Mohave County miner., 1912-03-23

heard most frequently when invest ment is at low ebb and the minds of the mining fraternity are accordingly depressed and ready to accept as fact whatever passes current as plausible explanation for the torpid conditions. One is permitted to ask whether the assumption is correct and to harbor some measure of doubt as to the justice of the opinion. A precisely similar judgment might have been expressed ten years ago, only to fino itself refut- ed by the discovery of the great bo- nanza at Goldfeld, New, and other remarkable deposits in that state, such as those at Round Mountain and at National. We are referring par tcularly to gold mines, since these are the kind that we usually associate with the notion of bonanza develop ment. Periods of quiescence are in- evitable in the exploitation of new mining districts. But how far do such periods warrant the sentiments of Dessimism that frequently come over the industry?
 None is better able to consider the question of future mine discoveries than the geologist who has been thrown into intimate contact with em and has studied the history of mining districts. In the Popular Science Monthly Prof. R. A. F. Pen- rose, Jr., has recently discussed this topic, and he apparently possesses none of that fear of the passing of the gold bonanza that some of us occasion ally utter. It is worth while consider ing his view:
 "It is d 'fficult to make accurate pre- dictions about the future of any min ing industry except from the mines already known, and even then such predictions are liable to grave error The difficulty, however, becomes still greater when we discuss the possi- bility of the discovery of new mines, and thls is especially true in the Unit ed States, where there are wide regions in which new mines might be found, but where no one can yet say that they do exist. A striking feature of past experience is the fact that many of the greatest gold discoveries in the United States were made in regions time and again covered by prospectors. Gold of the southern states was found in parts of the coun- try that were well settled by an agri cultural population, and yet for a long time it excited no attention. In this case the fact that the people had no experience in gold mining was doubt less sufficient reason for this neglect; but, when we see similar cases In the west, where mining has been the chief occupation of the people since the country was settled, the fact becomes more noteworthy"
 | Many, perhaps possess the mistaken on that the west has been well prospected, that the advance of civi- ization has been sufficiently pronounce ed to insure a thorough search for the mineral bearing areas near at hand Such as these do not adequately con der the vast wildernesses of the west that are. still repulsiye to the yearn- ings of the hardest adventures. Not 9 per cent of the country of the vest ern states are touched by railroads, and immense areas may be blocked out on the map that show the most meager evidences of settlement. It is true that the railroad building of the past has been determined largely by the industrial centers and other towns that have owed thelr origin to mine development, but they have scarcely begun to exhaust their possibilities in this respect. Advancing civilization has much to do with the discovery of mines, but it is worth noting that mineral deposits are usually found without reference to railroads or habi- tations. The chief contribution of civilization is the number of available prospectors upon whom the expecta- tion of discovery is to rest. It is a lazy mans occupation to study a wall map and imagine how easy it is to cover the territory represented with the discerning eye of a mineralogist. The discovery of large bodies of ne-