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[Illustration: UTAH COPPER COMPANY'S OPEN PIT MINE, BINGHAM, UTAH.
This Mountain is Copper Ore.]
THE BUSINESS
OF MINING
A BRIEF, NON-TECHNICAL EXPOSITION
OF THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE
PROFITABLE OPERATION OF MINES
BY
ARTHUR J. HOSKIN, M.E.,
CONSULTING AND GENERAL MINING ENGINEER; WESTERN EDITOR, "MINES
AND MINERALS"; FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF MINING, COLORADO SCHOOL
OF MINES; MEMBER, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS;
MEMBER, COLORADO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY
_WITH 16 FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND ONE CHART_
[Illustration: Publisher's Logo]
PHILADELPHIA & LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1912
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PUBLISHED JULY, 1912
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
I. WHAT IS A MINE? 4
II. WHAT IS MINING? 12
III. THE ANTIQUITY OF MINING 22
IV. MINING'S PLACE IN COMMERCE 28
V. THE FINDING OF MINES 39
VI. MINING CLAIMS 46
VII. PLACERING 60
VIII. OPEN MINING 72
IX. CONSIDERATIONS PRECEDING THE OPENING OF MINES 78
X. MINE OPENINGS 93
XI. TYPES OF ORE BODIES 107
XII. THE QUESTIONS OF DEPTH AND GRADES OF ORE 115
XIII. VALUATION OF MINING PROPERTY 129
XIV. THE MINE PROMOTER 134
XV. INCORPORATION AND CAPITALIZATION 140
XVI. MINING INVESTMENTS 148
XVII. MINE EQUIPMENTS 154
XVIII. MINE MANAGEMENT 162
XIX. PRICES OF METALS 170
XX. MINE ACCOUNTING 179
XXI. INVESTMENT IN MINING STOCKS 185
XXII. THE MEN OF THE FUTURE IN MINING 202
XXIII. MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS 210
CAPITALIZATION AND DIVIDENDS OF NORTH
AMERICAN METAL MINES 216
INDEX 221
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
UTAH COPPER COMPANY'S OPEN PIT MINE, BINGHAM, UTAH _Frontispiece_
HACKETT MINE AND MILL, JOPLIN, MO. 12
COAL WASHING PLANT, PANA, ILLINOIS 16
UNIVERSAL MINE, CLINTON, IND. 20
KENNEDY MINE, JACKSON, CAL. 30
A GILPIN COUNTY, COL., SCENE 52
DREDGES OF YUBA CONSOLIDATED GOLDFIELDS, HAMMONTON,
CAL. 66
THE SNOWSTORM PLACER, FAIRPLAY, COL. 70
STEAM SHOVELS AND CHURN DRILLS, COPPER FLAT, ELY,
NEV. 74
MILL OF THE PITTSBURG-SILVER PEAK GOLD MINING
CO., BLAIR, NEV. 88
MILLS AND SHAFT HOUSE OF DALY WEST MINE, PARK
CITY, UTAH 100
SHAFT NO. 3, TAMARACK MINING CO., CALUMET, MICH. 114
SMELTERY OF THE BALAKLALA CONSOLIDATED COPPER
CO., CORAM, CAL. 114
WASHOE REDUCTION WORKS OF THE ANACONDA COPPER
MINING CO., ANACONDA, MONT. 118
MILL OF THE ROODEPOORT-UNITED MINES, TRANSVAAL,
SOUTH AFRICA 148
SPRAY SHAFT HOUSE OF COPPER QUEEN CONSOLIDATED
MINING CO., BISBEE, ARIZ. 160
DIAGRAM OF METAL MARKET FOR ONE-THIRD OF A CENTURY 178
FLORENCE MINE AND MILL, GOLDFIELD, NEV. 200
THE BUSINESS OF MINING
INTRODUCTION
There is probably no line of human activity that is not beset with
malicious and ignorant intruders. The fact that any occupation or
business is really legitimate seems often to stimulate the operations of
these disreputable persons.
Mining does not escape the application of this postulate. For ages, the
industry has afforded most fertile opportunities for the machinations of
the unscrupulous and the erring. Somehow, there weaves throughout the
history of mining a sort of magnetism rendering us unduly susceptible to
the allurements which are presented with every mining proposition.
It is not, however, always intentional deceit that is perpetrated upon
the unwary. Often, mining failures result from actual ignorance of the
business upon the part of those entrusted with its conduct, or if not
from actual lack of knowledge, then from erroneous conceptions with the
consequent misapplication of honest endeavor. A victim of such misplaced
faith is perhaps more leniently inclined than is the person who has been
duped by a "shark," but the effect upon the great industry is hurtful in
either case.
The purpose of this short monograph will be served if the author can
feel assured that his readers will finish its perusal with the belief
that mining may be followed as a business with just as much assurance of
success as attaches to any one of the many lines of industrial activity.
Many persons who have sustained losses in mining ventures deserve no
sympathy whatever, since they have not exercised even the simplest
precautions. So long as men--or women--will take as fact the word of any
untrained or inexperienced individual concerning investments, just so
long will there be resultant financial losses, no matter what the line
of business. Because there have been elements of chance observed in the
records of mining, this business appeals to the speculative side of our
human natures, with the result that untold numbers of individuals have
had ample reason to regret their ventures. But, as will be found in the
text matter, mining can be relied upon with precisely as much assurance
as can any other business.
Nothing of a technical or engineering sort has been attempted herein,
the sole aim of the writer being to establish the reliability and the
credit of the mining industry as a whole by pointing out the lines of
conduct which should be followed by those who enter its precincts as
business people. When investors of small or large means will put their
money into mining projects with the same precautions that they would
exercise in placing their cash in other enterprises, they will be
rewarded with corresponding remuneration. In this firm conviction, then,
this little work is dedicated to the intelligence of American laymen in
mining matters.
I
WHAT IS A MINE?
Before entering into a discussion of the economic features of the mining
industry, it will be well to be sure that we understand, definitely,
what is meant by mining. As one investigates the question, he is bound
to run across varying shades of meaning for the words _Mine_ and
_Mining_, and so we must pause long enough to define these words
according to the best usages.
A search through works on mining written at various periods reveals
differing ideas that have prevailed among authors. Less than a hundred
years ago, it was said that a mine "consists of subterranean workings
from which valuable minerals are extracted." One early writer said that
a mine is one only when the operations are conducted in the absence of
daylight. As time has created new fields for the industry, we find that
ideas concerning the meaning of the word mine have necessarily altered,
until now (according to The Coal and Metal Miners' Pocketbook), we may
think of a mine as "any excavation made for the extraction of minerals."
Under this definition, we properly think of the rather unusual
operations of marketing coal right from the surface of the earth, in
eastern Kansas, as mining. There is, in this case, no covering of earth
above the workmen; neither are the operations necessarily carried on at
night to avoid the illumination of the sun.
So, also, placers are now correctly spoken of as mines, although but a
few years ago there was drawn a strict line, eliminating such worked
deposits from the category of mines. One may still run across a few men
who are sticklers upon the point that a placer is not a mine. Throughout
the world, at the present time, there are many places where immense
deposits of valuable minerals are being excavated from open pits by
out-of-doors methods, and our common term for these places is mines.
Thus, in Minnesota, in that wonderful Lake Superior country, that is
famous as the world's greatest known producer of iron ore, tremendous
tonnages are handled every year by the modern steam shovel, which works
in natural light by day and by electric lamps at night. In Utah and
Nevada we find similar operations conducted in the excavation of copper
ores. In Australia, the famous Mount Morgan mine is using open air
methods in the mining of precious metal ore.
But what about quarries from which are taken building stone, salt,
kaolin or clay? Are not such substances of the mineral kingdom? Here we
run across a hitch in the definition quoted above; for while we hear of
"salt mines" (not "salted mines"), our parlance has not, as yet,
warranted this term except for such excavations of salt as are carried
on in subterranean deposits; and it is quite out of place to speak of
stone or clay mines.
Evidently we must pass through another transition in our conceptions
about mines, or we must permit quarries and pits to be included within
our realm of mines. At the present time, the prevailing practice of the
men best qualified in such matters is to designate as mines those
workings from which only coal, metallic ores, or gems are extracted.
Hence, we should not speak of a slate, sulphur, mica, clay or phosphate
mine.
And yet, with all the above restriction in our nomenclature, we have not
reached one very important consideration, one which we have been
approaching for a number of years and which, of late, has been met and
forcibly applied by the best men in the profession of mining
engineering.
An excavation that will produce coal, metals or gems is not necessarily
a mine. The simple fact that a man can get some gold-bearing dirt from a
hole in the ground does not mean that he has a mine. The occasional
finding of a diamond on the sidewalks of a great city does not give
anybody the impression that city sidewalks are diamond mines. There are
many places in which small amounts of combustible coal can be scratched
from its natural depository, but no company appears to think highly
enough of these seams to install machinery and to carry on operations.
In the eastern part of Kentucky there are well-defined deposits of
lead-bearing baryta, though, up to date, their development has not
proved successful. In Brazil there are known to be very rich areas of
placer ground, and still the deposits are not worked. A friend of the
writer discovered some very good gold-bearing gravels in Alaska, but he
was unable to mine.
There is something besides the presence of valuable minerals and the
ability to win them from their natural matrices that is essential to a
mine. It is here, in our considerations of the mining industry, that we
come into real economic notions for the first time. Yes, according to
the latest ideas, we are wrong in stating that any worked or workable
mineral deposit is a mine, _if it does not contain possibilities of
profitable working_. This is now the prime thought of every up-to-date
mining manager or engineer. It is this notion that will distinguish a
mine from a prospect. The prospect may become a mine by proving itself
profitably workable: if it simply carries values which cannot be
realized to advantage, then it must continue as a mere prospect. There
are cases of properties which possess rich deposits and which are
loosely called mines. These properties may be observed to be erratic in
their productiveness, owing to the very pockety nature of the deposits;
and the owners, although they do, indeed, strike occasional handsome
bonanzas, expend all the profits of such finds--or even greater
amounts--in searching for other pockets. Is such work profitable? Is it
mining?
The trouble with the cited placers of South America is that climatic,
hygienic and political conditions have been antagonistic to successful
working: the ground is rich, but it cannot be handled to make money. In
the case of the Alaska gravels, there was no available, though
essential, water supply. The Kentucky galena cannot be economically
separated from the containing heavy spar. Coal, which is sold at
comparatively low figures per ton, must be handled at the mines in
large quantities to pay, so that a thin seam or a scattered deposit is
not suitable for mining.
Under these restrictions of our new definitions, we run across many
interesting points. For instance, one may ask the question about the old
abandoned hole in the ground which is occasionally found by prospectors,
"Is it a mine?" The answer can be simply another query as to whether the
hole was abandoned because it contained no value, or because, containing
value, it could not be profitably worked. As we think of mines nowadays,
we can conceive several reasons why, before the advent of transportation
lines and the invention of modern metallurgical processes and many forms
of labor-saving machinery now so common in and about mines, many very
rich deposits may have been necessarily forsaken by their discoverers.
But such a property would, if now worked, probably prove highly
profitable. We thus note that there exists some elasticity in the
meaning of the word mine. An unprofitable project at one time may
develop into a mine at a later period. Many gold mines have become
worthless propositions merely through changes in the ore that have
rendered further work unremunerative.
II
WHAT IS MINING?
Having considered the accepted definition of a mine, let us now extend
our reasoning a little and inquire just what is meant by mining. At
first thought, one would say that mining is, in a broad sense, the art
or practice of excavating, at a profit, the ores of metals, the beds of
coal, the gravels of placers and the deposits containing precious
stones. Are we justified in letting this definition stand as it is? If
we do not make any change, we must exclude all quarries, sand banks,
clay pits, and the numerous sorts of works that are producing the
non-metallic minerals of commerce. Very well, since we find good usage
will warrant us, we will do so.
[Illustration: HACKETT MINE AND MILL, JOPLIN, MISSOURI.]
Still, there are other pertinent questions arising. Does the practice of
mining cover the treatment of the excavated products? Here we run across
a mooted point. The British and the American uses of the word mining
seem to be a bit different in this regard. Upon the Rand, South Africa,
a territory dominated by Englishmen, every mine is equipped with its own
mill, and all notions of mining cover the inseparable idea of local ore
treatment. Here, in our country, there are many, many mines which have
absolutely no means of treating their own products and the managers give
no thought whatever to metallurgical or milling lines. There are, on the
other hand, many companies that have erected private plants at their
mines for the extraction of metallic contents from the ores. Here it
may, or it may not, happen that the operations of mining are considered
as distinct from those of treatment. In some instances, as at the
Tonopah Mining Company's plants, there is separate superintendence of
the milling and the mining; but in the Joplin, Missouri, zinc region one
superintendent looks after the running of a mine and its omnipresent
mill.
There may be drawn a sharp distinction between what is really mining and
what is the subsequent treatment of the ores for the extraction of
values. The latter field is denoted _Metallurgy_ when the operations are
of such a nature as to actually recover or extract metallic products or
metals. If the treatment process has for its object merely the rejection
of some of the worthless materials in the original ore, thus causing a
concentration of the valuable minerals, but without actually obtaining
any metal, then the term _Ore Dressing_ is warranted. At some mines,
there is maintained a practice of culling out, often by hand, a certain
percentage of the obviously worthless ingredients of the ore before
shipping the products to treatment plants. This is neither milling,
metallurgy, nor ore dressing, but is more properly called _Sorting_. It
is one of the operations connected with mining. Milling may be either
ore dressing or metallurgy.
In the operations of placering, there is a simultaneous _excavation_ of
a deposit and an _extraction_ of the valuable contents. In this case,
shall we call the process mining or metallurgy? If it is a gold placer,
one may see the recovery of the metallic values. Here, the usage of the
majority of practical mining men will uphold us in always speaking of
the work as mining.
In its original significance and use, metallurgy involved the use of
fire for the concentration and recovery of metals. With recent advances
in chemistry, there have been numerous discoveries of wet or fireless
methods for arriving at equivalent results, so that it is now perfectly
proper to allow the word metallurgy to cover such processes as
cyanidation, chlorination, electrolysis, and the host of new inventions
that are continually appearing.
The writer has consulted a number of authorities on mining lines to
ascertain just what sort of a position to give to the practice of ore
dressing. Prof. Robert H. Richards, the head of the mining department in
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the inventor of machines
which have made him famous among mining men, says, "Ore dressing is an
essential part of mining. The whole object of ore dressing is to remove
gangue before shipment and so save in freight and treatment charges."
Mr. A. G. Charleton, the eminent English mining engineer and author of
numerous books, in discussing this question, writes, "Personally, I am
of the opinion that ore dressing should be included in mining." One has
but to look through the catalogues of most of the American and foreign
mining schools to find that little or no line is drawn between the
courses in mining and metallurgy, and almost universally the dressing of
a mine's product is taken up as an inseparable part of mining. In a very
few exceptions, the courses of study are so planned as to draw an
imaginary line between mining and metallurgy, and in these instances,
ore dressing is placed with metallurgy only for convenience in the use
and arrangement of college laboratories. But, since it is a common
practice for mining companies to install plants right at the mines for
the purpose of diminishing the bulk of ore shipped and to thus save in
freight and custom treatment charges, mine superintendents and even the
common miners have become accustomed to thinking of such plants as
but units of the "mining" plants. At bituminous and anthracite mines
whose products contain objectionable amounts of impurities, it is a
common practice to subject the output to a _Washing_ to remove the
deleterious substances before shipment to the market.
[Illustration: COAL WASHING PLANT, PANA, ILLINOIS.]
In view, then, of these reasons, it is proper to decide that mining is a
term broad enough to cover the operations of extracting coal and
metallic ores from the ground and of preparing them for shipment or
metallurgical treatment.
Coal is always coal, no matter in what thickness of deposit it is found.
It may not be minable coal because in thin seams or because so
intercalated with layers of slate or "bone," that the mine's mixture, or
so-called "run of mine," is not salable. But with metallic ores, we run
across an idea that is occupying the attention of many prominent
geologists and mining men.
What is ore? This is a question to which there have been many attempted
answers. There has been an evolution of ideas, with a corresponding
gradation of definition. To set a uniform standard of thought upon this
point, officers of the United States Geological Survey, a few years ago,
proposed the following definition. It must be conceded that this
definition, while embodying many splendid features, is not altogether
exempt from criticism; but in the absence of anything better, we shall
not be very far in error if we use it:
_Ore_ is a _natural_ aggregation of one or more _minerals_ from which
useful _metal_ may be _profitably_ extracted.
There is, then, no such thing as "pay ore" or "non-pay ore," expressions
still quite common among miners and prospectors of the uneducated types.
Prof. James F. Kemp, probably America's best-posted writer upon the
subject, in an attempt to formulate one acceptable and unchangeable
meaning for the word ore, says, "In its technical sense, an ore is a
metalliferous mineral or an aggregate of such minerals, more or less
mixed with gangue, and capable of being won and treated at a profit.
The test of _yielding the metal or metals at a profit_ seems to me, in
the last analysis, the only feasible one to employ." This definition
eliminates one of the weak points in the first definition, namely, that
an ore must be an association of minerals: there are some common ores
(as for example, magnetite) which are not associations, but single
minerals.
We now reach certain fundamental concepts which must be accepted by the
mining man who desires to be recognized as abreast of modern ideas.
Following the publication of Kemp's definition of ore, there was much
comment--as was anticipated--with the result that there has been noted a
vacancy in scientific matters and it has been thought proper to permit
another definition for purely scientific uses. This other definition of
ore will cover the materials or aggregates of minerals from which gem
stones and other valuable, but not metallic, substances are recovered.
Let us recapitulate. An _ore_ must be an aggregate or association of
natural minerals, or a single mineral, from which metal may be
profitably recovered. _Mines_ are excavations in the earth from which
ore, coal or gems are taken. _Mining_ is the art or practice of
operating mines.
Throughout the subject, we see the inseparable idea of _profit_. The
work of carrying on operations in a railroad tunnel is not mining; the
driving of adits through barren rocks to reach ore bodies is not mining;
the sinking of shafts through worthless "wash" or rocks with a view of
opening avenues for the removal of ore is not mining. Mining is carried
on only when ore is being produced. The wildcat practice of erecting
small, temporary plants and digging prospect holes can be condemned as
not being real mining.
[Illustration: UNIVERSAL MINE (BITUMINOUS), CLINTON, INDIANA.]
There is usually little question about the validity of a coal mining
proposition, since "the goods show for themselves." Comparatively few
cases of fraudulent ventures in coal properties are of record. The
product of a coal mine is ready for market just as soon as it is loaded
into railroad cars, the mining company receiving its pay, commonly,
upon its own recorded weights. There is no freight to pay, no waiting
for assays or analyses, and no settlements with mills or smelteries.
There are not the allurements for getting rich quickly in coal mining
that are so beguiling to the class of investors generally approached by
the promoters of mines(?). This must not be construed as stating that
nobody has ever been deceived in a coal mine proposition, for, indeed,
there have been many failures; however, they have been due, chiefly, to
auto-deception as to area, thickness or quality of the coal measures.
III
THE ANTIQUITY OF MINING.
Mining is believed to have been one of man's earliest occupations. In
historical writings, many of which date back into antiquity, there are
allusions, as well as direct statements, concerning the art and tasks of
obtaining valuable metals from Mother Earth. We are told that the very
ancient Egyptians made common use of metals and that they possessed
knowledge of certain metallurgical and metal-working processes (as for
example, the tempering of copper) which we, of today, cannot claim. Six
thousand years ago Egypt became a world power through her mining of
copper in the Sinai Peninsula. Iron implements found in the great Gizeh
Pyramid are supposed to date back to 4,000 B.C. Copper tools have been
found in the ruins of ancient Troy. In Assyria, a very good steel saw,
44 inches long, was taken from the ruins of Nimrod. Iron was utilized by
the Chinese some 2,000 years B.C. Near Delhi, India, there exists an
iron pillar, 22 feet long and weighing six tons, dating back to 400 B.C.
It is chiefly interesting in exhibiting an ancient knowledge of welding
which is the envy of our modern iron workers. If we accept the Hebrew
Scriptures, we must believe that mining was carried on in the time of
Tubalcain, spoken of in Genesis. The Old Testament contains numerous
verses referring to the mining of metals, the land of perfect abundance
being paraphrased in Deuteronomy thus: "Where the stones are of iron and
out of its hills are digged mines of brass." Coal was mined and used in
Greece in 1330 B.C.
It is quite probable that gold was the earliest metal to be worked.
There are two good reasons for this assumption: First, gold was to be
found in the native state or as nuggets, thus requiring no reduction
process. Second, the ores of gold are usually less refractory than are
the ores of other metals. This is especially true of the oxidized ores
such as would naturally be discovered by primitive man. These facts,
together with the further properties of gold, _viz._, that its color is
attractive, that it resists corrosion or tarnish, and that it is easily
worked into ornaments or coin merely by hammering, make it highly
probable that humans early made use of this yellow material.
We read in Job 28:1, that "gold is refined;" and modern investigations
tend to prove that the Ophir of Biblical reference is the southern
portion of Matabeleland or the Rhodesia of present fame among mining
regions. It is possible and quite probable that the great quantities of
gold used in the building and furnishing of King Solomon's Temple came
from the vicinity of the present city of Johannesburg. The "golden
fleece" of literature has been explained as a figure of speech for the
skins of sheep which were laid in troughs to catch gold upon the
principle of the riffle in a modern sluice-box.
Copper was perhaps the second metal to be worked by man. As a rule, it,
also, is easily smelted from its ores; and, as above mentioned, we have
relics that give evidence of wonderful skill in working this metal in
times of remote antiquity.
However, other metals are believed to have been mined, upon commercial
scales, before the Christian era. Silver and lead were handled in large
quantities from the mines of Laurium, Greece, in the sixth century B.C.,
and the same mines are being worked to this day, the principal values
now being in the lead rather than, as formerly, in the white metal. The
Phoenicians, about 500 B.C., invaded Spain for gold, copper and
mercury, and Cornwall for tin and copper. The Almaden quicksilver mines
of Spain have been operated, almost incessantly, since 415 B.C., and in
the 16th century, A.D., the wealth of Europe's greatest family of
financiers, the Fuegers, was based upon the operation of this remarkable
deposit.
Del Mar, in his _History of the Precious Metals_, says, "Desire for the
precious metals, rather than geographical researches or military
conquest, is the principal motive which has led to the dominion of the
earth by civilized races. Gold has invariably invited commerce,
invasion has followed commerce, and permanent occupation has completed
the process. It is the history of the past as well as of the present.
Scipio went to Africa, Caesar to Gaul, Columbus to America, Cortez to
Mexico, Pizarro to Peru, Clive to the conquest and Hastings to plunder
Bengal."
Our own day has witnessed the subjugation of the Boer. Because of
Mexico's mineral wealth, many optimistic Americans are beginning to
prophesy the annexation of our sister republic. For gold, Englishmen
populated Australia in 1850, about the same time (1849) that we
witnessed the rush to California gold fields. Spaniards settled Central
and South American countries merely to gain the precious metals. It is
mining which has been responsible for the population of the arid,
southwestern portion of our own domain.
In this, as in every other age of the world's development, we shall find
that the mining industry lies at the heart of all commerce. It is well
for the student of mining economics to fully appreciate this fact, for
it will whet his interest in this great world industry.
"Truly, it has been a great seeking and finding. The story of mining may
have been staled by commonplace, and the romance of it dulled, often
enough, by greed; yet, in the main, it has linked the generations of
earth as with a golden thread--and if not golden only, then there has
been the red glint of copper or the white sheen of silver. Mining
districts may come and go, but mining remains."--(Editorial,
_Engineering and Mining Journal_).
IV
MINING'S PLACE IN COMMERCE.
It is said that upon two of the world's commercial industries, every
other form of activity depends. These two fundamental industries are
agriculture and mining. Statisticians prove the above statement and the
further fact that these two dissimilar branches of civilization's
business are so closely related as to be quite inter-dependent. Strides
are made by one of these industries only when advance is noted in the
other. While it may not be possible to explain just why this is so, it
is worth our attention to consider some brief figures that show this
condition of affairs.
The agitation conducted during the past few years, leading to the
establishment of a Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior,
attracted the thoughts of many students of economics who had not
previously or seriously considered the industry of mining. The delivery
of brilliant addresses showed that mining had been unjustly retarded.
While agriculture has for years been fostered by the government and with
remarkably satisfactory results, the great sister industry has been
required, until recently, to struggle along without any governmental
recognition in the matter of support. Yet it has forged its way in
unmistakable terms of progress and there was an insistent demand, among
those men particularly interested in the welfare of mining, for the
protection and the assistance which would and has now come through the
establishment of a governmental department. Various states have long
recognized the importance of the mining industry by the establishment of
departments. The Canadian and Mexican governments maintain very
creditable Departments of Mines. It was but a question of time until the
shortsightedness of our politicians (not our statesmen) was revealed,
and the mining industry has now come under the auspices of a federal
department.
Taking the world as a whole, it would be hard to conceive the sum total
of annual mineral productions. The middle of the past century seems to
have been a critical period in the mining industry of the earth. There
was a great impetus given to mining by the greed for gold which caused
the settlement of our western states and the Australian states, as
already mentioned. But there gradually followed the opening up of mining
in many other and hitherto unpopulated and uncivilized portions of the
globe. The search for gold was successful.
Prior to 1850, the production of gold had not kept pace with the
increase in population. Soon, however, it began to take leaps, in almost
geometrical ratios, until, by 1900, the annual production of gold
throughout the world was some 2,200 per cent. of the production for 1800
(as nearly as may be ascertained). The 1900 gold production was of a
weight of about 400 tons, in round figures. During 1911, the world
produced approximately $470,000,000 (about 779 tons) in new gold
bullion. It is estimated that with a continuance of the remarkable
progress, the next 20 years will duplicate _the amount of gold now
known in the world_. _This means that the amount of gold which has been
accumulating from mining during the world's ages will be doubled during
a fraction of our lifetime._ This is significant of the world's
progress, in gold mining, at least.
[Illustration: KENNEDY MINE, JACKSON, CALIFORNIA.]
It seems coincidental that the rush for gold in 1849-50 should have been
almost simultaneous with the remarkable development of our other mineral
resources. All of our great discoveries of coal, oil, silver, iron,
lead, copper, and zinc can be said to have followed closely upon the
discovery of gold in California. It is not supposed that the discovery
of iron in northern Michigan in the early eighties had any connection
with the "Pike's-Peak-or-Bust" expeditions, nor that the opening and
development of the vast coal beds of Pennsylvania had any bearing on the
discoveries of lead and zinc in the great Mississippi Valley. But, on
the other hand, there can be traced a very intimate relation between the
finding of gold, silver, copper, and lead in the Rocky Mountain states
and the search for gold in California: the pioneers en route to the
coast were the discoverers and settlers in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and
Montana.
Figures are not available for arriving at such striking or reliable
conclusions in regard to the world's production of metals other than
gold, but there is no logical reason to doubt that such increases have
been just as pronounced as in the case of the yellow metal. In fact,
there are good grounds for assuming that the figures for silver, lead,
iron, and zinc would show up even more spectacularly; while with coal,
we know that we are now in the greatest period of the world's
production.
The United States leads the world in the production of the base metals,
such as copper, iron, manganese, lead, and zinc, taken collectively or
separately. Our country stands second in the production of the precious
metals, gold, platinum, and silver. We have the greatest variety of
mineral products, as well as the greatest production of complex ores, or
those carrying more than one valuable metal. We produce more copper
than the rest of the world combined. Although we stand in second place
when considering the production of gold, we still possess the Homestake
mine in the Black Hills, famous as being the gold mine with the greatest
tonnage in the world; and the Camp Bird mine, in the San Juan district
of Colorado, famous the world over for its highest average value of gold
ore. This great mine is now nearly exhausted and is about to close down
after making a wonderful record.
South Africa produces the greatest amount of, and the purest, natural
gold in the world. Great Britain has an insignificant production of both
gold and copper, and still it is noteworthy that the English-speaking
nations control the world's production of both these metals. British and
American citizens own seven-eighths of the world's gold mines. England
stands second in the consumption of copper, which, of course, is mainly
imported.
Russia controls the world's output of platinum, with very little
competition. In a similar manner, Canada has the control of nickel
production. Mexico, although not commonly regarded as a gold mining
country, is rapidly coming to the front and possesses the Esperanza
mine, said to be one of the most profitable gold mines in the world.
To more emphatically show the importance of the mining industry,
especially in our own country, the following facts are taken from 1900
census returns: Agriculture produces annually about $725 per capita;
mining, $1,910; and manufacturing, which is dependent upon the others,
$760. _The National Banker_ has said: "Statistics show that the combined
dividends paid by the gold and silver mining companies of the United
States are greater than the combined dividends paid by all of the
banking institutions of the country; and the combined dividends paid by
the copper mining companies of the United States exceed the combined
dividends paid by all of our railroads."
There is one thought that will always comfort any person who is engaged
in furthering legitimate mining: Wealth acquired from a mine is not
wrested from any being but Mother Earth, and it is not, therefore, in
the class with the much discussed "tainted money" that is said to be
wrung from unfortunate human beings.
The following tables are presented to give the reader ideas concerning
the productions of gold and silver during recent years. Among the
interesting points that may be noted are the following:
The gold production of the world took a sudden drop in 1900, but it
immediately resumed its upward climb. During the decade from 1900 to
1910, this production increased over 81 per cent.
There is a remarkable similarity noticeable in the gold productions of
the United States during the years 1910 and 1911.
Without the notable increase in the gold output of the Transvaal in
1911, the world's total gold production for that year would have shown a
decrease.
The silver production of the United States remained practically
unchanged during 1911.
GOLD PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD FOR 20 YEARS
1892 $146,292,600 1902 $298,812,493
1893 158,437,551 1903 329,475,401
1894 182,509,283 1904 349,088,293
1895 198,995,741 1905 378,411,054
1896 211,242,081 1906 405,551,022
1897 237,833,984 1907 411,294,458
1898 287,327,833 1908 443,434,527
1899 311,505,947 1909 459,927,482
1900 258,829,703 1910 469,365,110
1901 260,877,429 1911 473,383,543
UNITED STATES SILVER PRODUCTION
(In Fine Ounces)
1910 1911
Alabama 300 174
Alaska 153,900 275,691
Arizona 2,655,700 1,594,428
California 1,791,600 2,727,336
Colorado 8,523,000 7,530,940
Georgia 300 225
Idaho 7,027,000 7,507,802
Illinois 2,100 4,648
Michigan 262,200 507,234
Maryland ...... 87
Missouri 32,200 56,228
Montana 12,282,900 11,116,778
Nevada 12,366,000 10,651,571
N. Mexico 779,000 1,142,335
N. Carolina 8,300 2,227
Oklahoma ...... 168,245
Oregon 43,800 69,116
Pennsylvania 700 13,262
S. Carolina ...... 14
S. Dakota 120,600 206,188
Tennessee 69,800 126,683
Texas 364,400 442,486
Utah 10,445,900 12,679,633
Virginia 200 45
Washington 204,900 142,196
Wyoming 1,300 1,009
Porto Rico ...... 51
Philippines 1,800 3,383
Miscellaneous ...... 826,102
---------- ----------
Total 57,137,900 57,796,117
UNITED STATES GOLD PRODUCTION
(In Value)
1910 1911
Alabama $32,900 $18,335
Alaska 16,271,800 16,002,976
Arizona 3,413,200 2,954,790
California 20,441,400 20,310,987
Colorado 20,526,500 19,153,860
Georgia 24,000 30,532
Idaho 1,035,000 1,169,261
Illinois ------ 5,788
Michigan ------ 20
Maryland ------ 20
Montana 3,720,400 3,169,840
Nevada 18,783,700 18,968,578
New Mexico 477,200 639,897
N. Carolina 64,500 76,693
Oklahoma ------ 30,698
Oregon 681,400 599,235
Pennsylvania 5,900 7,814
S. Carolina 37,800 13,437
S. Dakota 5,380,200 7,430,367
Tennessee 2,800 14,140
Texas 400 1,178
Utah 4,312,700 4,709,747
Virginia 900 4,300
Washington 806,000 504,537
Wyoming 4,100 18,791
Porto Rico 1,000 2,191
Philippines 154,400 130,501
Miscellaneous ------ 265,013
----------- -----------
Total $96,269,100 $96,233,528
GOLD PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD
1910 1911
Transvaal $155,730,260 $170,487,900
United States including Alaska 96,269,100 96,233,528
Australia 65,634,340 61,072,409
Russia 43,168,389 40,600,000
Mexico 24,073,100 19,500,000
Rhodesia 12,607,791 13,045,100
India 12,089,400 10,505,506
Canada 10,224,910 10,646,000
China 10,102,300 10,000,000
Japan, East Indies, etc. 10,522,437 10,600,000
West Africa 3,674,087 5,268,100
Madagascar 2,149,721 1,900,000
France 1,114,700 1,275,000
Central and South America 14,886,234 15,000,000
Other countries 7,118,841 7,250,000
------------ ------------
Total $469,365,610 $473,383,543
V
THE FINDING OF MINES.
Mines are discovered in many ways. One hears much about prospecting, and
since this is a practice which is rapidly changing from a mystical to a
scientific basis, a few considerations will here be in order.
Persons who have lived in mining communities are familiar with two types
of prospector, the roving and the settled. Somehow, when we think of the
former, there comes to mind a bearded, roughly clad man, usually
accompanied by a "jack" and both packing the outfit consisting of a few
tools, a pan, some blankets, a gun, and a supply of "grub." If we have
in mind the other type of prospector, we imagine him as living an
isolated life in a log cabin up in the hills, spending his daytime in
putting in a few, short drill-holes and blasting down a ton or two of
usually worthless rock in a "tunnel" or shallow shaft, confident that
each succeeding shot will disclose a treasure.
Both of these types represent the utmost in optimism. These men endure
many hardships and privations, they can have little converse with other
humans, often they can see no provisions for the next day; in fact, they
receive few of the benefits of modern civilization--if we except the
food-preserving features. Still, a typical, old-style prospector keeps
on with absolute faith that fortune will smile tomorrow. We must reach
the conclusion that these uneducated men are led on by subtle beliefs
which, to a technically-trained man, seem like the rankest folly. They
are diviners, dreamers. They are disappearing now and, a generation
hence, there will be but memories of them. They are giving way to
successors of a different type.
The newer kind of prospector is well educated, and, perchance, he is
rather youthful. His chances of success are many times those of the man
he supplants. Why? Because he is taking advantage of the work that has
been done by all former prospectors. He is guided by theories deduced
from observations through ages, and he has the advice of the best
contemporary men of experience in matters of geology as applied to
mining. In other words, he is a scientific prospector.
The prospector of today has a general understanding of mineralogy and
geology; he must have knowledge of mining methods, so that he may know
whether a deposit, once found, can be exploited at a profit; he must be
ready to account for all discovered mineral bodies, and he must be
capable of applying theories to actualities.
There are so many metals and minerals sought for the markets of the
world today that we see there are many fields of study and practice open
to prospectors. It is not the purpose here to explain the details of
scientific prospecting, for the study of this one subject would, in
itself, fill a volume. The object of the above remarks is to draw to the
attention of the economist the propriety (amounting almost to a
necessity) of giving heed to the findings of the educated, trained
searcher for mineral bodies, in preference to those of the illiterate
man who has furnished themes for artists, narrators, and dramatists,
because of his quaint characteristics.
Some writers have classified mineral discoveries into Search, Chance and
Adventitious.
_Search_ discoveries, being the rewards of earnest seeking, it is not
surprising that, under the past guide of notions and mysticism, the
percentage of such discoveries has been small. Under the new order of
things, with science as a guide, the percentage is growing and, in the
future, this kind of discovery will undoubtedly strongly outnumber the
others.
_Chance_ discoveries are those that are made purely without
premeditation. They have been a dominant factor in the mineral
development of the past. The discovery of _gold_ in California came
about through the noticing of shiny, yellow flakes of metal in a ditch
leading to a saw-mill. The great _iron_ mines of the Mesabi Range were
found by the ore clinging to the roots of an overturned tree. The
Wallaroo _copper_ mine, the greatest in Australia, was discovered by the
green minerals brought to the surface in the excavations of a wombat.
The famous Sudbury _nickel-silver_ ore bodies were disclosed when making
a railroad cut on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Reddington
_quicksilver_ mine, in California, was similarly opened in a cut for a
wagon road. The mining of _silver_ at Catorce, Mexico, followed the
discovery of shining silver nuggets in the camp-fire of a native, who
had camped right upon a rich outcrop. The Kimberly _diamond_ mines are
said to have been disclosed by the burrowings of an ichneumon, which
fetched a brilliant stone to the sunlight.
_Adventitious_ finds are such as occasionally occur when, while really
searching for, or actually mining, one metal, discovery is made of a
different metal, or possibly the same metal is found in an entirely
different kind of ore. The Comstock lode of Nevada was originally a
_search_ gold discovery, the gold having been sought and found by two
prospectors with ordinary gold pans. In their working to recover gold,
a black mineral and a yellow sand were discarded from the pans and
rockers. Curiosity of one man resulted in the identification of these
two minerals as ores of silver which henceforth were held as valuable as
the native gold. The Anaconda mine, at Butte, Montana, was located, and
for some time worked as a silver proposition; but the values gradually
changed with depth from silver to copper, until now silver is only a
valuable by-product. The rich lead-silver ores of Leadville were
discovered as _adventitious_ to the operation of the rich gold placers
in California Gulch. A heavy, troublesome rock which accumulated in the
sluices, much to the disgust of the miners, turned out to be cerussite,
a fine ore of lead. This same district now produces in commercial
amounts gold, silver, lead, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese. The
Treadwell mine on Douglas Island, Alaska, was first worked as a placer
and the values were found to extend downward into the underlying rock in
a place which proved to be an immense deposit of eruptive, gold-bearing
ore.
As the old-fashioned, venturesome kind of prospecting has but recently
been crowded off the scene by the better, scientific kind, let us not
overlook the great discoveries that were made in the past before we had
applied "organized common sense" to such a field of activity. Those
original prospectors were searchers, hunters. They had no guides, but
they did accomplish a great deal, and their discoveries were rewards for
diligence and hard labor which were, to a great extent, often
misdirected.
VI
MINING CLAIMS.
The process of acquiring title to mining property may be viewed from a
number of points. Such property is real estate and, as such, it may be
bought and sold or otherwise transferred exactly the same as farms or
city lots.
The United States has constructed an elaborate system for the disposal
of its public lands to individuals, under various classifications, such
as homestead, desert land, timber and stone, timber culture, coal,
placer, and lode claims. Different rules apply to the filing upon,
improvement and patenting (acquiring deed from the Government) of these
various kinds of claims. The character of the lands in the public domain
is decided by the surveyors who execute contracts from the General Land
Office for subdividing or staking the country off into townships and
sections, according to our American system. In the return of each
surveyor's notes, he recommends the sale of the land according to his
judgment as to its highest value. There has naturally been a good deal
of erroneous conception upon these points, with the result that, often,
land has been later shown to be entirely different in its character from
the classification given to it by the contracting surveyor; for the
qualifications of such a person are not always of a high grade, when it
comes to geological questions. And yet, on the whole, the scheme has
worked out well and much fraud against the Government has been prevented
by the rigid practice.
The Government prices for some of the various classes of land have been
as follows: agricultural, $1.25 per acre; coal, $10 per acre when the
land was not closer to a railroad than 15 miles, and $20 per acre when
it lay within this limit; placer, $2.50 per acre; lode, $5 per acre.
These have been the prices demanded for the land only; the payment of
these amounts, in many cases, has constituted a small fraction of the
expense of securing the original deeds from the Federal Government.