November 4, 1897.]
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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347
gentlemen, is a very serious state of affairs ground and surface work to meet, which although | agreement provides that the new Company pay indeed, yet the first intimation we received of greatly reduced from what it was formerly is.nud satisfy all the debts and obligations of the our reserves being likely to give out soon was still a serious item, so that the returns we olt Company and hold the old Company indem. from Mr. Phillips in his letter dated the 29th obtain from the mill and from the cyanide work. urified against them in respect to the costs in- March of this year, when he informed the Boarding is not sufficient to meet the total expenditure, cidental to the winding up of the old Company. of Directors that he had suspended operations This, gentlemen, is about as fair an account The fourth clause, which is a long one, is to the in the upper west leuder stopes and the of the state of matters at the mine as I can effect that the new Company gives to the liqui. stopes on the north and south lode over well give you. We have met with considerable dator, as he requests, 60,000 ordinary shares of the 210 feet level, leaving only four points disappointment in not having been able to work $4 each paid up and 30,000 preference shares of from which to win quartz for the mill, viz., the on this chute of ore. You will observe that in $1 each fully paid up. Each shareholder is to stopes at and above the 110 feet level, the April last Mr. Blamey stated that two months apply to the liquidator within one month after intermediate level, the stopes in the east and would enable us to open up on this ore and that the issue of the notice requiring_application west lode, and the stopes west of the new shaft. the richness of it was, in his opinion, beyond for shares in the new Company. The form of The three former stopes, however, will continne doubt. So far this has not been obtained, but it the application is also provided by the liquida. to give stone for the mill for from three to four is hoped that at any rate the cross-cut may reach tor. If shares are not applied for within one months longer, by which time they will be this point, so that if the ore is as rich as was month of such notice it is the duty of the liqui getting, if not quite, exhausted. The stopes anticipated by Mr. Blamey, and as the indica. dator to sell those shares and to hold the pro. west are an unknown quantity at present, but tions warrant him in believing, I think we ceeds and to hand them to the shareholders who two months' working will prove whether it is a sball fall into a very good thing indeed. The are entitled to those shares, and all the shares not continuation of the intermediate stone or a shaft, as you are also aware, has been sunk applied for within four months of the date the re- separate chute of ore. In reply to this letter down to the depth that we intended-a little solutions are passed become the property of the from Mr. Phillips we received a report from over 300 feet-and the drive is now being con- new Company. Then there are the usual pro- Mr. Blamey, dated the 14th April, in which the tinued out to meet the lode. This has been visions us to rescinding this contract in the event following statement occurs: "If, as Mr. Phil. rather tedious work on account of the hard of there not being sufficient shares applied lips states, the upper stopes are almost ex- nature of the rock, but still we are making for, in which case the reconstruction scheme hausted, and will be quite so within the progress and, as I have already stated, we have will have to fall through and you will next three months, and the chute of ore gone in about 40 feet. It is hoped that by the have to meet again. These are the usual pro- found to the west of the new shaft is end of December we shall have reached the visions in an agreement of this sort and the an unknown quantity, then the ontlook is far lode and then we shall know what to expect. nsnal form has been followed. In regard to the from bright. I do not, however, quite agree As the earnings at the mine are not sufficient to Articles of Association I may say they are based with him on this matter. True, the stopes may pay the expenditure we must prepare, if you wish
almost entirely on the old articles. I do not be poor, but they have been so on many former to keep the mine going, to increase our capital know that there is any article to which I have occasions, when by diving further on the face in some way so as to provide the funds, in what- to draw your attention beyond what your Chair- the stone gradually became richer. As to the
ever way you may decide. Our funds in hand
man will mention. The only article that has chute of ore found to the west of the new shaft at Singapore on the 30th September were about been particularly altered is in regard to the I can only say I hare seen some very rich ore $17,151, and as our monthly expenditure has voting of members, which has been more clearly (specimens in fact) taken from it by Mr. Phil- been from $16,000 to $17,000 we do not know defined and certain alterations have been made. lips himself, and seeing that it is to the west and exactly how those funds are at the present mo- The provisions haré been made more clearly and north of any ore found hitherto at this level, that ment, but there cannot be very much in hand the notices to shareholders will be by way of it is defined between clay slate walls, is highly to meet current disbursements until the Octo- advertisement. In many cases it has been mineralised, and is fully 6 feet wide in places. ber gold is sent down froni the mine. The found that shareholders neglected to send in I shall be greatly disappointed if it does not liabilities in Hongkong during the next three their registered address to the Company and turn out of real valuo to the shareholders. It months will amount to $5,652. This includes it is often difficult to give notice to share- may take say two months longer to get this all office expenditure in Hongkong and the cost bolders. That is provided for and notices point opened and in proper order for producing of sundry invoices of cyanide and stores, iron, will be given by advertisement. ore in quantity, but I have no hesitation in say- etc., for the mine which are now in transit. So ing that in my opinion it will do so directly and that we shall have to pay about $5,652 before this, too, at and above the 200 feet level, the end of December, and at the present time and seeing that the ore on this chute we have a credit balance in Hongkong of $75,62. is better than it has been on either of the other Your directors have very carefully considered chutes it augurs well for its being payable at what would be the most advantageous mauner the 300 feet level when found there." Again on of raising further capital and to their minds the 27th September the manager writes regard- it seems that the only satisfactory way of doing ing this same chute of ore as follows:-" Inter-
so is by a voluntary winding up of the Com- mediate level.-The cross cnt here to go out to pany and the forming of a new Company in intersect the course of the ore we are working accordance with the resolutions which you have in the stopes at the 200 feet level is now near- seen appearing in the newspapers. These resolu- ing the point where it should be found and may tions will by and by be submitted to you. In reach it any day." On the 4th of this month the meantime the memorandum of agreement we received a telegram advising the discontinu- between the Company and Mr. Duncan, who, ance of stoping in the upper levels for the pre- it is proposed, shall act as liquidator in the sent.
matter, will be explained to you by the Com- He will also pany's solicitor, Mr. Stokes. explain the Articles of Association, and I had better ask Mr. Stokes to make these explana- tions now.
same name
The CHAIRMAN - Before proceeding any fur- ther with the business before as I would be very glad if any member present would make a Bug- gestion or two. Perhaps he might be able to advise us for the benefit of the Company, and I assure you that the directors will be very glad to give heed to any suggestion that may be made by shareholders.
No shareholder spoke and the CHAIRMAN anid-Gentlemen, if you have no suggestions to offer I shall now proceed to propose the resolu tions. Before doing so I think it is my duty to read to you the alteration that has taken place in Article No. 82, page 23 of the Articles of Association. In the former Articles of As sociation no mention whatever was made of the voting of preference shareholders. There- fore it was assumed that the preference shareholders would be entitled to the same rights and privileges as the ordinary share- holders. For this reason the Board thought it advisable that an alteration should take place and that the voting of preference shareholders should be placed beyond a doubt, and it was decided by the Board that as the ordinary shareholders were coming forward to find the capital in this instance very much in the same manner as the preference share- on & former occasion they holders did should be entitled to some little considera.. that account. That consideration we propose to give in the manner of allowing votes. Formerly the preference shareholders had the same voting power as the ordinary shareholders, namely, one vote for every ten shares. Now it has been proposed by the Board that as the ordinary shareholders are coming forward to subscribe another $4 they should be entitled to a larger proportion of the voting power. The alteration is as follows:-"Every holder of ordinary shares, who shall have been duly registered, shall be entitled to one vote for every ten ordinary shares held by him, and every holder of preference shares, who shall have been duly registered, shall be entitled to one vote for every forty preference shares held by him." That is to say, the preference shareholders were formerly entitled to one vote for every ten pre- ference shares they held, but as the ordinary shareholders are now about to put up an ad- ditional $4, it is only right that the voting should be in proportion-it ought to be eight to one, but instead of giving that we propose to
Now, although there is nothing very promising or tangible in the recent reports from the mine, yet we must not forget that the chute of ore found to the west in new ground and referred to by Mr. Phillips as an unknown quantity, and by Mr. Blamey as being better Mr. STOKES-The first resolution is that it is than has been seen on either of the other chutes, desirable to reconstruct the Company and that and although it was stated in April last that two accordingly the Company be wound up volun- to three months would prove this chute of ore, tarily, and that Mr. J. B. Duncan be appointed yet we were informed only last month that the liquidator. The second resolution is that cross-cut to intersect the course of the ore is the said liquidator be and he is hereby autho- only nearing the point where it should be found rized to consent to the registration of a new and that it may reach it any day. Since the Company, to be named The Punjom Mining discovery of this chute we have hoped that it Company, Limited, that is, keeping up the
tion as we are using at present, and would give sufficient ore of a payable value to keep the mill running until such time as the that this Company be registered with a Memo- lode had been proved at the 300 feet level. Sorandum and Articles of Association. The third far our anticipations in this respect hare not resolution is the one I have to deal with. It been realised, but until the cross-cut in the in-reads-"That the draft agreement submitted termediate level has met with the chute of ore, it would be folly under the present circumstances to abandon hope. You are also probably aware that the August shaft has been sunk to over 300 feet and the drive ont to the lode has been carried forward about 40 feet, and although the ground is very hard and most difficult to blast, yet, notwithstanding the unfavourable nature of the rock, we hope to reach the lode some time in December, when we trust the lode will be found to exceed all our expectations. The mill at present is being run on the headings, from which we obtain about 3 dwts. to the ton, a very low percentage indeed, but as there is no ex- pense for mining and the mill is being run by water power the outturn will more than pay the cost of milling. But apart from the running of the mill we have the expense of all the under.
to this meeting and expressed to be made be- tween this Company of the first part and its liquidator of the second part and the new Company of the third part be and the same is hereby approved, and that the said liquidator be and he is hereby authorized, pursuant to section 149 of the Companies Ordin- ance, 1865, to enter into an agreement with such new Company when incorporated in the terms of the said draft, and to carry the same into effect with such (if any) modi fications as he thinks expedient." I hold in my hand the agreement made between the The first parties I have just mentioned. clause provides for the sale by the old Company of all its assets to the new Company. The old Company and the liquidator sell and the new Company purchase. The second clause of the
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