Pacific Commerce and Product

Qoroka Coffee Co.

Under Fire

T'HE Australian public is being

offered units in a new coffee

venture called Goroka Coffee

Holdings Ltd., which has at tracted some unfavourable Press comment.

One of the promoters of the new company is Mr. Frank Powell who will be remembered for the part he played in promoting another recent coffee company in New Guinea—Arabica Coffee.

This company also received un flattering comment in at least one section of the Sydney Press, and was unfavourably mentioned in the New Guinea Legislative Council.

Latest proposition concerns the Kmjibi Plantation, held under op tion for a price of £llO,OOO.

The promoters are offering to sell 1.160 units in the plantation at £2OO a unit, or a total of £232,000.

They say they can guarantee an immediate return of 20 per cent, on the amount invested.

To support this claim they pre sent production costs and selling figures which, they claim, will leave a net profit of 3/5 on each pound of coffee.

It is here that the Sydney critic in the Financial pages of the Sun took issue with the company’s claims.

Production for the first three months of the year from the plan tation was 39,420 lb which returned, at the promoters own figures, a net profit of less than £7OOO, or at the rate of £28,000 a year. Yet the promised 20 per cent, on the full 1.160 units would require £46,400.

The Sun critic said that at the time of writing there was no trust deed to protect money subscribed, that the company had had a change of auditors, and that proposals to have the company underwritten as a public flotation were rejected by a prominent stockbroker.

Directors were shown as Messrs.

R. Gray, M. F. Kellner, P. Patroni, D. E. Kelaart, and D. M. Clarke.

Australia's f J To

Puri Bore

NEWSPAPER reports published late in May, to the effect that the Australian Government had passed legislation to subsidise boring operations of the Australian

Petroleum Co. in Papua, gae wrong impression.

It was announced, three mi ago, that Vacuum interests withdrawing from the searcH oil in Papua—after 20 years’ oc tions and an expenditure of million—leaving the British E leum Co. to carry on alone the middle of 1958, or cease oc tions. It then appeared that oc tions would cease, if the Come wealth Government did not to the aid of the BP Co. (see; article, May, page 13).

The newspapers’ announce of May suggested that the Au lian Government was about toe general financial aid.

The Petroleum Search Sue Bill, 1958, is merely a machr measure, rushed through Ps' ment in May, to remedy a defe an earlier measure. The I (1957), provided that, in ce circumstances, the Australian ernment would subsidise the in respect of a certain clas boring in Papua.

The 1958 Bill makes additi provision for payment of that, sidy—but discloses that the sidv will amount to no less £500,000.

The APC is engaged in pu down a bore at Puri. It coul the APC’s most significant because it is designed to give; tain stratigraphical inforrm about the whole structure of area—and important future cisions may depend upon data.

The statements made by M ters when the Bill went thn (mid-May) gave very little i:i mation.

It was stated, however, that APC expected to spend s £1,000,000 on that Puri bore, , that the Commonwealth would] sidise the work up to £500,00C There has been, up to mid-,no further development in thr search situation in Papua, as scribed in the article in May where the new gas develops was explained.

It is possible that the mil pounds Puri bore is connected . those gas possibilities.

The APC now is proceeding the four bores referred to im article: and future developn: probably will be guided by * data produced from those boc especially Puri.

Most observers appear cee that, if encouraging data ■ from the four bores, another ] ner will be found for British P c leum, to allow APC to conti the search: but that, if the dae undecisive, the Commonwr.

yernment may provide further

sidies, to encourage British roleum to continue alone. ipuan drilling depth, June 10: Bari i, deepened 1,231 ft. to 13,046 ft.; , deepened 1,104 ft. to 8,021 ft.; Kuru, iened 138 ft. to 3,194 ft., casing ;nted at 581 ft.

:er Dividend is Reduced

leer Development, Ltd., has reduced inal dividend for the past year from Canadian cents to 25 cents a share, total for the year ended April 30 c. compared with 100 c. for 1956-57.

iseul Earns Less Profit

oiseul Plantations, Ltd., Bougainville. , copra plantation company, earned t profit of £91,533 for the year to mber 30 last —down £5,530. Dividend unchanged at 30 per cent., and took £45,000 of the profit. Latest result achieved only after cutting deprecia charge by £23,354 to £12,195. tors have Increased reserves by )00. Total revenue of the company the year fell from £253,961 to .214, while plantation working ex s rose from £100,050 to £106,712. i output fell by 157 tons to 3,770

aipi Well Completed

man Apinaipi’s first well since it re i active operations in Papua has completed unsuccessfully. Drilling of Caufana No. 1 well ceased at 3,380 ithout having encountered any signs or gas on the way down. Geological geophysical data obtained is being id, and will be used in a further ment of the south-eastern part of ermit, directors state. :ctors also say that a reconnaissance y survey of the whole area of about square miles, which began late last has almost finished. Additional water gravity work in the Gulf of in conjunction with the Bureau of al Resources, is in progress, and is :ed to provide valuable information isessment and future exploration of rea, they add. This phase of the ny work has attracted interest and criticism from oil observers, who that any likely project arising the underwater surveys would be 1 the company’s financial capacity >ve or exploit.

la's Steady Dividend

ma (Fiji) Gold Mines N.L. will pay dy interim dividend of 1/- a share y 4. Books closed for the issue on 13. Of this latest dividend 9d a will be tax-free, and 3d taxable. )rresponding dividend last year was c-free. Main revenue of the com now comes from its investment io, which is extensive.

in Rubber Production

ier production showed a decline April on the plantations for which hips Trading Co., Ltd., reports, as April report showed that Kerema ed 28,062 lb (March, 33,060 lb); i. 77.668 (78,792) lb; Rubberlands. (36,300) lb; and Lolorua, 38.355 I lb.

a Gold Profit Up

ea Gold N.L. netted a profit of 5 for the year to February 28— of £415. Unchanged dividend of share absorbed £10,416. Market »f the company’s holding of 61,500 in Bulolo Gold Dredging, Ltd., is at £113,775, against £138,375 a

year ago. Dividends received from Bulolo rose from £11,793 to £12,141. The company was a New Guinea pioneer and was instrumental in starting Guinea Airways, and Bulolo Gold.

NG Goidfiplfk Npw Wnrk

HO oumnems Hew VVOrK Directors of New Guinea Goldfields.

Ltd., have begun new underground development work in the No. 2 Portal area of Anderson’s Creek at the company’s Golden Ridges mine. An adit will be driven about 1,100 ft. in an effort to intersect the Golden Ridges lode at depth Because of concern about rising costs of labour the company has sent mechanical equipment to the field to expedite the work.

These developments caused considerable comment in mining and investment circles. particularly as it had been thought that directors had indicated that deep mining was virtually at an end a „ „ . .. . , issued a ? a tpL5 S comment directors ‘‘disturb?*” y ng J he , y u Were given S i h T ndue Publicity being given to what must be regarded as normal development work”. They added that no

special significance should be placed on the work. Meanwhile the company’s monthly production report shows a small rise in output for May: Golden Ridges mill treated 4,228 (April, 3,466) tons of ore for 822 (731) oz fine gold, and 915 (I > OB V 02 silver Koranga Alluvials had no Clean up, and tributes 87 (93) oz.

Timber production rose from 156,701 su. 166,168 su. ft.

Sandy Creek Gold Yield

7 Sandy Creek Gold Sluicing, Ltd., during Ma y P ut through 3,800 cubic yards of material for a recovery of about 69 oz of gold - This shows little change in grade of material treated during April when the recovery was 82 oz from 4,200 cubic

yards ’

r * • , ... , .

Enterprise Of NG Yield

e .

Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Development N.L. showed a slight fall in production values during May ’ ° ut P ut was 67 oz of bullion from 31 tons of ore. This compared with 82 oz from 26 tons of ore during the nro vlous month. g (Over)