Solomon Islands' New

Goldfields Company Floated For Big-Scale Sluicing

THE prospectus of Solomon Islands * Gold Sluicing Limited, which is of fering 200,000 5/- shares to the public, was published on February 17 in Sydney Bulletin and other journals.

The nominal capital of the company is £lOO,OOO in 400,000 5/- shares. 100,000 shares are to be allotted to “the ven dors,” Solomon Islands Gold Develop ment Ltd., and 100,000 are held in reserve. The directors of the new com pany are: Dr. William Wood, Mr. W. N.

Harding (taxation specialist), Mr. A. M.

Turnbull (company director), and Mr.

E. A. Laurence (solicitor), all of Sydney.

This development follows 18 months of intensive investigation by Mr, H. J.

Ault, who will be in charge of the sluic ing operations which are to be under taken immediately by the new company.

If the leases are only half as rich as Mr. Ault says they are, Guadalcanal will be a new Bulolo.

Thus the Solomon Islands at long last are to get their established goldfield. The new company has the earmarks of an efficient organisation, and all that is known of Mr. Ault is good. He is re garded as a real mining man and not a promoter of “wild cats.”

Mr. F. Kajeweski, an Australian botanist, came across gold in the Berande district of Guadalcanal in 1930. Guadal canal Prospecting Syndicate was there upon formed and carried out much pion eering work in trackless jungle. The Syndicate later became Chuba Ltd. and Guadalcanal Ltd.; and then Pioneer Syndicate N.L. vas formed to carry out further investigation. It was then that Mr. Ault came into the picture. The results were very encouraging, and Solo mon Islands Gold Development Ltd. was then formed: and the latter concern has completed the investigation and put the enterprise into shape for selling to Solo mon Islands Gold Sluicing Ltd.

Thus we have a succession of five com panies which presumably are to benefit from the 100,000 vendor shares issued by the new concern. The shareholders in those early companies also have a prior right to buy 40,000 out of the 200.000 ordinaries, before the latter are actually offered to the public.

The new company will operate upon four prospecting licenses, covering about 2,000 acres on the central Sorvohio River, on the large island of Guadal canal. A motor transport road from the coast to the foothills, 14 miles away, has been constructed, and a system of radio communication has been established be tween the various depots on the field and Tulagi. A special system of sluicing to meet local conditions has been

designed.

January output of dry rubber from the Papuan plantations of Koitaki Para Rubber Estates Ltd., was 36,612 lb.