regularly paid. Two steam-engines of thirty-five horse power each, one for crushing the ore and the other for drawing from the shafts, arrived; and the directors ordered seventy fathoms of fifteen-inch pumps to replace the eleven-inch lifts then in work, and a pumping-engine of three-hundred-horse power.
The quantity of ore raised in the year ending September, 1850, was 18,692 tons. Since that period the returns have experienced a check from the emigration to the gold-diggings, and shares have fluctuated in value, but of the ultimate value of this property there can be no question.
SUMMARY OF WORKINGS AND PROFITS.
The workings of the mines at the close of the year 1850 consisted of the following shafts, winzes and levels—viz., 45 whim shafts, of an aggregate depth of 812 fathoms; seven trial shafts, of an aggregate depth of 34 fathoms; 35 winzes and ladder roads, of an aggregate depth of 270 fathoms; 3,876 fathoms of levels, equal in length to four and one-third British miles. The whole of the transactions of the company, from its formation to the 29th September, 1849, embracing four years and a half, were, in the year 1850, finally balanced, and the profits during that period were found to amount to £229,535, of which £221,760 were divided among the shareholders in twelve dividends, the twelfth dividend of £10 having been paid on the 1st September, 1850. The ore raised during this period was 37,736 tons, at a cost of £309,825 3s. 6d., or £8 4s. 3d. per ton, and produced in the province, free of freight and charges, £536,486 13s. 4d., or £14 4s. 4d. per ton, leaving a profit of £226,661 6s. 10d., or £6 0s. 1d. per ton. During the year 1850, the company, however, incurred the following expenses:
| £ | s. | d. | ||
| Wages | 72,715 | 9 | 10 | |
| Stores, candles, timber | 20,006 | 19 | 9 | |
| Horses and fodder | 3,074 | 18 | 7 | |
| Machinery | 5,096 | 7 | 6 | |
| Buildings at the Burra | 13,043 | 13 | 4 | |
| Cartage of copper | 2,394 | 16 | 6 | |
| Cartage of ore | 14,344 | 1 | 0 | |
| Purchases of land | 15,458 | 5 | 3 |
Making, with other expenses, a sum total of £169,611 2s. 5d. After deducting these expenses from the estimated value of ore on hand, the directors notified that £52,000 was applicable to dividends, and a £10 dividend was accordingly paid in December, 1850, and in March, 1851.
