From New Guinea

Sunshine Gold Development, Ltd.

Directors of Sunshine Gold Development, Ltd., have issued a progress report regarding the Watut areas, New Guinea. Construction of the water race on the Consolidated claims is nearing com pletion. This work should be finished by the time the final shipment of plant arrives on the ground.

This is due on September 20. The first shipment of piping, including the inverted syphon, has been placed in position. Drilling operations on the Sunshine claims continue to disclose satisfactory values. On the recommendation of the general manager, an additional 145 acres have been ac quired. This area adjoins the 430 acres held under option, which without cost to the company had been extended to June 30 next. This will enable the extensive drilling plans arranged for the combined area to be efficiently carried out.

Ramu (N.G.) Gold Syndicate

In their report on the lease on three tributaries of the Ramu River held under option by the Ramu (New Guinea) Gold Syndicate N.L., Messrs.

Spence and Smith state that some of the pits gave promising values, but owing to heavy water encountered, bedrock was not reached in many places. On several sections the wash is too shal low to provide sufficient yardage for dredging purposes, while the overburden is_ comparatively deep. Transport from the existing aerodrome would be easy, but with freight at 6d. a lb. much better values would be required for the property to be worth consideration. In view of this report the directors have abandoned the option.

Enterprise Of N. Guinea.

Production of Enterprise of New Guinea ML., from the western slope of the Oriabanda claims, from July 24 to August 31, was 33 oz 7 dwt. of retorted gold, from 642 cubic yards. The property is being tested by bulk sampling, and the gold was recovered by hand sluicing. The return equals a yield of over 1 dwt. a yard, and with gold at £8 per oz., is approximately 8/2 a yard. In cos teening the western slope of the Oriabanda claims a quartzitic formation has been cut, carrying traces of gold. Additional work is necessary to prove the extent and values.

Further testing on the Oriabanda property re sulted in a recovery of 7 oz. of gold from 108 yards, an average of approximately 9/- a yard.

The first clean up from the testing plant at bur prise Creek returned 6?4 oz. from 248 cubic yards.

A nozzle is being installed to increase production.

Upper Sepik Gold Syndicate

Mr. M. I. Murchie, legal manager in Melbourne of Upper Sepik Gold Syndicate N.L., has received a comprehensive report from Mr. H. Williams, mining engineer, to the effect that he h spected and partially tested the area recently ac quired under option at Sandy Creek ’ b d New Guinea. It consists of an old river bed some 900 feet wide by 6000 yards long ad ™rabl y situated for cheap working by sluicing methods.

Abundant timber is available; there are no trans port difficulties, and water is plentiful. The only water for mining purposes in the district is em bodied in the option, and is held by the syndicate under water rights, which is a valuable asset, as all mines operating in the immediate vicinity are dependent on this supply. Satisfactory arrange ments should be possible in allowing adjacent com panies to participate. Mr. Williams adds that the .gold recovered from the property is the purest in the district, being 91 per cent, fine, most of it being coarse and clean. The further inspection of this area leads Mr. Williams to anticipate that his estimate of values at 16/- a cubic yard will be exceeded when the result of the first clean up comes to hand.

Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd.

Guinea Dredging Syndicate.

In the first report of Guinea Dredging Syndicate A.L. the directors state that following the rejec tion of properties at the Sepik River, in New Guinea, several options at the Yellow River were offered to the company, which also proved unsuit able. Areas on Woodlark Island, off Papua, were pegged out, but assays were not sufficiently at tractive to warrant the formation of a company to work them. An area in New South Wales was offered. Portion of the property had been taken up by an English group, and an engineer had reported on its behalf. His decision was awaited by the board. At June 30 cash in hand amounted to £431. Sundry creditors were owed £34, and sundry debtors were £3l.

Gum River Development N.L.

Gum River Development N.L. is issuing 20,000 shares to test its property on Gum River near .ladang, New Guinea. These have been under by Eric J- Morgan and Co., and 5000 by Mr. W. I. Potter, sharebrokers. Directors * re i^n® srs ‘ E ‘ J- Morgan, G. F. Davies, A, . „VV*™™ S John Brown. Nominal capital is £25,000 m 4/- shares.

Mt. Lawson Prospecting And Option

Syndicate, N.L.

At the first annual meeting of the Mount Lawson Prospecting and Option Syndicate N.L., P ul “ ea > hehl in Melbourne on September 13, ■ -}* J- McClelland, who presided, said that smee March 31 Upper Watut Gold Alluvials N.L. had been floated. The syndicate had several op tions offered to it in New Guinea, but the only 7if S the Ir °wat property. Results ob- W d V. the Ys n^ ors of this area were excel lent, and it could be worked simply by ordinary |rou nd sluicing. The option t e amaiy Wted CS P K° pe ? y : - near , Edie L Creek, had been re jected No decision had been made in regard to other options on offer, but this question would

be gone into carefully. The areas tested on the Irowat property contained about 1,000,000 cubic yards, with values about 3/9 a yard, not includ ing the rich ground in the creek, and cost would not be more than 9d. a yard. Mr. J. M. Spence, who was superintending the testing of the area, was of opinion that values would be maintained throughout the property, and that the area con tained from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 yards. The hydro-electric scheme on the Upper Watut was in course of construction, and it was expected that the work would be completed about the end of January. It had not been decided whether dredg ing or gravel pumps would be employed, but it was proposed to commence with gravel pumps to get into production as soon as possible, which should be within six months. Mr. Colin Mackay, a director, said that the flotation of Irowat Gold Alluvials N.L. would take place shortly. Capital would be £lOO,OOO, in 800,000 shares of 2/6 each, and shareholders of the syndicate would receive 250 fully-paid shares and the right to subscribe for 300 contributing shares. The syndicate would receive a cash consideration to reimburse it for

money expended, and this would be kept intact for future testing operations.

New Guinea Alluvials Ltd.

In their report for the year ended March 31 last directors of New Guinea Alluvials Limited, New Guinea, state that tests of properties on Bougainville Island, Northern Solomons, re vealed that further expenditure was not war

*June.

July.

Aug.

Cubic yds. treated (4 dredges) 930,000 968,000 .. 961,000 Bullion, 02 13,021 15,647 .. 17,009 Containing fine gold oz 9,061 10,847 .. 11,837 Value of production £79,284 . £94,911 .. £103,574 profit ... £52,045 £66,894 .. £77,227 tBased on gold at £8/15/- (Australian) . an 02. *No. 2 dredge worked nine days practically without revenue, preparing pond for deeo-difftnntr dredge now being designed, , and in this period dredged 69,000 cubic yards of tailings.

ranted. The option on property on the Bulolo River, New Guinea, was also unsatisfactory, and was abandoned. With the exception of the known payable deposits which were being worked by other companies along Edie Creek, Koranga Creek, and the Bulolo River, there appeared to be little pos sibility of locating large gold-bearing alluvial areas with sufficient yardage and values to justify equipment, and prospecting in New Guinea was discontinued. The directors are of the opinion that no good purpose can be served by continuing prospecting activities, and it is proposed to call up the remainder of the contributory capital of 2/- a share to provide funds to exercise the option to subscribe at par for 16,000 shares in Gold Mines of Papua Limited. It is further suggested that the company should go into voluntary liquidation, which would enable a distribution to be made to shareholders of four fully paid shares of 5/- each in Gold Mines of Papua Limited for every five fully paid shares in New Guinea Alluvials Lim ited. There would also probably be a small cash distribution.

New Morobe Gold N.L.

Directors of New Morobe Gold N.L., New Guinea, have informed shareholders that in a pre liminary report on an area of about 960 acres, consisting of two dredging claims applied for by the company, situated near the Sunshine aero drome, New Guinea, the engineers Messrs. Spence and Smith, of Wau, state that the wash consists of fine grits and gravels, with a silt overburden, and there is an absence of large boulders; also that the physical character of the wash and over burden is ideal for dredging, with the probability of the wash going down to great depth. They consider the leases to be sufficiently attractive to warrant boring and testing, and as the wash is likely to be deep, boring should be done with a

power drill. The large lode area known as Kela.

Ridges, portion of which is held under option from Malinar (New Guinea) Gold Ltd., will be in spected by Mr. T. R. Victor, who is now on a visit to New Guinea. In the meantime, Mr. J. W.

Ashworth has been appointed by the directors to take charge and develop the property. The com pany also holds an option over the Ornapinka and Yonka alluvial areas, situated on the Ranm River, which are being worked by the vendors, who are reported by Messrs. Spence and Smith to be obtaining rich returns.

Morobe Alluvials N.L.

Morobe Alluvials N.L., the first subsidiary o£ New Morobe Gold N.L., was registered in Mel bourne early in September. Capital of the com pany is £75,0000 divided into 150,000 shares of 10/each. Mr. T. R. Victor is chairman of directors- Other directors are Brigadier-General E. A. Wis dom and Messrs. Wallace H. Smith, R. Blake more, A. D. Douglas, and W. G. Digby. Mr.

Digby will act as local director in Wau, New Guinea. The entire capital was underwritten by- Mr. Smith, and it is understood that the issue was oversubscribed. The company took over the property at Little Wau Creek, New Guinea, oa September 1, with Mr. T. Anderson as manager.

It is proposed to install a modern plant to bring the property into full production. In the mean time, by carrying on with the existing plant, the company will be one of the few to produce gold from its inception. About 3,000,000 cubic yards of material with a value of approximately 10/- a yard, based on gold at £5 an oz., are re ported to have been proved. The inspecting engineers have reported that the proved area is on a false bottom, and that below this higher values may be expected, as the gold is coarse and nuggetty. In order to prove the ground below this bottom, a keystone power drill is being installed. Operations have been commenced with one white man and 20 native boys.

New Guinea (Nth.) Development N.L.

A wireless message received in Melbourne in September by New Guinea (North) Development N.L., from Mr. R. M. Glasson, in charge of the company’s expedition in New Guinea, states that Mr. Ray Parer has arrived at Boram and located the aerodrome, which should be completed in two weeks. Immediately on completion of the aero drome, the party will proceed inland.

Malinar (N.G.) Gold Ltd.

Directors of Malinar (New Guinea) Gold Ltd. announce that in addition to the large lode for mation in the Kela Ridges (now under option to New Morobe Gold N.L.) the company’s represen tative in New Guinea has pegged two leases com prising in all 1,000 acres. In a preliminary report, Messrs. Spence and Smith, mining engineers, state that from the terraces along the river and from the pits already sunk there is a marked absence of large stones, and the wash as a whole is ideal for dredging. The area is readily acces sible to the sea and to a port, and is covered with light scrub and canegrass. Work was Com menced on 30 pits, but has been abandoned owing to heavy rains. Those sunk disclosed overburden averaging 3 ft. to 4 ft. in depth, consisting of fine loam and silt that offers no difficulty in re moving or treating. A boring plant capable of sinking to 80 ft. in depth is being assembled on the leases and a programme of scout boring is being outlined by Messrs. Spence and Smith.

Oriomo Explorations Ltd.

Reports received by Oriomo Explorations Ltd. from the Bulolo area, advise that drilling is pro ceeding and that values to date are up to expecta tions, based on results of the preliminary pittmg.

Mr, G. A. More left for the field by the Sep tember Macdhui. Arrangements are in hand for a geophysical survey of the pastoral areas. Re sults will define the trend of the old river beds and indicate scope, yardage, and depths for determination of the boring programme. • A later report stated. —Bulolo: Boring the 145 acres consolidated claims; bores completed on river and terraces give results rising from 17 to over 19 grains per cubic yard in depths ranging from 39 to 43 ft.

New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd.

The monthly returns of production and esti mated profits of New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd., are as follows: —

Alluvial— June. July. Aug.

Fine gold, oz 1,561 1,599 3<250 Fine silver, oz ... 1,180 1,-51 927 Mill (Golden Ridge), tnnc 3,541 Fine gold, oz 1,331 1.^5 Fine silver, oz 885 1,095 1,065

DEVELOPMENT.-At Edie Creek, 273 ft. in country rock. Edie No. 1 shaft, restarted sinking and advanced sft. Karuka main shaft started and sunk 55ft. Upper ridges, 12-ton bulk sample from the rise assayed 2.10 z. gold and l.Soz. silver per ton.

Estimated profit— May.

June.

July.

Alluvial £8,012 £9,000 £7,818 Mill 7,214 5,989 7,449