68 HATCH : THE KOLAR GOLD-FIELD. 



CHAPTER VII. 



GOLD PRODUCTION AND DIVIDENDS. 



The following statistics have been compiled from the published 

 statements of the companies to show the gold produced and divi- 

 dends paid since the commencement of operations down to the 

 present year :— 



Table No. I shows the tonnage of ore crushed per annum by the 

 producing mines. 



Table No. II shows the realized value of the gold won from the 

 producing mines. 



Table No. Ill shows the dividends paid per annum by the four 

 dividend paying mines. 



Table No. IV shows the revenue, disbursements, profits and divi- 

 dends of the four leading mines. 



The field has, as a whole, 1 since the commencement of mining 

 operations in 1882 down to the end of June 1900, crushed 2,308,695 

 tons of ore, recovering 2,746,130 ounces of fine gold, realizing 

 £1 1,533,757, being an average yield of 23^ dwts. of fine gold to the 

 ton of ore crushed. The total sum distributed in dividends by the 

 Mysore, Champion Reef, Ooregum and Nundydroog Mines was, to 

 the end of 1899. £4,590,360. 



With regard to the life of the mines it is impossible, owing to 

 the well-known capriciousness of quartz mines, to make any reliable 

 estimates, such as can be made in the case of the auriferous conglo- 

 merates of the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal, where the average 

 gold-contents are fairly constant. As to ore-reserves, the larger 

 producing mines have about two years' mill-supply in sight, and 

 development proceeds pari passu with extraction. 



1 The crushings of ore of unimportant companies, which have ceased to work, 

 such as the Kempinkote and the Yerrakonda, are not included, as complete returns 

 of these companies are not available. The amounts recovered are so trifling as 

 not to affect the total to any appreciable extent. 



