that (should no unforeseen calamity befal the crops before harvest) the Australian colonies next year, instead of being importers of flour, will grow a considerable quantity of wheat more than the united colonies will be able to consume. This is a highly important fact ; and, if only so far iealized as to cause the imports to be reduced to a comparatively small amount, cannot but be productive of very beneficial results to the colonies concerned. The writer dwells with considerable satisfaction on the prospect of the colonies enjoying next year a "cheap loaf;" and looking at the almost famine price of flour in Australia at the present time, a reduction of the cost of this first necessary of life is highly desirable ; but wheat grown in Australia cannot again be sold to remunerate the grower at the prices which it brought before the gold discoveries. The natural effect of a plentiful supply of gold is to cheapen

its price, or, what is the same thing, to raise the price of every other article. Australia, therefore, cannot go back to its old food prices, for unless corn- growing will pay the farmer, cultivation of corn will cease or become restricted. Supposing the- quantity of corn grown in Australia, as estimated by the Adelaide Observer, should prove to be correct, we do not think it likely that the price will fall below Bs. or 10s. a bushel, because at an average of sixteen bushels to the acre, the farmer, at present prices of labour and cost of living, cannot make it pay him to sell for less.

It cannot be denied that the New Zealand farmer is also in some degree interested in the statements made by the Adelaide Observer. During the last two years, a considerable quantity of wheat has been exported from this colony to Sydney and Melbourne, and the high price of flour in Australia has had the effect of advancing the price of flour here. If flour should becheap next year in Australia, it will also be cheap in New Zealand ; because between places so near, there can be no great discrepancy in prices except for a very short time, for trade, unlike water, always sets strongly towards where there is a rise, and something like an equality of prices is thus maintained. We believe that such prices as have been paid during the past year for bread, in New Zealand as well as in Australia, is beneficial to no one, and that any gain from high prices, beyond a certain point, is a delusion. New Zealand need never fear competing with its flour with that of Australian growth, even in the markets of these colonies, for with uncertain crops, and an average of only 16 bushels of wheat to the acre in the best seasons, what chance has the Australian grower against the New Zealander, who has a climate which never fails to reward his labours with fulness, and with only ordinary care, doubles the crop reaped in Australia.