The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-05-16
MINES AND MINING
CAN'T D|SCRED|T
LOW COST COPPERS
Experts Finally Compelled to
Admit Their Claims Are
Conservative.

Boston, May 15.-The entrance of the
grade porphyry mines into the
corresponding field is by all odds
/ the most important development in the
/ industry in recent years.
| The recovery of copper in CONNER
cial quantities from these low grade
disseminated" deposits is no longer
| an experiment, as the Nevada CONSOLE
| dated and Utah Copper. the first pOr-
| phyries to enter the ranks OF the pro-
bined output at the rate of 10000, 900
pounds per annum, and their shares
| have combined selling value of $780,
100000 even at the comparatively low
level at which copper shares are now
quoted. As against a current selling
price of sac, Utah Copper has sold as
| high as $66, and Nevada Consolidated,
now quoted at $50, has sold for $50.
Notwithstanding the prediction of
many of the old school miners that
these two properties could never make
good their extraordinary claims as to
mining costs, the fact remains that
Utah Copper and Nevada Consolidated
are together paying dividends of s6.OO0.-
600 per annum, while some of the vein
mines are hanging out distress sig
.lalS.
Some of the old school miners above
referred to are attempting to throw
suspicion upon the integrity OF the OPP
Grating costs claimed by the porphyry
interests, and in proof of their con-
tenuon they generally point to the fact
IIdI the OIdl copper does
rot treat as an operating charge the
| entire expense already incurred in the
/ removing Of the Gaping which over
lies the copper deposit. The Utah peO-
| ple seem not in the least disturbed
by these criticisms and Justify their
costs with the very plausible argu-
ment that current operations should
| not be called upon to bear the entire
/ burden of making available millions of
! tone of ore for future extraction, but
that these costs should be gradually
absorbed into current operating &C
count, upon a fair and equitable basis.
To this end 5 cents per ton of ore
mined is applied TO the retirement of
| the prepaid expense ore account, "
which amounted on December 81 last
to S1,513. $40. The total area over
which stripping operations have been
conducted is 81 acres, uncovering 2S,-
100000 tons of ore. Only about one
seventh OF this ore, however, has been
removed from the area in question
Not TO he Blamed for All.
1t is very probably true that the
millions of pounds of copper now be-
ing produced by the Utah Copper and
Nevada Consolidated comprehensive
month-are responsible to a greater or
less degree for the worlds growing
surplus of copper. They are not re-
SponSible. however, for the declining
copper values in some of the vein
mines whose officials have very re-
Gently informed stockholders of disap-
pointing ore conditions and whose
shares are in several instances selling
for but one-quarter of their highest
recorded figure All of the responsible
ity for the disasters which have re-
Gently overtaken the copper shares
cannot be laid at the doors of the por-
phyry producers
The men who are actively engaged in
the development of the porphyry mines
are by no means amateurs. The Lew
isohns, the Guggenheims and the Jack
ling MacNei1l-Hayden interests do not
propose to fool themselves in the mat
ter of costs Today these people have
given the fullest publicity to their de-
velopment and operating details and
invite the closest scrutiny of their OPP
erations.
The estimates of ore tonnages have
been checked and rechecked by the
best mining engineers in the world, the
depth of the copper deposit, generally
blanket formation, has been demon
strated by countless drill holes and the
copper contents proved by thousands of
assays. In this manner the ore deposit
has been proved as perfectly as human
skill can prove it.
II Is because of their ability to eS
tablish the minimum limits and value
of the ore deposit that the porphyry
people claim that the proven tonnages
offer a basis for the calculation of in
vestment value which is not possessed
by the uncertain depth, width and cop
per values Of the veins operated upon
in many of the older mining camps.
Hayden, Stone & Co have been prom
inently Identified with the porphyry
branch of the copper mining industry,
have devoted much study to the in
veStment possibilities of these proper
ties, and have enlisted millions of dol
lars in the purchase of porphyry
shares They have recently prepared
some figures with respect to net val
ues as indicated by proving ore ton
nages in some of the more important
porphyry properties which are either
now producing or have made provision
for the construction of milling plants
Utah Copper, Nevada Consolida ted,
I Ray Consolidated, Chino and Miami
These figures we produce herewith: