The Parker post., 1917-07-21
MINING INVESTMENTS.

offers greater profits if it yields any
at all, and no other industry has the
same fascination as mining. One
should not forget that there is risk,
often great, in any form of business.
1t is claimed that 95 per cent of
those engaged in legitimate forms of
business fail The percentage OF
failures of real mines, not wildcat"
schemes is certainly much lower
than this now. since scientific tech
nical training and the application OF
business principles to the industry
have removed much of the element of
wild speculation which. once sur
rounded it.
How, then, can a man become in
terested in mining with the greatest
degree of safety? If tempted to buy
a small amount of stock, secure the
opinion Of a good engineer concern
ing the company, and be sure that it
Is not over capitalized, and that the
proceeds from the sale of stock will
go into the development of the prop
erty. Follow the engineers advice,
regardless of personal inclination.
Another inexpensive method in
wolves the grubstaking of one OF
more energetic and experienced pros
pectors. A prospecting party con-
sisting of one practical miner and
one scientifically trained man with
good knowledge of mineralogy is
most apt to be successful.
If one has a few thousand dollars
to invest, the best plan is to pur-
chase a controlling interest in a
promising prospect after securing a
favorable report from a competent
and unprejudiced mining engineer
and geologist. An examination of
this kind will cost several hundred
dollars, but this money is we'll ex-
pended. One cannot hope to secure
a controlling interest in a developed
mine for a few thousand dollars, so,
in following this advice, one must
accept the risk which always accom-
panies the exploitation Of an unde-
veloped prospect. If, however, one
has been guided by the advice of
good engineer, this risk need be no
= To, IN
vestment in many legitimate busi
ness enterprises; and the prospect
may yield returns enormously larger
than one can hope to secure from any
other form of investment.
The best plan of all is for a score
or more Of people to form a syndicate
for the purpose of securing control
of and developing several promising
prospects. If each member Of the
syndicate contributes $25 to $50 a
month, or even less, it will not be
long before a sufficient sum accumu-
lates to permit active research for
prospects to begin. One or two ex-
perts can then be employed to ex-
anime prospects brought to the at
tention of the syndicate; and even
If no good prospects are found and
the syndicate is forced to disband so
much money can be returned to
members of the syndicate shat no
individual will suffer any consider
able loss.
If such a syndicate is kept in op-
Grafton long enough, favorable re-
suits are almost certain. especially
if two or three promising prospects
are acquired, for, if one proves profit
able, the gains from it will much
more more than counterbalance the
losses resulting from several failures.
By following this plan, a small
group of Mississippi valley teachers
cleared 100000 in a few years at a
cost of $40 per month, while a group
of Denver lawyers made millions In
this way through operations in
Creede and Cripple Creek.
This is virtually the plan followed
by the Guggenheims and other great
exploration and development COM
panies, 1t reduces mining to a
business involving very little risk,
and removes money expended in min
ing from the realm of wild specula-
tion to that of fairly safe investment