The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-09-30

owning a majority OF the stock. il is
controlled by the Nevada Consolidated
Mining company of Ely. While it is n
public carrier, soliciting general traffic,
it was projected, primarily, as an ad-
junct to the operating of that one great
show by specific and official figures
farther) the greatest mine in the world,
reckoning the value already disclosed,
though the value already disclosed is
not believed to be one.tenth Of the min
eral wealth the property contains.
At the time the railroad was project
cd, in 1903-4, it was regarded as very
bold move, for many things were doubt
full then concerning the value of the
mining property which are not doubt
full now. 1t required u fine knowledge
Of copper mining TO understand and
appreciate the possibilities of wealth
that lay in the great Ely deposit, for
throughout it must be termed n low
grade proposition. But Glow grade - is
a relative term in the profit earning
aspect of any mine All turns on the
copper laid down in New York, and III
this respect conditions arc favorable to
Ely. While its finished products cannot
be laid down in New York as cheaply
as the cheapest, 1t can, l believe, be
laid down fully as chcaply as the aver
age, aud perhaps somewhat below the
aVerage--about one-half cent n pound
below the officially stated cost of the
great Calumet e. Hecla mine of Michi-
gan, which L would guess may closely
represent the average, and which IS
given as ~ cents pound IN the care
full and reliable copper annual by
Horace j. Stevens.
Cost Of Transportation.
According to very exhaustive re-
port on the Nevada Consolidated by the
Ely copper can be laid down in New
York at cost, including every charge
Of every nature, of 7.03 cents per
pound-$0,0703 Considering the ad-
vantage in freight charges which the
Michigan mines enjoy by reason of wa
ter transportation, tins difference of
about one-half cent a pound IN the I'm
ished product laid down in New York
indicates an important margin IN favor
of Ely IN the other items of cost-the
mining or the expense of treatment, or
both. The mining at Ely viii be done
largely by steam shovels and by the
caVing system, and the cost will be
very low. The cost of concentrating
will also be low The freight charges
will be high, but all other expenses not
above the average.
Mr.. Requa has not, it is true, been
called on TO do any remarkable feat
of engineering, either IN developing ms
mine or in building his railroad, but
he has done a large number of things
that have required rather unusual
combination Of sound mining Judgment
and clever business sagaclty to do sue
ccssfully. for it must be remembered to
his credit that lie has successfully de
veloped and financed the greatest mine
of the day before 1T was able TO produce
a dollar. II is probable enough that
there are many mining engineers OF
greater boldness and skill than Mr.. Re-
qua, and it is certain there are any
number of greater iinanclers. But
where can you lay your hand on a
1inancier who knows more than q
monkey about mining or miner of
genius who is any kind of halfway
fnancier?
1 call Mr.. Requa the greatest miner
of the age, for the simple but sutll-
cient reason that he has successfully
financed and developed the greatest
ever, that appears to reside in the mind
OF Mr.. Requa is the genius Of common
sense; but reliable, all-around common
sense is about the most uncommon OF
endowments. lie organized the Nevada
Consolidated company in 1908 by con-
solidating the White Pine company and
the Boston Nevada company, with
which he had had, [ believe, 2 cornec-
tion as consulting engineer for the four
preceding years. Hc capitalized the
new company for 1,000 900 shares Of the
par value Of So each. In the early
part of the present year the capltaliza'
tion was increased to 100000 shares,
100000 shares of the new stock being
still in the treasury, [ am told, making
the present outstanding capital $780,
600. The company owns 600 acres on
the great deposit,
Nevada Consolidated
The Nevada Consolidated is the most
extensively developed mine on the Ely
copper deposit, but it has not the larg.
| est acreage and is not believed by local
mining men to be the greatest property
of the camp, having regard to the fu-
ture But 1t is not only the greatest
| mine in the camp today-it is the great
est mine in the world. l have connect
| cd my estimates as far as possible with
| the Nevada Consolidated, for the reason
| that it is the only mine In the camE
| that has yet made definite and re
| sponsible report that can be analyzed
| It Is, as I said, the most extensively
developed property in the camp, but il
| has not the largest acreage on the de-
post, and its ore bodies do not carry
as high values III copper or gold as are
reported, with apparent good faith, II
the western part OF the deposit. Not
being so definite, however, those reports
cannot be regarded as so reliable.
The easiest way TO make an unknown
thing clearly understood is to compare
with similar thing that is well known