Mining World June 1906

THE PURCHASE OF WHEAL GEEVOR

At the ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the West Australian Gold Fields (Ltd.) held in London, on June 6th, Mr. Faithful Begg (chairman of the company) presided. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Begg said: My colleague, Mr. Wethered, happens to be very intimately associated with Cornwall, and has been so for many years. He recently mentioned to us the particulars of a small tin property in Cornwall of which he had the offer, and which I do not hesitate to say he could have passed on to someone else at a profit to himself, but he said he was so anxious that this company should be a success once more that he was quite ready to hand over this business to the company if it chose to take it up without any benefit to himself whatever. (Cries of "Very good" and cheers) I thought it would be well for me before meeting you to-dayto inform myself more particularly with regard to that proposed transaction, and consequently I went to Cornwall last week to visit this property, and with the view of forming an opinion of it as far as I could. I will leave Mr. Wethered to give you further particulars, and all I will say is that in it's present condition, and on the terms upon which it is proposed it should be acquired, I personally said to Mr. Wethered on my return that, if the West Australian Gold Fields did not care to go into that speculation, I was quite ready to take a share of it myself. That, therefore, is the position, and you yourselves must judge whether going into a proposition connection with tin at the present time, is wise or not.

THE TIN POSITION
For myself, I think that the tin statistics and the knowledge which experts have of the position of the metal at the present time, show that while there has been a very large rise in the price of tin, it has not been of a speculative or gambling character, but one which has been caused by the statistical position. I am not going to weary you with the statistics with which I am here armed in regard to the price of tin and its output, but what appears to have taken place is this, that the consumption has steadily overtaken the production in recent years, with the consequence you see. Bear in mind this with regard to the Cornish tin mines - that nearly all of them some years ago were shut down owing to the excessive fall of the price of tin. It fell at that time to about £50 or £60. (A Voice: Less than £40). Well, that only emphasises my argument. Many of these mines survived for a long time even under these conditions, but ultimately succumbed. You have now far greater facilities for developing these mines than heretofore, and scientific methods have been brought to bear upon their development. Even if the present price of tin were not to be maintained, and even if it were to fall £50 from the present level, these mines, if they could be got into working again on the old basis, could unquestionably be worked at considerable profit. Therefore, I do not think we can be said to be going rashly into tin mining on the top of a boom, more particularly as the proposition we have under consideration does not involve any large cash payment. Any cash that is required in connection with it will be used in actual development of a property which seems to us to justify it. One other remark arises out of the letter to which I referred a minute ago. One Shareholder writes to say he thinks it would be better to await developments at Ymir, which may require more capital. We shall write to this gentleman what I say now to you, that we do not propose to appeal to you for any more capital for that concern. There is no proposal to issue fresh capital at the present time, and to that extent this gentleman has misapprehended what we suggest. I have now concluded my remarks, but before sitting down would say that if there are any questions Shareholders wish to put we will do our best to answer them frankly and fully. I conclude by moving formally the adoption of the report and accounts. (Cheers.)

Mr. Oliver Wethered, who was received with cheers said: Gentlemen, I am very glad to accede to the request of the Chairman that I should second the resolution, and give you some information with regard to our existing interests. and indicate the reasons why the Board are of the opinion that there are good opportunities for the investment of capital in Cornwall.

THE CORNISH PROPERTY
After dealing with the Ymir property, Mr. Wethered said: The awakened interest being taken in Cornish mining is no doubt due to the big rise in tin, consequent on the great demand for that metal, and the reduction in visible supplies by nearly two-thirds in the course of eight years. The authorities although differing in the views as to whether the present high prices will be maintained, are at one in believing that a much higher average of price may be expected for a long time to come. There are other factors in Cornish mining, I think we may look forward to a good outcome of investments so near home, and where Directors can give personal supervision by frequent visits to the properties. Some eight weeks ago when in Cornwall I was asked to visit a property which has been taken up by five working miners from South Africa who had associated with themselves other miners, and between they had put up 25 shares at £75 each, and opened up a good deal of ore and proved that they had a nice little mine, which, worked with adequate capital, could be made dividend-paying. At considerable inconvenience I visited this property accompanied by my own engineer and spent some hours underground. I then entered into negotiations for the acquisition of the mine, and on my return to London saw Mr. Begg, the Chairman, and my colleagues, to whom I expressed a very strong opinion that this would be an ideal investment for the West Australian Gold Fields Shareholders. I can confirm what Mr. Begg stated, that I should not have had the slightest difficulty in disposing of it at some profit to myself in a very few hours. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Begg has told you that he has visited the property, and formed an equally favourable opinion of it, and if you to-day endorse the policy of the Board, I think within a fortnight or at the outside three weeks , we shall be in a possession and within a month we shall actually be returning tin, because as a result of their expenditure of 25 shares of £75 each, these miners have been able to produce a certain quantity of ore, and to erect, not a very extravagant, but certainly a very good, little mill which is already returning tin, and we shall quickly take possession of it. (Cheers.)

The Chairman here invited discussion,
Mr. Julius Byrne: I think we can fully trust ourselves to Mr. Begg, Mr. Wethered, and the other members of the Board. I think we shall all be satisfied to do that. (Cheers.)
Mr. Sidney Grundy: I would like to say one word in corroboration of what you and Mr. Wethered have said about Cornwall with which I have had a good deal to do lately. It may seem at first sight an inopportune time to buy on what the Chairman has called "the top of a boom", but the question is whether it is the top of a boom. No doubt there is a boom in the sense that everybody is talking about Cornish mining and tin, but there is all the difference between running a bull account in tin and taking an interest in a tin-producing property. (Hear, hear.) I had my attention directed to Cornwall before the boom began, and went into the matter exhaustively. I came to the conclusion that, disregarding altogether the price of which of tin has since risen, with black tin at round about £180 per ton, there are many good setts in Cornwall, which with modern machinery, good management, and, above all, moderate capital, could be profitably worked. I think from the few details the Board have given us they have got hold of one of those properties, which has this tremendous advantage, that it is actually in working order and producing tin at this moment. I am very glad indeed the Board have taken an interest in this mine. (Hear, hear.)

The Chairman then put the motion for the adoption of the report and it was carried unanimously.