Don't think there is much of a comparison but maybe I'll be...

Don't think there is much of a comparison but maybe I'll be proven wrong in a 130 odd years things where different in the 1880s I imagine. I think I read somewhere that bhp started with like 10 shareholders processing silver\lead... Billiton i think was a tin producer at that time... I think both company's would of been floated after they where already in production not sure on this I just imagine there wouldn't of been people around looking to buy stocks in early stage exploration company's the way they do today... I'm probably wrong just my guess