Arthur J. Hoskin

“ 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. ”

“ When it comes to the question of placing a value upon an undeveloped property—one in which there is little, or no, development work or exploitation—it takes more than the ability of the common "expert" of the curbstone variety to arrive at any dependable figures. Without any exposures, except those that may have been produced by Nature, and perhaps with no guidance from facts that might be obtainable were there adjoining mines, one might suppose that the whole matter would resolve itself into mysticism. Right here is where the trained man best shows his ability. ”

“ Why should we have any reason to deny the ability of present or future generations to find just as good mineral deposits as did our predecessors? Persons in some of the older of the western mining states—as for instance, Colorado or California—are apt to carry a misconception along this line. They can see a number of idle "camps" that are mere relics of former thriving mining communities and they are liable to jump to the conclusion that the day of mining at such places is past, forever. ”

“ No matter how splendid a company's holdings may be naturally, there cannot be expected any profits from the workings of the deposits if there be not a sound business management. H. C. Hoover, the prominent mining engineer and mine manager, says, "Good mine management is based upon three elements: first, sound engineering; second, proper coördination and efficiency of every human unit; third, economy in the purchase and consumption of supplies." ”

“ It seems entirely wrong that politics should enter into the considerations of a mine manager whose operations are apparently so apart from affairs of state; but the fact remains that there are places where mining operations cannot be carried on without the good will of certain officials of the state or national governments. It is not advisable to enter into any compromising terms to gain privileges for carrying on any legitimate business for there are other, better ways, generally, of attaining the justice that is deserved. ”

“ An ore must be an aggregate or association of natural [20] 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. ”

“ If you are a director in a mining company, do not force the manager or superintendent to find a job for all your unsuccessful friends and relatives. Let him hire his own men. Don't convert your mine into an asylum for ne'er-do-wells."
As already stated, there is protection obtainable by every investor in mining. One may always secure, at reasonable cost, the services of competent engineers whose business consists in sizing up the worth of mining property. ”

“ Under ordinary working conditions, it should be considered just as essential for a mine to take an occasional inventory as it is for a mercantile establishment. In truth, there is far more need in mining operations of the knowledge thus derived than in any other business. In mining, as already suggested, the business is one of selling off the stock in trade without replenishing it. The opening of more reserves of ore is not bringing more goods into the stock, but it may be likened to simply unpacking more goods in the storehouse. ”

“ 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 [3] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There is a modern idea that has taken root in the minds of mining men of the last generation to the effect that the mines with rich ore are not necessarily the ones with big profits. There are many men looking for investments in mines whose contents are of low grade but in large bodies readily worked. If a mine with rich ore can be found and the ore abounds in such liberal amounts as to warrant the inauguration of a company with the essential working equipment, such a proposition will naturally not be turned down. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To prove a success when enrolled in either of the first two classes, there is no denying the advantages of technical, mining education. The successful investor likewise will do well to make a consistent study of mining economics, and the [209] more attention he gives to the many phases of approved modern mining, the greater will be his ultimate achievement, financially. Just as education along usual school branches is of immeasurable benefit to any man of business, so is it to the mining man. And in just as great ratio is the possession of innate business ability. ”

“ However, the faith of some men is placed [123] in those mines that may be operated upon very large scales for long periods even if the profit per ton be very small. With a large plant, the unit of expense, i.e., the cost of mining per ton, is less than with a small mine. With the assurance of regular outputs of ore of a reasonably uniform grade, the milling equipment can be planned to handle a mine's product to the greatest advantage. The Alaska-Treadwell Mine, on Douglas Island, is an instance of a splendid property that has been continuously operated for about a third of a century. ”

“ Charlatans appear almost daily upon mining scenes. The men who engage in these deplorable practices are not from any one walk in life: they spring up from various branches of our social structure. The general public has learned that a very prominent Boston magnate will not scruple to promote a mining property even though it lacks the merit essential in attracting the conservative capitalist. Thousands of people of small means throughout the United States and Canada have been recipients of nicely worded and familiarly-addressed letters signed by the son of a famous American author. ”

“ Whenever a piece of mining property is to change hands, it is the proper procedure to employ an expert engineer to investigate the ground and the improvements and so arrive at some estimate concerning its intrinsic value. Nobody is infallible and it is a trite saying that "nobody can see into a mine farther than the last drill hole." ”

“ Law breakers, tax dodgers, and trespassers, could be put into one class; persons doing research work which it is premature to publish are a more [184] respectable class; manufacturers with strong competition in the sales markets are in a measure excusable; even a mine which is producing some material in the sale of which it attempts to maintain a monopoly might be excusable. But it is hard to see what excuse or benefit there is for a coal or a copper mining company to prevent a knowledge of its affairs, if the business is being conducted along strictly legitimate lines. ”

“ The success which has been met in the operation of the great mining companies of the world can, in the majority of cases, be traced to the common sense which was exercised in the business management. The business of mining is legitimate. If mining is one of the basic industries of the world, how could the operation of a real mine be anything but a legitimate business? ”

“ Such men will not desist even when they have suffered several delusions, and will continue to "send their good money after their bad," absolutely defiant of the well-meant advice of friends who are often in position to judge of the merits of any contemplated investment. Probably every mining engineer of any extended experience can tell of instances in which he has endeavored to discourage clients from investment in unworthy mining enterprises but in which the gambling instinct of the clients has overridden the sound advice. ”

“ The successful man in mining will be, as heretofore, the one with the right qualifications in his make-up. Is a college education an essential prerequisite to success in mining? No, the writer is not one to declare that young men cannot succeed in the business without college training. However, there can be no avoidance of the proposition that the chances of the college-trained man are better than are those of the man who has not had the benefits of such a career.
A man may be said to engage in mining in three different ways. Thus, he may operate mining property ”

“ It is also cheaper to drive an adit than to sink an incline. If the topography is such that an adit can be driven into or beneath an ore body and thus expose it from a low elevation, the temptation is strong and along lines of good practice to do so. If the country is quite flat or nearly so, or, if the surface is such that, while rough, an adit of reasonable length cannot be driven to tap the valuable mineral and handle it economically, then it is good practice to decide upon a shaft mine. ”

“ During an extended experience in the business of converting discoveries into patented claims and prospects into mines, the writer has found that there is never an owner who is willing to sell a developed mine for twice the price he had set upon the original prospect. The valuation of his holdings goes up by [146] greater multiples than mere doubling or even trebling and it is a rare thing to find a man willing to sell out a proved mine at less than ten times the prevailing valuation that would have been placed upon the same piece of property before its development. ”

“ Even the ignorant African natives of today cannot be trusted to wear clothing while working in the diamond mines. No, the cause of high grading is the innate greed of human beings and it has existed from prehistoric time and among all peoples.
In this discussion as to grades of ore, the question may arise as to what might be reasonably considered the most attractive kind of a mining proposition. This is too knotty a query to be answered in a few words. There are so many different phases that must be given due weight. Every mine is a problem in itself. ”

“ The great business man is fortified by experience against [137] forms of treachery and he is, therefore, not so susceptible to the allurements of any "promotion," be it mining or otherwise.
If one investigates these advertised mining "promotions," he will often find that the money paid in by the small investors purchases a very small portion only of the capitalization. The men who conceived the scheme of "promoting" a concern have carefully arranged to hold a majority of the stock, so that should there, by any chance, prove to be a mine, they are the ones who will reap the greatest benefits. ”

“ The lawyer recognizes this fact and he asks the surveyor to make out the many legal forms; for who is so fully cognizant of the property and the desires of the claimant as the surveyor who has become intimately acquainted with the premises, its workings, its desirable features and everything concerned with the adjustment of conflicts? It is to be expected that he could best protect the claimant's interests, and it is wrong to retire him at this very critical time prescribed by a foolish law. The fee of an additional man in the case is an unjust burden upon the client. ”

“ Due consideration must always be given to the selection of some method of opening up what might be supposed will never amount to a great mine, so that, should subsequent disclosures exceed expectations, enlargement of the scale of operations can be advantageously effected. Always bear in mind that legitimate mining is just as much a commercial enterprise as is any other kind of business. The utmost concern for financial showings must be constantly borne in mind. Select a scale of operations consistent with the known—not the hoped-for—bodies of coal or ore ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 [2] 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. ”

“ Probably the greatest objection to unionism raised by operators is that they resent the dictation that accompanies the inauguration [86] of union rules in their mines. The owners and managers prefer to run their own business to suit themselves. Some managers are so imbued with this conviction of their own rights that they will refuse to open up mines or, if they are operating, they will close down their mines before they will submit to the demands made upon them by the union officials. ”

“ Is an investment in such a company to be considered as gambling? If there have been sound assurances from reliable examiners concerning the likelihood of the ground carrying the essentials of a mine and the only uncertain element is the ultimate magnitude of the mine, then we might say that the investment is not a gamble at all, since there is no chance to lose. The purchase of such stock is a very sane investment and there is no telling what the returns may reach. ”

“ INVESTMENT IN MINING STOCKS.
As a feature of investment in mining stocks, there has always been a more or less open lure. Generally much larger returns are promised or are expected than in other kinds of investments. There may be absolutely no intention on the part of the seller to create this impression; but there does, somehow, exist in the memories of people accounts of wonderful fortunes that have been made in mining. ”

“ Other men will stick to the idea that it is the proper thing to capitalize for what the property will invoice at the time. The higher the capital stock, the greater number of shares there are for sale, usually. With a conservative capitalization, [141] there may be fewer shares for sale, but each share is worth correspondingly more and the chances are much better for an advance in the price per share whenever the mine becomes productive. There are investors who will carefully investigate this feature and will shun any mining stock which has any appearance of over-capitalization. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A zone of sheeted rocks like schist or slate, if sufficiently mineralized to warrant mining, would be a lode. Sometimes, in certain districts, the earth's crust has been subjected to many approximately parallel, closely-spaced fractures, and by the subsequent filling of these cracks, with the accompanying corrosion of the walls and their replacement by ore, extraction of the entire mass of rocks across a considerable distance will be found to yield a profit. Any such body is a lode. ”

“ 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. [33] 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. ”

“ An adit or mining tunnel is a horizontal opening driven from the surface. If it be driven along an ore body, as a vein, it is properly called a vein adit; if it is driven across barren country to intercept presumed [96] or known bodies, it is spoken of as a crosscut adit. All adits must be given a small amount of grade for drainage necessities.
Before getting underground we should consider what is required in the way of opening our mine; what is positively known about our body of coal or ore; and what conditions are liable to confront us later on. We must consider the type of ore body ”

“ One means of providing against an extinction of a mining company's activity with the exhaustion of the ore bodies in the mines is to provide new mining territory to which operations may be transferred at the proper time. This plan has been very successfully carried out by a number of large mining companies. When a mining company has been maintaining its identity for a considerable period, it has reached a very desirable stage of economy in the make-up of its various lists of officials, superintendents and engineers. ”

“ In mining regions, it is generally the case that the mines, themselves, are above the settlements in which are the railroads or treatment plants, so that the mine products will transport readily by the natural force of gravity.
Climate holds an important place in the economics of mining. The working of very rich pieces of ground may prove a losing proposition in some portions of the world where the climatic conditions are such as to render operations possible during only a very small portion of the year. ”