Mohave County miner., 1900-09-08
The Cost Of Testing a Mine.

prOOaOie cose VI tue eAd!nlnatlOn OF
mining properties, and leading brokers
report that they are constantly in
receipt of letters, asking for infor-
nation on this matter. In many of
these cases the writer's exhibit re-
markable ignorance of what is re.
CURED of a mining engineer in the ex-
animation of mine. Que broker was
asked to employ competent man at
an expence of not to exceed 5)S to ex.
anime placer mine in the western
part of Routt county containing nearly
1000 acres. As travelling expences
would amount TO more than twice that
sun, no one has yet been found will
ing to go, and in an examination of
placer property recently concluded, an
expert was on the ground nearly six
weeks in arriving at an approximate
conclusion regarding the value of a
tract of 800 acres.
The eypence of examining mine or
prospect varies greatly, important
factors being the character of the
property, the character and extent of
the ore body, the amount of develop
ment, the distance to be travelled, the
modes of conveyance and the emf
nence of the engineer; for prospects
with trifiing development the charges
of engineers are comparative light, but
for mines which have large bodies of
ore exposed an examination frequently
runs up into thousands of dollars, as
besides the fee of the engineer, numer-
Gus assays must be made. assistants
are required TO aid the engineer, and
frequently many tons Of ore must be
run through testing plant to deter
mine the best methods of treatment.
Less than two years ago the examin-
alton of large mine in this state in
volved the making of |, ,lbJ assays at a
cost of more than ,500s, and the treat
ment of 500 tons of ore. In addition
to these expenses must be taken into
account travelling expenses, hotel bills
and incidentals, such as the purchase
of necessary tools, the employment Of
extra labor, etc.
Average engineers expect TO receive
as fees not less than 25s day aud
expenses. This is not extrayagant, as
few even at that figure make more
than an ordinary professional income
during the year, while many are for
tunate il they net the average wage of
a bookkeeper. Engineers of estab-
lished reputation make much higher
charges. There are several engineers
in this state who will not look at a
mine for less than i,O00S, and many
instances can be cited in which the
engineers fec, exclusive of expenses,
was as high as 3,O0os. This class of
expert engineer, as rule, declines to
examine anything but developed
mines, or make general reports cover
ing areas of mineral territory, which
include geological and Typographical
features, water supply, engineering
possibilities and matters OF that kind,
which require exceptional skill and
experience. On the other hand, there
are in this city not fewer than 100 good
engineers who will make examinations
OF small mines and prospects for 1908
to so 8 aud expe lses, dependent upon
the distance from Denver and other
factors mentioned. Large mining
syndicates usually employ their engin-
eers by the year and pay large salaries.
Several Denver men receive 10, 'JJS a
year with the privilege of making out
side examinations, and one Colorado
man in the employ of London syndi-
cate receives an annual income of
about 81, 40 as consulting engineer for
several com panies. To make the trip
to Routt county, mentioned above,
would require l,)0Js for a competent
engineer, zoos for travelling expenses,
1913 for hotel bills, and the wages of
two men at 2.5 to 80 day for six
weeks. The engineer could probably
be secured for 25S day, and by in
creasing the force of laborers so as to
cover the ground more rapidly, the
total expense would be materially re-
duced, but In that case 1t might be
necessary to employ an assistant to
-. u...;,oa. ~ ana bla him RI Laap his