.'■•' '\'>;'.;.>"vV';,'U' mr^'^^^' taE::.:::ME£)iSTS iv^^':A:N.D MING BOOK- KEIPIMG ''^'■''"j/'r: GRIFFIN'S 'MINING^SERIES {H — r^_n_-j REESE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. l^cceivcd , iSg'i^. i i/iccasioii No.! y 5 '^ 3 ■ c7js5 M). ^J — u — U--J — u — u V->-v vV\' » \V ^ * » ► ^.Ao^ ^•. ^. >iji^ MINE ACCOUNTS AND MINING BOOK-KEEPING. STANDARD WORKS. ORE AND STONE MINING. By C. Le Neve Foster, D.Sc, F.R.S., H.M. Inspector of Mines, Professor of Mining, Royal College of Science, London. In large Svo, with 716 Illustrations. Second Edition. 34s. "An ixvAiAABLE BOOK OF REFERKNCE . . . Undoubtedly the best book on the sub- ject in the E;ng:lish language."— jV^/^^rc. COAL MINING. By H. W. Hughes, F.G.S., A.R.S.M. With very ni:merous Illustrations. Third Edition. i8s. "The ]Mudel of what such a book should h^."— Engineering. MINE SURVEYING. For Managers of Mines and Collieries. By B. H. Brough, F.G.S., formerly Instructor of Mine Surveying, Royal School of Mines. Sixth Edition, Illustrated. 7s. 6d. " No Mine Agent will consider his technical lilsrary complete without it." — Nattiie. PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. By G. A. Cole, F.G.S., Prof, of Geology, Royal College of Science for Ireland. Second Edition. Illustrated. los. 6d. " Of the GREATEST POSSIBLE USE TO PROSPECTORS Searching for minerals."— ///(/wi/nVs. BLASTING. A Handbook for Engineers and others engaged in Mining, Tunnelling, Quarrying, &c. By O. GuTTmann, Assoc. M. Inst. CE. With numerous Illustrations. Large Svo, Cloth. los. 6d. "This ADMIRABLE WORK."— Co/Z/Vrj Gucirdian. TRAVERSE TABLES: Computed to Four Places Decimals for every Minute of Angle up to 100 of Distance. By Richard Liscription to any Sick or Accident Funds of which we are members, or in the benefits of which we particijjate, F^iel or any Materials, Tools, or Implements employed by each of us in our respective trades or occupations, and also for any Bent of the whole or any part of a Tenement which may be demised to us respectively by the said Company, or occupied by us respectively ; and we agree and contract with the said Company that the said Company shall be entitled to make, from our respective wages, every stoppage and deduction which the said Company are by law entitled to make from and out of the wages of any artificer, under the provision of Section 23 of the Act 1 and 2 William IV. oh. 37, * Truck Acts 1S31, 1SS7, and 1896 (1 and 2 William IV. c. 37; 50 and 51 Vict. c. 46; and 59 and 60 Vict. c. 44). ENGAGEMENT OF WORKMEN. 5 or under any other Act of Parliament, and which are by any such Act required to be authorised in writing. As Witness our hands. Date. Workmen's Names. *Coal No. Occupation. Address. t Doctor. "Witness. 1 In addition to this agreement, or combined with it, there is often another ao-reement which sets out the conditions under which men are to work at the mine in question. At a colliery in Lancashire | the useful plan is followed of giving each man, on being engaged, a printed book containing — (1) Abstract of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, (2) Special Rules, and (3) Conditions of Service between the Company and their workmen. The last mentioned rules are very much to the point and are herewith given in full : — CONDITIONS OF SERVICE between the coal company, limited, and the colliers and other Workmen employed at the Works of the said Company at the Colliery, Being Supplemental to the General and Special Rules, under the Goal Mines Eegidation Act, 1SS7. 1. Every collier to be at the pit, with his lamp or candles (whichever he may use there) and tools in an efficient state, at the proper time in the morning. He will not be allowed to go down after six o'clock, nor to ascend before two o'clock in the afternoon, without the consent of the underlooker or officer in charge, or except in case of accident or sickness. 2. Every collier shall, unless otherwise required, work ten fair days in each fortnight ; and every fireman, furnaceman, and other workman twelve days, if so required, unless prevented by sickness or accident. 3. Where lines are suspended from the roof to show the course of any level, end, or drift, every collier shall work according to such lines, and shall not be paid for so much of his work as shall be out of the course indicated. 4. Every collier shall send his cannel or coal free from dirt. He shall send every tub of coal and slack full, and marked in the usual way by cuts or tallies, and shall not be paid for any tub dirty or without mark. 5. Every workman occupying a house under the company shall be held to have specially agreed that the wages remaining unpaid to such workman at the time of his ceasing to be employed shall not be payable to him until he shall have given up possession of such house and premises. 6. Every collier, dataller§, engineer, banksman, hooker-on, fireman, furnaceman, car- penter, blacksmith, and other workman, shall give fourteen days' notice, in writing, to expire on the day to which wages are made up, before leaving the said Company's employ- ment, and shall receive the same notice before being discharged, except in case of having violated any of these rules or of the general or special rules established at the colliery. 7. Every collier or workman shall, after receiving his earnings, pay to the agents of the said Company, as and for such collier's or workman's contribution to the Miners' Accident Society, established on the works, eightpence per fortnight for himself and eight- pence for each drawer employed by him. The society shall be conducted by a committee * The number by which the colliers are distinguish the waggons of coal they send up. afterwards known, and by which they t The men may choose their own doctor. J I owe various forms from Lancashire to the kindness of Mr. William Kellett, J. P. § Workman paid by the day. O MINE ACCOUNTS. consisting of the underlookers employed at the colliery, and an equal number of colliers or other workmen appointed by the men, to which committee shall be handed over the money so paid, and who shall have the sole distribution thereof. All fines for breach of rule shall be handed to the committee, to be added to the funds of the society. 8. No wages shall be paid except on the usual weekly pay-day, and every collier and other workman to whom, at his request, the agents of the said company shall have supplied materials, tools, implements, or other goods for such collier, shall pay for the same the first time after such supply on which he receives his wages, and a like payment shall be made for rent, where any such shall be owing for a dwelling occupied by him under the Company. 9. Every collier in pillar workings where the roof is dangerous and likely to fall shall, without delay, remove into a safe place all tools, props, rails, sleepers, and other materials, the property of the said Company (for doing which he shall be paid), and shall not leave the pit until he has done so, or warned the underlooker or fireman of the dangerous state of his place. In default he shall make good the damage out of wages then due or there- after to become due to him from the Company. 10. If any collier refuses to prop and to make his place safe, the fireman or officer in charge shall either send such person out of the pit or provide other men to make his place safe, and recover the cost thereof from the person so neglecting to make his place safe. If a place cannot be made safe at once the work must stop until it shall have been made safe. 11. Every drawer not using proper scotches will be sent out of the pit or fined. If fined, the amount will be recoverable from the collier who employs him. 12. No person shall ride up or down any pit whilst the water tanks are attached. 13. Any workman being found on or about the colliery in a state of, intoxication, or leaving his work for the purpose of obtaining intoxicating drink, shall be liable to instant dismissal, and fined 5s. ; and no workman shall strike or ill-use another, or create any disturbance in the mine, or upon the surface, or use abusive language towards, or interfere witli, any officer in the discharge of his duties. 14. Any person smoking during working hours shall be liable to a fine of Is. for each ofi'ence. 15. Any workman absenting himself during working hours without permission shall forfeit any wages he may have earned during that day. 16. For the greater safety of the works" and workmen every collier shall, in hiring his drawer, bind the drawer to observe the foregoing rules. The collier shall deliver to the drawer, at the time of such hiring, a printed copy of the rules, to be supplied to him for that purpose by the agents of the said Company. The drawer shall thenceforth, during his employment under such collier at these works, remain subject to these rules. Every collier, so hiring a drawer, shall irrevocably authorise the agents of the Company, in the narne of the collier, but at the expense of the Company, to prefer and prosecute any com- plaint against such drawer for the violation of the rules. 17. Any engineer, when unable to attend his work, shall cause the surface manager to be informed in sufficient time to enable him to find a substitute ; and every engineman shall, within one hour after the expiration of his shift, cause the manager or the person in charge of the machinery to be informed of the non-attendance of the engineman who should have relieved him. 18. Every collier or workman, on leaving the Company's employment, shall deliver up to the underlooker his copy of rules, or forfeit the sum of two shillings and sixpence, to be deducted from the wages then due to him. Having received the pamphlet, the workman signs a book which is ruled thus : — Name. Age. Residence. Occupation. Date of engagement. Date of leaving. Signature of person employed undertaking to comply witli all rules. Witness. Sometimes the agreement signed sets forth the conditions and rate of pay- ment. In the Northern Coalfield of England it was customary in times ])ast ENGAGEMENT OF WORKMEN. 7 for colliers to hire themselves by the year. Now fortnightly hiring agree- ments are in vogue.* Should a sliding scale (see p. 20) be in use at a mine, it is signed by each workman affected, as well as by representatives of the owners. It not infrequently happens that miners are sent abroad by Mining Companies whose headquarters are in England. In such cases the terms of tiie agreement between the miner and the Company are set out in detail, and the agreement is stamped. The following example is illustrative : — No ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT entered into this day of One thousand eiglit hundred and nmety between at present residing at in the County of hereinafter called "the Emjjloy*^," of the one part, and the of , herehiafter called "the Company," of the other part: WHEREBY each of the said parties hereto agrees with the other of them as follows : — 1. The Employe engages himself as in the service of the said Company for a period of years, on the following terms and conditions : — - 2. The Employ^ shall proceed to , in the State of , Mexico, at such time and in such manner as shall be required by the Company. 8. On the arrival of the Employe at he shall report himself to the Agent, acthig Agent, or other principal oiiicer of the Company for the time being, hereinafter called "the Agent." 4. The Employe shall devote the whole of his time to the service of the Company, and shall faithfully and diligently devote himself to its service in the capacity for which he is engaged, or otherwise as may be directed by the Agent from time to time, so as to make himself useful to the Company. 5. The Employi^ shall be subservient to, and obey the orders of the said Agent, and shall submit and agree to such arrangements, rules, fines, and penalties as may be imposed by him, and to such working hours per day, and times of working as the said Agent may from time to time direct ; and in like manner obey the orders of his superior officer for the time being under the said Agent. fi. The Employe shall reside in such place, and remove from time to time to such place or places as may be required by the Agent, and he shall not sleej) or remain the night away from his station without the authority of the Agent. 7. The Employe shall at all times conduct himself in an orderly and peaceable manner, and above all be sober, and strictly temperate in the use of ardent spirits or other intoxicants, and any breach of this condition shall be deemed misconduct of so grave a character as to justify the Employe's immediate discharge. 8. The Employ(5 shall pay becoming respect to the civil and religious institutions and customs of Mexico, and he shall carefully abstain from interference of any kind with the politics or government of the Country, so as not to give cause of otfence in relation thereto. 9. The period of service is to count from the date of the Employe's reporting his arrival to the resident Agent at , provided, nevertheless, that any absence occasioned by sickness is to be made up at what would otherwise be the date of the expiration of the Agreement, so that the full term of years be worked. 10. The Company will, at its own expense, pay the Employe's passage money to and at the expiration of this Agreement a similar return passage to England, if he shall have completed his Agreement to the satisfaction of the Agent, and provided that he return home and report himself at the Office of the Company for the time being, within a period of two months. 11. 'The Company will allow the Employe half-pay from the date of leaving England, until his arrival at the mines. 12. For the outward journey only the Company will allow such reasonable charges, if any, as the Employe' may incur in travelling from his home to the port of departure of the steamer he is directed to proceed by. 13. From the wages as paid to the Employe' in there shall be deducted ten per cent, as security for the due fulfilment of this contract on his part until it amounts to *For examples, see Bulman and Redmayne, Colliery Workiiig and Management, London, 1896, pp. 33, 284, et seq. 8 MINE ACCOUNTS. twenty-five ])oiinds sterling. This security shall be available to pay such amounts as the Agent may in his discretion impose by way of penalty or fine for intemperance, insubordina- tion, malingering, or other misconduct; if such security be at any time or times reduced below the full amount, the said deduction shall recommence until the full amount is again attained. IShould the misconduct of the Emjiloye be of such a nature as to warrant his dismissal, and of which the Agent shall be the sole judge, he will be required to return to England, and his return passage will be paid out of the said security so far as it will go, the balance due to him, if any, being paid to him on his reporting himself at the Company's Office in London. The Agent's statement as to any deductions therefrom by way of fines or penalties shall be accepted l)y both parties as final. In the event of the Employe complet- ing the Agreement in a manner satisfactory to the Agent, the security will be paid to him in full, but no interest will be allowed. 14. Should the Employe be absent from duty by reason of sickness or accident, he will be allowed half-pay during a certain time, to be fixed in each case in the discretion of the Agent, but if the Agent shall be satisfied that such absence was attributable to the Employe''s misconduct he shall receive no pay. 15. In the event of the Employe being rendered incapable of performing his duty from ill-health, or by accident, or otherwise, causing permanent or lasting disablement or unfitness for work, of which the Agent, acting on medical advice, siiall be the sole judge, this Agree- ment shall be determined and cease. If such incapacity was not attributable to intemper- ance or any other imprudence or misconduct on his part, or to any disease contracted previous to this Agreement, the Company will allow and pay the Employe one month's wages, reckoning from the date of his ceasing to work, in addition to his return passage. 16. In the event of the breach, non-observance, or non-performance by the Employe of any of the conditions of this Agreement, then and in such case, the Company or its Agent in Mexico may put an end to and determine this Agreement, and the engagement of the Employe thereunder at once and without notice. And the Employed shall not in this event be entitled to any salary in lieu of notice, nor to a return passage, and he shall forfeit all right, benefit, and advantage reserved to him by this Agreement. 17. This Agreement to be for a period of years, dating from the time of the arrival of the Employe at , with the option on the part of the Company of retaining his services at the same rate of wages for another year on the expiration of the said term of years. IS. In consideration of the Employe duly and faithfully performing his part of this Agreement, the Company shall pay to him during the continuation thereof by way of wages or remuneration, commencing from the date of his reporting himself at , and in currency of the country, the sum of pounds sterling per calendar month. A portion of this amount, £ per month, "Home Pay," dating from arrival at , to be paid to 19. This Agreement shall have the sarne effect in Mexico in respect to the laws of Mexico as if the same had been made and concluded in that country, and the Employd agrees to execute a copy of it in Mexico whenever required to do so by the Agent, in such form as is required by, or is conformable to, the laws of that country, and containing the same provisions as are contained in this Agreement. In Witness whereof and two of the Directors, and ,...the Secretary, of the , have on behalf of the Company, hereunto set their hands, and the said has hereunto set his hand the day and year first above written. "Witness to the Signatures of^^ \ On behalf of the and I two of the Directors, and \ Inirectors. tlie Secretary, / ) of the I I Secretary. "Witness to the Signature of } At a mine on the Rand,"*^ the usage is for each European workman to * Mr. J. Harry Johns has kindly supplied me with much valuable information and many forms from the Witwatersrand Goldtield. ENGAGEMENT OF WORKMEN. sign an agreement with the Company, freeing the Company from any liability whatsoever in case of accident, on the understanding that the Company provides each workman with free insurance against accident.* Each workman also agrees to accept or give a day's notice upon the termination of employ- ment. At tlie mines of the De Beers Company,! Europeans are engaged hy the heads of departments, but particulars must be furnished to the General Manager for his sanction. The folio winsr form is used : — Counterfoil. DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ltd. No. MEMORANDUM OF NEW EMPLOYES. Date taken on. Full Christian and Surname. Trade, or how Employed. Remarks. .189 Note. — All new employes should be asked if they have ever betn in the sendee of the Company ; if so, reason of their leaving must be stated in Remarks colurmi. This form must be sent to the General Manager's Department on the date the employes are engaged. Particulars of men leaving or discharged must also be supplied to the General Manager in the next form, whicli is printed on pink paper to avoid confusion with the last. Counterfoil. DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ltd. No. MEMORANDUM OF EMPLOYES LEFT OR DISCHARGED. Date Left or Discharged. Full Christian and Surname. Trade, or how Employed. Reason for Leaving or being Discharged. .189 Note. — This form must be sent to the General Manager's Department on the date the employes leave. Finally, every fortnight, before the books are made up for pay-day, the following return raiist be made to the Paymaster : — * Owing to the Employers' Liability Act, it is a not uncommon policy in England to insure against accidents to workpeople. + 1 am indebted to Mr. Gardner F. Williams, general manager, and to the late Mr. W. H. Craven for forms from De Beers Consolidated Mines. lO MINE ACCOUNTS. DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ltd. Return of changes in Employes, c&c, at .for Fortnight ended. 189 Name. Occupa- tion. Date taken on. Rate of Pay. Date Discharged or Left. Change in Rate of Pay. Kemaxks. From To (Signature). Note. — Transfers to he noted in the "Remarks''' column thus: — Transferred to {opposite name, stating Department). Reason why men are discharged or have left to he given in " Re?narks " column. This form to he sent to the Paymaster not later than 3 p.m. on the last day of the pay. Should there he no change during the fortnight, the sheet to he so marked and sent in as usual. The above sheet must be initialled by the General Manager, in sign of approval, before it is used by the Paymaster. Natives can only be engaged with the help of a Government official {Registrar), who records the terms agreed on, and gives a contract-note to the employer and a simple form of ticket to the native. The ticket bears a shilling stamp. At a colliery in Spain, two forms are in use ; they are bound up in two books with counterfoils; one, which remains with the under-agents, is for suggesting that a certain workman be employed ; the other, kept by the General Manager, authorises the employment of the workman.* Both the Coaly and Metalliferous Mines Regulation^ Acts regulate the em- ployment of boys, girls, and women about mines, and provide further that a register of such must be kept. Official forms are j^rescribed. 'I'he surface works of mines under the Metalliferous Act, such as dressing works and repairing shops, and all quarries, come within the jurisdiction of the Factory and Workshop Acts of 1878,§ 1891, || and 1895.11 The surface works of mines under the Coal Mines Act are not affected by these Acts, and even in the case of brickworks attached to collieries, it is only when bricks are made for sale that the works are subject to tlie statutes relating to factories. These Acts regulate the employment of children, young persons and women, and the Act of 1878 provides that there shall be kept "in the pre- scribed form and with the prescribed particulars, registers of the children and young persons employed, and of their employment, and of other matters under this Act."'"''*' The prescribed form of register is to be obtained from the official publishers at 3d. per copy. If a list of workpeople, with date of first employment and other particulars, is not obtained by making them sign an agreement, it is advisable to have such a list made specially, with a column for date of leaving, as it forms a permanent record, and is frequently useful for reference. The following form is an example : — * Oriol, Contahilidad Minera. Madrid, 1894, p. 45. tCoal Mines Regulation Act, 1887 (50 and 51 Vict. ch. 58), sec. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. t Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act, 1872 (35 and .36 Vict. ch. 77), sec. 4, 5, and 6. § 41 and 42 Vict. ch. 16. II 54 and 55 Vict. ch. 75, IT 68 and 59 Vict. ch. 37. ** Sec. 77. GROSS AMOUNT DUE TO WORKMEN. II Date when engaged. Name. Age. Residence. Occupation. Date of leaving. 1 Period between Pay-days. — Colliers are often paid every week. This is a very short interval between pay-days, and it causes a weekly recurring strain on the officials in collecting the necessary information, and on the clerks in making up the pay-books ; still, it is a system in considerable favour with the men. Generally three days' or a week's pay is kept in hand ; that is to say, a collier paid on a Saturday would only receive the money due to him up to the previous Wednesday, or Saturday, the intervening days being necessary for the calculation of the amounts due, and for making up the pay-books. A modification of the weekly pay system is that in which the amounts due on contracts are only made up once a fortnight ; on alternate weeks, the men working on contract receive a certain sum on account, called " subsist." Fortnightly "pays" are fairly common, especially in metalliferous mines; they relieve the staff, and seem to answer very well for all concerned. Gener- ally a week's pay is kept in hand, but there are exceptions to this ; thus, at Carn Brea Mine in Cornwall, a week's pay is kept in hand for those workmen paid by the day, while for contract-men a fortnight's pay is kept in hand. Monthly* " pays" are still met with in the Isle of Man, Colorado, Spain, and other countries ; but the period is somewhat long. The old style in Cornwall was to have monthly "pays," and to keep a month's pay in hand; so that it was possible for a man to work more than seven weeks before receiving any money. This was a great hardship; hence the interval between "pays" and amount to be kept in hand are now regulated by the Stannaries Act, 1887,t by which pay- ment must be made fortnightly, and not more than seven days' pay must be kept in hand for surfacemen, or fourteen days' pay for contract-men. The contracts made often run for two months, in which case the miner receives "subsist" at intermediate "pays," the balance due to him on his contract being handed over on the pay-day next after the two months are ended. On the Rand, monthly "pays" are in vogue, Europeans being paid every calendar month, as soon after the end of the month as the accounts can be completed, and natives every four weeks. There is, however, a native pay-day every week, as the " boys " do not all complete their four weeks at the same time. CHAPTER II.— DATA DETERMINING GROSS AMOUNT DUE TO WORKMEN. The gross amount of money due to workmen may be determined by- A. Length of time worked, B. Amount of work done, C. Value of mineral gotten, or by a combination of these factors. * Generally twenty -eigtit days, though sometimes a calendar month, t 50 and 51 Vict. ch. 43, sec. 11. 12 MINE ACCOUNTS. A. LENGTH OF TIME WORKED. Most of the men working at the surface of mines are paid by tlie day — e g., foremen, clerks, storekeepers, carpenters, mechanics, masons, engine-drivers, platelayers, pit-top hands (banksmen), millmen, and labourers. In addition, certain classes of underground workmen are also paid by the day — e.g., haulage attendants, onsetters, platelayers, &c. ; but in Britain the system of paying by the day is not usual for the actual mineral-getters, whose wages are generally reckoned by amount of work done, or by the value of the mineral obtained. In South Africa, Colorado, and many otlier countries, however, miners and trammers are not infrequently paid a day wage. A careful record of the length of time worked by all the men in this class is kept by an official appointed for the purpose, who may also act as foreman, or, in small concerns, as storekeeper. Sometimes the workmen are required to present themselves at the timekeeper's office, to take out a ticket or a check, when they commence work in the morning, as is usual in large engineering shops and factories; but this is not general. If the number of men is not very large, th« timekeeper, as a rule, satisfies himself of their presence or absence by visiting them at their work, and making a record in a pocket time-book. The following is an example : — Time Worked at Mines, Fortnight Ending. .18. Name. Employment. S. M. T. i w. T. F. S. s. M. T. W. T. F. S. Total. John Jones, . Labourer, i!i i ^ 1 1 1 ... 1 1 1 1 1 lU The pencilled entries in this rough Time-book are transferred by the time- keeper to a larger Time-book kept in the office, which is ruled similarly, but with two additional columns, one for the I'ate per day, and the other for the amount of money due. From this latter book the information is extracted for the pay-sheets. Sometimes only one book is used ; in this case it is provided with a column for rate per day or hour, and a column for amount of money due. The period provided for in each opening depends upon the interval between pay-days. Less than a quarter of a day is not generally noted ; a stroke indicates a full day, fractions being marked in quarters, as shown in the above example. Another plan is to make a square represent a full day ; each side then stands for a quarter of a day. This method has the advantage of showing which quarter or half day a workman has missed. Thus, suppose he missed a quarter in the morning, his mark would be ^, whereas if he went away early in the afternoon it would be LJ ; the square being, as it were, built up during the day, always in the same order. At a gold mine in South Africa the time of the natives is kept by the overseers and timekeeper in the usual way ; but in addition, each native receives a ticket, which is initialled by the timekeeper for each day worked. Provision is made on it for twenty-eight days, and, when full, it is exchanged for a pay ticket, if it agrees with the timekeeper's and overseer's Time-books. Each native working overtime receives a special ticket, which is white for a full shift, and pink for half a shift : — GROSS AMOUNT DUE TO WORKMEN. 13 PAY TICKET. Gold Mining Co. (Limited). No Name, Due, Date, Amount, £ : Place where Working, . OVERTIME TICKET. G. M. Co., Ld. Kaffir Overtime. By Thursday morning all Kaffir pay tickets, issued for the week ending on the Wednesday evening previous, are entered in the Kaffir pay-book, and the amount of money required for the native pay can be determined.* In Time-books the names of the men are classified according to the kind of work upon which they are employed. Thus the carpenters, mechanics, masons and engine-drivers would be kept together ; while the labourers, in the case of a colliery for instance, employed in screening and picking, washing, coking, and briquette-making, would all be classified under these heads. The chief reason for this grouping is the facility it offi?rs for making an analysis of the cost of each department, and for comparing the wages paid to men doing a similar class of work. In addition to the time recorded by the Timekeeper, skilled workmen, such as fitters, carpenters, smiths, and masons, keep time-sheets on which each man records daily the work at which he has been emi)loyed, and the number of hours he has worked at each job. These time-sheets are signed by the foreman. They are useful as a check on the men, for calculating the cost of any new work, and for distributing the cost of repairs among the different departments. The following is a simple example of a time-sheet : — CO.— Week ending. .'s Time-Sheet. .MINES. .1895. Working for What doing Hours. Total. i a m < OvertimG. — Overtime is sometimes recorded in a separate book, and sometimes in the ordinary Time-book by using red ink, or in some other dis- *See also Hatch & Chalmers, Gold Mines of the Rand, London, 1895, page 267 ; and Salisbury, "Mining Accounts." Trans, Incorporated Accountants' Students' Society of London, 1894, p. 71. 14 MINE ACCOUNTS. tinctive manner. Employers, however, very generally object to overtime, as it is natui'al to suppose that if a man is going to work three or four hours over- time, he will not put his best energies into his ordinary day's work ; further, it is easier for a workman to make a job last out, if by so doing he can get a few shillings extra, than it is to detect such frauds. Certain work about a mine, such as repairs to engines, must necessarily be done out of ordinary working hours ; but this is often arranged for by making the men take an equal amount of time out of their ordinary day. Save in certain exceptional cases, young persons are prevented by the Factory Acts from working overtime at the surface works of mines under the Metalliferous Act, or at quarries ; if any overtime is worked, a register must be kept and notice sent to the Inspector of Factories * for the district. The official book consists of notices to be sent to the Inspector, with counterfoils which remain in the workshop. The Acts also provide that a minimum number of holidays in the year must be given to children, young persons, and women, and these must be recorded in the prescribed register mentioned on p. 10. B. AMOUNT OF WORK DONE. This is almost invariably the factor which determines the gross amount of money due to miners in Britain ; and, not infi-equently, certain kinds of surface work also are paid for in this way. In Cornwall, the work paid for in this manner is called "tutwork ;" in other districts, " piece work," or "contract work," or "bargain woi-k." It has the advantage that it enables a good work- man to obtain some benefit from his greater skill, or the greater energy he may display ; and, where it is possible to make the interests of the miner and his employer identical, it is also to the benefit of the latter. Sinking" and Driving". — In sinking shafts and driving levels, payment is made according to linear measurement, the shaft or level being main- tained of the dimensions agreed on. In many metalliferous mines in England, the unit is the fathom ; in collieries, the yard ; in South Africa, Colorado, and other places where labour is dear, the foot ; and on the Continent, the metre. It is generally part of the agreement that the verticality, or the inclination of the shaft, or the direction of the level, is to be strictly maintained according to instructions. This class of work is known as "dead-work," because it is not directly profitable, although it is a necessary preliminary to the profitable working of a mine. The German phrase for dead-work, Todtwerk, introduced into this country by the German miners brought over by Queen Elizabeth, has given rise to the term " tutwork " mentioned above, which has, however, acquired a more extended meaning. The necessary measuring is done generally by the underground manager, but sometimes by the mine-surveyor, as in Colorado. Permanent marks, con- veniently near the end of the drift or heading, or bottom of the shaft, are made or noted from time to time as starting points for the measurements. The distances are usually recorded in an ordinary memorandum book ; but it is better to use a book specially ruled, and kept exclusively for this work. Such a book is a great help to accuracy, and is useful for future reference. Here is an example : — * Inspectors of Mines are Inspectors of Factories and Workshops for their districts, as far as mines and quarries more than 20 feet deep, are concerned. GROSS AMOUNT DUE TO AVORKMEN. 15 Name of Conipauy. * Gross Measurement. t Deduct Mark. Net Measurement. Price per Fm. I New Mark. Fm. Ft. In. Fm. Ft. In. Fm. Ft. In. £, s. 1 Fm. Ft. In. Another column could very usefully be added to this form for containing a memorandum of the distance of the end from the commencement of a drift or heading ; this should be checked from time to time by actual measurement, and also by comparing the length with that shown by the plan. These pre- cautions are necessary, as there is no doubt that frequently a greater length is paid for than is actually driven. Generally only one measurement is made between pay-days — viz., on a day as near the following pay-day as can be conveniently arranged ; but at a mine in South Africa, where monthly " pays " are in vogue, measurements are taken every Monday morning, in addition to the monthly measurements. These are all recorded in a measuring book, as under : — MEASURING BOOK. Date. Working Place. Reef. Weekly Advance. Ft. Ins. Total Advance. Ft. Ins. From Width of Reef. Remarks. Exploitation. — When a mineral depositTis being worked away, payment may be made according to : — a. Vohime excavated. b. Weight of mineral gotten. c. Volume of mineral gotten, d. Depth of holes bored. a. Vohime Excavated. — In vein-mining the price paid is often so much per square fathom, measured in the plane of the lode, the whole width of the lode being taken away ; in the case either of a very wide lode or of a mass deposit, the pi'ice may be reckoned per cubic fathom. Where no selection of the ore is required, and everything broken has to be sent to the surface, this method is fairly satisfactory; but where the ore has to be sorted imderground, it is not at all applicable, because the miners are solely interested in making as large a hole as possible before the measuring-day, whereas the proprietors are interested in the amount and quality of the ore sent to the surface. Under these circum- stances the miners sometimes throw away "stuff" they have broken on to the "stulls," and into old workings, instead of taking the trouble to pick out the good ore and send it to the shaft. This difficulty is got over to some extent by giving a premium on ore sent to the surface in addition to the price per cubic fathom ; however, the interest of the miner and proprietor can only be made identical by giving the former a proportion of the value of the ore when it is ready for the market. When the vein is irregular in richness (as is often the case with copper, tin, lead, and zinc lodes), the value of the ore obtained does * Distance of end or face from last mark. t Distance of end or face from last mark on previous measuring day. + Distance of new mark from the face. i6 MINE ACCOUNTS. not necessarily bear any relation to the amount of vein broken — that is, to the amount of work done — and so the method of payment applicable to such cases comes under the next head (C). Where mineral is being excavated in an open quarry and requires no selection, payment by volume excavated is suitable. The cubic yard is, in such cases, the common unit. h. Weight of Mineral Gotten. — This is almost invariably the method used in working coal ; and it is likewise common in working stratified ironstone, haematite, and many other minerals. The " bargains " are generally arranged at so much per ton of mineral weighed at the surface. At collieries a weighing-machine is provided close to the pit>top, on which each waggon-load of coal is weighed as soon as it reaches the surface. The Coal Mines Regulation Act provides that a check-weigher may be stationed at the pit-top, to look after the interests of the men, if the majority of them so elect ; and this is the general practice. The man, or company of men, to whom a particular waggon-load "belongs," is indicated by a tin or leathern tally fastened to it, and bearing a number ; or, a number is chalked on the side of the waggon. This number may be the number of the stall where the man is working, or it may be a number given to the man when engaged, and which he retains as long as he remains at that colliery. The weights of coal are recorded on a sheet, or in a book, under these numbers. Generally the sheet is of considerable size, so that a single one takes the whole output for the day ; or in the case of a book two opposite pages are made to suffice in order to avoid turning over the leaves. Here is a simple example, which can, of course, be greatly extended : — UTPUT AT Pit 1 89 . . . 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 i ^" C. 1 1 1 The daily total for each number is got by vertical addition, while the hori- zontal addition of these totals gives the total for the day. The same result is obtained by vertically adding the totals got by the horizontal addition of each line ; by computing both ways a check is obtained. From these daily records a weekly summary is made for the purposes of the pay-sheets, as shown below : — No. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. ' Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Totals Croppin gs. Net Total 1 1 1 The "croppings" are deductions for shale sent out with the coal. If a waggon contains much refuse, the foreman at the screens has the shale in it set aside ; this he shows to the check-weigher or to the collier himself, and a deduction is made equal to perhaps twice the weight of the shale picked out, as a sort of fine. The foreman in the above case keeps a record of these deductions, but some- times — indeed most frequently — no separate record is kept, the amounts being knocked off at once from the weights of the waggon-loads in question. In some collieries the whole weight of the load is struck out. GROSS AMOUNT DUE TO WORKMEN. 17 05 1 . -^ Pi s c rice per "on. QD "3 - N ^ '^ M l-H •32 1 IS 03 i-H -^ --^ 1 i0<: |S « aj 1 «!•« ^ OS 1 fC H i< H '-' 1 OT 1 ^ 1 - 05 1 tM 1 00 1 (N 1 t~ 1 (N 1 § 1 - ! M -^ 1 s 1 ^ 1 -* 1 ■-1 1 to 1 r-l 1 (M 1 l-H 1 T^ 1 1-^ 1 2 1 M 1 00 1 t^ 1 1 lO 1 t- m 1 M 1 (N 1 iH 1 IC ^ ^ e cd .2.M CD 0.0 (4 fi l-H c3 ^ 5 OJ 03 Ph a cS 8 ti a g •0 3 m |2 5 In working steam coal in South Wales, only the round coal is paid for. The total weight of the coal in the waggon is first ascertained ; then the coal is tipped on to a screen with bars some 1^ in. apart ; the small falls through into a box, and its weight is indicated on the face of a dial and recorded. Thus two records are kept, one of all the coal, the other of the small ; it is only at the end of the week tliat the total of the latter is subtracted from that of the former. In the case of haematite, the ore is occasionally weighed at the pit-top ; more generally, however, it is not weighed until loaded into railway waggons ; an account is kept of the number of small pit waggon-loads, and at the end of the week the total weight is apportioned between them. The Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act of 1872 makes no provision for the appointment of a check-weigher. In Cornwall, when tutwork men are paid according to the number of tons of tinstone raised, the weight is gener- ally ascertained by simply counting the number of waggons ; the average weight carried by a waggon being known approximately. This is really payment according to volume. The Stannaries Act, 1887, provides that the miners may appoint a check-weigher if they wish; but practically this is never done. Notched pegs are sometimes used for identifying waggons instead of numbers. The first records are often kept in a primitive manner, by chalking marks on a board, or by pegging small holes in a lump of clay. c. Volume of Mineral Gotten.— It was pointed out above that sometimes the payment, although ostensibly according to weight, is really made according to volume. The following are other examples of the same kind : — At the De Beers mines, excavation of diamond-bearing rock {blue ground) is paid for per load of 16 cubic feet ; and at Rio Tinto* mineral is excavated by the ton, the number of tons being ascertained by multiplying the number of trucks by the approximate weight in each. The example on this page shows the method of booking. This is adapted to the monthly " pays " there in vogue, and is written up from a book kept by the teller {contador), whose business it is to count the trucks. d. Depth of Holes Bored. — This method is eniployed in stoping the wide lead lodes in the Upper Hartz. i The holes are planned by a foreman, who also measures them when bored and fires them. The price is 1 m. 38 pf. (Is. 4|d.) per metre of hole bored upwards, and 1 m. 13 pf. (Is. l^d.) per metre of hole bored downwards. Conveying {tramming, trailing, putting, drawing) the valuable mineral or the waste rock to the shaft may be part of the bargain taken by the miner, or it may form a separate barc^ain. i In the latter case, the data determining the *Mr. James Osborne, M.I.C.E., and Mr. P. B. Waugh, A.R.S.M., have both supplied me with useful information and forms from the Rio Tinto Mines. t Foster, Ore and iStone Mining. London, 1S94, p. Orfy. V' OF THE i8 MINE ACCOUNTS. money to be paid mtay be just the same as in the miner's bax'gain, but the price will, of course, be less. Thus youths will undertake to keep a rock-drift clear at so much per fathom driven ; mineral is often trammed at so much per ton ; and " blue ground " at Kimberley is trammed at so much per load. At collieries there is sometimes an agreement whereby tramming is paid for according to distance and the inclination of the roads. Although the main part of the work done by men may be paid for by the fathom, yard, ton, or load, there is often other incidental work for which they are paid separately, but at prices previously agreed on. It may also happen that men are temporarily set to work which has not been mentioned in their agreement ; in this case payment is usually reckoned at the current rate for day-work. Further, unforeseen circumstances may arise, through no fault of their own, which prevent them prosecuting their work ; thus they may be " drowned out " of a shaft, or out of dip workings, owing to a stoppage of the pumps ; and therefore extras and allowances are often found in workmen's pay accounts. It is very necessary that all these should be seen to by the manager, personally if possible. Generally a simple memo- randum book is used to record them, though a suitably ruled form is a great help to clearness ; it makes the record more permanently useful, and saves time. When such a book is used, it commonly serves in addition as a measure- ment book. The following is an example from *Llanbradach Colliery, South Wales : - +J a ca O o ■a C3 r^ ^ t. a a ■e s| «2 >> si O 6 o > Fortnightly paynientB. .pT3 a ^^ 1 a 9 ■d^ a en be cd tal receiv a S? P t- P ti o ^2 Jan. Feb. &c. Pi ill no ^ ^ . No. Name. Occupation. >. a >. ^ >. _t3 1^ >> a o m H 1) a -a g B 1 1 ^ o 1^ (S P 6 Amount. 1 & s. d. 3 Place. Description of work. Tons. Measurement. Trucks. Contractors. Linear metres. Cubic metres. Price. Joaquin Banon, . . ' Do., Jose Postigo Jerranimo, Shaft No. 21, 5b to 9b, Driving level, J! )) Mining and fill- ing ore, Work for mines 1 A/c, 248f 14-90 13-65 1 i j 1 1 1 Reals. 400 250 12 LLANBRADACH COLLIERY. i (U a PM Name. Occupation. s SB 1 _c '■S as O -4-3 to S o Dead Work. 'B .3 "S c •S 1 D3 It P^ Cutting bottom. Ph Double timber. i Laying partings. s 03 •B ^1 1 CO *3 1 en ■a S . I < 1 OD i-a S d !z; 4^ s ! d < ^1 s 6 < S d 1 *5 < 5 Mine Contractor's Date. Name. Working Place. Latest Measurement. Paid for Due. Price per Foot. Ft. Ins. ! 1 Ft. Ins. ' Ft. Ins. £ s. d. i PAY-SHEETS. Pay daij, June 2, i594. PARK MINES Fathom AVokk. ; Extra Work. Deductions. Amount. Total earn- ings. Total deduc- tions. Net Driving, j Rising. Reopening. i "S" icS a.= I CQ Club and Mater- amount due. B s. 1 t rt 1 P^ i 1 ! Amount. £ ^" lis a Q 03 s Hospi- ; ials. tal. 1 #. s. r7. & 8. d. !.£ B. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 4 20 1 5 18 4 11 14 19 6 36 s 7 14 4 1 4 15 31 13 7 3 5 10 Pay Day .15 P^i?A: MINES. Piece Work. Total Earnings. Dehuctions. Amount. Description. Quantity. Amount. 2 o o o Net amount due. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ I s. d. £ s. d. Gross amount. To be deducted. Shifts worked. Net wage Total Stores. Tools 1 ,-\yorkfor repaired and; „; " a /„ sharpened. 1 «"nes A/c. Total. Pay due. per man Items. Men. Boys. 1 per shift. Reals. 5960 3412 50 Reals. 9372 3145 50 Reals. 1693 648 12 50 Reals. 51 45 70 25 Reals. 144 27 Reals. 1744 838 82 2 Reals. 7627 2306 68 98 366 138 Reals. \ 20 I 16 1 84 2985 160 72. Pay. * Paid to another contractor for filling ore. .Ending 189 s o S H a o o ^ H Coal. Rate. Amount. Total. bo Pm O DEDUCTIONS. o a O : 4) O _ a o 13 O H cJ "3 >» Hi Pay Book. Deduct. At Amount Deducted. Gross Amount. Amount Paid. Days Worked No. Stores. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. MINE ACCOUNTS. The books used in Cornwall connected with the payment of work- men are : — 1. Day-work book. 2. Tutwork ledger. 3. Tribute account book. 4. Cost book. The first and third are ruled with vertical columns, and need no special description. The tutwork book is kept in the form of a ledger, and will be better understood after Chapter X. has been read. In the example here given it will, however, be readily seen that the gross money due to the miner appears on the right-hand page, and the deduction on the left ; and that the " balance" on the left-hand side, necessary to make the sum total of this side equal to that of the right-hand side, is the net amount due to the company of men (pare). TUTWORK LEDGER. Dr. John Jones. Gr. m to M +4 o o Date. £ s. d. £ s. d. Date. g pR tH £ «. d. 1893. 1893. Aug. 19, To cost, . 11 18 2 Sep. 16, By driving Sep. 16, )> ' 1-^ 11 26 9 2 the 420 fms. level east of „ 2, To subsist, ,, doctor, 29s.; club, 2ls. 9d. ; barber, 7s. 3d., . Balance, . 75 2 113 218 18 19 7 10 engine shaft, ,, Sundry re- pairs to pit- work, two months, 7 1 6 £25 181 37 218 5 2 7 When the tutwork "bargain" is per ton of "tinstuff " gotten, the weight of the "stuff" is obtained from the sampling book, for both tutwork and ti'ibute tinstuff are sampled. The Cost Book is the most important book at a Cornish mine. In it the information contained in the above-mentioned three books is brought together. The following is an example : — CO 1 1 -*j -*-J v5 's s s 5 Name ami Description of work. s 6 S o 03 O t & a O Total Anion o o a s 'i 5 ci £ (f. ^.1 £ «. d. & «. d. & S. d. £ s. d. 15 John Jones and prs. driving 420 fms. level east from sliaft, . . Sundry repairs to pit- 7 1 6 25 181 5 work, 1 37 2 218 7 75 26 9 2 29/ 21/9 7/3 113 19 10 I In addition to wages, the cost book contains other matters (see p. 114). Due-Bills and Pay-Tickets.— It is usual to give full details to the men working on contract, so that they can see exactly how the net amount due to them has been ai'rived at. This information is sometimes given on pay-day, but it is often supplied a day or two previously, in order to enable partners to make beforehand the necessary calculations for the division of their money. PAY-SHEETS, DUE-BILLS, AND PAY-TICKETS. 31 The tickets used in the latter case are known as due-bills. The following is an example of the form given by a colliery to the miners : — COLLIERIES CO., LD., * Colliery. ^0. SOL Name., Wm. Pvees. Working No. M. Occupation, Collier Pay, ending 189 Trams. T. C. Rate. £ s. d. £ 8. d. Large Coal, . . 20 11 1/6 3/- 1 10 9 9 L Headings, 3 Shifts, 3 2. Airways, 2 ,, . . 2/3 3. Stalls, 2 „ . . /y 4. Coal Carting, . . /« 5. Ripping Top, . 3 /•^ 6 6. Cutting Bottom, 3 3/- 9 7. Props, . /o 8. Double Timber, V- 9. Cogs, . 1/- ' 10. Laying Partings, -'/- 11. Turning Stalls, 0/- 12. Days, . Total, 2 9 3 Add 18| per cent., . 9 2 Allowance or Bonus, Gross Earnings 10 3 8 5 Deductions : — Cash Advanced, Sick Fund, . 1 Rent, . Coal, Stores, . 7 Check Weigher, 1 7 This Ticket must be presented for payment before 2.30 p.m. on Pay Day. Pay 3 6 10 No. 801. Cash at Pay 3 6 10 Deductions Pay £ 1 7 Date 3 8 5 * The following explanation of terms used in the acc^ount has been kindly furnished by Prof. Galloway : — The cutting price of Is. Gd. per ton is payable without addition when men are working one sliift of 8 or 10 hours' duration in places 8 yards or more in width. When two shifts or three shifts are worked in 24 hours, some of the men have to work by night, and, occasionally, also the men who constitute one shift have to leave before they have com- pleted all the work they wish to do, so as to make room for the next shift. Both of these contingencies are considered unfavourable to the workmen, and hence a certain allowance per yard driven is made to compensate for the real or supposed disadvantage. 1. Headings are main roadways driven for haulage purposes, in which part of the roof (top) is taken down, or part of the floor (bottom) is "raised" to give the necessary height. They are not so wide as stalls — and an allowance of 3s. per yard is made when three shifts are worked. 2. Airways are still narrower than headings, as a rule ; but they do not require the roof oi- floor to be cut. 32 MINE ACCOUNTS. On pay-day the collier tears off the slip at the bottom, and handing it to the pay-clerk, receives the cash due to him ; thus the slips enable the pay to go on smoothly and quickly, and at the same time serve as acknowledgments from the men that they have received the money owing to them. At the same colliery the following is the form of due-bill given to labourers (da^/ men) : — COLLIERIES CO., Ltd. Colliery. No Name, Occupation, ^«Z/» ending . .189 Days . . . . @ . . Add per cent. Days . . . . @ . . Add per cent. Bonus, ..... £ s. d. £ s. d. Gross Earnings, .... Deductions: — Cash Advanced (Sub), Sick Fund, Rent, Coal Stores, Pay No Date, Cas De hat] ducti Pa;y 1 Pay ons 3. Stalls are the ordinary wide working-places in which the bulk of the coal is worked. 4. Goal Carting. — In the airways and in some of the stalls in which the i-oof and floor are left intact, the height is insufficient to admit of the ordinary mine waggons being taken to the face. Tlie coal is then filled into a small waggon carrying 5 or 6 cwts., and conveyed from the face to the point at which the larger mine waggon is standing, and is there trans- ferred to the larger waggon. This involves a certain amount of extra work to the collier, and is paid for at the rate of 8d. per yard driven forward in a stall producing, say, 25 tons of coal per yard forward. 5. Ripping Top (taking down roof). — 2d. per inch per yard forward for a width of 6 feet in rock — that is to say, 2 square yards 1 inch thick, 2d. Suppose the thickness to be 3 feet of hard rock, then the cost would be 6s. for 2 cubic yards, or 3s. per cubic yard. 6. Cutting Bottom ("raising floor "). — Where the floor is softer than the roof, additional height is generally obtained by cutting away the former. 3s. per yard forward and 6 feet wide is then paid — that is to say, Id. for 2 square yards 1 inch thick. 7. Props. — Single uprights for supporting the roof at the side of the roadway. 8. Double Timber. — Two uprights and one cross timber resting upon the uprights. 9. Cogs. — Timbers laid crossways two and two, so as to form a small pillar 3 feet or 4 feet square. 10. Laying Partings. — Putting in a set of points and crossings. 11. Turniiig Stalls. — A stall is worked at right angles to a heading. When the stall is commenced, the men are liable to be inconvenienced and delayed by the passing traffic. After the coal has been removed to a distance of 8 or 10 feet from the heading, and the roof PAY-SHEETS, DUE-BILLS, AND PAY-TICKETS. 33 It is not usual to give due-bills to men paid by the day. The next example shows a due-bill in the form of an account ; it will be further noticed that this example shows every detail of gross money due, and all stores charged against the men. Originally a simpler form was employed at this mine ; but, at the request of the men for fuller details, the form below was designed, and it has given general satisfaction. The right-hand side is filled up by the storekeeper ; the left-hand side is copied from the pay-sheet : — Dr. .Mines Pay. CO., LTD. Fortnight ending 26 UNI43 TT^ Large Kegs. Slings. Clay. Smith's Cost. I Total Cost of Materials. 1 Drawing and Samples. 1 Total Month's Cost. Ledger Folio. 7s. 6d. 6d. 3d. 1 1 5 8 11 1 18 2 1 11 18 2 16 4/- 14 At a haematite mine in Furness two books are kept, one for stores-delivered charged against the men, and the other for those charged against the Company. They are respectively ruled thus : — John Jones & Co. 482 Date. i Description ; of ! Material, j Folio of Store Book. P5 Candles. Dynamite &c. Tools. Total. Date. Quantity. 1893 No. lbs. s. d. s. d. s. d. £ s. rf. JSo. lbs. July 12 1 i 1 1 2 40 4 4 2 8 Candles, Dynamite, 1 Fuse, ! Caps, 4-inch steel nails, Plate nails, Td. rope, Dyn. can, Pick shafts, 29 28 /6 1/9 1/- 3/6 2/- 3/- /6 20 20 7 1 : 8 lOi lOi 2 3 1 6 1 1 7 1 2 3 1 14 10^ _10i It will be observed that there is a column in which each item is recorded,, then three columns in which the items are analysed. The money columns are for the amounts which are charged against the men. No. 9 Winding Engine. 179. Date Quantity. 1893. No. Lbs. July 12 2i 1 gals. 2 2 Description of Material. Lubricene. Waste. Oil kettle. Soft soap. Folio of Stores Date. Quantity. Book. No. Lbs. 782 1 Description of Material. Folio of Stores Book. In this form there are columns for quantities, but none for money. Both books are written up by the storekeeper from the order tickets. 44 MINE ACCOUNTS. The book used for recording stores-delivered which are charged against the mine may be ruled in such a way as to present an analysis of consumption, which is useful in making analyses of costs. The following example from Llanbradach Colliery will illustrate this method : — Pitwood. 1 m u o Pi CO 1 S Lbs. "a -.J CO Lbs. Electric Goods. Oils. A\Tiere Used. S H i2i i B o 1 Valvoline Cylinder. Olive. Ac, &C. No. 1 Winding Engine, No. 2 Air Compressor, Boilers, &c. , &c. C. Qr. Gals. Qts. Pts. Gals. Qts. Pts. This book is made up each day, and a weekly analysis is also made (see p. 71). C. Books connected with Balancing" Stores used and Stock.— The difference between the amount received and amount delivered of each article gives the stock which ought to be in the mine store. It is important to ascertain this figure accurately in order that the estimated stock may be com- pared with the actual stock and a check be thus established ; besides it is useful for indicating when a new supply of any particular article should be ordered. For ascertaining and recording the balance of goods in store, a stores book, often called a stores ledger, is kept, in which a certain portion is allotted to each article, the name of the article being written at the top of the page, and underneath the amount received balanced against the amount delivered. The following is an example : — -Or. Candles. Or. Date. Sender. > Date. ' Daily Con- sumption. Monthly Con- sumption. 1893 July 11 12 To stock brought forward, To J. Hodgson, . lbs. |200 816 1893 July 12 / F 482, 40 lbs. ; t F 483, 24 do. ; The quantities received are always entered on the left-hand side of the page and the deliveries on the right. This book is written up by the store's auditoi', storekeeper, or other person instructed so to do, who first checks the stores-delivered books (see p. 43) from the duplicates in the order-book kept in the office. r482, 40 lbs. means that on p. 482 of the stores-delivery book, a delivery of 40 lbs. of candles is recorded as having taken place on July 1 2th. On referring to the stores-delivery books, it will be seen that a column is provided for the folio of the ledger on which the delivery of each article is recorded, so that there is no difficulty in tracing an entry from one book to the other. The stores ledger is balanced as often as stock is taken. It is almost im- possible to avoid small differences occurring in some articles, but every means of tracing the error should be at once adopted. At Llanbradach, instead of a single book, two books are kept, one for receipts, PURCHASE AND DISTRIBUTION OF STORES. 45 the other for deliveries. A monthly summary is made in a smaller book, the character of which is shown by the following example : — PiTWOOD. Date. Stock. Jan. I 1 Stock, Received during month, Total, .... Consumption, Stock, Tons. 71 263 Cwt. — Tons. 71 94 Cwt. — 334 240 — — Feb. 94 — — — Sometimes separate store-books ai-e kept for coal and timber, and occasion- ally for iron and steel, as these cannot very conveniently be passed through the store-books in the ordinary way. The following is a good example of a " coal " book from Cornwall : — Left-hand Page. Coals Consumed. Date. Engine. Stamps. 1 ' t ' Vr[\\m. \ Man- Engine, and Compressor. Calciner. Smiths. Sundries. 1 Total. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Tons cwt. Remarks. Right-hand Page. Coals Received. Merchant. {Lower down page.] Quantity received from Merchants this month. Stock in Coal Yard on First of month, . Total, Less consumed, as shown on other side, Stock in Coal Yard on Last of month, Quantity. 46 MINE ACCOUNTS. The coal consumed is entered daily ; and weekly totals are made, a page being large enough to record the consumption for a month. Stock-Taking. — Stock-taking is sometimes done every month ; six months is a more frequent interval ; and still more commonly stock is only taken once a year. A rough memorandum book is used in the actual operation, and afterwards a classified list is written up in a " stock " book. CHAPTER VI.— SALE OF PRODUCT. In the preceding chapter the Mining Company was the buyer; in this one it is the seller; hence many of the operations described there need only be reversed to apply here. Minerals go into the market in very different stages of elaboration ; thus haematite and other iron ores are generally sold to the smelter just as they come from the mine ; coal may be sold as it comes from the pit, or it may be screened and picked, or washed, or coked, or made into briquettes ; tin ores go through a costly process of dressing, so that the percentage of metal is raised from some H or 2 per cent, to 70 per cent. On the other hand, copper ores often undergo very little prepai-ation for the market, and as sold may contain only 5 or 6 per cent, of copper. Gold is generally sold in ingots, which always contain a little silver and traces of other metals. Frequently a Mining Company smelts its own ores, and so has only a finished product to put on the market. In this case, however, it is very imj)ortant that the ore passed to the smelting works should always be credited to the mine at a fair price ; otherwise it would not be possible to localise profit or loss, and efficiently superintend the works. Methods of Sale. — Contract. — Minerals are not infrequently sold by contract ; for instance, coal, iron, and manganese ores, and occasionally lead and other ores are so sold. A form of contract-note has already been given (p. 38). It is sometimes agreed that coal shall not have more than a certain percentage of ash, or less than a certain calorific j^ower ; but frequently it is simply specified by name. In the case of iron ores, the percentage of iron may be stated in the contract-note, especially in buying foreign ores ; but in buying from a local mine, the quality being fairly uniform, the ore is often bought at a price detei-mined by the buyer's previous experience, no percentage composi- tion being guaranteed. Tender. — Tenders for the sale or the purchase of minerals, are frequently made. There are two cases : — in the first the Mining Company offers to supply a certain quantity of mineral to purchasers, under specified conditions ; this is frequently done in the sale of coal, and sometimes in the sale of iron ores; in the other case, which is peculiar to certain ores, the smelters tender for the ore to the mining company ; this is the case with lead, silver, tin and copper ores, and gold ores when they are sold as such. At the Foxdale Mine in the Isle of Man a parcel of ore having been made ready for sale, a sample is sent to the various smelters known to the Company with the following form : — SALE OF PRODUCT. 47 ISLE OF MAN MINING COMPANY, LIMITED. FoxDALE Mines, Isle of Man. Sampling of Tons of Silver -Lead Ore Lying in Ramsey. Tenders to be sent ia to Chester, before Four o'clock p.m., on when the purchasers will at once be declared ; and it is requested that they be marked "■Tender for Ore," on the outside. ^^_^^^__ Conditions of Sale. The Highest Tender to be accepted ; and should two be alike, and neither withdrawn, the Lot to be divided. The Purchaser to employ an Agent to check the u-eighing of the Ore, and to see it shipped into a vessel in Bamsey Harbour ; and the Ore to be at the risk of the Purchasers from the time of such shipment. The Purchasers to clear out the whole Lot at the same time, and within ten days of the date of Sale. Weight : 20 Cwt. (of 112 lbs. each) to the Ton. Dry Weight. Payment due on day of Sale, and payable one-half by Cash, and the remainder by an approved Acceptance in London at two mouths' date ; or by Cash at purchaser's option, being allowed interest at the rate of Five per cent, per annum. (Signed) The value of the ore is ascertained by assaying it, and finding out the amount of lead and silver in it, for silver is always present in lead ores, and is paid for when it exceeds 4 ozs. per ton ; deductions are then made for loss in smelting, for cost of smelting, and for carriage. The amount of moisture is ascertained by drying a sample, and the calculated dry weight is the basis of payment. In buying non-argentiferous lead ores in Missouri,* the smelter simply inspects the parcel, and, estimating its value by the eye, makes a bid based on previous experience ; but in Colorado, where the ores are frequently rich in silver, and often carry gold, the bids are in the form of an elaborate tariff, setting forth the scale of payment for the various contents of the several classes of ore, based upon New York quotations for the metals contained in them. For example, the general price-list for lead carbonate ores during 1885 was f : — Silver : New York quotation, less 5 per cent. Gold : $19 per ounce if over 0*1 ounce per ton. Lead: 45 cents per unit J when the New York quotation of lead is 4-25 cents per lb. ; 40 cents per unit when the New York quotation of lead is under 4*25 cents. The working charges per ton of 2,000 lbs., dry weight, ranged from $3 to $8, according as the percentage of lead varied from 30 to under 10 per cent. There were six other classes of ore for which the scales varied. In the case of tin and copper ores in Cornwall, the sales are at regular intervals, and are known as " ticketings." Although the glory of the copper ticketings is already " a tale that is told," the tin ticketings are still held every fortnight at Redruth. Previous to these meetings, samples of the lots of ore to * Engineering and Mining Journal of New York, July 4th, 1885, p. 4. •^Mineral Resources of the United States, 1885, p. 251 ; see also Hofman, Metallurgy of Lead, New York, 1892, p. 73 ; Engineering and Mining Journal of New York, vol. li., 1891, p. 85 ; and Furman, "Purchasing Silver, Gold, and Lead Ores," School of Mines Quarterly, vol. XV., 189.S-94, p. 1. J 1 per cent., or 20 lbs. lead to the ton of 2,000 lbs. avoirdupois. 48 MINE ACCOUNTS. be offered have been sent to the smelters, and they or their representatives come prepared to make bids. A chairman is appointed from among the sellers, and they all sit round a table ; as each lot of ore is called, offers are written on slips of pa2:)er (tickets, hence the name), and passed up to the chairman, who reads them out, the highest bidder getting the parcel. The value of the tin ore is ascertained by a dry assay ; the proportion of metal is not stated as a percentage, but as so many cwt. to the ton; thus, 65 per cent, ore would be said to have a "produce" of 13. 1^ is always deducted from the produce for cost of smelting and loss {returning charges). Thus, suppose a smelter takes £70 per ton of metallic tin as the basis of his offer, the value of 13 produce ore would be £70 x (13 - 1^^). In weighing the ore on delivery, 3 lbs. per cwt. is allowed off the net weight. The amount taken by the smelter as the basis of calculation is known as the " standard." Copper ores are sold per ton of 21 cwts. in a similar way to tin ores, but the returning charges are taken at so much per ton of ore instead of reducing the pi'oduce by a definite amount.* Zinc ores are also sold by tender. The methods used in arriving at their value are often complicated. The rule used at Swansea is as follows :t — From 100 deduct the calcination loss, and divide the zinc-content (by assay), less unity and multiplied by 100, by the result. From |^ths of the answer deduct 1. Multi- ply this remainder by the London quotation price for spelter per ton, less £1, and divide by 100. Deduct returning charges for smelting, £2, 10s.; also deduct cal- cination-percentage or loss-value, and also 5s. per ton cost of calcination. Sup- pose a calamine ore assaying 40 per cent, zinc, with a calcination loss of 30 per cent., spelter being at the rate of £17 per ton in London, we should have : — 100 - .30 = 70 per cent. ; and 40-1 = 39 per cent. ^^ ^^^^ = 55-7 per cent.; 55-7 - ^ (55-7) = 44-6 ; 44-6-1 = 43-6; 43-6 X £16 £6 19 6 2 10 £4 9 6 1 6 10 £3 2 8 5 100 Less return charges, ....... Calcination loss at 30 per cent, of £4, 9s. 6d., Deduct cost of calcination, .... Value per ton of crude calamine ex-ship at Swansea, dry weight, £2 17 8 Phosphate of lime is sold by the ton, the price obtained depending upon the percentage of phosphoric anhydride, which is determined by chemical analysis. Mica is sold by the lb., the price increasing very rapidly with the size of the plates, and their freedom from wrinkles and flaws. The ton, which so frequently forms the unit of weight by which minerals and metals are sold, varies in amount. The British statute ton contains 20 cwts., or 2,240 lbs.; the "long ton" has several values; 21 cwts. to the ton was, until very recently, generally employed in the sale of coal, but on account of altered railway rates it has almost gone out of use. In America the ton of 2,240 lbs. is employed under the name of the "long ton." The "short ton" of 2,000 lbs. is commonly used in the United States, Canada, and South Africa, while on the Continent the metric ton of 1,000 kilogrammes, equal to about 2,204 lbs., is used. * For further information re ticketings, see Rickard's Miners^ Manual, Truro, 1859. t H. D. Hoskold, " Notes upon a practical method of ascertaining the value or price to be paid for zinc mineral." Transactions of the Federated Institute of Mining Engineers, vol. v., 1892-93, p. 93 ; also vol. vii., 1893-94, p. 228. SALE OF PRODUCT. 49 Delivery of, and Payment for. Mineral.— Under this head we will consider one or two special cases, beginning with the simplest, illustrative of the methods employed. Tin. — In Cornwall, the ore (black tin) having been bought by a certain firm at the ticketing, is sent to their works by horse and cart in bags each holding from 3 to 4 cwts. An officer of the Company accompanies the ore, and checks the weighing of it at the works. In addition to the deduction of 3 lbs. per cwt. already mentioned, the weight of each sack (3 to 4 lbs.) must be deducted, and then the net dry weight calculated. A receipt for the ore, showing the amount of money due, is then given to the representative of the Mining Company in the following or some similar form : — TIN-BILL. Smelting House, Truro, 16th March, 1S9S. Messrs Mine Adventurers. Black Tin. Tons. Cwts. Qrs. Lbs. 10 7 2 22 at £ Carriage, 57 3 4 per ton ?3 £ £ 591 1 18 14 8 7 593 13 3 The item " carriage " requires some explanation. The Mining Company usually pays the carriage ; when, however, ore is sold at a " ticketing " to works which are farther away than other works represented at the sale, it is evident, that because of the extra cost of carriage the Company might really be making less out of their ore, in spite of the price paid by the Company owning the distant works being greater than that offered by the nearer. To compensate the Mining Company in this matter, the smelter pays the excess of carriage beyond a certain distance. Payment quickly follows the tin-bill either by cheque, or by a bill (see p. 84), payable in seven days, or in some other period up to two months. This latter is sometimes also known as a "tin-bill." * The sales of tin are recorded in a book which may be ruled as follows : — Tin Sold. .. Mine, , 189 Tin Sampled. Date. Pur- chasers. Quantity. Price per Ton. Carriage. Date, Tribute. Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs, Tutwork. Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs, Total. The " tin sampled " is extracted from the sampling book (p. 22), and being entered in the right-hand page of the tin-sales' book, affords a check on the dressing of the ore. Coal. — In the case of this mineral, the sales are so numerous that it is * The old tin-bill was simply a promissory note to deliver a certain quantity of metallic tin to the miner at the next coinage. The coinages for tin were held four times a year at certain appointed towns, and no tin could go into the market until it had been stamped (see Pryce, Mineralogia Cornuhiensis. London, 1778, p. 291). 4 50 MINE ACCOUNTS. necessary to employ several books. The original orders for coal and the con- tracts are kept at the office of the colliery, instructions as to the coal to be delivered being usually telephoned day by day to the weighman at his hut. Here the orders are written as received into the telephone-message book which thus becomes a sort of order-book. The orders are sometimes recorded in a more systematic order-book, as in the example given below : — Orders Received. Date. No. of Order. Ordered by Address. Consignee. Address. Quantity. Quality. Date Order Completed. The actual orders are, of course, preserved, being either filed or pasted in a guard book. Coal, as a rule, goes from the pit in railway waggons, and is weighed in them ; but it sometimes goes by canal. In the Midlands, when sent by canal, it is not weighed before it is shot into the boats, the quantity being ascertained by gauging — that is, measuring the depth of immersion. As the weights cor- responding to given draughts of each boat have been previously ascertained by experiment, it is easy to calculate the various boat-loads. It is common to find a coal-yard attached to a colliery in order to supply local customers by means of carts. This is the " land sale " department. In the case of railway traffic, the weight of each waggon, when empty (tare), must be ascertained. It is generally painted on the waggons, though not always correctly ; hence the empty waggon is weighed as it goes past the weigh-hut to the pit, for the hut is always situated by the edge of the siding which connects the colliery with the main railway. When the waggons come back to the weigh-hut full, they are labelled by the weighman as to their destination, according to the instructions he has received. He then re- weighs them, and makes a record in a book sometimes called a waggon-book, sometimes a consignment-book, sometimes a weigh-book. is the form in use at a colliery in Lancashire : — Consignment-Book. The following Date. Consignee. No. of Waggons. Weight. Quality. Destination. Gross. Tare. Net. The following is another example,* with more detai' :- - 3 o o -^ S ^ o 3 o On Whose Account. Description of Coal. Waggons. Gross Weight. ■si H s 4^ 1 a Q ■s Owner. No. 1 1 . * Gerard Van de Linde, Lecture on Collieries, London, 1888. Also published in Accountant, vol. xiv., London, 18S8, pp. 287, 301, 319. SALE OF PRODUCT. 51 The column under " charged weight " has reference to the 21 cwts. to the ton, spoken of on p. 48 ; and that under " posted " refers to the transaction being posted into the ledger, which will be better understood after reading Chapter X. The weighman also fills up a declaration giving particulars of the consign- ments to the railway company. The forms for this are often bound in a book with counterfoils ; there may also be a form attached on which the railway company can acknowledge the receipt of the waggons. The following is an example : — 18... * Declaration of Coal, Coke, and Lime to be forwarded by the Midland Railway Company. Carriage payable by the Grangetown Collieries, subject to the Rates and Conditions in force for the time being. To Route. Consignee. intimate Destination. Descrip- tion. Waggons. From Owner. No. weigiib. signee An invoice or advice note is sent from the weigh-hut or office to the con- When nothing but an account of the numbers of the waggons and weight of coal in each waggon is sent, a post-card with a form printed on the back is useful. It is important that waggons be not detained longer than necessary ; for it is evident that the more journeys they make in a given time, the more profit- able they are to the owners, who charge so much per ton hire for each journey. Sometimes the Colliery Company own the waggons, sometimes the Railway Company, and sometimes the Colliery Company may have them on hire from a waggon company. To keep a stricter watch on the movements of waggons, a waggon-book is often kept ; it shows the date when each waggon left the mine, the place to which it was sent, and the date of return. In the case of " land sales," the carts are weighed as they come into the yard empty, and as they leave it full. A ticket giving full particulars of coal delivered must always be handed to the customer. At one colliery the following statutory conditions f are printed on the back of each ticket : — " Where coal is delivered by means of a vehicle, the seller must deliver or send by post or otherwise to the purchaser or his servant before any part of the coal is unloaded, a ticket or note in this fox-m. " Any seller of coal who delivers a less quantity than is stated in this ticket or note is liable to a fine. " Any person attending on a vehicle used for the delivery of coal, who, having received a ticket or note for delivery to the purchaser, refuses or neglects to deliver it to the purchaser or his servant, is liable to a fine." Five of these forms, one below the other, form a page of the " land sales- book." The right-hand portion is torn out and given to the customer, while the left-hand portion remains in the book, forming a permanent primary record. At another colliery, tickets exactly like those described for the case of work- men on p. 24 are also used for general customers, and a book similar to that described on same page is used to make a summary of these sales for working up into the further accounts of sales, examples of which will be next described. * Gi^rard Van de Linde, op. cit. t Vide Weights and Measures Act, 1889 (52 and 53 Vict., c. 21), sec. 21. 52 MINE ACCOUNTS. At the colliery where the consignment-book mentioned above (p. 50) is used, the weighman makes up in his hut a subsidiary day-book, in which the total quantity of coal sent day by day to each consignee is recorded. It is ruled thus : — Weigh-hut Day-Book. 189... Name. Destination. Quality. No. of Waggons. Coal. Burgy. Slack. There ai-e but three classes of coal sold at this colliery : — Coal, i.e., lumps from which the fine has been separated by screening ; hurgy, i.e., unscreened coal ; and slack, or small coal which has fallen through the screen. In the column headed "quality" the name of the seam whence the coal came is entered. This book is sent to the office, and from it is made up the office day- book, which is similar in character. The sales' ledger is posted daily from the latter book (see p. 80), and monthly statements are made out from the ledger. The following is a further elaborated form of day-book : — * "5 o si o o Owner of Waggon. ! O d 1 o % 2 ! H ft j!. 03 A \^^ O S o -tf o 4^ d 1 1 1 o 1 Summary for Purposes of Cost Sheet. I Best Coal. Nuts. Slack. bo cs To o s To o S 4^ To 1^ O s i From the day-book a Coal Journal is written up in which each customer has a page allotted to him. Coal Journal. f John Smith, Coal Merchant, Peterboro'. - Best Coal, in Midland Waggons. Nuts, in Midland Waggons. Slack, in our Waggons. Price. •a 4^ 4i £ O 1 2 1 bo 13 P 4^ < <0 bO cS 03 O • bog 1- The ledger IS posted From this book, monthly statements are made out. monthly also, but only with totals. The monthly statements sent out to customers may either simply set down the total of each class of coal supplied and the money due, or they may set consignment. Seeing that each consignment IS out the details of every checked, as it comes to hand, by means of the invoice, the total coal sent for *R. J. Evans, "Lecture on Colliery Accounts." The Accountant, vol. xii., 1886, London, p. 56. See also the lecture by Mr. Gerard Van de Linde, above quoted. fidem., p. 110. SALE OF PRODUCT. 53 the month can readily be checked; it is consequently unnecessary to repeat the details in the monthly account, though in some cases it may save trouble. The account may be made out in the form of an ordinary invoice. The following is a convenient form * when several kinds of coal are supplied to a merchant who may have several wharves ; it can easily be modified to meet the actual requirements of any particular mine : — Gkangetown, 1st Dec, 1887. Mr. RICHARD SMITH, Dr., To THE Gkangetown Collieries. Terms. — Cash on the tenth of the following month and no discount allowed. Cheques and Past-Office Orders to be made payable to the Grangetown Collieries or order. Date. To Best Bright. Trucks. At 10/- Amount. Dec. 1 Ilchester, T. 6 c. 9 1 1 T. 1 C. T. C. T. C. T. 6 0. 9 3 1 s. 4 d. 6 Silver Ores. — In Colorado the ore is often sent from the mine to a public sampler, trusted by seller and pui'chaser. The following is an example of the label used : — MINE. Gu.STON, Colorado. 189... Lot No Car No Class of Ore Weight Extracted from Shipped to A daily report of ore shipments is made on the next form : — GUSTON, CoLo., 189... Daily Report of Ore Shipments. From To Lot No. Car No. Classed as Extracted from Mine "Weight. Eemarks. Three samples are taken by the public sampler — one is sent to the seller, one to the purchaser, and one is retained. The sample sent to the mine is assayed there, or elsewhere, and the results entered in the assay-book : — Records of Assay for Date Sample or Control. Mark or Number. Description. Assay • 2 o > 13 cS Copper. p Remarks. Gerard Van de Linde, op. cit. 54 MINE ACCOUNTS. An account of the sliipment, with composition of the ore, is now made out and forwarded to the smelting company purchasing it. The Smelting Company also assays its sample and sends an account to the mine. If the two assays vary materially, and the difference cannot be amicably settled, recourse is had to the assay of the public sampler, who supplies the result of his analysis. Of the three assays, the average of the two which most nearly agree is taken as the correct composition of the ore ; when the result is agreed upon, a state- ment is forwarded by the Smelting Company to the mine, showing the amount of money due to the Mining Company on account of purchases. An example of such a statement is given herewith : — Folio No. THE SMELTING Bou GHT OF Assay No. lot No. Cars. Weights. Assays. Pounds Gross. Per cent. W ater. Pounds Net. Ounces Silver. Per cent. Lead. Ounces Gold. Per cent. Copper (Dry). Silica, Iron, Mn., Zinc, Sulphur, New York Quotations. Date of Assay : — Date Silver Lead Copper (Continuation.) AND REFINING COMPANY. (date op settlement.) Denver, Colo., 189. Silver. Lead. Gold. Copper. Credit for Iron 1 Excess. Working Charges. Price per i Ton. Gross Value. Freight, at per ton. Net Value. Percentage Paid. Price per Unit. Price per Ounce. Price per Unit. i Dols. 1 Cts. Dols. Cts. Dols. 1 Cts. Dols. i Cts. Dols. Cts. Dols. Cts. THE SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY, By SALE OF PRODUCT. 55 Following the statement, an account is sent by the Smelting Company, accompanied by a cheque or draft for the money due. The carriage paid \ipon the ore (always by the Smelting Company) depends often upon its value ; for the Railway Company may agree to take the poor ore for a smaller freight on condition that it is paid a larger freight on rich parcels. Hence it is necessary to send a " Certificate of Assay" to the Railway Company. Finally, a complete record of each sale, and of all attendant circumstances, is written up in a long book, which is ruled as follows : — Statement of Ores Shipped. By. p Railroad Weight SAMPLING WORKS WEIGHT. 6 iz; 2; ^ •a to •fi 1 % s o A 0) «> Moisture. o o OQ OQ 03 3 m o -4J o ^ i a ■ 1^ OQ 00 2 o 4> !2; 1^ i E a IS p. c. Lbs. 1 i 1 Statement of Ores Shipped — Continued. Sampling Oliarge. BASIS OF Settlement. Assay. o A SIL^'ER. ■^ Ag. Oz. Pb. p.c. Cu. p.c. as 00 .a ft 1^ as Au. Oz. H 1 a s .So . . Y. Quota- tions. .1 Ph H C to 5 ta Date of Payment. :Mine Check Sample. ft- SH < Freight Paid. Switching Charge. Assay. Remarks. Au. Ag. Pb. Cu. Gold- Ore. — On the Rand the concentrates extracted from the pulp as it leaves the stamp-battery plates are in some cases packed into sacks and sold monthly to chlorination works. A representative of the Company accompanies them while they are being transported to the works. On arrival they are weighed and carefully sampled, three samples being taken. One of the samples is assayed by the Mining Company, another by the buyers, while the third is sealed up j should the assay of the seller differ from that of the buyer, the third 56 MINE ACCOUNTS. sample is submitted to an independent assayer. Of the three assays, the mean of the two which most nearly agree is taken, in determining the amount of gold in the lot. A record may be kept by the Mining Company in the following form : — Concentrates Sold. Return of. Sold to Weights. No. of Lot. Net Wet Weight. Percentage of Moisture. Moisture Weight. Net Dry Weight. Net Weight in Tons of 2,000 Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Tons. Lbs. Assaying. Lot Nos. Ozs. Dwts. Grs. Fine Gold. Settlement. Tons. Lbs. Ozs. Dwts. Grs. Ozs. Dwts. Grs. at per ton = Less percent., . . . = At per Oz. £ : : Less £ : : per ton for working charges, £ : : £ : : The above is an example of forms used where the concentrates are sold outright ; in many cases, however, the chlorination works are under other agreements for working. 57 PART III. WORKING SUMMARIES AND ANALYSES. It would be possible to assign a great number of the books and forms used at mines to this Part, as they more or less partake of the nature of summaries and analyses ; but some of them have already been described, and others, which constitute the most important part of a company's accounts, will be spoken of in the next Section. Here we shall more particularly consider those summaries and analyses which are of especial value to the manager of a mine. They show the totals of mineral gotten and dressed, the various costs of working and maintenance ; by their help, comparisons can be made with previous periods, and costs can be compared with selling prices, and with costs at other works. The totals obtained are also useful for working up into the further accounts of a company. Occasionally, statistical analyses of work-people employed, hours of labour, and wages are made, though this is comparatively rare. We shall briefly consider at the end of this Part, the accounts sent home by a mine situated abroad. It will be convenient to divide this Part into the following Chapters : — Chapter VII. — Summaries of mineral raised, dressed, and sold ; and of labour. Chapter VIII. — Analyses of cost. Chapter IX. — Forwarding accounts to head office. CHAPTER VII.— SUMMARIES OF MINERAL RAISED, DRESSED, AND SOLD; AND OF LABOUR. These summaries are usually made daily, and these, again, are further sum- marized weekly, fortnightly or monthly, as the case may be. The primary records from which they are compiled are generally used in connection with tlie payment of men, and several examples have been described under that head; one other example may be added, where the records are kept most carefully, though they are not required in calculating wages. At the De Beers Co.'s mines the fol- lowing form, showing the amount drawn up each shaft every hour, is in use : — 58 MINE ACCOUNTS. DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ld. (I). Detaih of Bluerjround hauled per hour at Shaft,.... Morning Shift. Mine, 1S9. 16 Cubic Stoppages. . aj Top «l Feet Loads Total. i 1 . C3 Haulage- . Boxes. 60 Hour. Remarks. per ^ M , .^ s Hour. ' s S n pi a *:> m o d O . o "H 1 rt -4^ o o 1 hJ p W Izi ^ H CQ ^!l . 7-8 1 1 8-9 1 9-10 1 i 10-11 11-12 12-1 1-2 2.3 Bottom Tally, Total Stoppages, Top Tally, ....hours.. ..minutes. Tallyman. Overman. These forms are bound in books with counterfoils, a white form being used for morning shift, green for afternoon, and pink for night. The next is the daily return from the floors where the " blue ground " is deposited for weathering, and afterwards washed : — DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ld. (II). DAILY FLOOR RETURN. KIMBERLEY MINE, .189. Blue Deposited. Blue Washed. "Rf.marks Machines. Loads. Carats. Day, . Night, . ROTARIES : Day, Night, PULSATORS : Day, Night, Total, . Total, . Floor Finds : Diamonds, . Totoi Floor Manager. "*> SUMMARIES OF MINERAL AND LABOUR. 59 The next is a daily summary : — DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ld. (III). Hauling. Morning. Afternoon. Night. ' Total. Loads Deposited. Main Shaft, . Standard Shaft, 1 On Section No. , )! )) 5> Total, , . ! i Total, . . Washing. Machine Section No. 1 Floor Loads. Mine Loads. Hard Blue Crushed. i Lumps Washed. Lumps Deposited. Hard Blue and Stones taken off. No. Section. Hard Blue. Stones. i Total, • • j KiMBERLEY MiNE, 1S9 While a monthly summary is made in the following form : — DE BEERS CONSOLIDATED MINES, Ld. (IV). .1S9. Blue on Floors. Lumps on Floors. Yield per Load. Blue on Floors. Lumps on Floors. Yield per Load. .189. De Beers Mine,... .... .... ..189 Hauling. Washing. Diamonds Found. O O O g +3 60 "3 Blue Washed. ■d •a 1 2 umps Crushed from stocks. umps Crushed direct from Cylinder. a; 2 t-, o o * Date. 03 .S o "« ^ S «i !21 H ^ ^ 1-^ n kI i-J ^A M x - H No. 2 Crusher in red No. 2 Crusher in red ink. ink. * Fine gravel picked dry by convicts. t Ordinary process of dressing " blue ground." 6o MINE ACCOUNTS. The returns for each day occupy a line, and weekly totals are obtained as well as monthly. In the upper left-hand corner a summary for the previous month is given. At the Ferreira Gold Mine, the ore hoisted is recorded at the pit-top, the ore carried to the mill is noted by the transport overseer, and the amount received at the mill by the mill overseer ; these three totals must agree. The record is made up day by day in the following form : — I. — Ore sent to Mill. Date. No. 1 Main Shaft. No. 2. Main ' Shaft. 1 Surface De- posit. 1 Total. Total from South Reef. Total from Main Reef. Ore De- posited in Bins. Ore left in Bins. Ore Milled. Remarks. Tons. Tons, j Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. thus The amount of amalgam and of gold obtained is recorded in great detail II. Date. Am. from Inside Plates. Am. from Outside Plates. Am. from Box Stands. Am. from Vauner Plates. Am. from ' other Sources. Ozs. Total Am. Re- ceived, j Am. Re- torted. Weight of Re- torted Gold. Ozs. Gold in Am. Re- torted Gold Smelted Loss in Smelting. Ozs. Ozs. Ozs. Ozs. Ozs. Ozs. Per cent. Ozs. Ozs. Per cent. ) II. — Continued. Bullion Assays made at the Mine. Weight of Gold Bars. No. of Bar. Fine Gold. Fine Silver. Average Assay. Fine Gold. Fine Silver. Remarks. No. ozs. dwts. grs. in thousandths in 1 in thousandths thousandths in thousandths A summary of the work of the cyanide plant for treating tailings is made thus : — SUMMARIES OF MINERAL AND LABOUR. 6i MacArthur-Forrest Recovery Plant. Work-sheet for month ending .i59 o m 3 o a o 1 g-5 ■a on o g 3 ID P. O 2 a o .Si El idues As • Toil of 00 Lbs. si 1 = O gj3 Remarks. O ^ "3 § 2 = S 5 •25 s ° op "■Sf as 71 o5 g EH ^- s^ 23 5'^ 02 '^ l§ 5§ 2 a 1 The concentrates are not treated on the mine, but are sold (p, 55). See also Chapter XIV. (p. 131) for a suggested scheme of analysis for a gold mine. The following form for a daily summary of coal dealt with is used at a colliery in Lancashire : — Daily Return. .189. .Mines. Raisings. Tons. Cwt. Disposal. Tons. Cwt. Stock this Morning, Sales— H. Level L. Level Sundries Cart Sales Allowances TjOconiotives Brickfield Surnlus Fire Coal Boiler.s Underground Furnaces, Stocked To-day Deficiency, Stock To-nieht Weighed To-day, Waggons, Part loaded To-night, Part loaded this Morning, Consumption, *Gets, Tons. Cwt. A form of summary from a colliery in South Wales is next shown. It is made up every day — a horizontal line to a day — the vertical columns being totalled every week. Two pages suffice for a month, and so each opening of the book exhibits a daily, weekly, and monthly summary : — Total amount of coal raised for the day. 62 MINE ACCOUNTS. No . 1 Pit , Lla> BRADACH Collie RTES . Li<<^e i?oci (SeaTT! q f House Coal. Daily Output, Total Coal Raised as per Pit Top Machine. Disposal. To Stock. 03 1 c ■3 Date IS.... 6 Per cent. Cobble. a 0) o Si .4^ a o P-I s Pj 13 S to P4 H 53 Ph Small for Boilers. Smiths' and Colliery use. Ph 2g 22 Ph Local Sales at Colliery. S Ph Left-hand page. Bight-hand page. It will be noticed that in this form there is a column for total coal raised as per pit-top machine ; the columns for loss or gain are used according as to whether the coal accounted for is less or more than this respectively. It is important that the quantity of coal consumed on a colliery should be carefully ascertained and recorded. To secure this result, it is best to make some-one responsible for this duty, and to employ printed forms. The following forms * of daily returns are used at a colliery in Spain. They are of interest because at this colliery there is coal-washing plant and also briquette-making plant : — Raw Coal Received and Distributed. Received from tlie weigh- bridge, . . . Distribution. To the Evrard washer, To the Berard washer. Sent away by rail, . Sold in Barruelo (land sales), 'Smithy, Lime-ljurning, Barbara shaft, Evrard washer, Berard ,, Bouriez machine, Middleton ,, House-coal for employes, House-coal, various. Locomotive, Pumping engine of Bilrbara shaft, . Consumption at Colliery, Total, Barruelo, 189 Foreman, The followino; is the return from one of the washing machines Coal delivered to the Evrard washer, . Previous stock, Results obtained from the Washer, For gas-making, Madrid, For general sale, Slime deposited. Shale, . Loss, (Stock remaining), Total, Barruelo, 189. Foreman, . * Oriol, Contabilidad Minera, 1894, Madrid, p. CO. SUMMARIES OF MINERAL AND LABOUR. 63 The following is a return from one of the briquette-making machines : — Middleton Briquette Machine. Briquettes from Machine No. 1, No. 2, Washed coal employed. Pitch employed, Output for the day, „ „ night, Bakkuelo, 189 Foreman, The following is a form * for a daily or weekly summary from a colliery in the same neighbourhood : — Raw Coal. 1 Washed Coal. Briquettes. Coke. Slime. 5 > a S < S > < -*3 c s 3 > a 3 < c 5 6 c < a 5 c5 < iNGOINGS.t Stock, Received from the mine, „ „ washer, ,, ,, briquette machine. ,, ,, coke ovens. Total Ingoings, . i Ot7TGOINGS. 1 1 To the washer, . 1 ,, briquette machine, ,, coke ovens, \ 1 Total, . Sales- Consumption on colliery, Total Outgoings, . „ Ingoings, Stock, At a lead mine in Cumberland the following summary is made of quantities of ore raised and of concentrates sold : — Month. Ore Stuff sent to Dressing House. Lead Ore sent to Market. Per cent. of TotaL Blende sent to Market. Per cent. of Total. Iron Pyrites sent to Market. Per cent. of Total. Total. January, . February, . March, - ' Oriol, Op. cit., p. 77. t To the coal-yard of the colliery. 64 MINE ACCOUNTS. On the back of the sheet containing the above is this analysis : — Month. January, February, March, Lead Oke. t^ ^ M cc -M s -3 >. U O o (5 03 O Similar Charges. Profit and Loss. Series of Columns for Blende and for q; Stores. 1 Total 1 Charges. 4^ 03 4i p O Iron Pyrites come here. Office Charges. It will be noticed that this form contains provision for costs of extraction and dressing, and for a statement of the profit and loss of working, so that part of it should, with strictness, be placed in the next chapter. A rigid classification, however, where forms vary so widely, is impossible. In Die Atifbereitung der Erze* Linkenbach gives the following scheme for a monthly summary of the results of dressing a lead-zinc ore. He also sets out schemes for each separate dressing process ; for these the original work must be referred to : — Berlin, 1887, pp. 140-150. SUMMARIES OF MINERAL AND LABOUR. 65 ft. 00 p 1— ( CO 1^ o ip S CO "3 -^3 to' ra S o3 so e«5 CO CO CO o CO 03 CO CO o Zi A jn o « w. to 00 00 s a O 3 o o o f— ( =0 5. »^ o H SB i4 00 U5 sncnis -Suiqqoo 50 CO V -siioa 60 -* t- H o p n o Ph a o H to (M CO p 00 o CO CO p C5 00 C H to o CO 00 p CO o

i-H (N CO M • ' 10 CO IS ^H •* 10 to • • CO 00 PMO M • • I-H CO TfH —4 10 CO ;_^rt . CO 00 »o -2 ^ O ci 3 >,a)'d o i° so CO 03 00 00 i2 t« S^oj >— I (U e -j oj o 2'^f^ o 66 MINE ACCOUNTS. Labour Analyses. — These are important, especially for statistical purposes ; but they are not often made. The following is an example : — THE HAEMATITE STEEL CO., Ld. Mines Department. Return of Workmen employed at Mines Weeks ending 189... Fortuiglit Ending Days at work, . Tons worked, 1 1 1 Men and Boys employed. Under- / Miners, ground \ Labourers, . Aboveground, Total working Minerals, At other work, . Total employed, . Shifts Worked per Man AND PER Boy. Under- i Miners, ground \ Labourers, . Aboveground, . Total working Minerals, At other work, . Total employed, . Total Wages earned per Man and per Boy. Under- /Miners, ground \ Labourers, . Aboveground, Total working Minerals, At other work, . Total employed, . — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Total Tons worked per Man and Boy. Underground, Aboveground, . Total working Minerals, Total Tons worked per Man and Boy per Shift. Underground, Aboveground, Total working Minerals, Average Earnings per Man and Boy per Shift. Under- /Miners, ground \ Labourers, . Aboveground, . Total working Minerals, At other work, . — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Total employed, . _ ANALYSES OF COSTS. 67 CHAPTER YIII.— ANALYSES OF COSTS. Analyses of costs often give simply lump sums expended in different depart- ments and for various kinds of work, but tnese should always be supplemented by costs worked out per ton of mineral gotten, or per unit of saleable product obtained ; otherwise, their import is not so readily grasped. It is sometimes difficult to decide to what unit costs should be worked out : in the case of coal there is no difficulty — they are estimated per ton of coal accounted for — that is, the lump sums representing costs are divided by the weight of coal sold phis the weight of coal consumed on the mine ; but in the case of gold-mining, should costs be worked out per ton of ore raised or per ounce of gold obtained 1 In the case of copper-mining, should they be worked out per ton of ore or per ton of metal ; and, in the case of tin-mining, should they be calculated per ton of un- dressed ore {tinstuff), per ton of dressed ore (black tin), or per ton of metallic tin 1 In favour of working out costs per ton of crude ore it may be said that their amount depends, for the most part, on the amount of ore gotten — not strictly proportionately, for up to a certain point the cost per ton deci'eases with an increasing output — while the amount of gold, or copper, or tin in the ores would not, in many cases, influence the costs to any great extent. Pushing this idea further, the costs of preparatory and exploratory drivages, which are generally paid for by the yard or fathom, are sometimes calculated to one or other of these units, as the case may be. On the other hand, costs per unit of saleable product are very useful for comparison with selling prices; and thus it is that we find occasionally, on the same sheet, costs worked out per ton of crude ore and per unit of saleable product. In comparing the costs at mines situated in different countries, it must clearly be remembered that mere figures showing the various costs per ton of ore are insufficient and may be very misleading ; it is necessary, for a fair com- parison, to know, in addition, the daily wages paid to workmen, hours of work, cost of materials and of carriage, the output, supply of water, and any other data which may affect the costs. In any analysis it is evident that the necessary data must be fully and accurately recorded at the mine. For instance, it would be folly for a clerk in London to attempt to pick out from the pay-sheets of a mine in Australia the cost of getting ore and the cost of development work, unless these were very clearly distinguished on the sheets. In fact, where possible, it is better that analyses should be made at the mine.j What is finally required in an analysis of costs is the total cost of mining the mineral and preparing it for the market. Various stages are passed through, and in each stage, the cost of treatment includes labour, stores, and possibly other expenses. An analysis may proceed in one of two ways — (1) a preliminary analysis of cost of labour, cost of stores, and other expenses may be made, and afterwards, a general analysis ; or (2) the cost during each stage may be analysed direct, various heads being adopted, and under each head a subdivision into 68 MINE ACCOUNTS. cost of labour, stores, and other expenses may be made. Analyses of the cost of particular work are sometimes useful. First Method. — The De Beers analyses of costs form a good example of the first method. The wages are analysed thus : — Mine Wages. No. of Account. Account. Hauling — Breaking and Filling, Tramming, Hoisting, Rock Sliaft, ,, West-end Shaft, No. 1 Shaft, General Repairs, . Shaft Repairs, Dead Work, . Sundry Mine Expenses, Pumping, Mechanical Haulage, Depositing, . Percentages, Standing Charges, Washing — Harrowing, . Watering, Loading, Tramming, No. 1 Machine, 2 „ 8&9„ Lumps, Crushing Lumps, . Hard Blue, . Crushing Hard Blue, Stones, . Cleaning Floors, , Percentages, . Superintending, Sundry Floor Expenses, Sinking Shafts — Rock Shaft, . West-end Shaft, . No. 1 Shaft, . Compounds — Stable, . West end, Machinery, Plant, dec, Departments — Electrical Department, Stables, Convict Labour, Locomotives, Pulsator, Water (Dam), Water (Wells), Sundry Charges, European. Native. Totals. ANALYSES OF COSTS. 69 General Wages. No. of Account. Account. Stores Department — Firewood Depot, . Coal ,, Removing Machinery, Workshop Expenses — Foundry, Workshop Compound, Workshop Plant — Carpenters' Shop, . Machine, Foundry, Truck Repairers' Shop, Kenilworth — Estate Charges, , , Improvements, Village Extension, ,, Charges, . Farm Properties — Sundry Expenses, . Fencing, Plant and Improvements, Head-Office Charges — Stockdale Street Stables, Maintenance of Property, General Charges, . European. Native. Totals. In the analysis of stores, the columns are as follows, the accounts being exactly the same as those given in the preceding form of analysis of olved mv wages :- No. of A/c. Account. Sundries. Oils and Grease. Hauling — Breaking and Filling, Tramming, Hoisting, Rock Shaft, ,, West End ,, „ No. 1 Shaft, &c., &c., &c. Preparatory to filling up this analysis, the following form is used for collecting the various items for each account, so as to obtain the totals required. Account No Account No Paraffin & Candles. Timber,&c. Totals. Order No. Sundries. Oils and Grease. Paraffin & Candles. Timber,&c, Order No. Sundries. Oils and Grease. Paraffin & Candles. Timber, > 3 d E . ■5 ^ i| ■6 3 u d it ^-3 •6 ^ u Hi T 1 > Name. -JJ t» ^ CO ■4J ^ 0) 6 6 B 1 03 1 1 C3 1 0^ c3 1 CO £ s. d. £ 8. d. £ s. d. £ S. d. £ s. d. £ s d. £ s. d. £ «. ..' £ s. d) £ s. d. (Candles,) \ 300 lbs. >■ ( @ 5d., ) 1 Jan. 9, S. Myers, 6 5 6 5 j r Larch, ) 1 Jan. 12, A.Wilson, -{ 200 tons >• I @ 35/, ) ( Nails, ) 350 1 350 Jan. 12, A.Walker, < 2cwts. )■ ( («>12/6, ) rCoal, ) 1 5 1 1 5 Jan. 15, Q-. Moss, < 50 tons y I @15/, ) 37 10 ! 1 37 10 ! SALES JOURNAL. Debits. .« "^ . Personal 6 « Account. Description. Weight. Amount. N ■s £;^ •2f^ C3 TS M HH 1 i 1 1 1 \ « Jj Tons. Cwt. £ s. d. Credits. Iron Ore. Weight. Tons. Cwt, Amount. Sand. Weight. Tons. Cwt, Amount. £ s. d. 90 MINE ACCOUNTS. In the purchase journal, the names of the persons or firms from whom stores, &c., are bought — that is, the names of the Personal Accounts to be credited — are written in the column headed "Name," one after the other; the particulars of goods and amount due being entered in their respective columns, headed "Description" and "Amount," from the invoices. At the same time, each amount is entered in one of the columns under " debits," according to the particular account it must be debited to. At the end of the month, a line is drawn right across the journal below all entries, and the vertical debit columns are added up ; the horizontal sum of these totals should equal the total of the credits column headed " amount," and the necessary check is thus obtained. If the two general totals agree, then the totals of the debit columns are posted to their respective accounts in the ledger, the ledger folio being written just underneath each ; the credit amounts are also posted, but in their case the ledger folios are written in the column provided at the side. A few explanatory entries are made in the Purchase Journal. One or two extra columns without headings may be provided, so that the name of any account only required at intervals can be written in. An example of a Sales Journal for coal was given on p. 52, and the Day-book (p. 52) and Monthly Abstract (p. 53) described in the same con- nection are similar in character. The Inventory. — This, as a rule, is a list of the property belonging to a Company. The value of the property is always represented in the ledger, but the inventory contains much fuller details than could be put into the ledger. Balance Sheet. — We now pass on to consider the preparation of the Annual or Periodical Accounts, to be submitted to the proprietors. The first step is, to take out what is technically called a " Trial Balance," which shews either the total posted to each account in the Ledger, or the Balance on open accounts only (see p. 101). If no error has been made, the debits and credits will be found, on adding up, to exhibit the same total. The next step is to carefully consider the position of each account, and what items are necessary to adjust it. The Personal Accounts should simply require ruling off, as shewn on examples, pp. 99 and 100. The Balances, if any, are carried down, as shewn in italics. The Real and Nominal Accounts will, however, require more thought ; but if the " Coal and Lead Ore Accounts " on p. 98 are referred to and studied, the method of treating them will be under- stood. The Manager having furnished the stock sheets shewing the stock of Coal, and also that of Lead Ore on hand, the amount is entered to the credit, and carried down to start the next period as a debit, thus obtaining the double entry. The diff'erence then shewn is the amount transferable to the Working Account. For convenience of reference, these items are shewn in our example in italics. The several closing entries are set out in the Journal, and the student must always remember that on no account can any prime entry be made in the Ledger direct ; it should only be posted into the latter from a subsidiaiy book. After the accounts have been adjusted, the "Working" and "Profit and Loss " Accounts will have come into existence by the posting of the several Journal entries, and the balances which then remain will form the basis of the Balance Sheet, which, in its simplest form, may be considered as a statement of Assets and Liabilities ; explanation and details being afibrded by the Profit and Loss Account. A form of Balance Sheet is attached to Table A in The Companies Act, 1862. Although it would appear somewhat strange to see a balance sheet issued in Britain in any other form than the one given, yet it does not follow that this is HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. 91 the best possible form in every case ; and it may be drawn up very differ- ently. The following is a good example from Colorado : — Smelting and Mining Co. Colorado. Balance Sheet, Taken 18 Trial Balance. ; Inventory. Representative. Real. Accounts. j Dr. Cr. Loss. Gain. Resources. Liabilities. 1 j 1 The second and third columns are for the trial balance ; then there is a column, headed " Inventory," for the value of the property — mine, plant, buildings, stocks, tfcc. The remaining four columns are for ledger balances, two for the nominal accounts and two for the real accounts. It is these ledger balances alone which are put into the balance sheet in this country. Cost Book Mines never publish or even make a Balance Sheet. A financial statement similar in character to a Revenue Account is issued (see p. 86). EXAMPLE. The following Example will serve to illustrate the method of opening the books of a Company which has been formed to purchase a Mine and work it: — GLEN LEAD MINING COMPANY, LIMITED. Capital, £50,000— In 50,000 shares of £1 each. Consideration : £40,000. £10,000 in fully paid shares of the Company, and £30,000 cash payable in two instalments : — £10,000 on 1st December, 1895. £20,000 on 1st January, 1896. Agreement signed on November 1st, 1895. 40,000 shares to be issued to the public, payment for which is to be made as follows : — 5s. on application. 7s. 6d. on allotment. 7s. 6d. one month after allotment. 1895. Nov. 12th. „ LSth. „ 15th. „ 18th. ,, 19th. Dec. 14th. ,, 15th. Received application for 24,000 shares. ,, ,, ,, 16,000 shares. Allotted 10,000 fully paid shares to Vendors (or their nominees), and 40,000 to public, as per allotment book. Received £12,000 of the instalment due on allotment; being 7s. 6d. per share on 32,000 of the 40,000 allotted. ,, £3,000, remainder of instalment due on allotment; being 7s. 6d. per share on 8000 shares. ,, £9,000 of final instalment; being 7s. 6d. per share on 24,000 shares. ,, £6,000, remainder of final instalment; being 7s. 6d. per share on 16,000 shares. 92 MINE ACCOUNTS. Dui'ing place : — 1896. Jan. 2nd. 4th. 5th, 9th. 9th. 12th. 12th. 12th. 12th. 14th. 14th. loth. 23rd. January the following transactions are presumed to have taken 23rd. 23rd. 23rd. 23rd. 23rd. 24th. 25th. 25th. 25th. 27th. 28th. 31st. £50 - 1 5 -£6 - 5 3 2 Paid to Clerk for petty cash, ..... Paid Insurance Premium, ...... Received from R. Johnstone 1,000 lbs. of dynamite at 1 s. per lb. , ........ Received from S. Myers 300 lbs. of candles at 5d. per lb. ,------ . . - Agreed to purchase plant and machinery from S. Jones & Co., for ....... Sold 40 tons of lead ore to the Roughton Smelting Co. at £7 10s. i)er ton, Bought of A. Wilson 200 tons of larch at 35s. per ton, - Received from A. Walker 2 cwts. nails at 12s. 6d. per cwt. , ------...- Received 1 month's bill from the Rough ton Smelting Co. in payment for lead ore, ..... Discounted above bill ; received ..... Discount, ..... Paid wages as per pay sheet (gross), .... Deductions— Cottage Rents, ...... Received 50 tons coal from G. Moss at 153. per ton, Paid R. Johnstone's account, Less 2J per cent, discount, Paid S. Myers' account, .... Less 2^ per cent, discount, Gave A. Wilson a 3 months' bill for £350, Paid A. Walker's account, - Less 2h per cent, discount. Paid G. Moss's account. Less 24 per cent, discount, Paid S. Jones & Co. for plant and machinery as agreed. Sold 25 tons of lead ore to the Roughton Smelting Co. at £7 15s. per ton, ....... Received from John Stevenson — 40 gallons of engine oil at 2s. per gallon, - 40 gallons of lubricine at Is. per gallon, Received from A. Walker — 1 dozen spades at 30s. per dozen, 2 cwt. drill steel at 20s. per cwt., Sold to Z. Levi old iron, ...... Pieceived a 1 month's bill from the Roughton Smelting Co. in payment for lead ore, ..... Paid wages as per pay sheet (gross), .... Deductions for cottage rents, ..... Paid Salaries — Manager, £15 Clerk, 6 - £1 5 - 7 - £37 10 - 18 9 The Stocks on 3Lst January we will assume to be- Stores estimated at ... , Timber, 160 tons at 35s., Coal, 20 tons at 15s., .... Lead Ore, 15 tons at £5, £ 40 280 15 75 £ 5 7 s. 15 50 6 5 4750 300 350 1 5 300 298 1 150 4 37 14 6 5 10 48 15 6 350 1 1 4 36 4,750 11 193 15 4 2 1 2 5 10 193 143 4 15 10 21 D. 10 3 Stoves unused may fairly be valued at cost price ; a good mai-gin should always be allowed on the value of any product in stock. The value of stocks at the end of each period of work are recorded in a Stock-book. HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. 93 Cash-Book. Date. Led- |Fol. Dis- count. Cash Date Led; Fol. Dis- count. Cash. 1895. M, ,1. r7. & S. d. 1895. £ s. d. £ s. d. Nov. 12. To Application A/c. (as per Allotment Book), 6,000 Dec. 1. By Purchase A/c, First instalment of the £30,000 to 10,000 „ 13. ,, Application A/c. (as per do.). 4,000 be paid in cash to the Vendor as ( „ IS. ,, Allotment A/c. (as per do.), 12,000 1896. per agreement dated Nov.l, 1895 „ 19. ,, Allotment A/c. (as per do.). 3,000 Jan. 1. ,, Purchase A/c, Final instalment 20,000 Dec. 14. ,, Final Instalment A/c. (as per do.), 9,000 of the £30,000 to be paid in cash „ 15. ,, Final Instalment A/c. (as per do.), 6,000 )J M to the Vendor as per agreement datedKov.l,lS95 ,, Balance, 10,000 40,000 40,000 1896. 1890. Jan. 1. To Balance, 10,000 Jan. 1. By Deposit A/c, . ' 5,000 „ 12. ,, Bills Receivable „ 2. ,, Petty Cash, 5 discounted, . 1 6 298 14 ., 4. ,, Insurance, 7 15 „ 14. ,, Cottage Rents, 4 „ 14. „ Wages, . 150 5 „ 28. )) n )) 4 „ 23. )) )) »J )) )> ») )» •) „ 28. „ 31. )» ') n >) ,, R. Johnstone, . ,, S.Myers, ,, A. Walker, „ G. Moss, . ,, S. Jones & Co., ,, Wages, ,, Salaries — ilanager, Clerk, . 1 5 3 18 2 1 9 48 36 4,750 143 15 6 15 1 4 11 10 10 5 3 10,170 2 6 1 6 ,, Balance, 2 7 6 136 11 6 10,306 14 10,306 14 Bills Receivable Book. Si C s o > il By whom Drawn. On whom Drawn. To whom Payable. Where Payable. P H 2 P 1-1 Amount. Date. 1 -«3 3 o 1 Q 1896. £, s. 1 d. 1896. By Bank, By Dis., £ ' s. d. Jan. 12, Roughton Smelting Co., Them- Brown's selves,! Bank, Our- selves, Roughton Jan. 11, 1 month, Feb. 14, 300 Jan. 12, Jan. 12, 298 1 14 6 Jan. 27, Roughton Smelting Co., Them- Brown's selves. Bank, Our- selves, Roughton Jan. 26, 1 month, Mar. 1, 193 493 15 15 Bills Payable Book. Date. a s o a < a 1 0) o si o >>p i To whom Payable. On whose Account. Date. Term. £ ■1^ § a < i ■3 To whom Paid. £ s. d. 1896. s. d. Our- Glen, A. Wilson, Brown's Jan. 23, 3 months. Apl. 26, 350 selves, Bank, 350 » 94 MINE ACCOUNTS. We will journalise the Capital transactions, sales, and closing entries in a two-column journal, and the purchases in a tabular journal as follows : — Journal. Date. 1895. Nov. 15. Nov. 15. Nov. 15. Dec. 15. Dec. 15. 1896. Jan. 9. Jan. Jan. 24. Mines, Dr., ..... To Purchase Account, . Amount agreed to be paid for the Mines as per agreement dated 1st November, 1895, viz.: £30,000 cash in two instalments — On Dec. 1, 1895, £10,000. On Jan. 1, 1896, £20,000. £10,000 in fully paid shares. £40,000 Purchase Account, Dr., To Capital, .... For 10,000 fully paid shares allotted to the vendors (or their nominees), as above. Application Account, Dr., . To Capital, .... 5s. per share on application for the 40,000 shares to be issued to the public. Allotment Account, Dr., To Capital, .... 7s. 6d. per share paid on allotment of 40,000 shares to the public. Final Instalment Account, Dr., . To Capital, .... 7s. 6d. per share on 40,000 shares paid one month after allotment. Plant and Machinery, Dr., . To S. Jones & Co. , For agreed price at which same taken over by Company. Roughton Smelting Co., Dr., To Lead Ore, .... For 40 tons of lead ore at £7, 10s. per ton. Roughton Smelting Co., Dr., To Lead Ore, .... For 25 tons lead ore at £1, 15s. per ton. Ledger Folio. Drs. £ 40,000 s. 10,000 10,000 15,000 15,000 4,750 300 193 15 Cis. £ 40,000 10,000 10,000 15,000 15,000 4,750 300 193 15 D. HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. 95 Date. Ledger Folio. Drs. Crs. Jan. 25. Z. Levi, Dr., .... To Stores, .... For old iron. £ 5 1 5 7 22 70 22 568 8 293 21 139 s. 1 15 10 15 15 10 B. 6 £ 5 1 5 7 22 70 22 568 8 293 21 139 s. 1 15 10 15 15 10 D. Jan. 31. Discount Account, Dr., , , . To Prnfit and Loss Accoimt, . For balance transferred. 6 Profit and Loss Accoimt, Dr., To Petty Cash Account, . For balance transferred. Profit and Loss Accotint, Dr., To Insurance Account, . For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Stores Account, For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Timber For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Coal, .... For balance transferred. Lead Ore Account, Dr., To Working Account, For balance transferred. Cottage Bents A ccount, Dr. , . To Profit and Loss Account, . For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Wages Account, For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Salaries Accouyit, For balance transferred. Working Account, Dr., . To Profit and Loss Account, . For balance transferred. 96 MINE ACCOUNTS. Bought Journal. Credits. Debits. Date. Invoice No. Name. Description. Amount. Led. 1 J'ol. CoaL Stores. Timber. 1896. £ s.d. £ 8. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Jan. 5. R. Johnstone, Dynamite, . 50 50 „ 9. S. Myers, Candles, 6 5,0 6 5 „ 12. A. Wilson, . Larch, . 350 olo 350 „ 12. A. Walker, . Nails, . 1 5!o 1 5 „ 15. G. Moss, Coal, . 37 10 37 10 „ 25. J. Stevenson, Oil, 6 6 „ 25. A. Walker, . Spades and Steel, 3 10 3 10 454 10 I 37 10 67 350 lo 1 Dr. LEDGER, Capital. 1895. Nov. 15, Dec. 15, By Pui'chase A/c, ,, Application A/c, - ,, Allotment A/c, ,, Final Instal- ment A/c, - £ 10,000 s. 10,000 15,000 15,000 50,000 D. Dr. Purchase. Cr. 1895. Nov. 15, Dec. 1, 1896. Jan. 1, To Capital, ,, Cash, - ,, Cash, - Dr. I £ s. :io,ooo 10,000 I 20,000; 40,000 ' 1895. Nov. 15, By Mines, MlNE.S. £ 40,000 40,000 D. Cr. 1895. Nov. 15, To Purchase, Dr. £ 40,000 Application. Cr. 1895. Nov. 15, To Capital, £ 10,000 10,000 s. D. 1 1895. Nov. 12, Nov. 13, By Cash, ,, Cash, £ 6,000 4,000 10,000 HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. 97 Br. Allotment. Cr 1895. Nov. 19, To Capital, ■ £ 15,000 s. D.j 1895. Nov. 18, „ 19, By Cash, - ,, Cash, - 1 £ 12,000 3,000 s. p. o' 1 15,000 15,000 00 Dr. Final Instalment. Cr • 1895. Dec. 15, To Capital, £ 15,000 s. D. 1895. Dec. 14, „ 15, By Cash, - ,, Cash, - £ 9,000 6,000 s. D, 15,000 15,000 Br. Plant and Machinery. Cr. 1896. Jan. 9, To S. Jones & Co., £ 4,750 Br. Disco unt. Br. S. Jones & Co. Cr • 1896. Jan. 23, To Cash, - £ 4,750 s. p. 1896. Jan. 9, By Plant and Machinery, £ 4,750 s. D. Cr. 1896. Jan. 31 , To Sundries (as per Cash Book), ,, Profit and Loss Ajc, £ s. D. 1896. Jan. 31, 1 6 1 1 6 2 7 6 By Sundries (as per Cash Book), £ 2 s. 7 D. 6 Br. Petty Cash. Cr. 1896. Jan. 2, To Cash, . £ 5 s. D. 1896. Jan. 31, By Profit and Loss Ale . . £ 5 s. D. 5 5 Br. Insurance. Cr. 1896. Jan. 4, To Cash, . £ 7 7 s. 15 D. 1896. Jan.31, By Profit and Loss Ale . . £ 7 s. 15 D. 15 7 15 1 98 MINE ACCOUNTS. Dr. Stores. Cr. 1896. Jan. 5, )> ", „ 12, „ 25, To R. Johnstone, „ S. Myers, „ A. Walker, . ,, J. Stevenson, „ A. Walker, . ,, Stock brought down. . £ 50 6 1 6 3 s. 5 5 10 D. 1896. Jan. 25, Jan. 31, >, 31, By Z. Levi, ,, Working Ajc, ,, SLock carried down, . £ 5 22 40 s. D. 67 67 Feb. 1, 40 Dr. Timber, Dr. Lead Ore. Cr. 1896. Jan. 12, To A. Wilson, . ,, Stock brought down, . £ 350 s. D. ! 1896. Jan. 31, „ 31, By Working Ajc, ,, Stock carried doiun, . £ 70 280 s. D. 350 350 Feb. 1, 280 Dr. Coal. Cr. 1896. Jan. 15, To G. Moss, ,, Stock brought down, . £ 37 s. 10 D. 1896. Jan. 31, „ 31, By Working Ajc, ,, Stock carried doion, . £ 22 15 s. 10 D. 37 10 37 10 Feb. 1, 15 Cr. 1896. Jan. SI, Feb. 1, To Working Ajc, „ Stock brought down, . £ s. D. 1896. 568 15 Jan. 9, „ 24, Jan. 31, 568 15 75 By Roughton Smelting Co., ,, Roughton Smelting Co., ,, Stock carried down, . £ 300 193 75 568 s. 15 15 D. Dr. Cottage Rents. Cr. 1896. Jan. 31, To Profit and Loss Ale, . . £ 8 s. D. 1896. Jan. 14, „ 28, By Cash, „ Cash, . £ 4 4 s. D. 8 8 HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. 99 Dr Wages. Cr 1896. Jan. 14, „ 28, To Cash, ,, Cash, £ 150 143 s. 5 10 D. 1896. Jan. 31, 1 By Working AJc, £ 293 s. 15 293 15 293 15 Dr. 1896. Jan. 23, „ 23, To Cash, - To Discount, Dr. 1896. Jan. 23, To Cash, ,, Discount, Dr. Dr. Salaries. Cr. 1896. Jan. 31, To Cash, . £ 21 s. D. 1896. Jan. 31, By Working Ajc, £ 21 s. D. 21 21 Dr. Deposit ACCOUN' r. 1896. £ s. D. Jan. 1, To Cash, . 5,000 Pv. JOHNSTONE. £ s. D. 1896. 48 15 Jan. 5, 1 5 50 By Stores, S. MYERS. £ 6 s. 1 3 D. 10 2 1896. Jan. 9, 6 5 By Stores, - ROUOHTON SMELTING CO. 1896. Jan. 9, „ 24, To Lead Ore, „ Lead Ore, £ 300 193 s. 15 D. 189 Jan. >> 493 15 By Bills Receivable, ,, Bills Receivable, £ 6 Cr. D. Cr, £ 50 s. D. 50 Cr. D. Cr. £ s. D. 300 193 15 493 15 lOO MINE ACCOUNTS. Dr. A. WILSON • Ur. 1896. Jan. 23, To Bills Payable, £ 350 s. "6 1896. Jan. 12, By Timber, £ 350 s. D. 350 350 Dr. A. W A L K E R. Cr. 1896. Jan. 23, Jan. 31, To Cash, ,, Discount, ,, Balance carried down, - £ 1 s. 4 D. 5 7 3 10 4 15 1896. Jan. 12, „ 25, Feb. 1, By Stores, - ,, Stores, - Balance brought down, Dr G. MOSS. £ 1 3 s. 5 10 15 10 Cr 1896. Jan. 23, To Cash, ,, Discount, £ s. D. 1896. 36 11 3 Jan. 15, 18 9 37 10 By Coal, Dr. Z. LEVI. £ 37 37 s. 10 10 Dr. JOHN STEVENSON. Cr, 1896. Jan. 31, To Balance carried down, i £ 6 s. D. 1896. Jan. 25, By Stores, - ,, Balance brought down, £ 6 s. D. 6 6 6 Cr. 1896. Jan. 25, To Stores, - t ,, Balance brought down. £ 5 s. D. 1896. Jan. 31, By Balance carried doivn, - £ 5 s. D. 5 5 Feb. 1, 5 Dr. Working Account. Cr. 1896. £ s. D. 1896. £ s. D. Jan. 31, To Stores Ajc, ,, Timber ,, „ Coal „ Wages „ Salaries „ ',, Profit and Loss Ale . . 22 70 22 293 21 139 10 15 10 Jan. 31, By Lead Ore Ale, 568 15 568 15 568 15 HEAD OFFICE BOOKS. IQI Dr. Profit axd Loss Account. Cr. 1896. £ s. D. 1896. £ s. D. Jan. 31, To Petty Cash Ale, 5 Jan. 31, By Discount Ajc. 1 1 6 ,, Insurance „ 7 15 ,, Cottar/e Rents,, 8 ,, Balance carried „ Working „ 139 10 down, . 135 16 6 Feb. 1, „ Balance brough 148 11 6 148 11 6 t down. 135 16 6 1 ii 1 1 TRIAL BALANCE. Ledger Folio. Account. Dr. Cr. £ s. D. £ s. T). Capital, 50,000 Mine, 40,000 Machinery and Plant 4,750 Deposit Account, 5,000 Bank Account, . 136 11 6 Discount, . 1 1 6 Bills Receivable, 193 15 Bills Payable, . 350 Petty Cash, 5 Insurance, 7 15 Stores, 62 Timber, 350 Coal, 37 10 Lead Ore, . 493 ]5 Cottage Rents, . 8 Wages, 293 15 Salaries, 21 A. Walker, 3 10 J. Stevenson, 6 Z. Levi, . 5 50,862 i 6 6 50,862 6 6 GLEN LEAD MINING COMPANY, Balance Sheet for Month Ending January 31st, 1895. Liabilities. Assets. £ s. D. £ s. D. Capital — Mine, for cost of same as a Nominal Capital: 50,000 going concern, • 40,000 shares of £1 each. Machinery, , 4,750 Subscribed Capital : 50,000 Stocks — £ s. d. shares of £1 each paid Stores, . 40 up, .... 50,000 Timber, . 280 Debts — Coal, . . 15 Bills Payable, . 350 Ore, . . 75 Sundry Creditors — 410 1) & s. d. Deposit Account, , 5,000 A. Walker, 3 10 Debts- J. Stevenson, 6 Debtor : Z. Levi, . . 5 9 10 Bills Receivable, . , 193 15 Profit and Loss Account, 135 £50,495 16 6 6 6 Cash at Bank, • 136 11 6 £50,495 6 6 102 MINE ACCOUNTS. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Book-keeping. BickePStaff ; Book-keeping Terms. London, 1890. pp. 47. Carter ; Practical Book-keeping, 6tli Ed. Edinburgh, 1890. pp, 263. Cummins ; Book-keeping. Dublin, 1887. Dieksee ; Auditing, 2nd Ed. London, 1895. pp. 579. Gay ; Business Book-keeping. Boston, 1893. Goodwin ; Improved Book-keeping, 16th Ed. New York City, 1893. pp. 293. Nixon ; Longman's Advanced Book-keeping. London, 1894. pp. 366. Norton ; Textile Manufacturers' Book-keeping, 3rd Ed. London, 1894. Pixley ; Auditors, 6th Ed. London, 1891. pp.245. Pixley and Wilson ; Book-keeping. London, 1892. pp.112. Thornton; A Manual of Book-keeping. London, 1895. pp.527. Van de Linde, G6rard ; Book-keeping. London, 1891. pp. 150. Whatley; The Accountants' and Book-keepers' Vade-Mecum. London, 1893. pp. 159. Bills of Exchange. Byles ; Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, 15th Ed. London, 1891. pp. 584. Clialmers; Bills of Exchange, 4th Ed. London, 1891. pp. 431. Chitty and Russell ; A Practical Treatise on Bills of Exchange, 1 1th Ed. London, 1878. Loyd; Four Lectures on Bills of Exchange. London, 1895. pp. 174, Smitll, J. W. ; Law of Bills, Cheques, Notes, and I.O.U.'s, 58th thousand. London, 1894. pp. 193. A small handbook. CHAPTER XI.— REDEMPTION OF CAPITAL. When work commences at a mine, there must necessarily be a period during whicli the expenditure is great and the income almost nil ; this is the time during which the capital is spent and the capital expenditure accounts are growing. When the profitable stage is reached, it would not be considered satisfactory if the profit were such that the investor simply got bare interest on his money. He would naturally expect to be recouped for the loss of interest during the unproductive stage of the undertaking ; further, the machinery put up is constantly depreciating in value, and if the mine lasts long enough may have to be replaced, for which, and for development work underground and at the surface, the investor does not expect to be asked for fresh capital ; con- sequently there ought to be a surplus sufiicient to meet current development expenses and to build up a reserve fund. This is not all ; for a mine, even a rich mine, is not a permanent source of wealth; sooner or later it will be impossible to work it without loss, so that during the profitable period of its life, not only must interest be paid on the capital, but the capital itself must be paid back, if the mine is to be considered successful. Generally speaking, the middle part of the life of a mine is the most profitable; towards its latter yeai-s the underground roads to be maintained get longer, or the mine gets deeper, and working expenses increase. Redemption of Capital and Allowance for Depreciation may either be looked upon as identical, or a distinction may be made. In the first case, the amount of the capital is considered to be the value of the mine, buildings, plant, etc., REDEMPTION OF CAPITAL. IO3 taken as a whole; as the mineral is removed, although development may show riches which lead to a temporary appreciation, yet the inevitable ultimate result is a lessening in value, so that the laying aside of monies annually to counter- balance this, may be spoken of as redeeming capital or providing for depreciation. In the other case "depreciation" may be taken to refer to the value of the buildings, machinery, and plant which does not entirely depend on the life of the mine, while " redemption " refers to the capital otherwise invested or to the capital as a whole. We will make the distinction, and will consider in turn Redemption of Capital, Depreciation, and the Reserve Fund. Redemption of Capital. — The first point to consider under this head is the life of a mine. Sometimes this can be determined within reasonable limits, at other times it is an entirely speculative quantity. In the case of a coal mine, the number and thickness of the coal seams being known from borings and, perhaps, from neighbouring mines, and the probable amount of faulting being known more or less from a knowledge of the neighbourhood, the quantity of workable coal can be estimated ; then, by a careful balancing between mini- mum capital outlay and technical difficulties, on the one hand, and minimum working expenses, which means a large output, on the other hand, the quantity it is desirable to extract per week can be determined ; and by dividing the total amount of workable coal by the output, the life of the colliery may be estimated, supposing the company is not hampered with a comparatively short lease and a hard landlord ; if this is the case it may be best to consider that the lease determines the life of the colliery as far as concerns the company In a similar manner the life of many of the gold mines working beds of conglomerate on the Rand, of the mines working the thin bed of copper- bearing shale at Mansfeld, of the nitrate of soda workings in Chili can be estimated with a fair degree of approximation. In short, generally speaking, where the mineral deposit is in the form of a bed, the yield is more uniform than in other cases, and the production of a particular area of that bed can be approximately foretold. Mass deposits are often capable of being satisfactorily dealt with in this particular, as they sometimes contain immense quantities of mineral, and although their exact boundaries cannot at once be traced, yet oftentimes it does not take long to find out sufficient about their dimensions to justify considerable outlay, and by pushing on exploration quickly by means of bore- holes or shafts and drifts, their contents may be estimated and the life of a mine, at a certain rate of working, calculated. As examples, may be mentioned the haematite deposits of Furness and Cumberland, the cupreous pyrites at Rio Tinto, and the deposits of diamond-bearing rock at Kimberley. Yeins are generally variable and uncertain in their yield, and though they have been the source of immense riches in many cases, and will continue to be so vein-woi'king is often a very speculative undertaking. The vein itself may be very irregular in size, sometimes nipping up till the two walls meet, and again opening out to a width of many feet. The ores also are often distributed through a vein in a very irregular manner, one portion of the vein being absolutely worthless, while a neighbouring portion may be very rich ; so that, in an extreme case, a single day's work in a drift of hitherto valueless vein- stone may reveal sufficient riches to pay back a good portion of the capital of a mining company in a few months. Thus it will be seen that, in considering the life of a Mining Company, great care must be taken to carefully distinguish the character of the deposit. In some cases a good approximation is possible, and that even in the case of veins ; in other cases, any attempt at estimation would be either a result of ignorance or a wilful attempt to mislead. I04 MINE ACCOUNTS. Supposing the profits sufiiciently large to redeem Capital, its repayment may be arranged in the following three ways : — (1) Part of the Capital maybe issued as debentures, a certain number of which fall due for payment each year; so that year by year a certain part of the Capital is paid off, and as the mine gets older the Capital on which interest has to be paid gets less. This method is especially applicable where it is necessary or advisable to enlarge the Capital subsequent to the formation of a Company, as, for instance, where development shows that it will be more profitable to work a mine on a larger scale than was at first intended. Sometimes debentures are all redeemable at the same time, in which case the necessary amount must be accumulated, as in the next method. (2) A certain sum may be put by every year and invested, so that at the end of a number of years, equal to the estimated life of the mine, there will have accumulated an amount equal to the Capital, then, if the mine has to be abandoned, the shareholders may have their Capital returned, and the concern be wound up. Such an accumulating reserve is known as a sinking fund. It may be arranged for in vai-ious ways : — (A) An equal sum may be put by each year of the profitable life of the mine ; (B) A varying annual sum may be put by, depending upon some formula adopted ; (C) A varying sum may be put by each year, depending upon the proportion of the amount of mineral raised during the year to the whole of the mineral contained in the mine. (A) Equal Annual Sums. — The problem is what amount must be put by each year and invested, so that in a certain number of years the accumulated sums shall equal the Capital. Let X be equal yearly instalments necessary to redeem one pound in n years; and let R be the "amount" of one pound in one year, that is one pound plus interest for one year on it. Then x put by at the end of the first year would in n years become x R""!; put by at the end of the second year it would accumulate to .x-E'^-2. go that we have at the end of the period one pound = « R"^-i + x R»'-2 + £cR"'~3 . . . a; R + a; ; therefore — 1 = X (R«-i + R«-2 . . . R + 1) -<^) K, - 1 X = ■ R«- 1 If the mine was not profitable, say for three years, after its commencement, then n would equal the life of the mine less three years, and the capital to be redeemed would be the original capital with interest for three years added — that, is CRi — unless the profits were such that this accumulated interest could be paid oflP. R^ would be at a higher rate than R, for better interest would be expected for the money invested in the mine than that at which the sinking fund could be safely invested. The curves * on p. 105 show the relation between the number of years and the sum to be put by each year, for every pound of capital, when the redemption fund is invested at 1| or 2| per cent. Thus suppose the redemption fund goes on accumulating for 25 years. Follow the horizontal line for 25 years till it intersects the curves, and it will be seen that if the fund is invested at 1^ per cent. £-033 (nearly 8d. per pound) must be put by each year ; whereas if it is invested at 2J per cent, it will only be necessary to put by £0293 (about 7d.) * Plotted from Table V. of Hoskold's Engineer's Valuing Assistant, London, 1877. REDEMPTION OF CAPITAL. 105 fOVEARS 20 „ 30 „ 40 ., DECIMAL PARTS OF A POUND •01 02 03 O^- 05 06 07 -08 09 1 L-r^::^--^' ^-'-''^^ — " ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^y^ 1 y^ y'X / ^/ / > /^ / / / ' / / / / / / / / / / / // /. f / / / / / / 1 1 J 1 1^ / 1 ^M ^^ ^/<57 '?/^ J "^l? ^ y rr / ^ , / // //// / / / / / // ^// / / / 1 1 4 u liMd 1^1 Y i ,y 'i:/ t/ Q-H ^ ^ / V / / / / / . / /' / / / / / A / / / ,/ / i/ U iil f f < ill / 4 / *, "^ / y f ^7 9-I 2/ i i / ,# < f4 7 ' u 1/ ■■I f =?/ / \ lOYEARS 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 When Capital is Recouped at no Interest, decimal parts of a pound ■0 2-03 0405 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 1+ 15 16 1 7 '18 19 -20 21 -22 23 24 25 fTrrrr~T~r~r — f As an example of the use of these diagrams, suppose a dividend of 2s. per pound of capital is paid — an apparent 10 per cent. — and that the life of the mine is taken to be twenty years. Take the horizontal line for twenty years in each diagram, and the vertical line corresponding to 2s., that is '1 of a pound. It will be seen that the intersection in the first diagram is near the 8 per cent, curve, so that under the conditions of the first diagram the dividend is barely 8 per cent. Under the conditions of the second diagram it is a little over G per cent., and of the third about 5 per cent. Thus the apparent 10 per cent, dividend is in truth, when the redemption of Capital is considered, only 8, or 6, or 5 per cent., according to the conditions under which it is con- sidered that repaid Capital accumulates. Again, suppose a company is paying annually 2s. per pound of Capital, and that 8 per cent, is considered a fair interest on money invested. In how many years will the Capital be repaid"? Take the 8 per cent, curve in each diagram, and find its intersection with the '1 vertical line. The position of this point in relation to the horizontal lines gives the number of years. Thus the first diagram gives it a trifle over twenty years ; the second about thirty- two years ; and the third fifty years. Finally, suppose that the life of the mine is assumed to be thirty years, and that it is wished to pay 8 per cent, on Capital invested in addition to repaying the Capital. How much per pound must be paid each year 1 Find the inter- section of the horizontal line for thirty years with the 8 per cent, curve, then the position of this point in relation to the vertical lines gives the amount. The first diagram gives -0885 (Is. 9d.)j the second -1025 (2s. 0|^d.) ; and the third -114 (about 2s. 3d.). REDEMPTION OF CAPITAL. IO9 "When no dividend is paid for the first part of the life of a mine, the case may be looked upon as similar to that of a deferred annuity. Mr. Hoskold works out the problem,* and also gives present values of such annuities. The amounts required to plot curves, similar to those given above, for this case are the reciprocals of these present values. For simplicity it has been supposed that interest has been paid, and invest- ment of repaid Capital made, yearly. If the periods were shorter the results would be slightly different. The trouble of this method of repaying Capital is that people do not, in general, sufficiently grasp the fact that a mine is a wasting, often a rapidly wasting, asset ; when a dividend is paid it is spoken of as so much per cent. and looked upon as interest on the Capital ; whereas, when provision has not otherwise been made for the redemption of Capital, a certain portion must first be laid aside before the shareholder can ascertain how much interest he has received. Few, except those who have paid special attention to the matter,, properly apprehend the great difference between a dividend which is purely intei'est on Capital invested, as in many business concerns, and a dividend which is in part repayment of Capital ; the calculations are somewhat intricate and lengthy, and the pei'son interested either does not trouble about the matter at all, or makes a rough guess, which in all pi'obability is far from the truth. Perhaps the graphic method illustrated above is the best for arriving at an approximately accurate result in the shortest time, with the least trouble, and with the least likelihood of error. Unfortunately, directors foster false im- pressions on this matter, rather than otherwise ; the future of mines, perhaps temporarily successful, is rarely studied with the attention its importance deserves, and even such definite information as directors have, they do not put plainly before shareholders, but only in congratulatory terms. And then there is the strange anomaly, in the case of an old and successful mine, of the full Capital as a liability on one side of the balance-sheet, when it has all been returned, with good interest to boot, in the shape of dividends ; and on the other side of the balance-sheet, to prop this up, the mine valued at scores of thousands of pounds — the original cost of it with buildings, plant, &c. — when it is practically worthless. Depreciation. — The principles underlying depreciation are similar to those already spoken of under the second method of redeeming capital, for the amount written off for depreciation ought to accumulate as a reserve fund. Suppose it is estimated that a machine, or property of some kind, will last a certain number of years before x'enewal, the problem is, how much must be put by and invested each year of its life to redeem its cost. Sometimes the cost of repairs is considered as working or current expense, but perhaps more generally it is considered a capital charge and added to the prime cost. A more direct way would be to have the plant valued year by year, and to write it down each year to its estimated value, which would, of course, always be something above its removal value as long as it was any good on the mine. The usual method, however, is to write off a certain percentage depending on the character of the property considered — e.g., 7^ t per cent, is often re- commended for engines and waggons ; and for horses, if they are considered as capital expenditure, 10 to 15 per cent. The following examples f from the Rand are of interest : — For the year 1894 the Robinson Company wrote off 5 per cent, from all plant, buildings, &c., while the Worcester G. M. Company depreciated certain of their assets as follows : — * Op. cit., p. 55. t See lectures by Messrs. Attlee and Evans before cited. Hatch and Chalmers, Gold Mines 0/ the Rand, 1895, p. 270. f 9^^ OF THB ' r N no MINE ACCOUNTS. Machinery, plant, and tools, Permanent works, Buildings, . . . , Permanent waterworks, Live stock, carts, &c., . Furniture, . . . . 10 per cent. 10 10 10 5 5 The student may find an example in the annual report of almost every mining company. Many of these he may study with advantage. The method of capriciously writing off for depreciation a lump sum one year and notliing during several other years is not to be recommended. When a good profit has resulted on a year's work, after a company has been passing through hard times, it is naturally felt that something must be done to put affairs in a sound financial condition, but this is better done by adding moi'e largely to the reserve fund, and thus making it possible to write off a regular amount year by year for depreciation, than by treating depreciation irregularly, as something to be allowed for or not as convenient. For both depreciation and redemption of capital ought to be allowed for, even when a loss results on a year's work ; otherwise, the loss is not recognised as being so great as it really is. Reserve Fund. — The proper objects of the reserve fund have been stated* thus : — (1) To equalise dividends. (2) To meet accidental contingencies. (3) To provide for sinking new shafts, buying new engines, &c. The fund is, in fact, a sort of buffer between the Company and the sharp angularities of adverse circumstances. Should profits be small, it enables dividends to be continued ; and should Capital expenditure be necessary, it relieves the shareholder from the necessity of putting his hand into his pocket. It is to be feared that the former object is rarely attained, the latter perhaps somewhat more often, though not so often as is desirable. Although most balance-sheets show a reserve fund, it has in many, perhaps in most, cases no real existence; for it is evident that to be real it must be readily available — that is, invested in safe securities. A reserve fund is sometimes created by entering a large amount of what ought really to be " current expenditure" as "Capital expenditure," and so creating an artificial value for the assets. This may be illustrated simply thus : — Capital and Liabilities. Property and Assets. £ S. Capital, . . . . 150,000 Reserve Fund, . . 50,000 D. £ S. D. Property, &c., . . 200,000 200,000 200,000 Here it will be seen that the reserve fund is not available, and should it be the case that the assets ought to be written at a much less figure, the apparently large reserve would disappear. BIBLIOGRAPHY. The following references may be added to those already given in the text : — * Armstrong and Harrison in discussion on Hoskold's paper. Trans. Fed. Institute of Mining Engineers, vol. iii., p. 739. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND COMPANIES' BOOKS. I I I Matheson ; The Depreciation of Factories, 2nd Ed. London, 1S93. Dieksee ; Comparative Depreciation Tables. London, 1895. GuthPie ; "Depreciation and Sinking Funds." Accountant, vol. ix. London, 1SS3. p. 437. MuPPay; "Wear and Tear and Depreciation." Accountant, \o\. xiii. London, 1887. p. 610. Bogle ; " Writing off of Depreciation of the Wasting Assets of a Joint Stock Company." Trans. Chartered Accountants Students^ Society of London, 1889. p. 221. Ladelle ; "The Calculation of Depreciation." Trans. Chartered Accountants Students' Society of London, 1890. p. 114. Walmsley; "Depreciation in Relation to Balance-Sheets. " Incorporated Accountants' Journal, vol. v. London, 1893-94. p. 8. TuPneP; "Depreciation of Machinery and Plant." Accountants' Journal, vol. xii. London, 1894-95. p. 49. For matters relating to interest, annuities, and sinking funds, the " Institute of Actuaries' Textbook," Part I., by William Sutton, London, 1882, may be referred to. On pp. 156-163 there is given a list of the various interest and annuity tables which have been published. CHAPTER XII.— GENEEAL CONSIDERATIONS AND COMPANIES' BOOKS. Mines may be owned and worked by private individuals, or by companies of persons associated together. The companies working mines are of three kinds, viz. : — Private partnership companies. Cost-book companies. Companies with liability limited by shares. It is true that under the Companies' Act of 1862 (25 and 26 Vict. c. 89) there could exist two other kinds of companies — viz., companies with liability limited by guarantee, and registered companies with unlimited liability ; but, as a matter of fact, such companies never exist in connection with mining enterprise, and therefore need not be considered here. We will consider the four cases, as far as accounts are affected, in the order — private individuals, private partnership companies, cost-book companies, limited liability companies. Private Individuals. — When a mine is worked by an individual, so long as he keeps clear of bankruptcy, he can keep such accounts as he pleases, or neglect to keep any, and is accountable to no one. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that he wishes to work the mine profitably and honestly, making payments of monies owing by him in due season, and seeing that he is paid monies owing to him ; to these ends, as pointed out in the introduction, a good system of accounts is necessary ; further, should he become a bankrupt, he would be considered culpable if he had not kept a proper set of books.* Thus it is well, in every case, that the mine owner should have a complete system of accounts applicable to the nature of the operations he is engaged in, and that he should make a balance-sheet at regular intervals. In making the balance-sheet the capital would not be a fixed amount, as it is in certain companies where it represents ■ the amount subscribed by share- holders; but it would increase or diminish with the value of the mine and other assets, all of which should be carefully valued when the balance-sheet is made. The owner is, of course, responsible for all liabilities incurred, and it may * Williams, Law and Practice in Bankruptcy, 6th Ed. London, 1894, pp. 86, 90, and 91. I 12 MINE ACCOUNTS. be mentioned that in distributing a bankrupt's estate priority is given to rates and taxes, " and also to what is due as wages or salaries to any of his clerks or servants, not exceeding £50, due in respect of services rendered during four months before the date of the receiving order ; and also to what is due as wages to any labourer or workman, not exceeding £25, due in respect of services rendered during two months before the date of the receiving order." * Private PartnePShip Companies. — These Companies can only exist legally for working mines when the number of partners is less than twenty. The partners may be bound together by a deed setting forth all the conditions of partnership, or may not ; but in either case " It is one of the fundamental principles of partnership law, expressly recognised by the Partnership Act, 1890, that no person may be introduced as a partner without the consent of all existing partners." f The necessity for a proper system of accounts in connection with a partner- ship business is thus pointed out by Lord-Justice Lindley. " If no books of accounts at all are kept, or if they are so kept as to be unintelligible, . and an account is directed by a court, every presumption will be made against those to whose negligence or misconduct the non-production of proper accounts is due." I A Capital Account is opened for every member of the firm, and " it is usual among mercantile men to treat all the accounts of a partnership as accounts of the firm, and to deal with the accounts of individual partners as if they were simply debtors or creditors of the firm." § The following illustration is given by the eminent authority above quoted: — Suppose A, B, C are partners, with a Capital of £3,000 subscribed by them equally ; that they share profits and losses in proportion to their respective capitals, and that A has drawn oiit £500 and B has advanced £100. As the result of a year's working there are three possible cases : — Where there are no profits or losses. Where there is profit to be divided. Where there is loss to be made good. We will set out only the second case ; the student may refer to the work quoted for the others. Let the profit be £1,000 ; interest at 5 per cent, is charged on all sums brought in and taken out by each partner, and on his capital. Dr. 1. Partnership Account. Cr. To Stock, .... £3,000 By A's sum withdrawn, with „ Interest on ditto for one interest for one year, £525 year, .... 150 ,, B for advance, with in- terest for one year, . 105 ,, Profit, .... 1,000 £4,255 ,, Balance, 3,730 £4,255 Dr. 2. A's Account. Cr. To sum withdrawn, with in- terest for one year, ,, Balance, £525 858 6 £1,383 6 8 By Capital, ,, Interest on ditto, „ 5 share of profit. £1,000 50 333 6 8 £1,383 6 8 * Stephen, New Commentaries on the Laws of England, 12th Ed. 1895, vol. ii., p. 169. t Lindley, A Treatise on the Law of Partnership, 6th Edit. 1893, London, p. 366. X Op. cit., p. 405. § Op. cit., p. 399. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND COMPANIES BOOKS. II 3 Dr. 3. B's Account. Cr. To Balance, . £1,4S8 6 8 £1,4S8 6 8 By Capital, ,, Interest on ditto, . ,, Advance and interest thereon, ,, 5 share of profits, . £1,000 50 105 333 6 8 £1,488 6 8 Dr. 4. C's Account. Cr. To Balance, . £1,383 6 8 By Capital, ,, Interest on ditto, . , , 1 share of profits, . . £1,000 50 333 6 8 £1,383 6 8 £1,383 6 8 Dr. 5. Balance-Sheet. Cr. To Balance as above, . . £3,730 By Balance due as above to A, £858 ,, ,, ,, B, 1,488 ,, ,, ,, C, 1,383 6 6 6 8 8 8 £3,730 £3,730 It will be noticed that interest was allowed on Capital before the profit was estimated, which is the usual thing in a case of this kind. Each partner is personally responsible for any debt incurred by the jiartner- ship, and in case of bankruptcy must hand over his private estate to a trustee. As in the case of private individuals (p. 112), certain salaries and wages are a preferential charge on the assets. This class of company is not uncommon in Britain, and is also met with in the Colonies where several miners often combine to work a claim. The so-called "syndicates" are sometimes of this nature; though they are more often limited liability companies. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Lindley ; A Treatise on the Law of Partnership, 6th Ed. London, 1893. pp. 939. Smith, J. W. ; The Law of Private Trading Partnerships. London, 1891. pp. 128. (A small hand-book). Cost-Book Companies. — These companies, peculiar to mining enterprise, are only legal within the stannaries of Cornwall and Devon. They are of the nature of the common-law partnerships described in the last section ; but the partners, or advenhtrers as they are called, may exceed twenty in number, and any one of them may transfer his interest to another person, without consent of the others. The liability of each partner is unlimited. Cost-book Companies are regulated by the Stannaries Act, 1887, and by custom. They are subject to an ancient court, called the Stannary Court,* presided over by the Vice- Warden of the Stannaries. A set of rules may be agreed on and registered in the Stannary Court ; or no rules may be made, in which case the concern must be conducted in accordance with the Stannaries Acts and established custom. * Since the above was in type, the Stannary Court has been abolished by Act of Parliament (59 and 60 Vict., c. 45). 8 114 MINE ACCOUNTS. The Capital is not fixed in amount, but is subscribed by the adventurers as necessity arises. Meetings of the adventurers must be held at least once in 16 weeks, and before every meeting the purser (secretary or manager) shall* "truly enter in the cost-book of the mine, accounts showing the actual financial position of the company at the end either of the financial month of such company last pre- ceding the time of entry, or of the calendar month last 2)receding that time, including a statement of all credits, debts, and liabilities, and distinguishing in such accounts the amounts of calls paid, and calls not paid, and also all other accounts, documents, and things that the purser is required to enter therein by the custom of the stannaries, or by the direction of the company." The cost-book is laid before each meeting of adventurers for examination, and if a profit has resulted on the 16 weeks' work a dividend is declared, while, on the other hand, if loss has occurred a call is made ; thus the accounts are balanced and the books made ready for the records of the next period of work. After the meeting, the accounts must be printed and a copy sent to each shareholder. It has already been pointed out that a balance sheet is never made in connection with Cost-book Companies (see pp. 91, 135). The term "cost-book," by definition in the Stannaries Act, " includes all books and papers relating to the business of a mine which are for the time being kept by a ])urser, or which, according to law or the custom of the stannaries, ought to be kept by him." But although the legal definition is so wide, there is a particular book kept at each mine which goes by this name (see p. 30). In it are first entered the rules, if such have been adopted ; then before each pay-day the amounts of money due to the work-people and officials, and at the end of every 12 or 16 weeks, before the meetings of the adventurers : — A statement of ledger accounts. A list of all merchants' bills charged in the accounts. A list of shareholders. Finally, at the meeting, the minutes are written in and the book is signed by the adventurers present. Compared with " Limited " Companies the number of shares is relatively small, often about 6,000, and they can be easily transferred. It is simply necessary for the transferor to inform the purser that he hands over to the transferee certain of his shares, and for the transferee to inform the purser that he accepts those shares with their responsibilities. The transferee must then sign the cost-book, or ask the purser to do it for him if he cannot conveniently do it himself. The transaction may be accomplished by word of mouth, though it is now invariably done by writing, a sixpenny stamp rendering the deed legal. The books connected with the recording of shareholders and the transfer of shares are : — Transfer Book. Share Ledger. Notices of Registration of Transfers Book. List of Shareholders. Guard Book for Deeds. The transfers are first recorded in the transfer book, which is ruled thus : — No. From Whom. To Whom. Date of Transfer. No. of Shares. When Registered. ♦Stannaries Act, 1887 (50 and 51 Vict. C. 43), Sec. 23. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND COMPANIES BOOKS. 115 Then the transaction is recorded in the share ledger in its twofold aspect, the transferor being debited and the transferee being credited ; this is called registering. The share ledger is ruled thus : — S95 Dr. Cr. Date of Transfer. No. of Transfer. To "Whom Sold. No. of Shares. Date of Transfer. No. of Transfer. From Whom Purchased. No. of Shares. A numbered notice of registration is then sent to the transferee, and its ■counterfoil retained. The list of shareholders is made up before every meeting, and shows at a glance any alterations in the number of shares held by each adventurer over a long period. It is ruled thus : — .U 0) .« a, a 4) S " CS tu S 1) ^ a ° 6 03 ^ p ss Acquired. Transferred. (D ■.i ^ to • « C3 S s a t^ ^ Eh t4 C3 P a H^ f^ From To From To Q pq < The Register of Members is, under certain conditions, open to inspection, and copies may be had at the rate of 6d. per hundred words. t E. According to Sec. 26 an annual return must be made to the Registrar of Joint-Stock Companies containing a list of members and particulars of the capital of the Company. The form of this return was altered from that given in the Act by notice in the London Gazette of the 14th day of April, 1885. F. Sec. 43 provides that a Register of all Mortgages and Charges specifically affecting the pi'operty of the Company shall be kept. G. It is necessary to keep :J: " Minutes of all Resolutions and Proceedings of General Meetings of the Company, and of the Directors or Managers of the Company in cases where there are Directors and Managers. Two minute books are usually kept, one for the minutes of Directors' meetings, and the other for those of general meetings. Of Company books not previously discussed, brief mention will be made under the two heads — (1) Books connected with Shares ; (2) Miscellaneous Books. Books Connected with Shares. — The Allotment Book contains, in tabular form, an account of the number of shares allotted to each member, with the distinctive numbers of the shares. It may also provide for a record of the payment of the several instalments on the shares, if they are paid for by instalments. The Transfer Receipt Book contains forms with counterfoils for acknowledging the receipt of transfer deeds, a note being appended at the bottom saying when the new share-certificate will be ready. The old share-certificate must be given in with the transfer deed, and is retained at the company's office. In the case where the transferor has sold shares to a number of different persons, as each transferee cannot have a certificate to attach to the transfer deed which he, or his agent, hands in at the office of the company, therefore the transferor deposits the original certificate of his shares with the company, and the secretary of the company certifies on each transfer deed that the certificate * See Carter, Practical Book-Keeping. 6tfi Ed., 1890, p. 53. Cummins, Guide to the Formation of the Accounts of Limited Liability Companies, 1895, p. 22. Fitzpatrick and Fowke, Secretary's Manned, 1895, p. 54. t Sec. 32. X Sec, 67. I20 MINE ACCOUNTS. of the shares indicated on the deed has been so deposited. This is called certification. Should the transferor possess more shares than he transfers, a new certiticate is issued to him for the residue. List of Transfers. — When the transfers are received for registration, they are dated and numbered consecutively, after which they are entered in a book which may be ruled thus— OT 'O a if M Battery. Other Methods. "d CD 1 ■.^ c a: -.J £ -=.2.^ ci 0) :-< H £ Bullion obtained. Concen- trated. 0) to [Similar classifica- tion to " Battery," less the two columns for " Concentrates."] 1 Percentage ol contained in Or has been extr 1 1 Gross (with moisture). D CM -3 tn 0) XT' &H ft m £ 3 II Jan., Feb., lie, A B Notes on above Table. — (A) This information, though of the very first importance, is oftentimes not determined with the care necessary to make it valuable! It can be obtained in two ways — either by sampling the ore before it goes through the mill and assaying the sample, or by sampling and assaying the tailings, and adding the amount of gold shown to the amount extracted from the ore. Great care is necessary in sampling; it is especially difficult to obtain a correct sample of tailings. (B) This figure is very valuable, and ought to be always known and given in reports ; but managers frequently omit it ! ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE. January. February. Totals. Per Ton Per Ton Average Total Amount. of Ore of Ore per Ton Raising Ore — Raised. Raised. of Ore Raised. Labour, . Timber, . Explosives, . Stores, . Machine Drills, AVinding, Pumping, &c.. Total, Development, Prospecting, Per Ton Per Ton Average of Ore of Ore per Ton Extraction — Treated. TreateJ. Treated. Battery Labour, ,, Stores, Fuel, A A ^ Other Methods, Per Ton of Ore General Expenses — Raised. Salaries, Material, &c., Machinery and Plant, . Renewals and Repairs, . Royalty and Rent, Rates and Taxes, . Depreciation, Per Ton Average of Ore p er Ton Raised. of Ore Raised. Totals, B' B c c 132 MINE ACCOUNTS. Notes on above Table. — (A) These costs to be useful for comparison must be worked out per ton of ore treated, as, for a particular month, the amount of ore treated might differ considerably from the amount of ore raised. (B) is got by dividing the total amount of cost for the mouth (B') by the tons of ore raised ; and (C) is got by dividing the grand total (C) by the same amount. It is evident that this table could be expanded or condensed to almost any extent, and so made to suit various circumstances. For instance, the total cost only of raising ore might be given ; and, if thought sufficient, the costs for the year might alone be set out, and not for each month. On the other hand, the various costs could be analysed much more in detail by simply lengthening the table. TABLE OF STATISTICS. Capital. Ore Raised. Gold Extracted. Per cent, of Total Gold in Ore which has been extracted. Other cost^er Ton of Ore Total Cost Value of Gold got. Profit. Dividends, Ordinary Shares. Preference Shares. Debentures. IZi .4J a o S < c o -4J a> CO o O O g o 1 . to to o O 4^ o £ < p S o 1 c O o N o PM O 2 o o a S 4J c o d |Z1 0) > ■4^ o S < Per oz. of Amount. Per ton of 4i o tons. s. d. oz. s. d. To multiply tables tends to confusion, and certainly makes it difficult to find the special information wished for. In the report of the Silver Mining Com- pany, before referred to, there are no less than twelve statistical tables ; but this by no means indicates either completeness of information or clearness of tabulating. Thus, there is no information as to the total metallic contents of the ore as it comes from the mine, and so there is no indication of the loss sustained in the various metallurgical operations ; there is no analysis of costs ; and it is only possible to get some idea as to the cost per ton of the various operations by an examination of the working account in connection with other tables, and by considerable calculation. Information such as that contained in the above tables may often with advantage be plotted graphically, as described on p. 129. The ioUowing example of a model balance sheet and Profit and Loss account is taken from the Engineering and Mining Journal, New York (vol. Ixii., 1896, p. 170) :— (JVote. — y Jie credits are jy'n'inted below the debits instead of by their side as in the 2nbblis]ied balance-sheet. ) Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Company. — Balance-Sheet, Mat 31st, 1S96. Dr. CAPITAL and liabilities. To capital stock -200,000 shares of $25 each $5,000,000.00 ,, sundry creditors — Suspense cash account* — Douglas Island, $21,775.97 Current accounts — Douglas Island, .... 31,996.98 „ —San Francisco, .... 25,802.50 surplus — Balance carried over from the year 1895, . protit and loss account, year ending May 31st, 1896, Less dividends paid during year, Surplus carried over, , §130,286.27 497,342.22 §627,628.49 450,000.00 79,575.45 177,628.49 $5,257,203.94 Cash available for any exigency. REPORTS OF MINING COMPANIES. T '1 ^ PROPERTY AXD ASSETS. By mines, canals, and reduction works, . ,, store supplies — Merchandise at Douglas Island, . ,, in transit, Wood on hand. Coal on hand, Extra mill machinery, . Potato account, Rebate claims* in adjustment, cash at San Francisco, ,, Douglas Island, . $77,157.2-4 10,025.69 $87,182.93 11,382.00 2,459.59 8,254.32 116.13 660.26 $80,188..50 27,946.37 Cr. $5,039,013.34 110,055.23 108,134.87 •55,257,203.94 Dr. PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDING 31ST MAY, 1S96. Per ton of ore. To operating costs- Mining 263,670 tons ore $.5491 Milling 263,670 tons and concentrating 4,3733^3' tons sulphurets, .... Chlorination of 4,397tV tons sulphurets. General expenses, Douglas Island, ,, San Francisco, London, office expense, Paris, ,, ... Bullion charges, freight, insurance, &c.. All construction charged directly to operating. $144,787.68 Total operatmg costs. Net proiit for year. ..3476 91,671.34 .1138 30,012.80 .0819 21,597.51 .0218 5,727.46 .0112 2,946.48 .0006 174.12 .0372 9,807.12 $1.1632 $306,724.51 1.8862 497,342.22 $3.0494 $804,066.73 Per ton of ore. By bullion sold, $2.9689 ,, interest received, ....... .0006 ,, store profits, 12 months, ...... .0799 $3.0494 Cr. $782,829.67 174.13 21,062.93 $804,066.73 It shows very plainly how various items contribute to the total cost per ton of ore, and how the profit resulted. Directors' Report. — It is a question whether, in many cases, it would not be better to omit the Manager's Report altogethei", and let the Directors' Report include all it is necessary to say about the mine and other matters, as the Directors can take a broader view of the effect of details on the whole, and can more readily free themselves from technicalities. If, however, the Manager's Report be printed, a part of the Directors' Report should be devoted Disputed claims. 134 MINE ACCOUNTS. to elucidating any obscure points in it and simplifying it, should that be in any degree necessary. The Directors' Report should also contain, by way of commentary on the tabular statements, a simple explanation of the financial position of the Company ; and finally, a general exposition of its present position and future prospects. IVIr. Pixley, upon this point, says : * " The majority of shareholders experience great difliculty in understanding Companies' accounts, even when they have been prepared with the object of afibrding full information, and the report of the Directors, which usually accompanies them, although it may refer to them, does not explain them ; " again, the Hon. C. J. Rhodes speaking, as chairman, at an ordinary general meeting of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, said : t " In submitting to you the report of the Directors of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, together with the balance sheet for your approval, I would ask you to go throvigh it with me in what I call an ordinary human way. We often read balance sheets and statements, and the average individual rises from the perusal of them no better informed than when he took his seat." Forthwith Mr. Rhodes proceeded to give a familiar and lucid explanation of the accounts in consideration, which fortunately has been preserved by appending it to the report. Would it not add greatly to the value of Companies' reports, in spite of some loss in elegance, if such familiar explanations were always embodied by the Directors 1 It is true that such explanations are not infrequently given verbally at meetings, as in the above instance, but, as a rule, they are not preserved, except in newspapers, and so no benefit from them accrues to the general body of shareholders. Reports of Cost-Book Mines. — The report of a cost-book mine con- tains : — 1. A " Statement of Accounts," which is really a revenue account. On the debit side there are the various outgoings, chiefly labour costs and merchants' bills, the former being given in fortnightly totals, and the latter in monthly totals. On the credit side is the income, chiefly from sales of ore, each sale being given in detail. 2. List of ledger balances. 3. Analyses of labour cost and merchants' bills. 4. Average weekly sales of ore, and perhaps average price, compared with the last period. 5. Agents' report, which is chiefly an account of the condition of the mine, or rather notes on the different points of interest with a few general remarks. Throughout, the reader's personal acquaintance with the mine is assumed. 6. The resolutions passed at the meeting, (for these reports are always printed and distributed after each meeting). There may, or there may not be a short Report of the Committee referring to financial matters. Occasionally a list of the adventurers is sent out with the report, and still more rarely an account of the meetings is appended. The absence of a balance sheet has already been mentioned (pp. 91 and 114). The following are examples of 1 and 2, in the above list, from a well-known Cornish mine : — | [Note. — The credits are printed below the debits instead of by their side as in the actual statement.) * Pixley, The Shareholder's Handbook, London, 1884, p. 17. + Sixth Annual Report of the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, 1894, p. 25. t An example is also given in The Accountants' Students' Journal, vol. iii., I8S5-18S6, pp. 49, 65, 98. REPORTS OF MINING COMPANIES. 135 MINES. Dr. Statement of Accounts, May 16th, To Labour Cost paid January 21st, 1893, „ „ February 4th, 1893, „ ,, February ISth, 1893, „ ,, March 4th, 1893, „ „ March ISth, 1893, „ „ April 1st, 1893, April 15th, 1893, April 29th, 1893, ,, January Merchants' Bills, Coal, ,, February Merchants' Bills Coal, ,, March Merchants' Bills, Coal, ,, April Merchants' Bills, Coal, £1,118 3 7 611 19 7 £959 16 601 13 1 3 £865 14 617 18 7 5 £758 12 534 12 3 1 1893. £1,499 12 7 1,408 1-2 11 1,551 5 1,379 5 1,564 5 8 1.366 10 1,637 17 1 1.367 4 1 Doctors' Pence, ........ Tehidy Estates, Dues, . West Cornwall Hospital, ....... Royal Cornwall Infirmary, ...... Camborne District Nurse Fund, Vice Warden's Assessment, ...... The National Boiler and General Insurance Co., Cornish Bank, Limited, Interest and Cheques, Income Tax, on Account, ....... Employers' Liability Assurance Co., Limited, on Account, Divisible Balance, £11,774 7 9 £1,730 3 2 1,561 9 4 1,483 13 1,293 4 4 6,068 9 10 144 3 6 458 16 26 5 2 3 20 2 38 15 175 75 £18,788 11 2,829 £21,617 11 9 1893. Jan. 18. „ IS. „ 18. „ 18. Feb. 1. „ 1. May 10. 1893. Feb. 1. May 10. By Sales of Tin Ore, viz.- Cr, T. C. Q. LBS. Redruth Tin Co., 6 6 2 9 at £50 7 6 £318 16 5 Williams, Harvey, & Co., 6 1 3 at 49 15 302 17 Williams, Harvey, & Co., 4 Oat 50 7 6 201 10 Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., 7 3 2 3 at 50 7 6 361 10 Cornish Tin Co., 36 5 1 9 at 51 2 6 1854 2 7 Cornish Tin Co. , 8 16 17 at 51 5 451 7 9 &c.. &c., &c., &c.. &c. Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., 8 13 3 7 at 47 12 6 413 17 9 413 13 2 Slime Tin Sold. Cornish Tin Co., 2 2 at £31 10 £63 7 &c. , &c., &c.. &c.. &c. Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., 2 1 1 12 at 25 5 52 4 3 16 2 1 1 Illogan Parish, ...... Extra Carriage, ...... Employers' Liability Assurance Co., Limited, Discount olf Merchants' Bills, £20,894 19 5 461 8 9 18 21 11 99 14 138 18 9 5 8 9 £21,617 11 9 136 MINE ACCOUNTS. Dr. 1893. To Paid on Account of Machinery for , .... £1,500 Maj"- 12. ,, Adventurers' Balance 4,384 12 3 £5,884 12 3 Cr. 1893. May 12. Divisible Balance brought down, £2,829 2 Balance from last Account, January 24th, 1893, .... 3,055 12 1 £5,884 12 3 Dr. 1893. May 16. To Dividend of 7s. 6d. per each 6,000th Share declared this day, . £2,250 ,, 16. ,, Balance carried to the next account, . . . . . . 2,134 12 3 £4,384 12 3 Cr. 1893. May 12. By Balance brought down £4,384 12 3 £4,384 12 3 Dr. Ledger Balances, May 12th, 1893. To Adventurers' Balance, £4,384 12 3 ,, Income Tax, 175 ,, Employers' Liability Co., Limited, . . . . . . . . 75 £4,634 12 3 Cr. By Cornish Bank, Limited, Cash, ...... £550 15 6 Bills Receivable, . . . . 3,943 10 5 £4,494 5 11 „ Club Account, 140 6 4 £4,634 12 3 CHAPTER XV.— STATISTICS. Under this head we shall briefly consider the information which is collected and published with the view of exhibiting the condition of the mining industry of a country. Such publication may be looked upon, as a national mining report; just as a Company requires a report at the year's end of the work of the year, and a balancing of its financial position, in order to see exactly how matters stand, and have data for directing its future course, so a country requires a report of its mining industry, in order to estimate the importance of the industry, judge of its growth or decline, encourage its development, husband its resources, and legislate for its benefit and safety. Statistics, when sufficiently full, are also of value to individuals, and are further of international importance. STATISTICS. In tlie reports of mining companies, suitable tabular statements are of great value, but they do not suflSce without explanatory matter ; in like manner statistical tables require interpretation from an expert for their full appreciation. Diagrams are of very great value in connection with statistics, inasmuch as the relative importance of quantities is often more quickly and accurately estimated by the eye when they are plotted as a diagram, than can be done from figures ; further, the impression ujion the brain produced by a diagram is more readily retained. In England, previous to 1845, there was no attempt to collect mineral and mining statistics systematically. Some information had, however, been given in reports* of Special Committees and Commissioners, and Custom House returns of the imports and exports of minerals had been issued since the early part of the present century. Private individuals had also published statistical tables, which, though fragmentary, are still of interest — particular mention mav be made of Pryce,t Lemon, and Carne. ;j: Sir Charles Lemon, especially, published a valuable paper § ; the data he gives conform closely to our present idea of what mining statistics should contain, in that he does not confine himself simply to quantities and value of ore raised, but gives figures relating to the number of persons employed, wages earned, and health of miners. The Mining Record Ofiice was established as a branch of the Geological Survey in 1840, on a recommendation by a Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Its primary object, however, was to collect and preserve plans of abandoned mines. It was not until Mr. Robert Hunt was appointed Keeper in 1845 that any attempt was made to collect statistics. As the first result of his labours in this direction, Mr. Hunt published in 1847, "A Notice of the Copper and Tin raised in Cornwall," || chiefly historical ; and in the following year he published " Statistics of Lead and Copper." giving quantities only, for the years 1845, 1846, 1847.11 This was followed in 1853 by " Statistics of the Produce of Cojjper, Tin, Lead, and Silver from the Mines of the United Kingdom, with the Imports and Exports of these metals froml848 to 1852;"** also a "Note on Coal Raised and Iron Made at present (December, 1852) in South Staffordshire"; ft and in 1855 the first annual volume of Mineral Statistics was published as a memoir of the Geological Survey. It recorded the quantities and values of copper, lead, tin, and silver ores produced, imported, and exported for the years 1853 and 1854 ; and for 1854 statistics of coal and iron, the number of persons employed in mining operations, and a list of collieries. A volume of this character was henceforward published every year from the Mining Record Office until 1882, statistics of other minerals being gradually added : but the information as to the number of persons employed about mines was never repeated. The infor- mation supplied to the Mining Record Office was always voluntary. In the meantime, statistics relating to coal and accidents in coal mines were being published by the Inspectors of Mines in their annual reports. J j The first Act providing for the ins])ection of coal mines was passed in 1850; and * See footnote to p. 140. t Pryce, William, Mineralogia Cornuhiensis, London, 1778, p. xv. J Came, Joseph, "Statistics of the Tin Mines in Cornwall." Journal of the Statistical Society of London, vol. ii. , 1839, p. 261. § Lemon, Sir Charles, "The Statistics of the Copper Mines of Cornwall." Journal of the Statistical Society of London, vol. i. , 1838, p. 65. II Memoirs of the Geological Survey, 1847, London, vol. i. IT Memoirs of the Geological Survey, 1848, London, vol. ii., part 2, pp. 703-717. ** Records of the School of Mines, IS53, London, vol. i., part 4. tt Records of the School of Mines, 1853, London, vol. i., part 2. J:J: See introduction to Mineral Statistics for 18S2 for fuller information. 138 MINE ACCOUNTS. the first Inspectors' report was published in 1851. This contained statistics of the coal produced in several districts during 1850 ; and in succeeding reports figures from other districts were included. In 18G4 a tabular statement of the quantity of coal wrought, number of persons employed, and ratios of accidents in the different districts, was commenced. At this time, as in the case of the Mining Record Office, information relating to the production of coal and persons employed was supplied voluntarily to the Inspectors, though notices of accidents were compulsory; returns of the imports and exports were supplied by the Customs House authorities. In 1872 the Coal Mines Regula- tion Act, and Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act were passed, and these provided that annual returns of minerals worked and persons employed at mines, should be made to the Inspectors ; and from this time onward, their statistics were founded on these returns. Thus there were two sets of statistics, one published from the Mining Record Office, and based upon voluntary information, the other issued by the Home Office and, after 1872, based upon information compulsorily supplied to the Inspectors ; this state of things was evidently undesirable, consequently the Mining Record Office was transferred to the Home Office in 1883, since which date only one set of mining and mineral statistics has been issued. The volume of Mineral Statistics for 1882, pul)lished in 1883, recorded the quantities and values of minerals worked in the United Kingdom, also imports and exports of minerals and metals, and, in addition, it contained tables showing the quantities of mineral produced, itc, in other countries, extracted from the Statistique de V Industrie Minerule en France et en Algerie. The volume for 1883 contained (besides statistics of the production, impor- tation, and exportation of minerals and metals) an account of persons employed, of accidents, and of the ratio of accidents and deaths to the number of persons employed for each inspection district in the following form : — Persons Employed District, in and about Mines. Tons of Mineral Wrought. Separate Fatal Acci- dents. Lives Lost by Acci- dents. Persons Employed. Tons of Mineral Wrought. Per Fatal Accident. Per Life Lost. Per Fatal Accident. Per Life Lost. No. of Mines. An account of the mineral products of our Colonies was also added, which has found a place in each report since published. In the report for 1887, diagrams showing tlie fluctuations in the prices of metals were first introduced, and have been given regularly since that year. In 1888 the number of people employed and statistics of accidents ceased to appear in Mineral Statistics, but continued to be issued in Summaries of Statistics of Mines and Minerals, as heretofore. Of late years there have been published separately from the Home Office * :— 1. Summaries of Statistics. 2. Separate report by each inspector for his own district. 3. The Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom. 4. List of Mines at work. ) ^ , j j i. ir- i oi t- .• 5. List of Plans of abandoned Mines. \ Fo''"^erly appended to Mineral Statistics. The report of each inspector (2) contains details concerning persons employed, mineral output, accidents, and any jjrosecutions for ofiences, together with general observations on the condition of the district. * See Report of the Departmental Committee on Mining and Mineral Statistics, 1895. p. 1, et seq. STATISTICS. 1 39 The Mineral Statistics (3) contains — (a) Particulars of the output and value of minerals, and the quantity and value of metals contained in the various ores. (b) Statistics relating to the imports and exports of minerals and metals, railway and canal traffic of coal, salt, &c.; shipments of coal, clay, and other minerals coastwise ; particulars of blast furnaces, giving the production of pig iron and the quantity of iron ore and coal used in its manufacture ; the average weekly prices of coal and metals in the London market ; lists of smelters of ores, with their addresses ; also an appendix giving the output and value of all the minerals raised in the British Colonies and Possessions. The book also contains maps showing the Mines Inspection districts, and a list of the names and addresses of the Inspectors. . In 1884 Professor Le Neve Foster * pointed out that the method of working out ratios of accidents to the total number of persons employed about mines led to misleading results, as it showed the occupation of the ore miner to be less hazardous than that of the collier, whereas, if underground workers alone are considered, the risk is about equal in the two cases. The Royal Commission on Mining Royalties, appointed in 1889, thought the mineral statistics could be improved, and suggested that accurate information should be collected and published, relating to the following amongst other mattersf : — 1. The quantities of coal used for manufacturing and domestic purposes respectively. 2. The amounts of royalties and wayleaves. 3. The average price of coal at the pit's mouth, and at various points of consumption. 4. The waives and hours of labour of miners. 5. Imports and exports of mineral. 6. The comparison of the progress of the mining industry in the United Kingdom and in foreign countries. To this, they added, " Where necessary, additional statutory powers should be conferred on the department, J to enable it to collect the necessary informa- tion, due care being taken to prevent the disclosure of individual retm*ns." A Departmental Committee, of which Professor Le Neve Foster was chair- man, was appointed in 1893 to consider the whole question of Mining and Mineral Statistics, in view of the suggestions of the Royal Commission on Mining Royalties. Early in 1895 they issued a valuable report discussing the recommendations of the Royal Commission, and suggesting the best manner of their adoption. They further suggested that the following separate publications (compare with list on p. 138) should be issued each year in the order given : — 1. Early Return of Fatal Accidents. 2. Summaries of Statistics relating to Mines and Minerals. 3. List of Plans of Abandoned Mines. 4. List of Mines and Quarries at Work. 5. Separate Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. 6. Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom. 7. General Report on the Mining Industry of the United Kingdom. They further recommend that (a) in all these publications, uniformity in arranging the information should be carefully maintained. (6) In the '^Summaries" (2 of above list) the death-rate should be calculated per 1,000 * Report of British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1884, p. 868. f Final Report of the Royal Commission on Alining Royalties, 1893, p. 13. X i.e., Of Mines. I40 MINE ACCOUNTS. persons employed, and per 1,000,000 tons of mineral raised ; and also be calculated separately for underground men ; in the " Mineral Statistics " (6) the produce of each mine should be given. This had been done hitherto for Metalliferous Mines, but not for Collieries. These recommendations have been adopted as far as was possible without additional statutory power ; for, as this has not yet been granted, the Inspectors of Mines have no authority to ask for information relative to royalties and wayleaves, or hours of labour and wages of workpeople. The seven publications have (1895), however, been issued in the order suggested; and, in addition to other improvements in the Statistics, the First Annual General Report upon the Mineral Industry of the United Kingdonn for 189Jf. was issued in 1895, followed by the Second of this new series last year. The first report is prefaced by a brief outline of the laws which regulate the mineral workings of the United Kingdom. Part I. contains an account of the workpeople employed in or about mines. Part II. treats of minerals raised, coloured diagrams being used to bring out the more important facts. Part III. relates to accidents, which are classified in various ways. In Part IV^. prosecutions are tabulated. Part V. relates to general matters, such as notes on the separate reports of the Inspectors. The last Part — VI. — is the most considerable in the book. It gives an account of the mining industry in each country of the world, the countries being dealt with in alphabetical order. The appendices include a glossary of terms used in tha Inspectors' reports, which may not be familiar to the general reader. Various statistics relating to mines and minerals have been published from time to time in reports * of Commissions and Special Committees ; and in the form of Returns. Particular mention may be made of the Report of the Commissio7iers appointed to inquire into the Condition of Mines to which the Act 23 and 24 Vic. chap. 151 does not apply., 1864; and the Report of the Commis- sioners appointed to inquire into several matters relating to Coal, 1871. The former contains much valuable information relating to the health and safety of persons employed in metalliferous mining, and the latter, inter alia, valuable statistics relating to the production and consumption of coal. The Board of Trade frequently publishes information and statistics relative to mines and minerals in its monthly journals — Lahour Gazette, Board of Trade Journal, Siwd Trade and Navigation; also in its Annual Statisticcd Abstract, and other occasional pamphlets. The Foreign Office Consular Reports also often contain information relative to the mining industry in other countries ; and lastly, the Annual Statement of Trade, published by the Board of Customs, has figures relating to minerals. * The following list, though probably incomplete, may be of service : — Report of (^ommittee on the State of ('opper Mines and Copper Trade, 1799. Reports of Committees on the Coal Trade, 18.30 and 18.38. Reports of Select Committees on Coal Mines, 1852, 1853, 1866. Report of Commission on several matters relating to Coal, 1871. Report of Select Committee on Coal, 1873. Accidents : — Reports of Committees on Accidents in Coal Mines, 1835, 1S43, 1847, 1849, 1852, 1854, 1867. Relating cliiefly to Work-people : — Report of Children's Employment Commission, 1842. Reports of Commissioner to inquire into State of Mining Population, diC, 1844 to 1859. Report of Commissioners on Condition of Mines to lohirh the Act 23 and 24 Vic. chap. 151 does not apply, 1864. (Chairman, Lord Kinnaird.) Return of Hours of Labour of Persons employed in and about Mines, 1890. Return of Rates of Wages in Mines and Quarries, 1891. STATISTICS. 141 The summaries and analyses made at each mine should be so arranged that they can be used for filling up the annual returns to be sent to the Inspector of Mines. This saves labour, and further makes it possible to forward the returns with the least delay. Statistics lose something of their value if they are very late in publication. OiJicial forms for returns are prescribed.* Yearly volumes of mining statistics, or annual mining reports containing statistics, are published by almost all civilised countries. In France an excellent volume of statistics is published annually bearing the title Statistique de V Industrie Minerale et des Appareils a vapeur en France et en Algerie. The main divisions are as follow : — Mining Concessions. Mines. Combustible Minerals — Production, number of workers, wages, imports and exports, value, con- sumption Iron Ores — Production, number of workers, wages, imports and exports, consumption. Other metalliferous substances. Bitumen and other substances. General resume. Persons working at mines. Financial results. Quarries. Statistics of accidents. Mineral waters. State of the Mineral Industry in the Colonies. Metallurgical Works — Iron. Metals other than iron. Asphalts, &c. Steam Engines — Steam engines on terra Jirma other than locomotives. Locomotives. Steam engines on boats. Accidents. International Statistics. Comparative table of mineral products of the principal countries. ,, metallurgical products. ,, precious metals. Numerous diagrams showing production, consumption, and price of different minerals and metals in France, for many years past, are given. It will be observed that the financial results of workius mines are included, and also statistics relating to steam engines. In the United States, the separate mining States have their own reports, and there is also a yearly volume, prepared by the Geological Survey, entitled The Mineral Resources of the United States. Ohio, for instance, publishes annually a Mine Inspector s Report, in which are given statistics relating to — Production of Minerals, Persons Employed, Accidents, whilst in California, the Mining Report is the Ri- Annual Report of the State Mineralogist. It gives the production of gold and silver in dollars, and of * Much fuller forms are recommended in the Report of the Departmental Committee on Mining and Mineral Statistics, 1895, pp. 26 to 30, which would no doubt come into use were statutory powers to that effect obtained. 142 MINE ACCOUNTS. other metals in tons; and it contains much information about the geology, ore deposits, and mines of the State. Detailed mineral statistics are given in the annual " Bulletin." In Tloe Mineral Resources of the United States, the metals or minerals are taken separately ; the production is given and compared with that of other countries ; and any points of interest, such as new deposits found during the year, or technical developments, are discussed. In Australia separate reports are published by each of the Colonies. Some of these are very full and valuable. Especial mention may be made of those issued by Victoria and ISIew feouth Wales. The tirst official mining report of the South African Republic (for 1894) was issued in 1895. It contains reports by the Inspectors on points of interest and tabulated information chiefly relating to — Claims. Expenditure at Mines and Price of Stores. Machinery, Engines, and Boilers. Ore Raised, Persons Employed, f4old obtained. Quantity and value of Coal raised. Wages arranged according to trades. Accidents. The report is very complete and contains much information not usually given in annual mining reports. In Cape Colony a yearly pamphlet, entitled Reports of the Inspector of Mines, Kimberley, and Insfector of Claims, Barkly West, is published. The former report contains the number of persons employed, accidents, and general information relating to the diamond mines of Kimberley. The annual Statistical Register of the Colony of the Cap>e of Good Hope gives the weight and value of the diamonds obtained, number of persons employed, and accidents at the diamond mines ; and, in addition, the production of copper ore, coal, salt, and gold in the Colony. Private enterprise, although not supported by legal enactments, has done valuable service in collecting mining statistics. For many years the Engineer- ing and Mining Journal of New York (Editor, R. P. Rothwell), has published accurate statistics of the mineral productions of the United States much earlier than they have been issued from official sources; and since 1893 tliere has been issued from the office of that periodical an annual volume entitled, The Mineral Industry; Its Statistics, Technology, and Trade in the United States and Other Countries. This is a publication valued by all who are interested in mining. It contains under the head of each metal or mineral, an account of the mode of occurrence, especially mentioning any newly discovered deposits ; methods of working, if there is anything of note to describe ; recent improve- ments in treatment or metallurgy ; and statistics showing the production of each country. Further, under the name of each country it gives an account of the mineral industry in that country. This is followed by a short account of the stock market for the year and, finally, there are special articles on matters of interest and importance to the mining community. The Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines publishes monthly a tabular return of the production of gold at the greater number of mines on the Rand, showing, for each mine, the quantity of ore treated, yield and value of gold, for each process of extraction used. An annual report is also published by the Chamber. The Association of Mines of the South African Republic likewise publishes an annual report. It contains statistics relating to mines not included in the report of the Rand Chamber of Mines. Looking at the publication of mining statistics generally, it is to be STATISTICS. 143 regretted that there is so great a lack of uniformity, both in the matter given, and in the manner of giving it. as to make comparisons difficult or impossible. The mining population is often neglected ; in some reports, no statistics rela- tive to workmen are given, though the majority state the number of persons employed about mines and of accidents ; but in no case, it would appear, are vital statistics* showing the relative healthiness or unhealthiness of the industry systematically collected and published. In 1893 Professor Le Neve Foster read a paper f before the International Mining Congress held at Chicago, pointing out some of the ways in which the mining statistics of various countries ditfer, and making various suggestions. The following brief summary of some of the points mentioned and sugges- tions made will be of interest : — Production of Minerals and Metals. — 1. The standards of weight employed are very various. It was suggested that, in addition to local weights, metric equivalents be given. 2. Some countries include in their statistics substances omitted by others. An international agreement by mining engineers as to the definition of the term " mineral " would be an advantage. 3. It was suggested that there should always be one general table showing the production of all the minerals worked in a country. This is sometimes omitted, which causes labour in searching through a report, besides the pos- sibility of some omission, if a general view of the mineral production of a country is wanted. •i. Some countries give the production of mineral before it is dressed — that is, of raw mineral ; others, of dressed mineral. It was suggested that the weight of dressed ore, or mineral, or rock, would be the more valuable quantity to record. Value of Minerals Produced. — This should not include freight. Persons employed in and about Mines. — Those working underground should always be distinguished from those employed above ground, and so should males from females. The number of persons employed is one of the best gauges of the importance of a mine, or of the entire industry in a State. Death-Rate from Accidents. — This might conveniently be calculated per 1,000, and should be calculated se()arately for underground workers and surface hands. Vital Statistics. — These should be collected, as they are of very great im- portance in connection with legislation to promote the health and prosperity of miners ; hence, indirectly, they have an important bearing on the mining industry, and so on the welfare of the State. Finally, it was suggested that each country should prepare a few general tables, which could be collated by some central body and published as The Mineral Statistics of the World, with references to the official publications containing details. * Death-rates for the mining industry in this country were worked out by Dr. Ogle, and published in the Supplement to the Forty ffth Annual Report of the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England, London, 1885, p. 25, et seq. There are also some vital statistics given in the Report of the Commission ajypointed to inquire irdo the condition of Mines to ivhich the Act 23 and 24 Vic, ch. 151, does not apply, pp. 10, 29, and 35; also Appendix B, p. 154, et seq. t "Mining and Mineral Statistics," Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, vol. xxii., 1894, p. 95. 144 MINE ACCOUNTS. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Although many of the writings and lectures mentioned below have already been referred to, yet the following list may prove convenient: — I. "Books Relating Wholly to Mine Accounts and Allied Matters. Gottsehalk, C. G. Die Grundlagen des Rechnungswesens und ihre Anwendung auf industrielle Anstalten, insbesondere auf Bergbau, Hittteu- und Fabrik-Betrieb. Leipzii,', 1865, pp. 467. MannlicheP, G. Leitfaden der Verrechnungskunde von Montanwerken nach dem Systeme der doppelten kaufmiinnischen Buchhaltung. Graz, 1865. Lohe, W. Die Alaterialen- Verwaltung ftir Fabriken, Berg- und Hiitten-Werke. Elberfeld, 1879. Lange, C. F. R. Das Grubenhaushalts-, Kassen- und Rechnungswesen. Freiberg in Sachsen, 1885, pp. 243. Oriol. Contabilldad Minera. Madrid, 1894, pp. 87. BPOWn, N. Gold Mining Accounts. Glasgow, 1897. II. Books with a Section ox Mine Accounts. Leo, W. Neuer Schauplatz der Bergwerke, vol. xiii. " Grubenhaushalt." Quedlinburg and Leipzig, 1845-48. Andre, G. G. Coal Mining, vol. ii. London, 1876, p. 521. Baker, W. C. M. System of Accounts. Columbus, Oiiio, 1876, p. 123. Burat, A. Cours d'Exploitation des Mines. 2nd Ed. Paris, 1876, pp. 620 to 633. Gallon, J. Lectures on Mining, vol. iii., 1886, pp. J84-186. Linkenbaeh, C. Die Aufbereitung der Erze. Berlin, 1887, pp. 148-150. Hatch and Chalmers. Gold Mines of the Rand. London, 1895, pp. 259-263, and ■J66-270. Bulman and Redmayne. Colliery Working and Management. London, 1896, pp. 64-107. III. Lectures, Papers, and Articles. "Cost-Book Companies." Accountants' Students' Journal. London, vol. iii., 1885-86, pp. 49, 65, 98. Attlee, T. M. E. "Colliery Accounts" (lecture). Accountant, vol. xi., London, 1885, pp. 576-579. Evans, R. J. "Colliery Accounts" (lecture). Accountant, vol. xii., 1886, p. 51. Van de Linde, Gerard. " Collieries" (lecture). Accountant, vol. xiv., 1888, pp. 287, 301, 319. Greig", James. "Colliery Auditing" (lecture). Accountant, vol. xvi., 1891, p. 201. Ludlow, Edwin. "The Subdivision of Mining Accounts. " Enyineerivfj and Minbig Journal, vol. Iii. ^ew York, 1891, p. 5tj6. Carey. " Colliery Cost Sheets." Trans. National Association of Colliery Managers, vol. V. London, 1893, p. 99. "Colliery Accounts." Accountant, vol. xix., 1893, pp. 796, 811, 832, 852. James. "Collieries: their Management and Accounts." Trans. Chartered Ac- countants' Students' Society of London for 1894, p. 134. Salisbury. "Mining Accounts." Trans. Incorporated Accountants' Students' Society of London for 1894, p. 69. Prest. " Colliery Cost Sheets." Trans. Federated Institute of Mining Engineers, vol. viii., 1894-95, p. 326; and vol. ix., 1894-95, p. 239. 145 INDEX. Accident clubs, 22. Accounts, chief ledger, 79, 96. Bad debts, 83. Bills, 84, 93. Cash, 83, 93, 97. Classification, 81, 82. Discount and Interest, 85. Ledger, 79, 80. Nominal, 80, 96. Personal, 80, 83, 99. Product, 85. Profit and Loss, 86, 90, 95. 101, 128, 133. Real, SO, 81. Revenue, see Profit and Loss. Stores, 83. Wages, 83, 99. Working, 86, 100. Accounts sent to Head Office, 76. Advantages of accounts, 1. Agreements with workmen, 4. Alaska-Treadwell Gold Mining Company, 132. Allotment book, 119. American Journals, 88. Analyses — Cost, 67, 131. Labour, 66. Mineral, 57, 131. Stores, 69, 71. Wages, 68, 70. Assay book, 53, 126. Association of Mines, South African Repub- lic, 142. Attlee, T.M.E., 106, 109, 144. Australia, 20, 142. Authority to fire shots, 125. Average wages book, 27. B Balance sheet, 90, 101, 11.3, 132. Balancing stores, 44, 98. *' Bargain " work, 14. Barruelo colliery, 62, 74. Benefit Clubs, 22. Blacksmiths' book, 25. Bills, 80, 84. Bill books, 79, 85, 93, Bonuses, 20, 106. Boring, Record of, 126. British Statistics, 137. California, 141. Carne, 137. Cash book, 79, b3, 93. Chamber of Mines, Rand, 142. Check-weigher, 16. Chili, 103. Coal book, Cornish, 45. Journal, 52. Mines Regulation Act, 1887, 10, 16, 122, 124, 138. Mines Regulation Act, 1896, 122. raised, daily return, 61, 62. ,, summary, 61, 62. sales, 46, 49. supplied to workmen, 24. ticket, 24. washed, return, 62. Colliers, see Workmen. Colorado, 11, 14, 21, 23, 27, 77. Companies Act, 1862, 86, 90, 116, 118, 120, 127. , , working mines. 111. Consignment book. Coal, 50. Continent, 14. Contract book. Rand, 19. ,, work, 14. Contracts for sales, 46. ,, supply of stores, 37, 38. Conveying mineral. Payment for, 17. Copper ore sales, 48. Cornwall, 11, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 30, 42, 45, 47, 49, 113, 116, 134, 137. Cost book Companies, 91, 113, 134. Costs, Analyses of, 67, 131. "Creditor," 79. Cumberland, 25, 63, 103. Cyanide treatment return, 60. Day-Book, 88. ,, Coal, 52. Day-work book, 12, 30. Dead-work, 14. De Beers Company, 9, 17, 18, 19, 23, 41, 42, 57, 68, 129, 134. Debentures, 118. " Debtor," 79. Declaration, Railway, 51. Deductions, 4, 16, 22. Depreciation, 109. Diagrams of costs, &c., 76, 130, 132. ,, of redemption of capital, 104. ,, in reports, 130. Diamond mines, see De Beers Co. Directors' reports, 133. Dividends, 106. Double entry, 79. Driving, Payment for, 14. Due-bills, 30. 10 146 INDEX. E Engagement of workmen, 4. Engineering and Mining Journal, 75, 130, 132, 142, 144. Evans, R. J., 52, 106. Exploitation, Payment for, 15. F Factory and Workshop Acts, 10, 14, 126. Ferreira mine, 60. Foreign mines — Agreement for service in, 7. Sending accounts home, 76. Foster, C. Le Neve, 17, 21, 22, 139, 143. Foxdale mine, 11, 34, 46. French statistics, 141. Furness, 23, 25, 27, 28, 43, 103. G Galloway, W., 18, 31. Glen Lead Mining Co., 91. Gold ore sales, 55. Graphic analyses of cost, &c. 132. 76, 104, 130, H Hartz, 17. Hodbarrow mine, 25. Hoskold, H. D.,48, 104, 107, 109. I Inspections, Reports of, 122. Inventory, 90. Invoices, 38, 51, 53. Iron ore sales, 46. Isle of Man, see Foxdale mine. Journal, 79, 87, 94. „ Coal, 52. K Kaffirs, 10, 13. Kimberley, see De Beers Go. Labour analyses, 66. Lancashire, 5, 25, 50, see also Furness. Land-sales, 50, 51. Lead ore sales, 47. Ledger, 79, 96. ,, Stores, 44. ,, Tutwork, 30. Leicestershire, 25. Lemon, Sir C. , 137. Limited Liability Companies, 116. Linkenbach, C, 64. Llanbradach colliery, 18, 27, 28, 31, .32, 41, 44, 62, 71. M Managers' reports, 129. Mansfeld, 103. Materials, see Stores. Measuring book, 15. Metalliferous Mines Reg. Act, 1872, 10, 17, 122, 126. Mine Cost and Value Book, 74. Mineral Industry, 142. ofU.K.,UO. Mineral raised, &c., summaries, 57, 131. Mineral Resources of U.S., 142. Miners, see Workmen. Mining Journal, 116. Mining Record Office, 137. Missouri, 47. Muuro, 20. N Natives, S. Africa, 10, 12. New South Wales, 20. North Wales, 21. Notices to Inspectors, 14, 123, 124, 126. ,, under Truck Act, 1896, 4. Ohio, 141. Order book, 40, 50. Orders, 38, 50. Ore raised and treated, 60, 61, 63, 65, 131. Oriol, 10, 62, 63, 74, 76, 88. Overtime, 13. Pay-sheets, 26, 28, 29. Pay-tickets, 33. Paying men, 33. Payment for driving, 14, ,, ,, exploitation, 15. ,, ,, manual transport, 17. „ ,, sinking, 14. " Pays," Periods between, 11. Permits to fire shots, 125. Piece work, 14, " Posting," 79, 80. Premiums and Bonuses, 20. Private partnerships, 112, Profit and Loss, 2 (see also Accounts), Pryce, W,, 137. Q Quenast, 21. Quotations for stores, 36. INDEX. 147 Hand, 8, 11, 12, 19, 23, 25, 27, 28, 55, 60, 72, 103, 109, 142. Reasons for Accounts, 1. Redemption of Capital, 102. Register, accidents, 127. „ holidays, 14. overtime, 14. share, 79, 82, 115, 118. young persons, &c., 10. Rent book, 23, 24. Reports of Inspections, 122. ,, Yearly, &c., 127. Requisition book, 36 Reserve fund, 110. Returns, Annual statistical, 137, 139, 141. Rio Tinto, 17, 27, 28, 103. Safety of Workmen, 3. Sales, 46. Sampling book, 22. Share certificate book, 120. ,, ledger or register, 79, 82, 115, 118. Shares, 117. Sick clubs, 22. ,, pay book, 23. Silver ore sales, 47, 53. Sinking, Payment for, 14. Sliding scales, 7, 20. South Africa, 14, 142 (see also De Beers Co, and Rand). South Wales, 17 (see also Llanhradach). Spain, 10, 11, 62, 74 (see also Bio Tinto). Stannaries Act, 1887, 11, 17, 113, 115. Stannaries Act, 1896, 113. Statistical returns. Annual, 137. Statistics, Mining, 3, 136. Stocks, 117. Stocktaking, 46. Stores, 1, 25, 35. ,, analyses, 69, 71. Subsist, 11. Summaries and Analyses, 2, 67, 130, 131. ,, of minerals raised, &c., 57, 131. Synoptic, 88. Tendering, sales, 46. ,, stores, 37. Tendering, work, 19. Timber measuring, 35. Time-book, 12. Time-sheet, 13. Tin bill, 49. Tin ore sales, 47, 48, 49. Transfer book, 114, 120. ,, receipt book, 119. Transfers, List of, 120. Transylvania, 23. Trial balance, 90, 101. Tribute Account Book, 30. Tributiug, 21. Truck Acts, 4. Tutwork, 14, 17. ,, ledger, 30. ,, setting book, 19. u United States, 47, 48, 141 (see also Colorado). Van de Linde, G., 50, 51, 53. Veins, Irregularity of, 103. Ventilation report, 124. w Wages, Data determining, 11. ,, analysis, 68. Waste book, 87, 92. Weigh book, 16, 50. Weights and Measures, 35, 48. ,\ „ Act, 1889, 51. Workmen, Engagement of, 4. ,, List of, 5, 6, 11. ,, Payment of, 11. Yearly Analyses, 131. ,, Reports, 127. Zinc ore sales, 48. OF THK UNIVERSITY BELL AND BAIN, LIMITED, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. mi 25 1933 APK 261933 MAR 26 19231 LD 21-50m-l,'33