OUR MINES.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 18 July 1881, Page 2

OUR MINES.

- — — ♦ (fbom our mining bepoeteu.) THE WEFK. Saturday. Julj 16. The depression in mining matters con« tinues, and it must be admitted that the present outlook raises no immediate hope of a revivnl. But these winter season depressions have been so regular in their recurrence ever since the field was opened that people regard the current slackness as a mere matter of course, and would be rather surprised were it otherwise. Two causes have, however, this year conspired to. make the depression more keenly felt. The sudden stoppage in the flow of dividends from the United Alpine mine, Lyell, has not been without its effect on this district, for the company is largely held hero, and although the cause of the cessation may be well under" stood by those directly interested, and may furnish a substantial reason for not distrusting the thorough soundness of the venture, still people who only regard results could hardly be expected to take such a hopeful view of the situation as those more behind the scenes. Coming nearer home we may cite the oase of the Welcome Company. Eirly in the pres ent month the company cleaned up with a return of something over a thousand ounces, and seeing that in March last it was announced in the Press that the directors had paid off the balance of the liability on the plant, it was naturally ex* pected that a dividend would have been available from the last crushing. But no dividend was declared, and shareholders abroad seem to be as much, in the dark as to the reason as we are ourselves. However, whether due to the action of the directors, or to other causes, it is certain that a slight fall was caused in the sharemarket, aad stacks generally be* came affected by it. It may be that the fall was wholly unwarranted, and that shareholders generally would have quite endorsed the action of the directors, had the full facts been made known, but the directors seem to have locked up the information to themselves, and left the outside world to draw their own inferences. In view of these facts the share* holders in Dunedin have held a meeting to consider the; action of the directors, and some" dissatisfaction was expressed, j It is a pity for the credit of the field that any room should be given for dissatisfac* tion of thi3 kind. Nothing is more ralcnlated to shake confidence in the field. The * explanation,' presumably under the authority of the directors, which the Rera'd gave fo»day, besides being intensely stupid, leaves the whole matter untouched. The shareholders wish to know why the directors did not declare a dividend onf of the thousand ounces ob» tainpd from the last crushing, and the FTerald tells them that the reason why the directors did not declare a dividend was that to do so it would have been necessary to borrow monpy from the bank upon stone not yet crushed ! This is obv.iouslv no reason at all. so that the Dunedin shareholders will have to await the rpceip.t of the balance-sheet and reports in order" to get at the real explanation. The following are the returns for the week ?— WELCOME, 7820zs of amalgam. GOLDEN TREASURE, 168oz* of amalgam, top plates, for the week, and 1030z3 retorted gold for the fortnight.