REPORT BY THE DIRECTORS OF THE Tharsis Sulphur & Copper Co. (LIMITED,) TO THE THIRD ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS, APPOINTED TO BE HELD WITHIN M’LEAN’S HOTEL, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, ON THURSDAY, 24TH JUNE, 1869, AT HALF-PAST ONE O’CLOCK AFTERNOON.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS. JOHN TENNANT, Esq. St. Rollox. CHARLES TENNANT, Esq. The Glen. WILLIAM HENDERSON, Esq. Glasgow. ARCHIBALD S. SCHAW, Esq. Glasgow. LOUIS LEISLER, Esq. Glasgow. ALEXANDER HARVEY, Esq. Glasgow. JOHN WILLIAMSON, Esq. South Shields. DAVID WILSON, Esq. Glasgow. HENRY DEACON, Esq. Widnes. DAVID GAMBLE, Esq. St. Helens.
CHARLES TENNANT, ESQ. CHAIRMAN. WM. A. VÉREL, MANAGER. | JONATHAN THOMSON, SECY.
REPORT BY THE DIRECTORS.
THE Directors respectfully report that the present Meeting is held in accordance with the amended Constitution of the Company, which provides that Annual Meetings shall hereafter take place in the month of June, and that the Accounts to be now presented shall be made up to the 31st December, 1868.
The Books and Accounts of the Company, for the eight months ending 31st December last, have been examined and audited by ALEX. MOORE, Esq., C. A., Glasgow, the Auditor appointed for that purpose; the Spanish Books, Accounts, and Inventories having been verified on the spot, by a gentleman sent there by him to act under his instructions, and a Balance Sheet is appended hereto for your consideration. In addition to the usual audit, the verification of the Balance Sheet has been attested by Mr. HOUGHTON, Accountant, Birmingham, who was associated with Mr. MOORE in revising the valuations and depreciations of Assets on behalf of this Company, and the various Metal Extracting Companies recently absorbed, on the principles laid down in the report of the Amalgamation Committee presented to, and adopted by, the adjourned General Meeting of Shareholders, held on 10th September, 1868. Your Directors feel it due to those gentleman to express their sense of the faithful manner in which they have discharged this responsible duty, and of the close and earnest attention given by them to the various Assets and Liabilities of the respective Companies, with a single desire to arrive, in every case, at a fair and equitable decision.
Your Directors regret that the results of the eight months’ operations of this Company are not so satisfactory as were anticipated at the last Annual Meeting, but the expectations then formed were based upon having the use of the Railway, for a larger export of mineral, some months earlier than was found to be practicable. The heavy expense connected with the old method of carriage continued till nearly the close of the year, only about 1,000 tons having been carried over a portion of the Railway during the period under review, so that the Exports could not be advantageously increased. The production of Copper was also greatly lessened, owing to the severe drought which prevailed in Spain during the greater portion of last summer, and the prices for this Metal have ruled exceedingly low.
The following particulars will show that progress has been made in the various Departments of Work.
THARSIS MINE. — During the eight months there have been taken off 178,490 cubic metres of overburden. The hard ground on the north side of the cutting has been all taken away, so that the cost has been reduced from 10.84 to 8.47 Reals per metre, and it is hoped further reductions will yet be attained.
On the 30th April, 1868, there were uncovered and unwatered, 560,837 tons of Ore, to which have been added, up to the 31st December, 45,568 tons, making a total of 606,405 tons; while there have been removed 36,469 tons, leaving a balance, at the 31st December, of 569,936 tons. This is only a small addition to the former stock, and is caused by the upper stopes of the heading having been considerably extended, leaving the under ones farther back on the Ore, to avoid danger and prevent accidents to the men working in the lower stopes.
There have been also removed from the galleries 40,194 tons of Ore, making the total 76,664 tons.
There have been delivered to the Teleras, for Calcination, 48,420 tons, and there have been washed 47,820 tons of Calcined Ore, and 2,799 tons of Green Smalls.
The quantity of Slab Copper produced has been 1,105 tons.
CALAÑAS MINE. Here, as you are aware, the only operation carried on is that of producing Copper, and, being much less favourably situated than Tharsis in the matter of carriage, little or no expenditure for Plant has been incurred. There have been raised 19,479 tons of Ore, and there have been washed 15,110 tons, yielding 269 tons of Slab Copper.
The private and confidential Report to the Board, from the Manager, Mons. LE BOURG, is full and exhaustive, and, as regards the future capabilities of the Mine, is most satisfactory.
The following extract, from the Report of our Mining Engineer, Mr. DOWN, will be read with interest: — “As to the future prospects of the Mine, I have but little to add to my last observations. As we go west, on the course of the Lode with the Open Cast, an unlimited supply of Ore will be opened up, and I have no doubt, from our present knowledge of the Lode, that there are now above the water level considerably above 2,000,000 tons of Ore, and that every metre we sink our shaft will add 182,400 tons of Ore to our present reserve; and that, if we sink our shaft 25 fathoms deep, we shall have a stock of more than 10,000,000 tons of Ore”.
It is gratifying to your Directors to be able to add that the Railway, partially opened in December and January, has, since April, been conveying mineral at the rate of 9,000 tons per month, and that, with the rolling stock now available, they hope to supply the home market with Pyrites, to the full extent of the demand; while at the same time the production of Copper on the Mine will not be neglected, means having been taken to augment the supply of water, so necessary to the process of Cementation.
Your Directors have pleasure in alluding here, to an able and interesting report, lately furnished to them by some well-known Shareholders in the Company, who have recently visited and carefully inspected your Mining Properties, and they have been much gratified with the testimony borne by these gentlemen, to their value and great resources, and to the favourable opinion they have formed of the management and organization they found existing there. Your Directors have been disappointed to find, however, as regards the Railway, that while, in other respects, it has been favourably reported on, the Griffin permanent way, which they had been induced to lay down over a portion of the line, as being more suitable for Spain, has proved so unsatisfactory, as to necessitate the replacement of the iron by wooden sleepers, with ordinary iron chairs. This subject engaged the immediate and earnest attention of the Board, and the work is being gradually proceeded with, and will be completed ere the winter rains set in. The cost of this change will not be very serious, it was considered imperative to adopt it, and your Directors are of opinion that they consulted the welfare of the Company in preventing any unnecessary delay.
Since 1st January last, the Company has entered on a greatly extended sphere of operations, and the works of the various Metal Companies then absorbed, are now in course of development to the full, with a fair promise as to results. Many important points of operation are in the future, furnishing ample room for research, skill, and economical appliances. With abundance of mineral, and ample means at command for raising, transporting, and utilizing to the best advantage, all the various products, there is a good prospect of the Capital of the Company being profitably employed.
The Balance Sheet exhibits the following results, after the depreciations agreed upon by the Auditors, to the amount of £8,596:14:5. have been written off.
The Directors recommend that the sum of £5,000 be appropriated in the payment of a further Dividend at the rate of 25 per cent. per annum, equal to 3/4 per Share on the 30,000 original Shares, making a total Dividend, for the eight months ending 31st December, 1868, of 17½ per cent. per annum, leaving the balance of £2,164:4:0. to provide for the payment of Income-Tax, and Directors’ and Auditors’ remuneration.
The following Directors retire at this Meeting, but are all eligible, and are recommended for re-election, viz. — Messrs. WM. HENDERSON, ALEX. HARVEY, and LOUIS LEISLER.
The Directors recommend that, in accordance with the amended Articles, the number of the Board be increased to 12, and that Messrs. JOHN MOFFAT and ARCHIBALD ARROL, both Members of the Amalgamation Committee, and holding the requisite qualification, be elected Directors of the Company.
BY ORDER OF THE DIRECTORS,
CHARLES TENNANT, CHAIRMAN.
