ditures, and working costs, there must be in proper administration
periodic reports from the officers of the mine to the owners or
directors as to the physical progress of the enterprise. Such reports
must embrace details of ore extraction, metal contents, treatment
recoveries, construction of equipment, and the results of underground
development. The value of mines is so much affected by the monthly
or even daily result of exploration that reports of such work are
needed very frequently,--weekly or even daily if critical work is
in progress. These reports must show the width, length, and value
of the ore disclosed.

The tangible result of development work is the tonnage and grade
of ore opened up. How often this stock-taking should take place
is much dependent upon the character of the ore. The result of
exploration in irregular ore-bodies often does not, over short
periods, show anything tangible in definite measurable tonnage,
but at least annually the ore reserve can be estimated.

In mines owned by companies, the question arises almost daily as
to how much of and how often the above information should be placed
before stockholders (and therefore the public) by the directors. In
a general way, any company whose shares are offered on the stock
exchange is indirectly inviting the public to become partners in the
business, and these partners are entitled to all the information
which affects the value of their property and are entitled to it
promptly. Moreover, mining is a business where competition is so
obscure and so much a matter of indifference, that suppression
of important facts in documents for public circulation has no
justification. On the other hand, both the technical progress of
the industry and its position in public esteem demand the fullest
disclosure and greatest care in preparation of reports. Most
stockholders' ignorance of mining technology and of details of
their particular mine demands a great deal of care and discretion
in the preparation of these public reports that they may not be
misled. Development results may mean little or much, depending
upon the location of the work done in relation to the ore-bodies,
etc., and this should be clearly set forth.

The best opportunity of clear, well-balanced statements lies in
the preparation of the annual report and accounts. Such reports
are of three parts:--

1. The "profit and loss" account, or the "revenue account."
2. The balance sheet; that is,