The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-01-05
OPENING A MINE.
An Operation Which Dcvours Many Thor
sands of Dollars.

| Working gold mine sounds very
nice, but very few people are aware ol
the difficulties and expense attending
this operation.
There are plenty of men in this city
who have been "bitten" in small mining
schemes, and who do not now under
stand why they were failures. 1t is a
very common thing for some hopeful
prospector to stumble across "crop-
pings" that show free gold, and that,
from all appearances, could be worked
to advantage with the expenditure Of o
little money.
The first thing the prospector does is
to "think up some capitalist friend
whom he thinks would be willing to
invest in the enterprise. He then
writes letter something after this
fashion:
II have one OF the finest propositions you ever
heard OF. 1 have discovered groupings that in =
dicatc the presence Of q ledge feet wide, and
which j am certain will he found permanent.
THE groupings show that the ore will mill at
least s25 per ton. Let us say then that the ore
will only yield half this amount.
This mine can be worked-that is, tho ore
can be mined and milled-at minimum cost OF
s3 per ton. This will leave net profit OF, say,
~. Now the groupings show along the surface
| for 200 feet, and are so situated that tunnel
could be run 200 feet below. There is no doubt
that the ore will hold out and after the tunnel
is run there will be in sight practically 900
tons OF ore, which, ot 50 n ton, will, as you will
readily see. yield profit OF s2O00Oo.
''All need is enough money to run this tun-
mel. lean then haul the ore to custom mill
a nfn n1ant sIn sn,h n1 ,ft
that the mine will pay for itself. only need
5000 at the outside and II you will put up this
amount you may have half interest in the
property"
On paper this is fine proposition.
A sure fortune for $500 The capital
ist is caught and up goes his $4,000.
The first thing to be done is to drive
tunnel into the solid rock some feet
square and Il distance of 200 feet. A
double shift of men, say eight, are hired,
also a blacksmith to sharpen the tools,
men to clear away the ground, etc.
This can easily be accomplished for $50
day. A house or cabin has to be
built, but this will only cost some $780,
Powder, tools, timbers, lumber and
provisions will make the first $1,000, to
use &. popular expression, "look awful
sick.''
For the first few days the work
progresses favorably, and the capital
ist receives the most encouraging let
ters from his mining friend. After that
the letters are less frequent and not
near so encouraging.
The miners have "struck horse"
This is generally some rock about as
easy to drill through as so much cast
steel. A hole six inches deep may be
drilled into the rock in about ten hours.
and when the giant powder cartridges
are put into this hole they shoot out as
if from cannon.
There may be 10 feet OF this sort of
work, there may be so; at any rate,
before the difficulty has been over
come, some $4,000 OF more will have
been sunk in the enterprise, and the
ground scarcely scr atched.
or course more money will be de-
manded, and then still more until the
capitalist becomes disgusted and quits
the thing all together. This is the way
it generally works.
Difficulties are not only encountered
in running II tunnel or sinking a shaft,
such as the caving in of the work,
rebellious rock and others too numerous
to mention; but it is often discovered
after the tunnel has been run the de-
sired length that it should have been
run in some other place.
To estimate the actual cost of the
opening up of mine from the "grass
roots" would be very difficult matter
Under the most favorable circum-
stances, however, unless n pocket or
bunch of very rich ore is encountered,
from 500, 900 to$75, 900 may be set down
as very close figure to put mere
prospect in paying condition.
As much sometimes as 100000 are
spent in opening up mine before any
money" is taken out. All this refers
to those "little'' mining propo-
sitions or "ayers," as they are called,
in which the uninitiated, in the hope
Of becoming millionaires on dollar
come ont in almost every
Instance at the small end of the horn.-I
~ Y. Herald.