Show THE prospector butte mining review dw As an individual the prospector is not as thoroughly understood or appreciated as he ought to be in the early mining days of the west he was not always an altogether lovely character perhaps no beter than the popular notion of him but the modern representative of the class is very much of a business man who follows the profession strictly for what there is in it who is not without considerable technical information in his line gained by reading the mining periodicals and the many manuals of geology mineralogy etc that have been published of late and who always has that love of nature which is necessary if one expects to understand her and fathom her mysteries generally he has a few localities which ne lie thinks more of than others has range so to speak and to the exploration of which he will return year after year until his search is rewarded or he becomes utterly discouraged he rarely is without a good outfit and an amplem stock of grub and tools if at times he looks unkempt it is because the campaign has been a hard one and the luck poor generally he can dig out of his kit when the circumstances warrant it as good a suit of clothes and underclothing as the average man he is at the foundation of the american metal mining industry its cornerstone there is no such thing as a spanish russian italian french german or even english prospector the mining laws of those nations affords no opportunities for such a man and accordingly their mining industry does not amount to much but there are plenty of cf american prospectors of foreign birth men who have naturally the instincts cf the profession and who would be amply able to make something out of the mineral resources of their native lands if the rulers thereof had the wit to give them the chance lacking that they come to american mountains and are doing their share in transferring them from an wilderness to the finest field the world has ever known of the method followed by the average prospector is to discover a lode and develop it sufficiently to show up an attractive vein of mineral he is essentially a adis discoverer co berer and not a producer his love of an out door life and of the mountain peaks Is too great to permit him to work long underground he will sell too at reasonable prices if the real investor and developer and the real prospector could get together oftener there would be fewer disappointing mining minin g sales and a larger percentage or of successes |