Two Old Bulolo Goldfield

Companies

TWO of the companies which sprang out of Cecil Levien’s great plan of 30 years ago to exploit the Bulolo Valley goldbearing flats with aircraft and dredges —Guinea Gold and Guinea Airways—have just issued their annual balance sheets.

Both, in their day, were mighty dividend earners. Both, originally, had an issued capital of £50,000.

Guinea Gold (established with only £37,000 of actual cash) holds a large block of shares in Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd.; and it showed fantastic profits in the thirties —but nothing in the war years.

But it now gets its dividends regularly again from BGD—and soon will be back in the Bonanza class. Its BGD shares to-day are worth £353,000, which gives its shareholders a surplus of £300,000 over the nominal value of their own invest ment.

For many years, Guinea Airways was in the same class; but sharp competition in the late thirties, plus the Jap invasion immediately after, caused the Co. to trans fer its interests to Australia. For a while, it was in danger of being wiped out by Socialist Government competition; but, wisely managed, it got preference capital and survived the storm, and now shows an annual profit of around £12,000, and a regular 7 per cent dividend.

Aceta Vunivalu, a Fijian girl employed in the office of the Fijian Affairs Depart ment for the past five years, has secured an official shorthand record of 120 words a minute —the first Fijian to achieve this.

She is a sister of Ravuama Vunivalu, who was the first Fijian lad to win the Morris Hedstrom scholarship, and who is now at Cambridge University.