226
of the year our hopes were buoyant with the fair prospect of being able to dispose of our con- cession on favourable terms, which would have given us a good price and admitted of our re- taining one half interest in the property in fully paid up shares; but owing to adverse circumstances influencing the L ndon market. our expectations in this direction were not realised. Since we met at our last annual mesting an immense amount of prospecting has been done with the view of finding a payable lode, but so far our efforts have not been alto- gether successful. We have cut several very promising looking bodies of stone, but in nearly every instance the lode proved to be of a very low grade, which would not pay the cost of passing it through the mill. You are all doubtless aware that the large body of pay- able ore found in the Jalis mine was practically worked out nearly two years ago, and since that time the mill has been kept going on the large heaps of headings left by the Chinese who, we have reason to believe, have mined in this part of the country for over one hundred and fifty years; during that period many thousand tons of stone after having been quarried were rejected and thrown into the neighbouring juugle, on account of the quartz being of too low grade to pay the expense of winning the gold by the primitive methods then in practice. These headings have kept the mill going for nearly two years, crushing from 2,000 to 2,500 tons and yielding a return of from 250 to 300 ounces of fine gold per month, representing a fair profit on the outlay, but when we take into consideration the large amount expended on Jalis Mine for prospecting, driving on the ore body, and sinking winzes, all with a view to prove the lode, it is somewhat discouraging to find at the end of the year that we have not yet
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
located the true lode and that our financial returns show a debit balance on the year's working of $19,840.98. I must, however, tell you, gentlemen, that gold mining in the State of Perak is a very difficult problem indeed. We are almost weekly discovering a most pro- mising leader giving indication that we are in the immediate vicinity of gold bearing rook, but after driving a few feet further the indications become less pronounced and the leader pinches out and partially disappears. The whole of che country rock at Jalis from the 300 feet upwards is so much broken up and disturbed by volcanic eruption that no reliance can be placed on what in other spheres would be looked upon as well defined indications, Nevertheless, your Dirnotors are convinced that we have good prospects of discovering in the near future a valuable mine at Panjom; gold is to be found all over the conn- try and we may reasonably assume, more parti- oularly if we take into consideration the good fortune they have met with at Raub, that suc- cass will yet attend our efforts in discovering the lode we have looked so long and so anxiously for. The working of the cyanide process dur. ing the past year has not been satisfactory owing to the tailings containing such a very large percentage of the decomposition products of the iron pyrites, rendering them impenetrable to the action of the cyanide. The only tailings we have had for some time to undergo the cyanide treatment are those got from the milling of the headings which have been exposed for a long period of years to the action of the weather caus- ing an insoluable basic iron salt found to be most destructive of cyanide and making it compara- tively useless in the extraction of gold. We have tried many experiments with the view of over- coming this serious difficulty but up to the pre- sent I regret to say with only partial success. We have now secured the services of a most able and enterprising Manager at the mines and the Board is confident that he will devote all his energy and ability to make Panjom a divideud paying mine. When Mr. Bailey was in Hong kong a short time ago with the object of con- sulting the Board on some important points connected with the development of our property, he submited a short report on the probable value of the concession and I now embrace the opportunity of reading it to you. It is dated Pahang, 6th February, and runs as follows: -
Gentlemen, I am unable to present to annual report
operations on your in such definita form or on such lines as I would be pleased to do, having been there but a little over three months of that
properly for lag of the
You an
of now.
period. During this time I have devoted myself to getting an understanding of the general conditions existing at and about the mines from a commercial standpoint and in acordance with your instructions, as I bave understood them, have carried on prospecting work as rigorously as seemed at all practicable or possible consistent with a jadicions expenditure of money and with reasonable economy. As you have been advised this prospecting has not been productive of any definite results one way or the other, nor could it have been expected to be unless we had been favoured by most exceptional good fortune during that brief period. The details of the work done have been fully reported from time to time so I will not go into the particnlars there. From what has been done heretofure, what I have been able to do, and so far as I am able to judge of the property from surface working, explorations by the natives, and such other indications as there are to guide an expert in forming an opinion I can only say definitely, as is already well known, that a considerable extent of our territory is gold bearing beyond a doubt, that there are well defined lodes ex. istent in it, ard that the geological formation of the country being slate and porphery for the most part, is perhaps the most favourable of any formation for the existence of payable gold lodes, it cannot but be more than pro- bable that in the large area of land owned by the Punjom Company there will be found not only a lode but more likely several lodes of payable value. These however can only be brought to light by pursning our present policy of activity, and assiduously searching and prospecting for them." Gentlemen, I think we have no reason to call in question the bona fides of our Manager; in my opinion this is a straight-forward and unbiassed report on our concession which is full of hope and promise to shareholders. It gives me much pleasure to new lease of the Pun- inform you that our jum Concession was prepared on the 12th day of September last, between the British Resident on behalf the Sultan of Pabang on the one part and the Punjom Gold Mining Company on the other part for a term of fifty years dating from April, 1898. The area granted is fifty square miles, being ten miles long and five miles wide, with the length running on the lay of vides that the company has full mining righ's the gold bearing country rook. The lease pro-
over the whole area granted together with am- ple timber rights. The deed was executed by the company on the 13th September 1893, and subsequently completed by the Resident aud a copy is kept among the archives of the com. pany's head office. Mr. Duncan, Secretary, is desirous of taking a trip home on account of family affairs, and the Board has granted leave of absence for eight months. Mr. Gaskell has consented to take up the secretary's duties during his absence.
No questions being asked the report and statement of accounts were adopted, on the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Mr. Cox.
Messrs. Gillies and Lewis were re-elected directors, on the motion of Mr. WICKING, seconded by Mr. BнABHA.
Captain ELLIS proposed that Messrs. W. H. Gaskell and F. Henderson be re-elected anditors.
Mr. CLEMENT seconded.
Mr. Cox-I think you informed us that Mr. Gaskell was going to act as secretary. We have all great confidence in Mr. Gaskell, but as a matter of principle it is not the correct thing for a secretary to audit his own accounts.
The SECRETA¤Y—He won't audit his own accounts.
Mr. WICKING-I think everybody will be satisfied to see Mr. Gaskell occupy the dual position. I am sure I am.
The motion was carried.
The CHAIRMAN said they would notice from the report that Mr. Loxley was about to leave the colony and had resigned his seat on the Board. They found it a little difficult to get a successor to Mr. Loxley, and he took that opportunity of asking the shareholders present
[March 18, 1899.
How
culty in getting a suitable director. over, he thought their prospects were bever brighter than they were at present. They had got a very energetio manager, who was doing everything in his power to develop the pro- perty, and from the little information he gained from him while he was here he had every reason to believe that in a very short time they would hear some statement which be trusted would be very satisfactory to all of thom. (Hear, hear).
Mr. WICKING thought that with regard to the appointment of a fresh director it was quite unnecessary for the shareholders to do any thing. He thought it.was far better to leave the matter in the hands of the Board. They had absolute confidence in them, and he was sure that in the future as in the past they would do the very best they could for the company. They had had years of trial and anxiety, but Messrs. Gillies and Lewis continued to favour them by retaining their seats on the Board. He was sure they were under very great obligations to them. Toe. past year's working had been somewhat unfor- tuuate, but everybody who took up shares must be prepared to run some risk. He felt that the directors of that company had certainly earned their most cordial thanks for the manner in which they had ende ivoured to develops the property. Personally he had very great ples. sure in thanking them for their services. (Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN said that on behalf of him. self and his co-directors we begged to thank Mr. Wicking most sincerely and most heartily for the very feeling and kindly manner in which he had referred to their services. He could assure them that in the future they would do their very best to place the Paajom Mine in a better and dividend-paying position. They had of course been all along endeavouring to do that; but as he had already stated their hopes were brighter now, and there was a prospect that when they next saw their report it would be looked upon as very much more satisfactory than those which had preceded it.
This was all the busine88.
THE
HONGKONG K PE MANUFAC-
TURING CO., LIMITED.
ordinary meeting of shareholders was held at the Company's office, No. 9, Praya Central. Mr. R. Shewan presided, and there were also present Messrs. D. Gillies, J. H. Lewis, A. J. Raymond (directors), O. P. M. N. da Silva (Secretary), A. Babington, W. H. Gaskell, F. Henderson, and Fung Wal Chuen,
On 15th March at noon the 15th annual
The SECRETALY read the notice convening the meeting.
CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen, you are familiar with the report and accounts, which have been in your hands for some time past, so unless you wish me to do so, I 'will not read them now. As usual we propose to pay a dividend of 20 per cent, and we also recommend placing $38,780 to reserve, which will bring that fund up to $50,000, and I trust this course will meet with your approval. The result, as stated in the report, is a record 'one, but it has been obtained more perhaps by luck than by good manage ment, and it is by no means certain that with the present troubled political outlook in the Philippines we shall be able to repeat such a performance this year; on the contrary, it is I fear very unlikely. At the present moment, our advices from Manila are to the effect that the hemp ports are all closed, and that such hemp as we require cannot be got at any price. We were fortunate last year in baving made forward purchases of hemp at low prices, but lately the price of the raw material has been vo high, that we have bought no more than was ab- solutely necessary for our current requirements, and consequently we have only a small stock on hand at the moment. As regards sales, we fully expected that high prices of rope would check consumption, but in spite of this and of our creased output, we have succeeded so far in find. ing markets for it all. and can only hope that this satisfactory state of things may continue. As
iu.
if there was any one they could recommend remaining portion of Inland Lot No de
to be put upon the Board or whether they would leave it to the Board. Of course if the company were in a flourishing condition there would be very little diff.
which our factory stands, was in the market, and its purchase by others would have shut us in, and prevented any further extension of the works in the future, it was decided to buy it for the
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