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Show ing just any new shareholders, but rather only those shareholders who share with us optimism about the long-range future of Utah Construction & Mining Co. and buy its shares with that purpose in mind. To this class of investor I would suggest that there are certain things to evaluate in passing judgment on Utah. What is it that distinguishes Utah from other companies that engage in similar fields of activity? I offer these factors for your consideration: First, Utah in recent years has had an unusually good record in conceiving and carrying out new ventures. The company has demonstrated an ability to do the right thing at the right time, and to reach and take advantage of opportunities when they become available. In particular, the mining pattern that we have followed has been successful. It runs like this: First, identify the target of special opportunity; second, find the mineral you are looking for; third, find a customer and negotiate with him a long-term contract sufficient in size to return your initial investment and a profit; fourth, use the contract as a basis for financing; fifth, perform as you said you would; sixth, having established a beachhead, exploit the addi-tional opportunities that its sphere of influence makes possible. As testimony on this point, I remind you that in 1967 our profits from iron ore, uranium, copper and coal were all at record levels. As a second major factor our performance has kept pace with our promises, and this in turn stems from two unique abilities derived from our construction experience. One is the ability within our own force to estimate capital requirements and operating costs accurately. The other is our ability to execute the construction -17- |