Ch. 1: Gold and Silver in 1883/84

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	318	MINERAL RESOURCES.

	Profits in precious-metal mining.—In the first report of this series it was said: "The production of gold and silver, like that of other commodities, is of course uot one of clear profit. Indeed, a saying that it costs $1 in coin to produce $1 in bullion has gained more or less credit; and though this opinion has been abundantly shown to be unfounded, and while also any attempt to estimate the profit gained to the country by the mining of the precious metals is mere guesswork, it is still quite probable that $500,000,000 of the gross total has been net profit." This opinion was based upon a consideration of the large profits which attended the earlier mining enterprises. The margin of profit, especially in gold mining, is undoubtedly smaller now than formerly. It is impossible to ascertain the actual returns to investors, owing to the large number of mines not operated by corporations and from which no reports are published, but the following statement has 'been made from the published returns for 1883 and 1884, from which it appears that iu these years the reported dividends were not greatly in excess of the reported assessments. Still it must be remembered that the returns are very imperfect, and that, for obvious reasons, the published announcements of assessments are proportionately nearer the truth than the reports of dividends, while a vast number of smaller unincorporated mines, which could not be operated at a loss, are not represented.

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