XIX
PRICES OF METALS.

There is only one product of mines that has a constant market value, viz., gold. The precious metals, gold, silver, and platinum, are sold by the Troy ounce: the base metals are all handled and dealt with on avoirdupois weights. Copper, lead, zinc, tin, and nickel are quoted in cents per pound avoirdupois. Iron and manganese are curiously sold by mines to smelting companies on the ton of ore basis.

Since gold has been found in every known rock of every geologic age and is of world-wide distribution; since it possesses physical properties that long ago placed it at the head of the list of desirable metals; and further, since it does not occur in very condensed amounts, generally; this metal was selected as the standard of value by which the worth of every other commodity in the world is fixed. It must therefore be possessed of a fixed market value, and one never looks for quotations on pure gold. The price of pure gold is set at $20.6718. This very peculiar value is known as the "mint value," and is the price which the Government of the United States pays for all of its coinage gold. Among miners, as a rule, the price is thought of as $20 per ounce, and this is probably because this is more nearly the actual return the miner has been accustomed to obtain from companies who have bought and treated his ores. Most all the gold produced in the world is associated with other metals, such as silver, copper, or platinum, so that the bullion recovered in milling or smelting will usually contain the gold alloyed with such other metals and the gold is said to be not "fine," or pure. The fineness of gold in the metallic state is expressed in two ways. Jewelers have the carat system, while mints use the decimal system in expressing such degrees of purity. Pure gold is 24-carat fine. An alloy of 3 parts gold and 1 part copper would be considered as 18-carat gold. In the decimal system, pure gold is called 1,000 fine, and the various degrees of purity are then expressed in their true proportional amounts. Thus the same alloy as cited above would be called 750 fine gold.

Silver has a fluctuating market value although attempts have been made, at times, to establish its value at some fixed ratio to the value of gold. In fact, a reader may occasionally run across statistics of silver production in which it appears as though there were a fixed value for the metal, but this will be found to be due to the use of what is known as the "coinage value," which is $1.29198. This figure will be recognized as our old acquaintance, "16 to 1," i.e., this price for silver being one-sixteenth of the fixed price for gold. There is actually no such fixation, and prices for silver are established every business day of the year in the great metal markets of the world, London and New York.

Platinum has been increasing in market value during recent years and the quotations have ranged up so high that it is now more than twice as valuable as gold. The reasons for this high price are that the production of the metal is limited, whereas the uses for the metal have been increasing. The greatest production of this metal is in the Ural Mountains of Russia, and the output from this region is handled by a few concerns who virtually possess a monopoly. These companies are able to maintain the production practically constant and to cause the market price to fluctuate.

Tin is found in commercial amounts in but very few regions. There is but one mineral mined as an ore of tin, viz., cassiterite, the oxide, which is 78 per cent tin. Tin is found in both veins and placers and the great bulk of the metal is now being derived from the latter type of bodies in the Malay Peninsula and the Straits of the East Indies. Formerly, Cornwall produced the world's supply, from veins. Although the United States consumes 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the world's production, the country does not produce 1 per cent of this production. Since the main source of our tin is British territory, the markets are controlled by London, and quotations are issued daily from that center. Such quotations are given in units of English money per long ton (2240 pounds) of metal. However, prices are also quoted at New York, daily, in cents per pound, and there is a real difference in value between the two quotations to take care of freights and duty. For instance, on a certain date, quotations were £190 10s, and 42c. The average price during 1911 in New York was 42.281 cents.

The chief supply of nickel now comes from the Canadian districts of Cobalt and Sudbury, where this metal occurs accompanying rich silver deposits. The metal is sold by the pound avoirdupois and prices in January, 1912, ranged from 40c. to 50c.

Tungsten is a metal which has been finding more and more uses of late years, but the production has remained quite limited. Three-quarters of the world's total production in 1911 came from a small district in Boulder County. Colorado. The quotations on this metal are given in dollars per ton of concentrated ore, and the price is for a certain percentage of WO₃, the oxide of wolfram (tungsten). The schedule of prices announced in April, 1912, for Boulder County ores and concentrates provides as follows, a unit being understood to mean 1 per cent or 20 pounds per ton: For material assaying 10 per cent WO₃, $3.50 per unit; for 20 per cent WO₃, $4.40 per unit; for 40 per cent and more, $4.90 per unit. Ore containing, say, 50 per cent of the tungsten radical is thus salable at $245 per ton, the mineral itself thus bringing a price of 24-1/2 cents per pound.

Although copper is used and sold in very large lots commercially, it continues to be quoted upon the pound basis. The United States produces about 60 per cent of the whole amount mined in the world and the prices are made in New York daily. The amount of copper mined in this country in 1911 was 1,431,938,338 pounds and the price varied between 11.989 cents and 13.768 cents. There are always at least two quotations every day on copper, one being on "lake" and another on "electrolytic". By these terms are meant, respectively, copper produced in the Lake Superior region and the copper from other mines. The Lake Superior copper is the purest in the world and it always sells for a fraction of a cent per pound more than the other coppers which are refined by electrolysis.

Metallic iron is reduced from a number of different ores, but by far the bulk of pig-iron is made from the oxides and carbonates of iron. Such ores, in the United States, are obtained principally in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Alabama. As already stated, the quotations on iron are based upon the ores rather than the pig-iron, and there are two types of such ore recognized. If the ore is suitable for the making of Bessemer steel, it is given a certain quotation per ton, while if it cannot be used for such a purpose, it is given a non-Bessemer rating and is used for casting. The greatest iron-mining region in the world is in the Lake Superior country. Here are a number of districts that are known as "ranges." In some of these ranges mining is by underground methods, while in others the excavation is entirely in the open by the use of great steam shovels. The outputs of these ranges go by rail and water to the great smelting points along the Great Lakes and at Pittsburg.

The metallic zinc on the market is known as spelter. All quotations on this metal are given in two systems, the "pounds Sterling per long ton" and the "cents per pound." The average prices during 1911 were respectively, £25.281 and 5.758c. The American quotations are frequently given in the unit of dollars per hundredweight. This offers no confusion, whatever, for under this nomenclature, the average price for 1911 would be stated as $5.758. In the zinc-mining regions of the Mississippi Valley, the producers of ore have a practice of putting the mines' products through their own mills at the mines and making concentrates of the zinc mineral, which is usually blende or "jack," and this concentrated stuff is then sold to smelting companies at the daily quotations per ton of 60 per cent ore. During 1911 the average price paid in the Joplin District was $41.45. Since this amount bought 1,200 pounds of metallic zinc, it is evident that the miner received only about 3.45 cents per pound for his metal, the discrepancy between this sum and the New York quotation being consumed in costs of smelting and shipment and in profits to the middlemen.

Lead is sold upon a plan exactly similar to zinc. It has the same various quotations. For example, the 1911 prices in London, New York, and Joplin averaged, respectively, £13.970, 4.420c., and $56.76.

Quicksilver is sold by the "flask" of 75 pounds. The price ranges in the neighborhood of $43 to $45.

There are numerous other metals, but the more common ones are given above. Below is given a graphical exhibit of the course of the prices of lead, spelter, standard (electrolytic) and lake copper, pig-iron, and tin for a number of years. A study of this chart is interesting in noting the waves or fluctuations that have covered periods of years. This chart is reproduced from The Engineering and Mining Journal.

Diagram of Metal Market for One-third of a Century

Diagram of Metal Market for One-third of a Century

XX
MINE ACCOUNTING.

While there has been a great deal of attention given to the matter of keeping systematic mine accounts, both in the main offices and those at the works, there still is a lack of uniformity in practice. In the bookkeeping of manufacturing and mercantile institutions, uniform practices or systems have become a feature. But there have been good reasons for the absence of similar methods in mine offices.

There will be found to exist some uniformity in the accounting as practised by the mines of a particular district which are operating under similar conditions; but when one considers that the mines of various districts have quite dissimilar conditions throughout almost every phase of the business, it is not surprising that different methods must be employed in the keeping of their accounts. It is unavoidable. Mines extracting different metals or different kinds of coal will find it necessary to keep quite unlike records. Mines with their own mills will likewise require a different system of accounting from those that ship their products to custom works. Open and underground mines will need quite different styles of accounts.

So, it is not possible to recommend any one method of mine accounting. The best way to become posted upon this subject is to investigate the schemes, the blank forms and the books of some of the established, successful companies here and there about the world. In this way, ideas will be collected, and it will be possible for the investigator to evolve his own schemes for recording the accounts of his company.

It has come to be recognized as contributing to economy to maintain systems of accounts that will enter into minutiæ concerning every branch of the business. Just how far this can be carried without creating office expenses that will exceed the benefits to be derived from the detailed information remains a question to be decided by each manager. There are companies with accounts so perfected that it is possible to quickly ascertain, to a fraction of a cent, what the expenditures of any day have been for any particular part of the operations, as for instance, the haulage per ton underground, or the fuse employed in the blasting of a particular stope. Such details are highly useful since they prevent leaks in the costs; but it is a problem to decide to what extent it is economy to carry them. These data also furnish the superintendent information concerning the efficiency of his many laborers and the machinery. Labor-saving inventions, such as the printed blank form, and the loose leaf, are put to excellent use in mining offices.

There are strong companies operating great mining plants whose records are open to the perusal of any individual, be he stockholder or not. In the office of such a company, a person may turn to the accounts and see for himself how much it costs to maintain each and all of the operations and he can learn the size and the value of all shipments of products of any sort—ore, concentrates, coal, matte, or bullion. Again, there are those companies that are so secretive about everything connected with their work that even the Government is unable to learn any particulars, except at very great trouble.

The Portland Gold Mining Company, operating a great property at Victor, in the Cripple Creek District, is an instance of the first sort, while the United Verde mine, at Jerome, Arizona, may be taken to represent the second sort. Both of these mines have made splendid records. It cannot be seen wherein the second mine is required to maintain secrecy, for there is no danger of litigation from neighboring property holders, the one company controlling, practically, the mining in its neighborhood. The presumption is that the owners hold their business to be nobody's else and they have a right to keep their affairs secret if they desire. On the other hand, the Portland is surrounded by good mines which profit by knowing the details of operating costs and incomes of their neighbor; but it is found to cost no more to be open and above board than to keep things under guard. The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company will not divulge any particulars concerning its mining movements; but there are other just as great mining companies that will explain every detail.

The Clark copper companies, of Butte, Montana, did not permit much information to escape their offices, while the neighboring Amalgamated companies gave particulars freely.

The question of secrecy should be considered, and if there is no very good excuse for maintaining a privacy it should not be instituted. The trend of all modern thought is along the line of publicity in all our dealings. The only persons who have a reasonable right to be secretive are those who have something they do not care to share or divulge to their fellow-men. Law breakers, tax dodgers, and trespassers, could be put into one class; persons doing research work which it is premature to publish are a more respectable class; manufacturers with strong competition in the sales markets are in a measure excusable; even a mine which is producing some material in the sale of which it attempts to maintain a monopoly might be excusable. But it is hard to see what excuse or benefit there is for a coal or a copper mining company to prevent a knowledge of its affairs, if the business is being conducted along strictly legitimate lines.

XXI
INVESTMENT IN MINING STOCKS.

As a feature of investment in mining stocks, there has always been a more or less open lure. Generally much larger returns are promised or are expected than in other kinds of investments. There may be absolutely no intention on the part of the seller to create this impression; but there does, somehow, exist in the memories of people accounts of wonderful fortunes that have been made in mining.

There is an amount of uncertainty about any mine or prospect that appeals to the speculative proclivities in humans and it is hard for most persons to resist the notion that greater or richer bodies of ore may, at any time, be discovered in their particular mining properties. Concerning the average stock purchaser, then, we may conclude that it is speculation rather than true investment that he is seeking.

The writer hopes that, even in the short preceding discussions, the reader will have come to agree with him and to understand that safe investments are as possible in mining as in any other business. It would be a great benefit to this great industry of mining were the public taught to take interests—that is, financial interests—in mining concerns with the same precautions and with the same sound business sense that accompany the purchases of interests in other enterprises. Writing along this line of thought, Mr. P. A. Leonard has this to say in The Mining World: "One very general difficulty seems to be that the man unacquainted with mines who is asked to invest either expects an unreasonable return for his money, or he blindly closes his eyes and takes what he calls a 'flyer,' expecting little more from it than he would if he bought margins on 'change or bet on a horse race."

About the first thing that the promoters of a new mining company do is to issue a neat, attractive prospectus. It is a bait, no matter how reliable these men may be nor how worthy the property they desire to work. Many of these documents are written in absolutely good faith and every representation is intended to be accurate. There are occasionally offered for sale stocks in mining properties that warrant the fullest confidence of the promoters and the investors. However, careful perusal of a great many of these pamphlets has led the writer to the conclusion that at least 75 per cent. of them are unreliable from the fact that they either wilfully misrepresent or because they grossly exaggerate the probabilities of success beyond all reason. Exaggeration is a habit with some people and it is used many times with no real criminal intent or even consciousness upon the part of the offender. But its effect is just as baneful when innocently inflicted as when it is used in a premeditated manner.

Good, worthy mining property does not need to be hawked, usually. There have been periods of financial unrest when it has seemed quite impossible for honest men to dispose of interests in what were unquestionably reliable mining enterprises. At such times, there has been nothing to gain by any amount of teasing the public, and any attempts at forceful disposal of interests in the concerns have but served to kill any small remnants of confidence that the public may have possessed.

Prospectuses are usually prepared for the reading of small investors who may feel inclined to risk a few dollars or, in other words, to speculate upon the representations contained in the seductive pamphlets. There are a few "Don'ts" which it would be well for any person inclined to invest in mining stocks to read, consider, and follow. For instance, never invest in any new stock whose company guarantees specific dividends. Profits in mining, except in rare cases, cannot be so accurately foretold as to warrant such a guarantee. We should remember that the success of any mine depends upon many, very many, contingencies and that some of them are invisible and are among Nature's secrets. Again, avoid placing any confidence in those companies that are simultaneously selling treasury stock and declaring dividends. This is a very common practice of the numerous "get-rich-quick" concerns which Uncle Sam has been routing the past few years. Such crooked practice is difficult to eradicate, although severe penalties are awarded the transgressors.

The success which has been met in the operation of the great mining companies of the world can, in the majority of cases, be traced to the common sense which was exercised in the business management. The business of mining is legitimate. If mining is one of the basic industries of the world, how could the operation of a real mine be anything but a legitimate business? The mere fact that there have been neat opportunities for, and the practice of, fraud in the growth of this tremendous industry does not by any means, argue that the whole thing is founded upon unstable premises.

What is needed is a presentation of the industry in its legitimate aspect before all kinds of investors and this can be done properly and effectively only by the rank and file of men interested in mining. These men should place themselves boldly on record as combating all sorts of deals that smack of fraud, and they should do their utmost to discourage all delusions that may exist in the mind of the public with reference to the supposed lure offered by mining.

There have been too many causes of failure in mining for even a partial enumeration of them. There have been many errors in getting started, both on the part of the organizers and the investors. There have been many mistakes in management. Many blunders have been evidenced in the operation of mines which made very good starts. All of these failures are attributable to something outside of the mine's intrinsic worth; they are mistakes due to inexperience or misconception. Such shortcomings should not be tolerated in the make-up of a mine's managerial staff.

Perhaps one of the most common mistakes of mine managers is to submit to a condition of nepotism that is often furthered by directors or stockholders. No responsible position around a mine should be filled by a novice. Just because a director has two or three sons needing situations does not make it incumbent upon a superintendent or a manager to jeopardize his reputation by employing these young men. Percy Williams, a veteran mining man, advised "Don't take your son or nephew or your clerk out of your store or business house and send him to Arizona or Colorado to run things for you at the mine. Sell out first. If you are a director in a mining company, do not force the manager or superintendent to find a job for all your unsuccessful friends and relatives. Let him hire his own men. Don't convert your mine into an asylum for ne'er-do-wells."

As already stated, there is protection obtainable by every investor in mining. One may always secure, at reasonable cost, the services of competent engineers whose business consists in sizing up the worth of mining property. If the services of these men were more generally appreciated and secured, there would be a great diminution in the number of disappointments following investments in mining. An eastern man of means complained to the writer about the way in which he had been "stung" in various mining investments. A little catechizing brought forth the facts that he knew absolutely nothing about mining in general and that, worse still, he had never investigated—that is, in a business-like manner—any of the propositions which had absorbed his ready money. Receiving no sympathy during the recital of his troubles but, instead, the assurance that he "got what was coming to him," he was prepared to sit up, take notice, and listen to a severe roasting which opened his eyes about mining matters. Now, this man has proved successful in other lines of business. He is a prominent lawyer and banker in his own city and has numerous, scattered, money-making interests. But he was content to go into mining without the investigation which it is certain he would have given to any other sort of an investment.

The time should come when there would not be such a prevalent "slaughter of the innocents" in mining investments. People must learn to curb their gullibility in such affairs. But this has proved almost impossible. Just as it is in the nature of some persons to gamble, and it takes something more than misfortune at gaming to wean them from the vice, so it is with a certain class of men who can not overcome the temptations of dabbling in mining. Such men will not desist even when they have suffered several delusions, and will continue to "send their good money after their bad," absolutely defiant of the well-meant advice of friends who are often in position to judge of the merits of any contemplated investment. Probably every mining engineer of any extended experience can tell of instances in which he has endeavored to discourage clients from investment in unworthy mining enterprises but in which the gambling instinct of the clients has overridden the sound advice.

During the early days of the wonderful Cripple Creek District, all sorts of wildcat tricks were successfully practiced upon the "tenderfeet" and the "down-east suckers." In one case, stock was readily unloaded upon the representation that a person could stand in the door of the cabin on the property and "look right into the shaft-house of the Independence mine." This statement was not untrue, although grossly misleading; for while it was actually quite possible by the use of a telescope to span the intervening three or four miles, visually, the prospect lacked the propinquity to the famous mine that was the bait implied by the statement in the prospectus. This is but one of many ingenious tricks that were played. Did the outcome of this one fraud cure the victims of irrational mining investment?

Railroads, too, have, in the past, added their troubles to the mining men. Recent laws have, however, to a great extent, mitigated the annoyances and unjust practices that the common carrying companies have been in the habit of committing. It is now obligatory upon a railroad company to treat all shippers without favor or discrimination, so that the difficulties formerly experienced by one mining company in getting enough ore cars to transport its shipments while its rival company could have cars in abundance, is now almost a thing of the past. It takes time to right all wrongs of this sort. It is a slow matter to get laws framed, passed through the necessary legislation, and made effective. But the outlook is favorable, along this line.

The leasing system has exercised an influence upon the mining activity of many districts. By this system is meant the custom of renting or letting the whole, or fractional parts, of a mining property to miners who enter upon and work the premises, extract the ores, and pay to the owners a specified percentage of the receipts from the marketing of the ore. This practice has frequently been the only successful way of operating some mines. It has, at times, been the manner of operating practically every mine in certain districts.

In districts carrying pockets of very rich ore, "high grading" has been discouraged in this way, for the "leasers" (incorrect, though common, word for lessees) do their own mining and there is much less object in stealing.

In other instances of mines which have been operated by the owning companies until they were past a profitable stage, it has been proved possible to prolong the life of operations very materially by leasing the property to miners, who always work with more diligence and economy for themselves than they ever do when working under "day's pay." This feature of leasing has been quite a factor in the lives of some of the mines of the Cripple Creek District. Until the recent drainage of the district through the Roosevelt Tunnel, there were numerous small—and even some large—properties that had worked all the ore bodies previously known to exist above the water level of the district, and had been obliged to shut down because of the heavy pumping expenses. Company operation did not longer pay. But the plain "leaser" and his partner could go into such old workings and they could prospect and find ore bodies that had escaped the observation of the superintendents. The expenses incurred in leasing are low. It is true that lessees will not probably take as good care of mine workings and equipment as will "company men," and often a property may be seriously crippled through the lack of sufficient timbering after having been in the hands of a set of lessees for some time. But, on the whole, there has probably been more benefit than loss through the letting of leases.

When, a few years ago, the plans of the National Forestry Service were put into effect, there was great complaint recorded concerning the rulings that were made against various miners. Some very well authenticated cases of wrongs were cited. However, it is now believed by all fair-minded men that there has been no intention, on the part of the officials of the Forest Service, to interfere with any legitimate mining enterprise. There was a well-founded object, viz., to put a stop to dishonest practices in obtaining title to timber lands by the misrepresentation of mineral finds.

The General Land Office passed a rule authorizing Foresters and Assistant Foresters to make inspections of all mining claims within their reserves and to report to the Secretary of the Interior. The idea embodied in this rule was that these men, being agents of the Government and upon the ground, are able to investigate the facts concerning every mining claim and its claimant and so to run across any evidences of fraud that might be attempted in the securing of title. Trouble immediately arose because the Foresters were not all experienced miners and prospectors and so were not thoroughly qualified to pass judgment upon the merits of mineral lands. This weakness has been admitted by the officers of the Service but the excuse has been offered that there was an immediate need for a great many Foresters and it was not possible to secure men trained in both forestry and mining at such short notice. "Just as soon as conditions became better understood, and money was available to allow the Service to hire men whose judgment in mining matters could not be gainsaid, such men were employed," says Paul G. Reddington, recently Forester for the Rocky Mountain Regions. It is true that much fraud has been prevented in the practice of taking up Government lands and it is also quite true that the Forest Service is endeavoring to uplift the mining industry in the western portions of the United States.

Mining is bound to become a still stronger factor in civilization as metallurgical processes multiply and there are discovered means of more economically extracting the valuable contents of ores. Minerals which are not now ores—according to the accepted, scientific definition, because the values cannot be recovered at a profit—will, at some future period, become ores. It is not safe to make any close predictions along this line, for such marked reductions in treatment costs have been going on during the last few years that mining men are entertaining great expectations. Inventions for improvement in metallurgical lines are being placed upon the market so frequently that it is difficult for even the professional metallurgist to keep posted. This being true, it is clear that the layman cannot expect to keep abreast of the metallurgical advance. At the same time, it is well for everybody to be slightly conversant with the wonderful advances being made in the reduction and dressing of ores. Conspicuous in this field are the improvements that have been effected in cyanidation, electrolytic amalgamation and extraction, and flotation. These processes are applicable to the lower grades of ore. Among the very recent successes in the treatment of very low-grade gold ores are the operations conducted in the new mills of the Portland Gold Mining Company, Stratton's Independence, and the Ajax Gold Mining Company, all in the Cripple Creek District. All of these mills are now treating old mine dumps, the contents of which were considered as absolutely waste matter at the time it was excavated. This stuff is now ore and its treatment is making fine profits. There is still a demand for cheaper methods of reducing ores of zinc. There are vast quantities of stuff that contains very good percentages of zinc, but the material cannot be mined and treated at a profit under existing conditions. With the invention of something radically new in the metallurgy of this metal, there will be opened an entirely different aspect in the zinc-mining regions. The Leadville District possesses great reserves of this material that is being held until it may become "ore."

Florence Mine and Mill, Goldfield, Nevada.

Florence Mine and Mill, Goldfield, Nevada.

XXII
THE MEN OF THE FUTURE
IN MINING.

The mining of the future will probably be largely in the hands of young men. To arrive at any conclusions concerning the probabilities of success, therefore, we are obliged to recognize the dual conditions. In other words, there is to be an interdependence between men and mining. Up to this point in our discussion, we have dwelt upon the probabilities as viewed from the standpoints of natural resources and of human capability. In a certain degree, we have already covered the ground of this present chapter; and yet there are some points that must be given special consideration.

What is the true status of metal mining? Alarmists would have us believe that civilization is rapidly exhausting the world's reserves of available metals. Conservative investigation, however, repudiates such notions. The best that can be claimed for the reliability of such disconcerting statements is that they may apply in some districts, to some grades of some kinds of desirable mineral matter.

It may be true that the early miners have removed the "cream" from Nature's deposits in some districts, in the sense that they have skimmed off, as it were, the rich surface portions. But this does not signify the exhaustion of deeper ore bodies, nor does it mean that the pioneers were the only capable prospectors.

Why should we have any reason to deny the ability of present or future generations to find just as good mineral deposits as did our predecessors? Persons in some of the older of the western mining states—as for instance, Colorado or California—are apt to carry a misconception along this line. They can see a number of idle "camps" that are mere relics of former thriving mining communities and they are liable to jump to the conclusion that the day of mining at such places is past, forever. However, as we look at the subject in a more rational light, we shall see that there is no more authority for such an assumption than there is for one to the effect that a farm in the wintertime is a worthless proposition simply because, temporarily, it is not producing its customary summer yield. Just as Nature brings about changing conditions for the farmer, so will economic forces establish varying degrees of attractiveness to the miner.

It is unfair to judge one of the pioneer mining districts by its activity at the present time, if the productiveness happens to be small. Let us look for the reasons of the apparent decline. The chances are that the inactivity will be shown to be due, not to an exhaustion of ore bodies, but to some needed changes in mining or metallurgical methods. Very likely, under a readjustment of our notions about that particular district there will appear to be as great latent possibilities as ever cheered the earlier operators. The prospects may appear to be even better than this, and the future may appear to extend greater opportunities than were ever manifested in the past. Investigation may disclose great bodies of ore that could not be seriously considered in the earlier working of the region. In fact, speaking technically, the stuff in question was not ore at the time of previous operations, for it could not then be made to yield a profit. And yet, by introducing some changes in equipment or methods of working or treatment, there may be possibilities of making a great deal of money from an abandoned property; and the chances are good that this same profit may be won at a much more rapid rate than was ever before possible and that therefore the economic conditions are enhanced. For we must not lose sight of the fact that the greatest profits in mining usually accrue from the most rapid exhaustion of the ore bodies.

A mine, or even a whole district, may have been deserted because of failure on the part of original miners to recognize the value of certain minerals. The recent revival of activity that has been noted in Leadville mining circles is but an instance in point. In this district, miners have given a delayed recognition to some important minerals of zinc, and the indications are that Leadville has entered upon another of its eras of mining activity.

But, it is not necessary to restrict our thoughts to the old mining regions, for if we can observe how easy it has been to overlook valuable deposits in a country that has been subjected to severe mining work, for years and years, what must we conclude concerning the possibilities of the many and vast undeveloped areas in remote portions of the globe? It would seem that there is indeed very small cause for alarm about the exhaustion of the earth's metals.

No, it can be shown that mining, which is one of the very fundamental industries of the world and the one upon which every other form of commercialism rests, will be carried on with a continual increase in magnitude just as long as man exists. As the richer and more easily mined ore reserves of Nature are exhausted, improved and cheaper methods of mining, transportation, and treatment will be introduced and at a pace that will equalize this exhaustion. We, of the present generation, see the eminently successful handling of copper ores of grades so low that they were not given passing consideration ten years ago. The outlook would appear to be that the improvements in methods and costs will not only keep abreast of needs in such matters, but the probabilities are that they will take a very marked lead, with the result of a continually increasing scope to the mining industry. Let us then entertain optimistic views about the future of mining.

Now, as to the future of the young man who engages in mining there is just as much to be said as there is concerning the career of a young man in any other line of business. This word "business" is used advisedly, for the day is past when any person has a right to say that mining is anything but strictly legitimate business.

We look to the young men of the present and future to correct all of the shortcomings that have hindered the establishment of mining upon its deserved plane of stability in the minds of the general public. Young blood will take a lead in the dissemination of the correct thoughts about mining.

The successful man in mining will be, as heretofore, the one with the right qualifications in his make-up. Is a college education an essential prerequisite to success in mining? No, the writer is not one to declare that young men cannot succeed in the business without college training. However, there can be no avoidance of the proposition that the chances of the college-trained man are better than are those of the man who has not had the benefits of such a career.

A man may be said to engage in mining in three different ways. Thus, he may operate mining property; or he may perform any of the manifold lines of mining engineering; or he may be an investor in mining property or mining stocks.

To prove a success when enrolled in either of the first two classes, there is no denying the advantages of technical, mining education. The successful investor likewise will do well to make a consistent study of mining economics, and the more attention he gives to the many phases of approved modern mining, the greater will be his ultimate achievement, financially. Just as education along usual school branches is of immeasurable benefit to any man of business, so is it to the mining man. And in just as great ratio is the possession of innate business ability.

Education and natural ability are the two elements that will count in the future of any young man in mining.

Space might be devoted to the discussion of the possibilities of young men in the field of research work along scientific lines that would add materially to the economy and scope of mining. Such a career offers inducements looking to the achievement of honor as well as fortune. The field for such service is ready.

XXIII
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS.

There are regions producing ores that are too refractory for the simple treatments that might be given by company plants located at the mines. There are districts that have many small gold and silver mines with ores that do not yield to simple milling processes and which must therefore be shipped to custom smelteries. Even were the ores amenable to milling of some sort, it is often the case that the mines are not of sufficient magnitude to warrant the maintenance of their own treatment plants.

Under proper trade and commercial conditions, there is no impropriety in shipping ore to a custom plant or in selling it outright to a company owning such a plant. But, contemporaneously with much of the mining in the West, there has been such a monopoly on ore treatment that great injustice has been wrought to the shippers of small lots of ore. Not only has this accusation been true of smelting concerns but also of milling companies. Once in a while representatives of such corporations will arise and attempt to refute these statements, but the evidence is overwhelmingly against them, and their arguments of being benefactors of the miner fall flat.

By consolidation of companies and the elimination of competition, arrogant methods and unreasonable charges have been put into force; and the managers of mines have been obliged to accept whatever rates the monopolists saw fit to charge for treatment and whatever arbitrary prices they cared to pay for the metallic contents of the shipped ores. Very gross extortion has been practised and even yet there are many mining camps which are so absolutely under the control of these concerns that properties which should pay well, under just and favorable conditions, are forced to remain idle. These conditions could not be expected to prevail forever, and the time is now at hand when the extortionate smelting and milling trusts are meeting with pronounced opposition and a greatly diminished business. The state of Utah has demonstrated the ability of ore producers to bring the oppressors to time and the mine owners of that state are in a much more favored position right now than are the miners of Colorado, for instance, who really have been the greater sufferers. The Utah mining men have benefited by the sad experiences of the miners of the sister state. In Colorado, the American Smelting and Refining Co. has been a domineering factor in the mining industry for years, and the decrease of mining in Colorado has been contemporaneous with the oppression of this great corporation. The real cheating that has been practised by the ore-buying and ore-treating companies is well understood by all mining men who have been within their clutches.

It seems to be a fact that every tyrant eventually proves his own undoing. In the case of the oppressive smelter trust, the greed resulted in an immense income for the time being; but as mines were obliged to close down because of the unjust charges imposed for handling the ores, the quantities of ore handled continued to diminish. During the past few years when mining has been so unusually dull in many of the western mining camps, it has been very difficult for the smelting company to secure enough ore to keep running, and the present outlook is not encouraging. Statistics will show that the production of the metals is not really so low as the decrease in tonnages would seem to indicate, and the discrepancy is accounted for in the fact that very many mining companies have installed their own plants for either actually recovering their metals or for reducing their bulk of ores by concentration before shipping to the custom treatment plants. Thus the smelting company may still be turning out a large amount of metallic lead, for example, but it is smelted from concentrates instead of from crude ore and the tonnage, the principal basis for estimating smelting charges, is very much less than was formerly handled in obtaining the same amount of the same sort of product. The investigations started by the oppressed ones in their efforts to evade the oppressor have led to wonderful results, and it is no longer necessary for the miner to depend upon the smelter.

Some similar sharp practice against the mining fraternity was attempted and for a short time successfully carried on by what was termed, in Colorado, the milling trust. This concern handled the ores from Cripple Creek, principally. The larger mining companies soon began the erection of their individual plants and the practice has been extending until it is now common for Cripple Creek mines to own and operate their own reduction works, much on the order of the practice in the Transvaal country.

As a final word in this discussion, the author wishes to reiterate his belief in the legitimacy of investment in mines and mining stocks. When mining is placed upon sound business principles and every detail of the work is carried on with strict attention to sound economy, there can be few failures. This means that business judgment and expert advice must be used from the very start—in other words, that no false starts must be permitted. Then, after getting under way in a worthy enterprise, the successful mine operator will exercise just as close scrutiny of every operation, method, and employee as do the men who conduct other successful lines of business.

This little work has been prepared primarily for the perusal of men and women who are not personally acquainted with details of mining, but who entertain notions of becoming financially interested. It is hoped that the simple descriptions of some of the elementary details will prove of use to a great many persons.

Capitalization and Dividends of North American Metal Mines.

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