Pacific Commerce and Produce

Stilt No Encouraging

Developments For APC

•; Since the announcement last month that the British and

American partners of Australian

Oil Search will not subscribe further capital for oil prospecting unless “material encouragement’’ is obtained, things have been quiet on the Papua-New Guinea Oil front.

THE Australasian Petroleum Com pany is gradually curtailing its activities in Papua—circulars have gone out to engineering firms asking them if they can absorb any of the 75 native apprentices that APC had indentured; and some European staff have already been given notice. But on the whole, nothing decisive has yet been done pd there are many, in the Terri tory and out of it, who believe that means will be found, before the deadline at end of 1958, for APC to carry on, perhaps not on the lavish scale of the last five years, aut in a way that will not ibsolutely cut Australia off from tier chances of finding oil in one )f her own territories.

"Specuation"

i During the month, APC sold off i couple of her small ships which parted off more speculation. But t was subsequently stated that ihese were surplus to requirements, myway, and that the company was sticking to the rest of its small ships fleet.

Oil Search shares which remained it around 1/6—the point to which jhey had fallen at beginning of August when their British and American partners made their announcement that no further sapital would be forthcoming unless mere were encouraging develop ments —made a spectacular rise to I/- on September 8.

With drilling finished at Barikewa md Puri, the only possibility of encouraging developments” will be :rom Kuru No. 3. which is the ast remaining APC drilling site, j-as was encountered in August— put this is no longer news, and aiied absdutely to throw investors pto the speculation that resulted y couple of years ago when gas was when drilling the first Kuru well.

Fiji Encourages

The Gold Industry

THE importance of gold pro duction in the economy of any country needs no emphasis.

Fiji, growingly short of overseas credits, and hopeful of uncovering more precious and marketable metals, has announced a new subsidy of £2 Fijian per ounce on all gold produced in the three years after June 19, 1958.

The Emperor Gold Mines group, naturally, has greeted the new grant with grateful thanks, but the Government is thinking of others besides Emperor shareholders. The plan is to assist the Emperor group to dig deeper and faster into those new strata recently described, and also to encourage other goldseekers to take another look around.

There is no geological reason why there should be payable gold only in that one small district in Tavua.

The forces which created the gold under Vatakoula surely made other rich deposits in the long line of auriferous hills on the northern side of Viti Levu.

The subsidy is directed to the encouragement of developing Emperor’s low levels; but anyone else who can produce gold between now and the middle of 1961 will enjoy a similar hand-out.

Of course, the gold producers will still be subject to (a) Fiji income tax and (b) Fiji gold royalties . . .

It is as quaint a procedure as the gold industry generally—where the world eagerly pays £l5 per ounce for all r*old produced, and then buries it permanently out of sight in bank vaults or in a hole in the ground in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Enterprise Withdraws

The reason for the refusal of the Papua- New Guinea Administration to extend the oil search permit of Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Development remains a mystery.

The refusal is even harder to under stand in view of the probable withdrawal of APC. Any prospecting, one would Imagine, is better than none.

In the meantime, the company has de cided to withdraw its drilling party from the Upper Sepik River, near the Dutch border, “in the absence of any clarification of the refusal to extend the company’s permit period”.

Recently, the Commonwealth Govern ment allocated £500,000 for the assistance of oil drilling companies—but all in Aus tralia. Presumably the Commonwealth is advised by experts, but there are still a lot of people convinced that the greatest chance Australia has of finding oil of its own is in its P-NG territory. (Over)

Monier's Moresby Venture

The first products from the new factory of the Monler Pipe Co. Pty., Ltd., currently being erected in Port Moresby, should be available within a few months.

The factory will produce concrete build ing blocks and drainage pipes in the initial stages, and later develop other of the well-known Monier products.

These will be the first precast concrete building materials made in commercial quantities in Port Moresby. A small factory in Rabaul, set up some months ago, is also supplying pipes and building blocks, paving stones, etc.

The interest in building blocks and bricks is a new development for the Territory where the traditional building materials have been timber and asbestos cement.

Gold Production

of Enterprise Falls

The August returns from Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Develop ment’s gold mining activities in the Morobe district of NG, fell in August in comparison with July results. From 30 tons crushed during August 31 V 2 oz of retorted gold were obtained. A further 6Va oz were obtained from alluvial opera tions. (In July the yield was 57 oz from 35 tons).

The new battery, which has been pur chased to increase output, arrived at the mine and erection was proceeding during August.

It was announced in Melbourne during the month that Mr. A. B. Kaines who has been associated with Enterprise for some years, has joined the Directorate and that Mr. Frank Cooper has been ap pointed manager of the company.

NGG Production

New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd., operations for July resulted in 1,017 oz of fine gold and 984 oz of silver from 4,248 tons of ore treated at the Golden Ridges mill Golden Ridges Alluvials produced 80 oz of fine gold; another 117 oz came from tributes. of timber wa s maintained at 151,841 super feet for the month.

September it was announced that NNG has been investigating ground

covered by an option In the Edie Creek area where high values have been en countered. The extent of the high yield ing ground is not yet established.

Sandy Creek Production Falls

Advice from Sandy Creek Gold Sluicing, Ltd., regarding their New Guinea opera tions shows that 29 oz 10 dwt of gold were recovered from 1,240 cubic yards of material treated at the Morobe leases. (This was a substantial fall in yield, and poorer ground, than in July, when 38 oz 10 dwt were recovered from 820 cubic yards of material treated).

011 Companies Pool Efforts

Papuan Apinaipi Petroleum, Ltd., has joined forces with two other Australian oil companies, Associated Australian Oil fields and Associated Freney Oil Fields, for a combined exploration of the three companies’ oil prospecting areas. The licences of the three companies give the combination an interest in all the major sedimentary basins of Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and Papua.

Each of the companies will transfer its rigs to the existing field administration company, Mines Administration Pty., Ltd., in exchange for shares in that company.

Should benefits accrue from any one area, the present holders of that area will participate on a higher scale than the other two partners. Presumably this means that should oil be discovered in Papuan Apinaipi’s area in Papua, Apinaipi would benefit to a greater degree than Associated Australian Oilfields, or Asso ciated Freney.

Rubber Cos. Profit is Less

Kerema Rubber, Ltd., made £5,381 less in the first half of 1958 than it did in the corresponding period last year Profit for the six months to June 30, 1958, was £9,581 and an interim dividend of 10 per cent, has been declared. In spite of the fall in profit, this is bigger than the interim dividend in 1957, when it was only 7Vz per cent. Final dividend for 1957 was 12Vb per cent.

Directors blame the fall in profits on a general fall in rubber prices and, in part, to the abolition of primage on rubber entering Australia.

The Stock Market

In spite of the gloom cast at the ope ing of the new season’s wool sales beginning of the month, the Sydney Sto Exchange index showed at the end of t first week in September that the mark was still near the all-time peak achiev in August.

On September 5, the index stood 263.83—0ne point below the August pea Reason probably was that, despite a ye of depressed prices for primary produc it was a good year for companies—as i fleeted in generally good balance shee The wool sales also showed improveme towards the end of the selling—althou; quotations were an over-all 9 to 10 p cent, less than at the close of last seasc The strong Stock Exchange note, spite of the fact that Australia is goi. to be down many millions of pounds this season’s wool cheque, may indies that the country is not so firmly tied wool as it once was, although good seasot and good prices for primary products mu have a big effect on the Australia economy.

If seasonal conditions continue good Australia, it is expected that the Coi monwealth this year will harvest its bi gest wheat crop since before the war. * overseas market for 120,000 bushels is Id lieved to be certain; as all other whe producing countries are also expected have bumper crops, there probably will no fortunes in it for wheat farmers, b wheat—and a very big sugar harvest will help to recoup the overseas fuir lost by the drop in the wool cheq? (Last year, when all the Australian Stai but Western Australia were hit by drougl; there was no export of wheat).

One of the most interesting finance developments of early September was ti entry of a third bank into the Unit Trv field. This was the E.S. and A. Bai which announced that it has taken a per cent, interest in a new Melbourne trv company—Federal Trusts, Ltd. The Baf of NSW and the ANZ Bank are alreas Jinked with unit trust companies.

Sydney Sales Prices

Aug. 8 Sept. 5

B.H.P. . . .

Burns Phllp . . 47/9 56/6 47/9 56/3 Burns Philp (SS) . 47/- 46/-

Dylup Plantations' !

£42/10/- 14/6 • £ 42//17T 13/6 Hackshalls . 45/6 46/3 Kauri Timbers . 19/4V 2 21/9 Kerema Rubber . 10/9 10/- Koltaki . . .

Lolorua . . 12/9 7/9 12/6(s) 7/9 Mariboi . . 6/3 6/6 Norfolk Is. Whaling 4/11 4/- Queensland Insurance 70/- 63/9 Rubberlands . 5/6 6/3 Sthn. Pac. Insurance 56/- NQ Steamships Trading . 44/9 47/9 W. R. Carpenter Hold. 15/- 15/- Timor Oil . 3/5 4/11

Oil And Mining Shares

Fiji

July 9. ’58 Aug. 8. '58 Sept. 5, , Emperor . b5/9 s6/- Loloma . . b29/6 b29/- -

Papua-New

Guinea

Bulolo . . . b35/b35/s40/- -' N.G.G. Ltd. hl/QYz b2/0>/ 2 b2/- ■ Oil Search b2/6 bl/7% bl/7 1 /?’

Ent. of N.Q. b7d s8d b6d Papuan Apln b9d b9d blld t do. opt. , b6V 2 d b4d bll>/«\« Placer Dev. b86/6 b91/6 b91/-\ Sandy Creek b4d b3d NQ