The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1923-05-10

(By T. A. Richard, contributing edi-
tor Engineering and Mining Journal
Press.)
Recent letters in our columns prove
that the diminution in the number OF
prospecrors ana the decreased chances
Of making money by prospecting are
subjects of immediate interest to the
mining fraternity. The prospector
has not disappeared" yet, as is OBJ
servable whenever a locality comes
into the glare of publicity but his
ranks are thinning so fast that it is
proper to inquire into the causes; for
the prospector is the pioneer of min
ing, and prospecting is the first step
in the making of mines. The infer
ence that the chances of discovery
have been exhausted betokens a lack
of knowledge concerning the hinter-
lands of mining The unexplored re-
giOns are still extensive; there re-
mains plenty of room for intelligent
prospecting; the Arctic and the trop-
les alike still contain much undiscov-
cred ore, pinned under snow or yelled
in jungle. Canada and Siberia, cen
trail Africa and equatorial America,
contain big tracts that know not the
miners pick. Old mines, like the
Chino and the Ray, may be reopened,
and on them large productive enter
prises may be based; but in the last
resort the continued expansion of the
mining industry depends upon the
finding of fresh prospects. For that
we look to the prospector. Some say
that the day of the old fashioned I'M
scientific seeker for ore is gone, and
that the mines of the future will be
found by means of scientific search
under the direction of the geologist
and his technical assistants That is
only partly true. We judge the future
by the past; the discoveries of the last
thirty years have not resulted from
scientific search; for example, Grip
pie Creek, GOldfeld, Cobalt and Por-
cupine. Individual deposits may have
responded to the scientific touch, as
those of the Mandy and Miami mines;
but they are exceptional. and both of
these owed something to the unpre-
tentious prospector that brought the |
mining geOlogist on the scene II is !
true, luck will play less part in the flu
ture because of a diminution in the |
number of rich outcrops that lie ex-
posed to the casual seeker; most of |
them have been located, in both senses
Of the word. Successful prospecting
will call more and more for systematic
Investigation, including mapping and
seologizing and for technical meth
IDS outside the ken of the average
In a letter on this subject, Mr.
Thomas A. Blair lays stress on the
diminishing chances of
making money, because prospects are
objected today to a severer inspec-
ion than they were in the past, and
money is not paid by the speculator
hat is true. The mining public, de-
pite the periodic crop of simpletons,
more sophisticated than it used to
e. thanks, I think, to the technical
ress. Prospects are not bought by
heerful Adventures on the spur of :
he moment; on the contrary, an ex-
mination by a cautious engineer in
ariably precedes an agreement to =
Large sums in cash are =
OF paid after a hasty visit to a pros
ect because a small payment suf-
ces to obtain an option for a period y
ing enough to permit further explor- II
ton, to which so many nice-loolSing
respects succumb. The operation Il
ay be said to be successful, but it
jures the health of the prospector.
hat is why he looks askance at the
)ung mining engineers of today; to
m the modern technician is a spoil ii
'Ort, if not worse. He imagines the h
ming profession to be his enemy. Fl
1t in this he is mistaken He is sim III
Y the victim of a collision between pi
e old spirit of careless adventure tn
ID the new spirit of sagacious enter M
Use. SO I grant that the 1essening pr
ance of beguiling an undiscriminat- Sc
: Spectator provides one of the rea- tn
MS why the prospector's calling has M
come less remunerative; another is to
3 variety of mining enterprise tn
itch calls for a more extensive
owledge of minerals and ore depos-
Formerly the precious metals tw
re the object of search almost ex- co
sively. Now Il is tbs base metals. Ca