The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-04-06
Business Sense in Mime Buying.

"All the papers say" writes a man with
money to invest, ''that mining can be made a
safe and legitimate business but they do not
tell us how it is to be done" THIS is very
true. There is a vast amount Of bosh poured
forth in the press by hired scribblers for the
purpose of leading a lot of inexperienced
people into the purchase of shares in swind.
ling mines. The fact is that mining is not a
safe business in the sense that farming is. 1t
involves great risks on the one hand and great
profit on the other. Somebody is bound to
lose the money sunk IN shafts that do not pay.
But the heavy losses that are incurred by buy
ing mines at prices beyond their actual value
can be reduced to a minimum by adherence
to common sense business methods.
Mine buying is q trade like cattle buyipp.
1t must be learned. The cattle buyer can
generally sell what he has bought at a limited
profit provided he understands his business
and has made judicious purchases. Still he is
ever harlassed with the uncertainties of
the market. An unforeseen tumble NAV
thwart all his experience and caution. The
mine buyer must know what he is buyinc
precisely as the cattle buyer must. Until he
does know he is at the mercy of those upon
whom he depends, and takes risks that are
very great. In his experimental search for
an expert who has both the knowledge and
the honesty his capital is likely to slip through
his fingers. But when he has learned to tell
what a mine is worth from the standpoint of
a safe investment, he has got a certain trade
with many more chances for a large fortune
Than any other occupation offers to men of
united means. He is sure TO sell his mine
Tor What he paid for it, because he will not
pay more tl.an it is worth, and he is very ant
10 sell 1t for much more than he paid for it.
and even for more than it is really worth,
there are hundreds of prospectors who are
glad to get a price equal to the value of the
the ore they have i'll sight. Common business
sense tells a buyer that if a mine has devotion.
ments to show a body of mineral worth, lie
cannot lose much by paying nearly that price
pays a definite additional sum for the in
definite prospect of finding additional ore
beyond what is III sight, he becomes a risky
Spectator and is outside OF the realm of ssate
and legitimate Investment" about which we
hear SO much. When he buys the mine, either
TO sell or to work. he must guage the price he
offers by the ore in sight, and insist upon the
prospects being thrown in as his reward. He
can either push on the work and enhance the
real value of the mine by putting more ore
IN sight, or can take out what he finds, and.
getting his money back, have his prospects
leit. These are purely speculative, and
where they begin legitimate mining invest
mept ends.
The value of expert aid in determining
what the prospects of a mine are is not much
any Intelligent man can in six months know
an that the best expert can tell him upon this
topic. The laws that govern mineral forma-
tons are not yet evolved from chaos. and
every new discovery modifies the theories
which stand in the place of laws. But exper4s
are not to be despised. ALI expert is usefuI
IN calculating, not prospects, but realities. He
can assay and measure the mineral in sight.
ana compute the cost of mining and milling