Reading about Netscape is technology using computers and the internet, which to many of us urban, service orientated people is very exciting and sometimes we forgot about the word technology use of 150 years ago. In one of those small town libraries, which has very interesting books, a book was found about Technology on the Frontier by Dianne Newell, UBC Press, Vancouver, 1986. Ms. Newell  is a History Professor at the university, and she writes about an interesting time. When North America was settled, the obvious places that were accessible by boat were settled. As the economy built, people went into the bush country to see what there was, besides trees. Minerals were discovered in parts, but minerals fluctuate on the commodities market and when prices are high, there is a rush to deliver them. When prices are low, town sites become ghost towns. In the book Ms. Newall focused on after a mineral is discovered, what technologies allowed it to be mined and sold profitably, or at least sold for a while. The mining industry for a long time used the backs of the miners and for some minerals that was good. For others, where great quantities needed to be moved and the cost of the infrastructure factored in,  better methods or technology were needed. The option of investing in better technology or the mines is always a good one. In the time period Ms. Newall writes about the shipping industry came first, then railways were built and to run a profitable railway, profitable ore bodies needed to be found or at least believed to be found.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, while the adventures are exciting to read about, the ideal investment is a mature mine that still has many years of ore to yield. For example salt mines, rather than iron ore mines, although the iron ore mines that feed the ore to steel mills is more sexy. In the 1800’s it did not seem to take great amounts of money to be invested in order to achieve a return, but the land is big and profitable deposits are hard to find.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions