Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-01-30

Channlng, eminent mlnlng engineer and general manager of the Miami Copper company, was delivered recent ly before the Finance Forum, New York organization of fnanciers and in vestors, in New York, and will be of great interest to all readers of the Silver Belt interested in the business of mining:
 If We omit the comparatively insig- nifcant industry of fishing, one can say without contradiction that the wealth of the world is derived from the two industries of agriculture and mining. Raw material, combined with man s la bor and brains, produces wealth. Even in its final analysis the wealth pro duced by the farmer is really mineral wealth, because the growing crops ab
 sorb the potash and phosphorus from the ground and combine them with the carbon of the air to make those pro ducts which enter into our very daily life and existence. Still, however, the broad division of agriculture and min ing can with propriety be established.
 Unfortunately, the general idea of mining among most of the public IS confined to glowing prospectuses with requests to purchase stock at from lc to $l per share, with the promise that these shares will be advanced after three o'clock on next Thursday to double the price which they are offer ed to the investor. Few realize, for eX- ample, that the mineral production of of the United States for the year 1907 was valued at over $2,000, ,O00,000; that of this, pig iron was valued at $530,- O0O,000, silver at $37 100000, gold at S9O,0OO,000. copper at $l77,000,000, the total of the metallic products being $90O,000,000; the other $l,0O000O,0OO being the non-metallic products, that is, fuel, structural material, abrasives, chemical materials, pigments, and mis- eellaneous things, such as asphalt and sand for glass manufacture. The total of these products have grown from only $l,O00,000,000 in 1899 to probably something considerably over $2,000,- 00O,000 during the closing year.
 If one takes into consideration how much wealth this adds to the world he can realize the importance of the min ing industry. A mining operation if properly conducted adds to the world all its wealth, and takes nothing from the pockets of either the producer or the consumer. A legitimate mining venture properly financed does not pro duee the paper dollar which so often represents supposed good will in an in dustrial concern. say properly con ducted because, unfortunately, so many mining investments have been eOnceiv- ed in iniquity and born Tn sin. One cannot expect, however, that mining investments can ever be as prOsaic as other investments because of the fact that there is forever present the great chance of unexpectedly uncOverng a large or a rich body of ore in the par. ticular mine under consideration. Mir. John Hays Hammond, in his lecture to you a few weeks ago, gave you some very good advice as to what to beware of in a mining investment; follow his advice, but remember that there is no type of investment which one can so successfully make as mine, if he takes the proper precautions.
 The return on mining investments, like on everything else, depends upon the risk one runs. The greater the risk the larger the returns. The risks which one undertakes in mining are the same to a certain extent that one undertakes in agriculture. The first IS the varying price of the product, that is. the varying price at which coal, or iron, or copper, or silver, or lead, or spelter sells, and to this one may even add gold because, although gold IS considered as a standerd value, there is no doubt that an overprOduction of gold tends toward increasing prices, hence an increased cost for it's produc- ton. The second risk that one runs is the sudden end, of the partirular ore deposit which is being exploited by the property under consideration. The chance of coal seam being terminated underground is, of course, a minimum, the main thing being to secure sutiic- tent acreage at the time of starting out. The price of coal does not vary so very much because it is really the cost of production that determines its sell ing value. Roughly, one may state that the profit per ton on the prOduc- tion of soft coal is 10c to 15c per ton. It would be easy for moderately care ful student of the annual reports of coal companies to determine from the figures given what his probable rate of interest would be upon his invest | ment. n
 In mining iron the risk is somewhat greater, and was markedly so until the discovery of the Mesabi Iron | Range in Minnesota, with it's enormous deposits of ore now largely controlled by the United States Steel Corpora tion. It is quite likely that they have on the Mesabi Range ,25O,OOO,OO0 tons of ore actually developed by shafts and drill holes. while on the older ranges, which have been operated for the last forty years, it is doubtful if there is actually visible more than 250,000,00O | tons of ore. It is the ownership of these large tonnages of iron ore, and of the large acreage of coking coal that puts the United States Steel Cor poration in such strong basic posi- i tion. l doubt even if the corporation itself in it's early day recognized the extreme value of it's raw material.
 Mir. J. R. Finlay, in his admirable | book on the Cost of Mining, which has been published within month. i has estinii@attcc5a. ta tae cost of laying a ton of pig iron down in New York at