A claim is perhaps sold for
a few hundred to several thousand dollars; sometimes the seller
receives in addition stock in the company to be formed. No
attention is paid to the geology, but a company is formed
ostensibly for the purpose of mining, with a capital of one
million shares at one dollar par. Perhaps four hundred thousand
shares are placed in the treasury to be sold for development
purposes. Of course the whole thing is as yet on a wholly
gambling basis. The property is still a prospect and not a mine,
and hence it is not possible to put it on an investing basis.
Comparatively few companies have ever used the services of a real
expert, although very possibly the company furnishes a report
made from a purchasable local "mining engineer," one of the
cheapest commodities in any mining district, where the wide hat
and the high-laced boot often take the place of a mining
education and a reputable character. This is the stage at which,
this is the basis on which, most of the mining "investments" of
America are made.
In this state of affairs grafters find their opportunity. Prices
in a boom camp are always above any sort of industrial warrant.
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