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Show II The Market and the Mines I iff It would be hard to imagine more unfavorable Ml general conditions for the earning of mine profits IjPj than those that have prevailed for a month past. Ijg Silver and copper prices were weak and lead had Wm, almost to be given away. Storms interf erred Mm with transportation by wagon and, in many in- IHk stances, interrupted the transmission of electrical S power over the long distance lines. And yet Utah Mr mines in March will pay more than $450,000 in H j dividends. The Silver King Coalition hands out H I a quarterly of $187,500 as profits from its silver H I and lead and the Utah Consolidated comes B I through with another quarterly of $150,000, de- I' rived from copper. The $37,000 payment by Sioux j ,; s Con. for the month is a reduction if 3 cents a Wm share, but this was a case in which a reduction, H: in dividends actually contributes to the popularity Hi!- of a stock. In well-informed quarters the pre- Hi , vious rate of 8 cents caused more misgivings than H jf elation among well-wishers of the company. There H s was no question that the Sioux was earning the H 8-cent profit, but it was felt that a larger portion H' of the earnings should be put into the reserve H funds as insurance against the unfox-seen mishaps H J that afflict the best regulated mining companies, H f and also as a guarantee of the continuance of di- H . vidends over a long period. In brief, a great ma- fl , ' jorlty of the Sioux shareholders prefer smaller dl- '.' vidends and more of them, to higher payments m 'i which might cease altogether at some unexpect- M I ed hitch in production. The 5-cent rate strikes f most people as about right for the present and B confidence is generally expressed that such a 1 dividend can be continued for years under pres- HL ent conditions and increased when the ore re- Hp serves grow bigger, or the metal market betters K itself. Ore reserves are the hall-maik of a mine. More than a treasury reserve; more than high dividends; divi-dends; more than high market quotations commercial commer-cial ore blocked out in underground chambers bespeaks intrinsic value. So well is this understood under-stood by men who deal in millions that they consider con-sider little else In making their purchases, but insist on this demonstration. Therein lies the great market strength of such properties as the 1 ah Copper, the Boston Consolidated, Utah Consolidated, Con-solidated, Ohio Copper and Ray Consolidated. Men who have labored in vain to interest capital capi-tal in somo gilt-edged prospect, are surprised at the promptitude with which fresh stock and bond issues in these great companies are snapped up, but the explanation is simple: Capital is brave almost heroic when it can see, reel, weigh and measure the goods it buys, and timid only when an offering calls for some exercise of the Imagination. tIJ t t5 The peculiarity of capital indicated above accounts ac-counts for the rapid advance of Ohio Copper during dur-ing the last week. The man with an average imagination was as willing to believe that the Ohio ore body extended from the 500 to the 1,000-foot 1,000-foot level befoie the tunnel connection was made as afterward. But all capital is from Missouri on a proposition of this sort. The issue of $250,-000 $250,-000 of additional Boston Consolidated stock will be promptly taken up in London, simply because the buyers can be shown that ore of far greater value is in the ground. The Ray Consolidated, on the same principle, has been able to acquire a cash fund of two million dollars without difficulty. diffi-culty. A seeming exception is the Newhouse Mines & Smelters company, but its weakness is a temporary condition, partly due to the fact that the greatness of the Cuctus mine is not appreciated appre-ciated in the money markets. 5 ti?5 c5 There are some weak spots In the local stock market, but its general condition is excellent. One of the best things about it is its responsiveness respon-siveness to the news from the field. The manner In which it rose to meet the development in Ohio Copper has been mentioned. A minor st:-iko in the domain of the Plutus was quickly reflect- I ed in the pit. Improvement in its vicinity put Black Jack up a few points. That is the way a well-trained market should act. We can all re- 1 member the days when a reported strike was the y signal for a drop in prices and a pessimistic ru- 1 mor brought first aid to the injured In the form 1 of an advance. Those were the signs of a nur- j row bear news because everyone suspected everyone ev-eryone else of a desire to unload. i iv i3 Any number of the boys on 'change would pay a stiff price for a peep into the drift the Iron Blossom is said to be running southward from the end of Its east drift. The Iron Blossom seems determined to settle as quickly as possible pos-sible the long standing controversy as to the southerly course of the Colorado-Sioux ledge. It is hardly to be expected that this costly investigation in-vestigation is being made merely to ease the mind of the public, or that the result of the search will be given out before the folks who are paying for It get in on the good things revealed by their exploration. Once let it be known that the Iron Blossom crowd is buying Tintlc Central, P Iron Blossom Extension or Carissa and the fa-fored fa-fored stock will become the sensation of the hour. Facts concerning the opening up of the Colorado ledge from the Iron Blossom's norti shaft are coming in slowly. The information is general in character. It consists chiefly of statements state-ments that the ore is "the richest ever" and the body "big and growing bigger all the time." t t5 Considerable importance is attached to the showing made lately in the Tintic Standard, the Eureka Lily and other claims in the same section. sec-tion. As they are on the frontier of the producing produc-ing area, their success in the search for ore will mark the definite extension of the paying veins to the northeast of the recognized mineral district. The Lily's strike has been made on the 200-level. In a south drift. The ore shoot apparently dip3 to the north. The Standard has a full face of ore, richest in lead, in a crosscut on. its 525-foot level. Botweenthe Lily and the Standard the East Tin-tic Tin-tic Development company is setting up its new plant of machinery, which is to be paid for by the sale of 50,000 shares of treasury stock. It is a safe assumption that the ore body lately discovered dis-covered by this company has proved to be large, for otherwise the expenditure of a large sum for surface equipment would not have been undertaken. under-taken. Manager A. D. Moffat, of the Majestic, in Beaver county, has set about doing the things that should have been done by his predecessors. Most important of these is the development of a safe and sane ore reserve in the Harrington-Hickory. Harrington-Hickory. He is saving some shipping material, but the quantity is small compared with the amount of ore left behind in his exploratory campaign. cam-paign. Had the eai-ly managers of the Majestic been equally careful to provide for their future necessities, the company might have been spared much tribulation. t fcj t,y Word trom Alta is to the effect that the Columbus Co-lumbus Consolidated has shipped about 3000 tons from the shoot opened in the west drift on the 400 level, and Is opening up an Immense tonnage by means of an upraise. It is known that the body is at least 20 feet thick and extends horizontally hori-zontally 150 feet, with a long rise toward the surface. sur-face. At Bingham, encouraging results are recorded re-corded by the Bingham Central-Standard. The Mountain Maid tunnel has exposed two feet of shipping ore and many more feet of the milling grade. The listing of the Lion Hill Consolidated of Ophir has been a great stimulant tb interest in that Tooele county camp, and is regarded as the forerunner of other listings from the same section. |