From New Guinea

Upper Watut Gold Alluvials N.L.

Approximately 45 Europeans and 600 natives are now employed on the construction work of Upper Watut Gold Alluvials N.L., and progress reports received in the last New Guinea mail indi cate that highly satisfactory work is being done.

The diversion weir on Sandy Creek is almost com pleted, while all tunnels have been excavated for a length of 1900 feet. Three tunnels have been lined with reinforced concrete pipes 42 inches in diameter. The Armco fluming has been delivered from Canada and half the trestling to carry it has been finished. A contract for all machinery has now been let, including the gravel pumps for sluicing. Production stage is expected to be reached shortly after June.

New Guinea Goldfields Ltd.

The management of New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. reports the following yields:—

Development at Edie Creek for January was 81ft. in country rock. As the ore developed at Edie is now sufficient to supply the mill for seve ral years, underground development has been re duced to a minimum pending completion of the diamond drilling programme. Diamond Drilling— Karuka vein, borehole No. 4,328 ft. west of bore hole No. 3, extended 90ft. This hole should cut the vein at about 250 ft. depth. Edie No. 2 vein, borehole No. 1 from No. 5 level, extended to 35ft. in country rock. Golden Ridges total drilling 357 ft. Edie mill for the initial period from Janu ary 2 to February 14 treated 3715 tons of low grade ore, assaying 0.3 loz. gold, with a production of 9380 z. fine gold, representing 80 per cent, re covery of gold against 90 per cent, calculated from assays, the discrepancy being due to absorp tion, which is inevitable in running a new plant.

Sandy Ck. Gold Sluicing Ltd.

Sandy Creek Gold Sluicing Ltd. reports that from February 3 to 18 the sluicing plant was not in operation, the mam pipe-line having to be le moved. From February 18 to March 6 the plant treated 3000 cubic yards for 480 z., equal to 2/5 per cubic yard. A further 18oz. were obtained mainly in sluicing a terrace adjoining the creek.

Bulolo Gold Deposits Ltd.

Shareholders in Bulolo Gold Deposits Ltd. were informed by the chairman (Mr. C. E. Hopkins) at the annual meeting recently that the company was now in a position to carry on work with a prospect of remunerative results. The water race at the junction of the Koranga Creek and Bulolo River, New Guinea, had been completed, and it was expected that a start would shortly be made on the area to be worked. He could give no indication as to yardage or values. The com pany’s area represented 319 acres, and only 10 acres had been worked during the last two years.

Shareholders might expect results from that pro perty which would more than counteract the low values previously obtained. The directors intended to consider the question of writing off part of the capital which had been wiped out by earlier losses.

Prospects for the company were promising.

On March 9 the manager reported that the in stallation of the second unit of plant on the Bulolo Koranga terraces is well under way. After a complete examination of the property, he recom mends the installation of a third unit at the mouth of Flat Creek, where he considers payable values exist over an area representing a life of about seven years for this property.

Enterprise Of New Guinea N.L.

Reporting on operations of Enterprise of New Guinea N.L. for the period January 3 to February 7, the general manager (Mr. H. Taylour) advises that construction work in connection with the Surprise Creek hydraulicing scheme has been in progress. Gold production and prospecting has been resumed at Oriabanda. Additional European and native labour has been engaged at Surprise Creek with a view to hastening construction work and the hydraulicing scheme, and so bring about gold production earlier. It was anticipated that production would start at the end of February, but now it is thought that the end of March will be the earliest that actual sluicing will commence.

The delay has been caused through the excessively rough country which part of the race traverses, and also the enormous amount of timbering which has been found necessary. Other difficulties pecu liar to New Guinea have also helped to delay pro gress. Suitable labour has been difficult to pro cure, but at February 7 there were seven Euro peans and 151 natives engaged on the construction of the water race. The race, when completed, will be over three miles in length. With regard to the Oriabanda lease, at February 2 two Europeans and 36 natives were engaged in prospecting and sluicing. The work has been seriously hampered by heavy floods incurring much repairing work to the workings. Notwithstanding these setbacks, good work had been done, and between January 15 and 31 Boz. 6dwt of gold was recovered from 170 cubic yards treated. This works out at approxi mately Idwt or 7/- a yard, taking the value of the refined gold at £7 an ounce.

The warden of the Morobe Goldfield has recom mended the granting of the area pegged and ap plied for at Oriabanda. This area is approximately three miles square, containing over 12 square miles of country. It includes the alluvial area from where the gold lately taken and reported as from

Alluvial— Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Gold, fine, oz. 1132 959 917 973 Silver, oz. . . 851 713 666 691 Profit (est.) £6091 £5073 £4344 — Mill- Gold, fine, oz. 1612 1709 1175 1292 Silver, oz. . . 1025 1056 2723 886 Profit (est.) £8366 £7687 £3169 —

Oriabanda is situated. Mr. Taylour later advised that he had discovered a large ferruginous quartz limestone deposit on the Oriabanda claims on the western slope of Kaindi. An assay of the ore is awaited.

Upper Sepik Gold Syndicate N.L.

The legal manager of Upper Sepik Gold Syndi cate N.L. (Mr. K. W. Steedman) advises that in mid-February a cablegram was receive from Mr.

A. W. Jacobs, a director, who is at Wau, report ing that owing to the result of testing on a yard age of 500,000 cubic yards Mr. J. M. Spence considered it inadvisable to continue testing. Mr.

Jacobs instructed that testing be discontinued, as further expenditure in this regard was not war ranted.

A week later it was reported that several pro perties had been submitted to the directors, and their respective merits were being investigated.

The properties are situated both in Australia and New Guinea, and present indications are that a free testing option of six months will be taken over one property in New Guinea which carries favourable preliminary inspection reports of well known consulting engineers.

Share prices of Upper Sepik have fluctuated fairly sharply from time to time. Early this year the valuation was £7. At an extraordinary meet ing of shareholders on February 7, the capital of the company was increased from £lO,OOO to £20,000. Shareholders were told that Messrs.

Spence and Smith had obtained . values of up to 7/- a cubic yard during the progress of testing.

Valuation of the shares, which had been then at 50/-, recovered to £5. Later the price eased to 85/-; and continued to fall, eventually reaching 50/-. After the report was published stating that testing had been discontinued, it was reported that sellers would have accepted 20/-,

Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd.

Production of the four dredges of the Bulolo Gold Dredging, Ltd., for February, compares with that of the previous two periods as follows:

Irowat Gold Alluvials N.L.

Rapid progress continues to be made in the construction work of Irowat Gold Alluvials N.L., and latest advices from New Guinea indicate that sluicing should begin early in May. The diversion of Iroa Creek, for the construction of the off take weir, is completed, and work on the race line from the diversion weir along the ridge is proceeding rapidly and should be completed by the end of March. Other subsidiary works, such as escapes, drops, and outlets are in course of construction. A first consignment of valves and parts representing one complete sluicing unit left Sydney in February and were to be installed im mediately they arrived. Monitors will go forward about the end of March. Plans for the treatment plant have been completed, and contracts have been let.

Day Dawn South (N.G.) N.L.

Following the resignation of all the former mem bers of the directorate of Day Dawn South (New Guinea) N.L., the present board states, in the report for the year ended December 31 last, that the financial position was examined in relation to the potential value of the company’s mine area.

Certain leases, which were considered of no par ticular value, were relinquished and administra tion expenses in Sydney and New Guinea were reduced to a minimum to enable the board to with an extended examination of the pro perty “with the limited funds then in hand.” An estimate by the manager stated the available ore at 4 5° 0 tons, worth loz. lOdwt fine gold and !°ooz silver a ton. that estimate having been verified by an independent mining engineer. Ex periments carried out by Minerals Separation and De Bavay s Processes Australia Pty. Ltd. were stated to have shown that the ore was not amen able to flotation and that the company could not hope to recover any appreciable amount of the silver value with a plant of low capital cost.

Direct cyanidmg did not give satisfactory results but on similar classes of ore at Day Dawn (N.G.) Ltd. there was said to be no difficulty experienced in obtaining 75 per cent, extraction by direct amalgamation. The company decided to go into the question of cost of providing a small plant to crush and amalgamate the ore, the sum re quired to put the mine in production being esti mated at £5500. On the basis of loz. 6dwt fine gold and a 75 P er ce nt. extraction, the return, with gold at £8 an ounce, would be £33,750,

and the net profit should be £22,500. It was considered probable that extensions of the ore body might be discovered which would lengthen the life of the mine and increase the profit. To provide the extra capital required the board de cided to call up 3d per contributing share. During the year expenditure on mine development raised that account to £9782, whilst leases and plant stand in the books at £12,873.

Developments (New Guinea) N.L.

A cablegram was received early in March by the management of Developments (New Guinea) N.L. from, Mr. A. R. Dodson, a director, advising that an option has been acquired over fourteen leases of iron ore deposits on the north coast of New Britain. The area contains 800 acres, and is close to a beach with deep anchorage. Arrange ments have been made for a preliminary inspec tion by engineers. The company’s engineers have reported by cablegram having made a preliminary inspection of an area of approximately 600 acres on the Lower Dunantina, on the New Guinea main land, and consider it a promising dredging area, and recommend testing for depth and values.

Mt. Lawson P. & O. Syndicate

Active interest in shares of Mount Lawson Prospecting and Option Syndicate N.L. was again in evidence on the Melbourne Stock Exchange at the end of February, when the shares rose to £27, against £l7 quoted the week previously. This is attributed to the interest held by the company in dredging areas being tested in Victoria and New Guinea. The Victorian area is on Crooked River, in the north-east portion of the State. A large dredging area on the Wampit River, New

Guinea, has also been pegged. This area is being tested for values. If good values are obtained the property will be treated by dredging methods.

The area can be approached from the coast, and no aerial transport would be necessary.

Eastern Prospecting Co. N.L.

Eastern Prospecting Co. N.L., which holds mineral leases over 700 acres of land in New Guinea, has granted an option to the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd., of Sydney, over its iron ore deposits on the north coast of New Britain.

The consideration has not been disclosed. It comprises, however, a lump sum for the option and a further lump sum should the option be exercised, as well as a royalty on each ton of ore taken by B.H. Pty. In addition a minimum amount is payable as dead rent, whether any ore is taken or not. The, area has lain dormant until a few months ago, when Eastern Prospecting acquired it through the instrumentality of Lieut.- Colonel Cummins, formerly Surveyor-General cf the Mines Department, New Guinea. Eastern Prospecting directors claim that the ore body is extensive and assays 72 per cent, of pure iron.

Golden Terraces (N.G.) N.L.

After an inspection and an adverse report by Mr. T. R. Victor, on a property at Wau, New Guinea, the directors of Golden Terraces (New Guinea) N.L. decided to abandon the options. The annual report states that in Mr. Victor’s opinion the areas were definitely not suitable for a com pany, as the conditions were exceedingly rough, and it was impossible to improve upon the present methods of working adopted by the owners, ex cept with heavy expenditure. In view of this re

Dec. Jan. Feb.

Cubic yards 615,000 899,250 902,100 Bullion, oz 9,632 13,225 13,623 Gold, fine oz. ... 6,774 9,094 9,432

Value—

Aust. currency*. £59,272 £79,572 £82,530 Per cub. yard . /23.16 /21.23 /21.96 Working profit . . £42,892 £56,035 £56,367J * At £A8/15/- per fine ounce.

port it was found to be impossible to float a com pany to acquire the options, and after, they were offered to prospective purchasers in Melbourne and Sydney it was necessary to abandon the options. The funds of the company have become exhausted. Heavy payments were required by the owners of the leases for extensions of the options. At February 29, cash in hand was £l3.

Oriomo Explorations Ltd.

Oriomo Explorations Limited have issued the following report on their operations in the Man dated Territory: In the Consolidated Area, boring

showed no better than 700,000 cubic yards, worth 3/3 per cubic yard gross. Efforts to dispose of the option have proved unavailing. As regards the pastoral areas, bores showed insufficient values to make a payable dredging proposition, and the areas were abandoned.

Mr. J. Haggemiller, a former resident of Western Samoa, paid a short visit to Apia during February. He is now a citi zen of Cali, Colombia, South America.