The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-07-15

the original amount involved has been
equalled by the total dividends re-
ceived Moreover, II should be clear
ly understood that until this stage is
reached the dividends do not repre-
sent profit but proportionate return
Of the principal invested. A. disregard
Of this precept Is a common error, es-
pecially with women. 1t can not be
too often repeated that a mine is
wasting asset that necessarily be-
comes less and less valuable as It is
worked 1t is, of course, ordinarily
impossible for an investor to know
when the mine Is likely to be exhaust
ed. The engineers In charge may be
able to approximate closely the per-
iod when this may be expected. and
through them, of course, the informa-
ton should reach the directors, but
the directors do not always share their
knowledge with the stockholders. A
surprising thing about the mining
business Is the tenacity of life of some
old properties. Sometimes they are
supposed to be completely worked out.
when new ore bodies are found; or, In
other instances, ore previously too
lean to be worked may later become
a valuable asset by virtue of improved
mining and milling methods. Then
again. old failing dumps may be re-
worked to yield substantial profit or
the mining company may have accum
ulated substantial surplus that can
be invested in new mine thus main.
tanning the value of the stock These
observations tend to show that the
mining investor is nearly always at
the mercy of the managers of the
property unless he be himself skilled
miner and has opportunities of exam
ming the property.
In theory at least a mining company
should not issue mortgage bonds on
its mines, or at any rate their term
should be so short as to be well with
in the probable life of the mine.
Ore Reserves.
The most important factor in iinanc-
ing a mining enterprise is one rarely
given sufficient weight that is, eslab-
fishing ore reserves. 1t goes against
human nature TO see thousands OF
dollars put into the ground when not
one cent is coming out; the average
investor can seldom appreciate the
logic and soundness of such course
|of procedure Herein, thus expressed
in simple terms. lies the essential dill
ference between absolute speculation
and investment; obviously money
spent on a mine when there Is no def
mite and certain knowledge as to what
amount of ore may be taken out, Is
speculation; whereas, suppose we have
la million dollars worth of ore blocked
out In a mine and we know for a
and turned into money for cost say
of 100000, yielding net profit of
100000. 1t is evident that any
amount put into the mine not to ex-
coed 100000 is an investment. and as
a speculation it is logical to suppose
that this same mine which produced
a million dollars of ore will very likely
yield considerably more.
The Lure of Mining.
/ am convinced that we can never
hope to persuade the general public
to accept this view Of mining, Men
in general regard metal mining as a
gamble and business people who are
absolutely sane in their everyday af-
fairs are ready in good times" when
money Is plentiful, to listen to the
tales of the irresponsible promoter, the
fake mining expert" and the irresist-
ible lure of getting rich quickly. When
times are hard" as at present, the
promoter of this class with his bed
fellow, 1.-THE expert are alternating
somewhere. patiently waiting for bet
ter days to come when the tradesman
will have little spare cash to throw
away. Anyone who has not had ac-
tual experience with such matters
could hardly believe the credulity and
Grass stupidity of many seasoned busi-
ness men when carried away by the
Establishments of these fan
tastic schemers.
Far be 1t from us to discredit and
the honest and decent man
who seeks capital to promote mort
torious and attractive mining propo-
the best of times because he hesltares
to distort the truth or minimize the |
risk, and IL he fails to sing a suffl-
GENTLY alluring song the money viii |
be shy, but once let him pipe the right !
tune, the dollars become nimble and 7
flock like sheep to be led where and /
when he pleases. If the promoter can 1
once convince a man he may get /
for nothing, there seems to 1
be no limit to the folly of which hu-
nan beings may be guilty.
Judgment and Imagination.
No business depends more upon &C
,uracy Of Judgment and sound techni-
,al knowledge than that of mining in
Ill its branches. The mining engineer I
must not only be we'll versed in the !
ntricacies of his profession, but ana /
,ly endowed with imagination, that
lie may be equally able to determine {
what is based upon fact and what is ]