and continued price stability the outlook should be favorable We think Utah's overall mining picture looks very good, indeed I would emphasize that existing contracts provide a firm basis for long-term future earnings. Recognizing the need to replace mineral reserves which are being depleted, we are aggressively seeking new reserves and new minerals in which we see opportunities for profitable expansion. CONCLUSION In the time that we have had together I have tried to tell you what Utah Construction & Mining Co. does, what its problems are and how we are dealing with them, what its opportunities are and how we propose to take advantage of them and -- so far as business prudence permits -- what we think some of its prospects are. Earnings are the vital measure of performance, and in 1964 as in 1963 we shall not be able to realize our profit objectives for the reasons I have given you, However, those of us who direct the affairs of Utah Construction & Mining Co. are heavily interested financially in the company and have a very strong stake in its success. As a matter of management philosophy we are deliberately building as best we can a backlog of earnings for the future -- not so much for this year or next year -- but for the long-term future, I have used deliberately the term "backlog of earnings" and not "backlog of work", and to us the distinction is clear and meaningful. Almost without exception every security analyst with whom I have talked in recent - 14-