The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-10-01
Selling Mining Property


lhis mine to advantage. or is financially
unable to place the property in sal
able condition.
A grocer who wishes to sell butter
makes his butter attractive. He puts
1t up in pound or quarter pound pack
ages to suit the customer. The wise
man who has house for sale paints
1t and puts 1t in good repair. so as to
make it attractive, before he puts ii
On the market. The piano salesman
|arranges the payments on the piano
Ito the satisfaction Of his customer He
must be prepared to give extended
credit. In all cases the wise salesman
Is striving, first, to make him want to
purchase; and third, to make him
purchase at a price so that profit
can be made on the transaction. Any
body can give a valuable article away,
but 1t takes good salesman to sell II
at a profit To sell a mine for a fair
price takes time and hard work. The
man who undertakes such task
should recognize the stupendous prob
lem and put forth his best effort. He
should first thoroughly familiarize
himself with the property. Then he
should study his prospective purchas-
err and attempt to make the property
attractive to him. He must also ar
range the price and terms so that 1t T.
possible for the prospective purchaser
to take the property. Then II he can
make the purchaser want the property
a sale can be made.
Requisites for a Sale.
Three things are necessary to in
terest a purchaser.
Q Facts must be presented, MOI
theory. The prospective purchaser
demands such facts as amount of de-
velopment work, equipment, ore
blocked out, evidence Of additional ore,
kind Of ore, nature of deposit. topo
graphy and location. A little theor.
might be necessary, but 1t should oc-
cupy only a secondary place. A per
son should not be compelled to read an
extended discussion in order to get a.
the simple facts. Once man had q
large copper property for SALE He
offered 1t to a mining company that
was In the market for copper prop
erty. He claimed that large body OF
ore was exposed. He did not know the
facts himself, but presented an engin,
GERS report to give the information
This report was 76 pages long, bul
nowhere did 1t give brief and clear
estimate of tonnage or tell the char
acter of the ore; consequently, The
deal failed. A few facts, simply stat.
ed, might have sold the property.
(2) Facts must be given in cleal
and attractive manner. A great dea
Is gained If the first impression i
good. If one attempts to interest ;
large company the reports, maps ant
other information must attract favor
able attention in competition will
other reports that have also been sub
mitted. Although the mine may be ;
desirable purchase, unless the sales
man, armed with his information, cal
attract attention the property may b
rejected.
! (3) The property must be in sucl
a condition that the facts can be cas-
fly verified. No reliable purchaser viii
take a property on mere hearsay evi
dence. He must go and see for him
self. He is liable to become suspicion
If the drifts are impossible and tn
important workings are under water.
The owner Of mining property cal
either wait until some live mining mai
recognizes the value of his property
or, if he has property Of real merit
he can go out and seek purchaser
To do this he must spend some money
the amount of which will depend OF
the property he is trying to sell. TIL
average owner is not capable of sell
ing a mine; he should employ goo'
mine salesman. But he himself SHOULD
prepare the property for sale and sup
ply the necessary information. 1t i
hardly necessary or wise to prepar
elaborate reports and maps, but lit
tie money spent on obtaining fresh
clear information is essential. A grave
bed is worth little If mere rumor re
ports 1t as containing gold, but 1t Il
worth a great deal II 10 drill hole
have been sunk to bedrock and shov
the bedrock to be 20 feet deep witt
gravel running 40 cents per cubi
yard in gold. If the owner has not tn
money to finance the sale he can oftel
by putting in good form all the fact
he has at his command, interest
friend to finance the sale for him.
Price and Terms.
The proper valuation Of mining pro
perty calls for the highest skill of tn
mining engineer. In a developed min
the ore bodies can be measured an
their value determined with fair de
gree of certainty. In a partly develop
ed mine the engineer is aided in hi
] guess at the probability Of future or
bodies by careful study and analyai
of the ore already exposed. In pros
pect the value Is almost entirely imag
il.ary and therefore Is susceptible &
wide variations. A prospector VIII