Mohave County miner., 1907-12-28
Future of Mining.

Future of Mining.
 The demands of civilization for min erals and their products are likely to increase with time rather than de- crease. Of course all the big deposits of the world have not yet been dis covered, but a large portion of the world has been searched for the re- ouired minerals with more or less su,- cess. As the ores of useful metals are not produced by nature as fast as man depletes existing deposits, it is simply n matter of time before the human race will have exhausted the more easily accessible and richer deposits, and will have to fall back on those at present considered unpayable under existing conditions. In olden days slave labor made it possible for ore to be worked that otherwise must have been left for later date. At the pres enu day not only is the condition of the working miner better than of yore, but modern appliances and methods enable very lowg grade stone to be handled. There is no reason why fu- ture generations should not improve on present practice, so that they can deal with ore of a grade now consid- cred not worth while touching. When reporting on a property it is not sui fcient to look at it from the past or even the present, but one must look ahead to certain extent. Some prop critics can be condemned as out of the question right away, others warrant more careful investigation, and often the combined opinions of two or more specialists, for one man cannot be an expert on all subjects. He may be very good on technical points concern ing the working of a mine, but may lack the intimate knowledge necessary to extract the metal from the ore by the most up-to-date method suitable for that particular ore, allowing for local conditions. Again, his business knowledge may be 50 slight that he would be unable to market the product to the best advantage, or advise as tC the best method of financing the en. terprise, for mine may be good, and the ore successfully treated, and yet the venture prove failure from financial point of view. owing to un suitable capitalization, or some other foolish arrangement. Then there l' the market price of metals to be con sidered, requiring knowledge of tht worlds supply and demand. If higf prlce is likely to be sustained, thel small deposits that would not other wise be worked may be brought tor ward with advantage, as has recent, been the case with copper ventures If a metal reaches too high price then some substitute is sought for it common uses. This tends to bring tn price down again. Or one metal ma be affected by another, or by som special trade, such as tin, which largely produced in silver currenc countries, 50 tnaI "hen oii'oi 10 hiS it cannot purchase the same amount labor as when low. Again, tin bein chiefly employed in the manufactur of tin plate, and tin plate being large ly used in meat-preserving works, tn demand for that metal may be il Huenced by the timed meat industr. As an engineer has enough to do keep up-to. date in his particular lin
 he has to depend on the business ma toa great extent for information
 the wheels within wheels likely affect the demand and price of met
 in which he is interested.-Austral
 Mining Standard.