at the end of that period, and give 7% dividends in the
meantime, is 4.53 x L450,000 = L2,036,500 / 440,000 = L4 12_s_.
7_d_. per share. So that this mine, on the assumption of continuity
of values, will pay about 7% and return the price. Seven per cent
is, however, not deemed an adequate return for the risks of labor
troubles, faults, dykes, or poor patches. On a 9% basis, the mine
is worth about L4 4_s_. per share.

Second, the G mine in Nevada. It has a capital of $10,000,000 in
$1 shares, standing in the market at 50 cents each. The reserves
are 250,000 tons, yielding a profit for yearly division of $7 per
ton. It has an annual capacity of about 100,000 tons, or $700,000
net profit, equal to 14% on the market value. In order to repay
the capital value of $5,000,000 and 8% per annum, it will need
a life of (Table III) 13 years, of which 2-1/2 are visible. The
size of the ore-bodies indicates a yield of about 1,100 tons per
foot of depth. At an exhaustion rate of 100,000 tons per annum,
the mine would need to extend to a depth of over a thousand feet
below the present bottom. There is always a possibility of finding
parallel bodies or larger volumes in depth, but it would be a sanguine
engineer indeed who would recommend the stock, even though it pays
an apparent 14%.

Third, the B mine, with a capital of $10,000,000 in 2,000,000 shares
of $5 each. The promoters state that the mine is in the slopes of
the Andes in Peru; that there are 6,000,000 tons of "ore blocked
out"; that two assays by the assayers of the Bank of England average
9% copper; that the copper can be produced at five cents per pound;
that there is thus a profit of $10,000,000 in sight. The evidences
are wholly incompetent. It is a gamble on statements of persons
who have not the remotest idea of sound mining.

GENERAL CONDUCT OF EXAMINATION.

Complete and exhaustive examination, entailing extensive sampling,
assaying, and metallurgical tests, is very expensive and requires
time. An unfavorable report usually means to the employer absolute
loss of the engineer's fee and expenses. It becomes then the initial
duty of the latter to determine at once, by the general conditions
surrounding the property, how far the expenditure for exhaustive
examination is warranted. There is usually named a money valuation
for the property, and thus a peg is afforded upon which to hang
conclusions. Very often collateral factors with a preliminary sampling,
or indeed