COMPANY MEETINGS
CONSOLIDATED GOLD FIELDS OF SOUTH AFRICA
PRESENT-DAY PROBLEMS
THE. ordinary general meeting of the Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, Limited, was held on December 6th in London.
Mr. Robert Annan, chairman of the company, in the course of his speech, said: The dividends received and accrued from New Con- solidated Gold Fields amounting to £355605 have allowed for the pay- ment of the first and second preference dividends and the provision for an ordinary dividend of 2s. 6d. per share, 121 per cent., on the ordinary capital.
In South Africa, in the period just before the war, an energetic policy of development was being pursued which, by its momentum, carried on the expansion of the gold mining industry to a peak which was reached in 5941. Owing to the growing scarcity of surplies, particularly of steel, a reduction in the rate of development then became necessary, and from that time onwards production has continued to decline and costs to rise.
The defence needs of the Union of South Africa also brought about a steep rise in the rat.: of taxation. The net result is that output of the industry is back to the pre-war rate, costs have risen by 20 per cent., and, together with a small reduction in yield, have more than offset the increase in the price of gold. The accumulated shortage of develop- ment below the 1941, or maximum, standard now exceeds 3,000,000 feet, and this, combined with the higher pay limit consequent on rising costs, has brought about a reduction of over 65,000,000 tons in the total of developed ore reserves.
One of the most pressing needs is to resume development on a scale which will make good the deficiency of the war years, and not only restore the reserves of the producing mines to their normal level, but also bring to production new mines to replace those nearing the end of their life.
The opening of new mines, and the development of those which had not reached the producing stage before the wat,.has been almost entirely suspended. It is in this extremely important phase of the industry that there is the most leeway to make up, and this work must be pressed on if the scale of the industry is to be maintained. This is a task which must proceed by stages, the first of which is prospecting to discover areas suitable for more intensive development.
The report was adopted.
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