The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-24
THE GREAT ONTARIO.
Magnificent Record Made by This
Park City Producer.

AS noted in our mining news columns,
says the New York Engineer
ing and Mining Journal. the
Ontario Silver Mining company
of Utah last week completed
the work of closing down its mines The
mill has finished the treatment of the
ores which remained in stock when
mining was suspended two months ago;
the final cleanup has been made, and
only few men are retained as watch
men aad caretakers of the property.
The case is a peculiar one, since the
shutdown has been ordered only be-
cause the price of the silver product
has fallen to a point which no longer
leaves any profit in working The mine
is not by any means exhausted; it is
in good condition, and in 1896 produced
1lS1,613 ounces of silver, with every
prospect that this rate of output could
be maintained, and large shipments
were continued through the early part
OF the present year So far from antici-
patlng any failure of ore supply, the
management Of the Ontario and it's
neighbor, the Daly-which is also closed
dOWn-haVe Jointly expended during the
past three years $671 600 on the drainage
tunnel. which is one of the most i'm
portant mining works in this country.
Up to the end of 1896 there had been
ore, from which 33,095, III fine ounces of
silver were obtained. The total amount
for which this was sold was $50, 9SS ,511,
and 43 per cent of these earnings. or
S13, AS 600 had been paid in dividends.
By the latest reDort-for the year
1S96-we find that the company earned
total of $776S54, at a cost of sos. 527
for working expenses. In that year it
was able to pay sum of S1S0,000 in
dividends, and these payments were
continued into the present year, 100000
having been distributed to the stock
holders since January, the June divi-
dend of $4,000 being the latest. The
average price realized for the silver
sold in 1896 was 6519 cents. and the
cost of the metal 1894 cents per ounce.
With so narrow a margin of profit the
further fall in the price of the metal
was sufficient, in the judgment of the
directors, to put the property on a
non-paying basis; and they have de-
cided that the prospect of a permanent
Improvement is too remote to warrant
continued expenditure and exhausting
the mine without profit.
The history of the Ontario. under the
control Of Mr.. j. B. Haggin, has been
a long and honorable one. The COM
pany was organized q years ago, in
1876, and from the first it's operations
were on a large scale. 1t started with a
capital stock of $4,000, 00O-which was
increased to S15.000,000 in 1880 for the
purchase of the Last Chance mine-and
was a diVidend-payer from an early
date. No silver mine in this country,
outside of a few of the Comstock bo-
! nanzas, has made better returns and
in all the company has paid S13, AS, 600
to its stockholders. This record shows
a total dividend payment of SO per cent,
or an average of AZ per cent a year on
the face value of the stock. But as the
stock was first flOated at $50 per share,
the return to the original purchasers
has been about 240 per cent on their
first investment.
Ontario stock was long favorite
/ mining investment, and it's price has
varied almost more in accordance with
! that of silver than with the condition
of the mine itself 1t has been dealt
in mainly on the New York exchanges
where It first made it's appearance in
| 1878. In that year the price ranged
! from $50 to $3S q share: it continued at
high level, with moderate fluctuations
and reached its best quotation of $4S
! in 1890. During the past four years il
| has steadily declined with fewer sales
| recorded, and at the present time is
selling about $40 a share.
Apparently it is only a recovery in
| the price of silver which can reopen the
mines. 1t is to be hoped that its his
| tory has not finally closed, but that
! there may be some realization in the
| future of the money, the work and the
careful planning which have gone into
| the making of this great mine.