COMPANY MEETING
ZINC CORPORATION
THE twenty-eighth ordinary general meeting of the Zinc Corpora- tion, Limited, was held on June 26th in London.
The Right Hon. Viscount Home of Slamannan (the chairman) said that the tonnage of ore milled during the year was easily a record at 414,500, while the grade had again shown improvement. The mill recoveries were the best so far recorded and the costs per ton treated showed a welcome decline. While the items reasonably under their control, output and metallurgical and general efficien- cies, had shown marked improvement, the market for their products had suffered a serious relapse, the price of lead falling by over 34 per cent. and that of zinc by over 36 per cent. As a consequence, the total value of their production was nearly L441,000 less than in the previous year, while the net balance on their trading account had decreased by nearly L384,000. Those figures gave the reason for the severe reduction in the dividend to a participating dividend of is. 6d. per share, which would be paid along with the half-year's payment of the dividend on the cumulative preference shares, • the total disbursement being £247,180 less than in the previous year. The programme of mine development and re-equipment at Broken Hill commenced in 1936, was approaching completion, and all its major requirements had been satisfied.
Shareholders would have noted that in the latter half of 1938 an arrangement had been entered into by all the leading lead producers outside the United States to curtail production or sales by to per cent.
Last year their production of zinc concentrates had reached nearly 75,000 tons and was well ahead of any previous record. The whole of their production had been delivered under contract to the Electrolytic Zinc Corporation in Australia and the Imperial Smelting Corporation in the United Kingdom. The latter—in which they had a substantial investment—had recently been granted additional protection by the British Government in ful- filment of its promise to safeguard adequately an industry essen- tial to the defence of the country.
In conjunction with their associates in Australia they had agreed to minor amendments in their contract with the Imperial Smelting Corporation which would ensure that the objects of the British Government would be realised. If to the new tariff scheme there should be added, as was hoped, a cartel of zinc producers providing for the reasonable regulation of imports into the United Kingdom, he believed that the position of the zinc smelting in- dustry, both here and for other countries, would be very greatly strengthened.
The report was adopted.
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