(South Wales Daily News—July 21, 1873

The following extract from last Saturday’s Mining Journal has reference to an important new undertaking which is exciting considerable interest in monetary and commercial circles, on account of the prospect which it holds out of large and permanent dividends :—

“The Rio Tinto Company, to the formation of which reference was made in last week’s Journal, has given notice that the list of subscriptions for shares will close on Monday for London, and on the following day for the country. The circular of the Tharsis, which although addressed to the shareholders of the Tharsis Company, has been forwarded by the secretary of that company (Mr. Jonathan Thomson) to the various newspapers circulating among capitalists, and has doubtless had the effect in preventing subscriptions to the Rio Tinto Company, has been very completely answered by Mr. H.M. Matheson, the chairman of the Rio Tinto Company. The statements of the secretary of the Tharsis Company go far to prove that the prospective value of the Tharsis property is absolutely nil, so that it may reasonably be assumed that the Tharsis £10 shares, which now stand at £300 per cent. premium, or £40 per share, will speedily recede to their ordinary par value, and holders who succeded in selling at anything above that figure may think themselves fortunate. The Tharsis Company states that only about 520,000 tons per annum of the mineral which both companies produce, can be sold, and of this they have hitherto supplied 240,000 tones ; and hence the Tharsis Company find their “occupation gone” when a rival company—the Rio Tinto—holding unlimited quantities of mineral, which, being above instead of below the water level, can be more readily and economically worked, comes into the market with 500,000 tons per annum. As the Rio Tinto will be able to sell at 3s per ton below the Tharsis, the quality and character of the ore being equal, it requires but little business acument to determine which can most easily obtain command of the market. We are informed that the Rio Tinto capital has been very largely applied for, and the names of the promoters were a guarantee from the first that the capital would be provided ; but it is unnecessary to refer more fully to the position of the respective companies, since it is evident from the Tharsis circular that at whatever price the Tharsis Company can supply the market the Rio Tinto Company can very naturally under-sell them.”