Gilpin observer., 1913-04-24
sS9S ssssesseese
! THE PROSPRCTOR
4 KND HIS BJRR0
(Saft Lake Mining Review

said the prospector to his burro,
who are as pleased as a tweNeyear-
old girl with her first beau, when
they are doing profitable business
and are as genial as a piece of lemon
in a tub CT water. In their eyes, a
dollar in profit looks as big as am
elephant under magnifying glass;
but they pay no attention to 25-
cent loss, a sum that, as a baby ele
phant, is worth while looking after,
and which should be tenderly nursed
SO that it can eventually be guided
into the profit column. You say that
you do not see what elephants have
to do with mining and that, for your
part, you would be perfectly satisfi-
ed if you had dollar, and would not
worry in the least over the twenty
five cents that would not stay hitch
ed, and that was as timid and unap
proachabie as wild broncho on the
desert; all of which shows that you
are lacking in the ability to estab-
lish truism by comparisons; and
that, if you were at the head of a
Burro Bank, you would be called
down, mere severely for the quarters
You had lost, than praised for the
dollars you had made and as to your
reference to the application of my
remarks to mining, / desire to in
Jprre,i ,ath hSNff,-
should be applied to mining as well
as to any other pursuit or occupa-
tion.
''It lis not the profits which need
looking after so much as it is the
little LOSSES" continued the prospec-
tor. "It lis the little leaks, the little
frittering away of what might have
materially augmented the bank ac-
counts and acknowledgements. In all
most every mining camp and district
there are properties which are being
unprofitably worked because of the
little leaks. There are mines which
have good ore in sight but which
have never more than played even,
just because of the little leaks which,
without hardly being noticed, have
robbed the bank accounts of their
owners just as if rough-neck had
broken into the amalgam room and
sneaked off with a weeks cleanup
from the plates. AS a matter of
fact, l can tell you of several such
instances where little leaks almost re-
are now big-paying properties. had
they not been discovered before it
was too late. In one case, at a mime
in Grasshopper canyon, a three7foot
body of ore had been developed that
carried about $35 in ee-milling gold
ore to the ton. The owners, all poor
men, and almost novices when it
came to mining and milling, almost
beggared themselves in putting in a
small milling plant of two stamps,
and they had bright and dazzling
dreams of great riches and wealth,
when the plant was placed in opera
tion. The first cleanup, however, wa
far frcm satisfactory, as the returns
showed a saving of only $40 to the
ton. Where the values had gone to,
WAS just as much of a mystery as
is the hash the biscuitishcoter favors
me with at the Green Goose beanery
and the owners were in despair. Am
1t.h
disastrous results, and when the third
run was no better, the owners had
almost decided to close down, when
a graduate OF the U. of U. happen
ed into the camp and was informed
of the trouble. Having been raised
among the mines this gaZaDoo had
a little more than theoretical know
ledge to go on, for he had had prac-
tical experience and could tell the diff
ference between a piece of granite
and a broken jug handle. He first
visited the mine and found that the
men were not careful in breaking
down the ore, and that they We're
getting a lot of waste into II, thus
cutting down the grade. This was
leak No. l. When he found that the
ore, which was soft and friable with
the free gold occurring, largely, in
the seams and cleavages, was being
hauled to the mill in wagons, over
rough roads, and that the beds of
the wagons were SO warped and
cracked that the highest values in
the rock were continually sitting out
and thus lost. This was leak No. 2.
AT the mill he found big crack i'm
the mortar of one of the stamps and
through rich amalgam was allowed
to escape. ard was lost in a hole in
the mill foundation. This was leak