Tiveri Gold Dredging.

New Concern Will Work Papuan Field.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Pt. Moresby, March 22.

A new company has been floated in Papua and registered as the Tiveri Gold Dredging - Company Limited— the first dredging company in the Ter ritory. It issued its prospectus and opened its subscription list on March 9, in Port Moresby. A great deal of optimism is being shown in this new venture.

The capital is £15,000 divided into 15,000 shares of £1 each. Of these shares 11,500 are to be issued and credited as paid up; 2,500 shares are offered for public subscription at 5/on application; 5/- per share on allot ment; and 10/- per share on two monthly calls of 5/- each.

The directors are Mr. T. L. Sefton (a well-known planter who has been interested in mining for many years), Mr. J W. Hinks and Mr. A. L. Clarke, me former is a constructional engi neer and the latter an engineer from Sydney, who has been working a mechanical plant on the property to be acquired for some time with promising results.

The Tiveri River has been a centre of interest to the mining community of Papua for many years. As far back as 1910, seventy prospectors were on the fields, attracted by reports of gold from skilled miners such as Mat Crow and the Pryke Bros., and by 1911 the gold yield was estimated at over £40,000, worked with box and sluice only—not a very large sum to be divided among the 200 miners who were said to have visited the field; but in dicative of the value of the district.

An epidemic of dysentery, which swept off 225 labourers, resulted in recruit ing being forbidden and the field was killed.

Again, on the report of gold in Sep tember, 1930, a dozen or more pros pectors rushed the old field and since then they have been profitably em ployed. Mr. T. Sefton, attracted by the reports, became interested in the field. The problem of working the wash on a large scale was considered; hydraulic sluicing was found success ful. Mr Sefton, in conjunction with Mr. A. L. Clarke, worked a small plant with a petrol driven engine on the spot with good results; but they felt that something better could be done.

Mr. J. W. Hinks, of Hinks Construc tion Limited, Sydney, became inter ested and, with the expert aid of Mr.

R. Gregory, a well-known designer of dredges, a peculiar type of light weight dredge was evolved an d constructed with the new steel now available at low cost. The design shows a dredge of remarkably light weight (about 12 tons) capable of handling 60 cubic yards per hour. It is only 10ft. 6 in in width and will have a loaded draught of 20 inches.

There are over 20 million yards of wash waiting for the test of the dredge, and the directors are certain that there are values of 2/- per yard over large

areas (in the winding beds of creeks where the wash and values vary). The estimate of cost of dredging operations is 5d per yard, and, as gold now sells at nearly £7 an oz., the possible re turns of this venture is substantial.

Dredging claims over no less than nine creeks have been secured and there are 13 miles of creek bed and 14 acres of terraces to be worked.

The vendor of 10 dredging claims will receive 6,500 fully paid shares for his interest, including existing plant now in operation.

Mr. J. W. Hinks will receive 5,000 fully paid up shares in consideration of his delivering the dredge (exclud ing pontoon) c.i.f., Port Moresby; 1,000 shares are held in reserve and 2,500 are offered to the public.

The Company is taking over an existing organisation with camps and made roads. Boys have been recruited and arrangements for transport have been made. The initial troubles of a pioneer company have already been solved, therefore the usual delays in preliminary work will be avoided. It is estimated that the production stage will be reached within six months from date of registration and that the capital expenditure will not exceed £1,500. The directors have agreed to limit their remuneration to a total of £200 per annum payable only when the Company is winning profits.

Mr. B. Dunstan, the Government geologist from Queensland, who re ported on the field in 1931, stated that apart from quite a number of gold bearing reefs large and small, gold existed all over the water shed and small leaders, some of which yielded quite rich prospects shed the gold on to the creeks in the district. He noticed on the way up to the field large areas of old conglomerate which he considered would be worth inves tigating, and he considered that the lower flats of the Tiveri were likely to produce a considerable amount of gold by dredging methods.