Show A MINE AND A PROSPECT there is all the difference in the world between a mine and a prospect the difference ott times being that the most promising prospect will require several years of systematic and intelligent work and the expenditure pend iture of several thousand dollars before it can take rank as even a limited producer 1 there are many who know know but little about mining affairs who labor under the impression that if they have a prospect they are possessed of a mine to a certain extent they may be right in their conclusions but it will be an undeveloped mine that they own and of no more present value as far as the production of the precious metals is concerned than would be so much vacant I 1 ground out on the desert it is true that a good prospect has a certain intrinsic value and this value will have a fluctuating tendency according as its merits may impress intending buyers but it is not until the claim or group of claims has been developed by means of shafts tunnels drifts cross cuts dinzes and upraises up raises and the ore bodies exposed and blocked out for measurement that a prospect can rightly be classed as a mine and its relative actual value ascertained and demonstrated good good ground has value but undeveloped it is far f from having a mine valuation for this reason one of the best avenues for legitimate mine operation is to acquire a good prospect develop it into a regular pro producer ducer when it can be passed up to heavy mining syndicates at a very handsome profit and more money is often made by this method than could be acquired by the purchase of a mine with the expectation that it can afterwards be sold at an advance over the purchase price every mine was once a prospect and its development into a paying spaying proposition into a mine worth its many thousands and even its millions has bas invariably been attended by many hardships many discouragements discourage ments and many setbacks perchance during its development stage it has changed hands a number of times and it is quite possible that it has lost money for some of its various owners but this cannot be charged up against the mine but to bad management or lack of experience and ability every prospect will not make a mine this would be a physical impossibility even if millions were spent in its development and for the reason that the mineral is not there or if present it is in such small quantity or it is so low in grade that it is commercially valueless the mining alining review advocates the acqui acqua of a prospect rather than the investment of heavy capital in a developed mine but before a purchase of a prospect is i made it should be subjected to a most careful examination and report by competent engineers and geologists if these endorse the proposition and advise its purchase the chances are that d a few thousand dollars intelligently telli gently employed in its development will work 1 a transformation that will give to the mining industry a regular and heavy producer and a gilt edged dividend payer it is really wonderful the large number of promising prospects there are in this western country that are only awaiting the advent of capital for their development into bonanza propositions the mountains are full of them and hundreds more are yet to be discovered and yet if a man lacks patience perseverance per piar good sound judgment and a few thousands in the coin of the realm he had better let the prospect alone and seek some occupation where his labor will bring him a regular income as it is better that he should steer clear of mining than to engage in this fascinating and ultimately profitable pursuit than he should make a beginning and not be able to follow the development of a prospect through its various stages until money and labor expended is rewarded by the giving to the world of a new wealth producer |