The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-03-27
ADVICE ON MINING
STOCK INVESTMENTS
HIGH RETURNS FROM THOSE
WELL ADVlSED-ExTREME
CARE is NEEDED
(Annual Report of Robert \. Bell,

tAilnual Report OF Robert \, Bell
State Mine lnspector).
The following review of the mining
progress of the state by counties is the
result of personal Inspection during
the year and the most reliable source
of information on the subject covered
| find II impossible To get over all
the mineral districts of the state, for,
as a matter of fact. practically every
county In the state contains mineral
resources of merit that are worthy of
study and encouragement, but 1t is
too big field for one man to cover
without assistance, as there is a great
deal of office work and correspondence
to attend to which requires a lot of
time at headquarters in Boise.
| try to give special prominence to
4 the most attractive and probable
sources of profitable new ore bodies
that the state affords, and do great
deal of special press advertising in
this connection.
|, Of necessity, occupy Il rather dual
position as special advertiser and
critic of mineral development enter
prises, which occasionally puts me in
ia rather embarrassing position, People
who are trying To raise capital for
mining development from the sale Of
treasury shares are frequently too OPP
timistic Of results and make decidedly
I
ed from an investment Of this kind
Such weakly capitalized enterprises,
deriving their money from the sale of
cheap shares to poorly informed people
who can i'll afford to lose money in
such ventures, which seldom get any
where in the matter of making profit
able mines. although there are a few
notable exceptions to this outcome iii
Idaho.
Promoters frequently take undue
advantage of the relative position of
their properties, claiming them able
mines, Promoters frequently take un-
due advantage of the relative position
If their properties. claiming them to
be the extension Of some well known
producer without any close regard to
the facts Of the situation, and when
they fail to make good on their rash
promises with results, they get tired
IF answering the inquiries of their
patrons, who in turn revert to this de-
partment for information. and there
is usually not much of an encourage
ing nature to tell them, but they have
invested their money. which, while It
may amount to only a few hundred
dollars. seems large to them. and in
many instances produces some pathet-
| lie appeals for advice and relief, some
times involving from me statement
the feelings of the parties involved a,
both ends of the line.
Mining investments should be relig
iously avoided by people of small
means as it is a business for the finan-
cially strong, and no one should buy
| mining stock in development enter
prise Of unproven merit who is unable
to stand the loss of the investment
without injury to his or her current
business, and for the protection of this
class Of supporters of the mineral in
dustry an addition to our present min
ing laws requiring a brief annual
statement Of development progress and
financial resources of mining develop
ment companies would be advisable,
for while there is nothing that pays
such high financial returns as a well
advised mining investment, there is no
other line of business that involves n
greater capital risk when undertaken
without a proper regard for All the
natural difficulties involved