Show Concerning Prospects I For every developed dividendpay I ing mine there are 100 buyers for every buyer of an undeveloped prospect there are 100 sellers This war the observa selers tion of a mineowner in conversation with the editor of the Intermountain Mining Review and he described the situation precisely He might have elaborated and stated that few eastern capitalists desire to invest in anything except a gold mine equipped with a mill and in profitable operation And some investors insist that the ore be free milling looking with disfavor upon any process more complicated than the stamp battery and copper plates Some also will have nothing to do with ore that carries silver preferring 10 in gold alone to 50 in gold and 25 ounces i in silver While it is not true that I there is no market for undeveloped properties the supply greatly exceeds the demand and prospects can only be sold at such low prices as will tempt capital to brave the risk involved in the development of a mining claim For capital is inclined toward the sure thing in mining as in everything else There is a lesson for the prospector in the present situation That lesson is that a prosepct will not command the price of a mine Nothing risked nothing gained and if the claimown er insists upon capital assuming the risk then capital must be given the opportunity op-portunity for the gain These remarks are justified by the fact that the development de-velopment of many districts in Utah and Idaho is retarded by the attitude of the claimowner The moment a possible pos-sible purchaser appears upon the field prices go balooning After the disappointed disap-pointed investor has found that everything every-thing is held beyond his reach and has quit the camp the claimowner gets back to the earth a fit of despondency ensues and the lethargy of capital is bemoaned People who have not the means to develop their holdings should fix such prices upon at least a portion of them as will induce sales And even after every encouragement ha been offered eastern investors the mining region must depend largely upon its mines for there are not purchasers for onehalf the claims upon which surface sur-face indications justify the expenditure expendi-ture of money A hole in the ground is not a mine I behooves prospectors to develop their claims to the full extent of their abilities Every dollar thus expended is likely to return a hundred fold Claim owners who are unable to develop de-velop or unwilling to take the chances should place their properties within the reach of those who will develop |