Show economics 0 of f mining gold ores there exists an all inexorable economic law that can be stated in precise words as follows when conditions of the country are prosperous the purchasing value of gold per ounce decreases when the conditions of the country are depressive the purchasing value of an ounce of gold increases in other words this same rule can call be stated thus at the present time of abnormal prices the gold producers are seriously handicapped by tile tremendous increase in the cost of supplies plus the inefficiency of labor which has affected the producers of the noble metal to such an extent that in a good many instances they have been compelled to curtail their production and in many cases completely cease operations at least all of them are seriously hampered to the extent that they show great inroads on their profits As an all example of the increased cost of supplies we cani can take for purposes of illustration one of the essentials of mining namely dynamite this article of necessity shows an increase in in cost varying A ii the different camps canias from 60 to per cent at salt lake city during tile the early part of 1914 powder possessing a strength of 40 per cent was quoted at cents per pound at the present day this same quality of explosive approaches ap roaches a price in the neighborhood of IS cents what has been said with respect to ex plosives plo can also be made to apply to 1 0 th tl increase in cot cost CO t of steel rails turn sheets sheet limber umber drill steel and all other supplies 1112 s re e quiren in active prosecution of 1111 mining ning operations erat ions difficult to secure machinery it is a positive fact that the question of 0 securing mining machinery in a limited tim is well nigh impossible and as a corollary cor allary to tile the above it can also be said that most of the secondary mining machinery supply houses have been absolutely stripped 0 of all their available supplies where tile the above condition has affected the producers of silver copper lead zinc and tungsten they have as a rule been more than amply repaid by tile the increase in in value of the metals they produce with respect to the production of lead it can be stated that the average cost der pound of lead produced in the united states is 35 cents per pound on present quotations for this metal the producers are averaging wel I 1 nigh per cent profit per pound this increase in profit greatly of offsets the increased cost of operating an and augurs in favor of large dividends for tho the producers of this metal what has been said of copper and lead is somewhat true of silver as witness the increase of earnings of the producers of the white metal in the camps of cobalt and tonopah To effect of increased cost now as to tile the effect of the increase in cost of labor and supplies to the mines pro gold it can safely be said that on oil an average it has caused their cost of production per ton to increase as a general rule 20 per cent and in a good many instances over 50 per cent of course it is to be granted that a good many of the larer companies have long term contracts cov ering the purchasing of their supplies but bui even at that they have been affected by decrease in efficiency of their employees at juneau alaska one of the nia managers lingers of one of the largest low grade gold operations stated that with tile the same number of employees lie could only break 65 per cent of the tonnage that lie he formerly broke and lie he ascribed this condition primarily to his efficient miners leaving this camp for the allurement offered in the nature of higher wages maintained at butte bisbee and other centers of copper production especially is this migration true of the unmarried miner in passing it may be said that the increased cost of living and the environment possessed by the larger camps to part one that it i from his liard hard earned cash are such off than leaves the ordinary miner worse had lie he remained at his old location aher annorina ab norina prices for food and lodging are not limited and the evils of temptation are and economics in tile major pre of the gold op orations erat ions entrenchments ments along all lines of endeavor have been placed in effect and in many instances economics have been put into practice that have considerably altered and materially decreased costs at porcupine ontario the hallinger and dome mines owing to the difficulty in so curing good efficient miners have been compelled to curtail their operations and it is said that this condition has become so serious at the dome mine that it necessitated the suspension of considerable development As a general rule an employed running a machine drill ordinarily knows what is 13 expected of him to constitute a full shifts work and the same can be said of the and trammels tr ammers but nowadays it becomes an offense on the part of the shift boss to in any way intimate that a man is not doing what is expected of him As a result the employed emp loye if reprimanded for dicing sabotage has his ire aroused gets on oil his dignity and immediately quits in the black hills south dakota particularly ticul arly that territory adjacent to lead the majority of companies operating low grade gold deposits are either losing money or at best earning greatly reduced profits machine drillers drillars Dr illers in demand it has been stated that the great homo home stake mine is short approximately to men and particularly in demand are skilled miners in order to operate the machine drills in the fifth annual report of the alaska gold mines company for the year ending december 1916 manager bart L thane stated as follows the heavy increase in the cost of all classes of material during 1916 ranged from 25 to 50 per cent over that of 1915 and also the labor conditions were unsatisfactory because of skilled miners constantly leaving this district for the copper camps when higher wages were being paid their places had to be filled by untrained men in a report issued recently by the mount morgan gold mining company operating I 1 at queensland australia an all increase in the cost of operating was estimated at approximately 70 cents per ton over the previous half year have increased wages As a rule the various gold producing camps of the united states have been forced to increase the wages of their employee employed this has amounted to approximately 15 pei der cent and as a rule a minimum wage of per day exists in most of the gold mining milling districts of colorado arizona and south dakota the larger mines such as the home stake portland gold roads tom reed and united eastern report a shortage in all cases of good miners and as a rule are unable to compete on the same terms as are offered by the large copper producers and lead camps it is interesting to notice the comparison in the cost of supplies for the year 1914 and those of 1917 and the following is a list of a number of articles absolutely essential to mining showing their the abnormal increase in all cases they average close to 58 per cent satisfactory men not procurable As a whole with reference to the labor question it has been found almost impossible to secure the necessary or satisfactory men at the old standard scale of wages and instances the good men are in a good many t being held by giving them certain contract work in other instances while the wages of the employed emp loyes have not been increased the cost of boarding them has not been advanced and although an increase of at least 25 per cent is shown in the cost of boarding operations this increase is borne by the mining company and directly charged to mining it can be concisely stated that the in creased cost of producing the gold ores has shown an all increase of 20 per cent and in a good many instances has seriously affected the earning capacity of these properties of course these conditions cannot last forever and the producers of gold shall have their inning some day when conditions readjust themselves and become normal |