XII. ZIRCONIUM
BY H. C. MORRIS
USES OF ZIRCONIUM
As early as 1830 an attempt was made to use zirconia buttons, heated to incandescence, for lighting the streets of Paris. In 1885 an incandescent gas mantle of zirconium oxide was patented, but was replaced in a few years by thorium. About 1900 zirconia was used in the Nernst glower, and it has also been used in place of lime and magnesia as the incandescing material in the Drummond light. It is also said to be used in the Bleriot light, and its use in flares has been suggested.
During the past few years Dr. C. M. Johnson has succeeded in manufacturing laboratory ware made from zirconium minerals mixed with other refractories. Filtering crucibles, muffles, combustion tubes and boats, pyrometer protection tubes, and Kipp generators are now on the market, competing in price with German porcelain and fused silica. Zirconia crucibles are made from the fused material ground in a suitable mill. The powder is pressed or molded into shape with an organic binder, such as starch, or perhaps, better still, with a plastic cement made by grinding the fused material to 20 mesh, when it becomes colloidal in the presence of water. After drying, the articles are burned at a very high temperature (2300 to 2400°C.) until contraction ceases.
Fused zirconia has a high thermal endurance; is not affected when heated to redness and plunged into cold water, its coefficient of expansion being as low as 0.00000084; and its resistance to crushing is many times that of quartz glass. Its hardness is between that of corundum and quartz; its specific gravity 5.89, and porosity below 1 per cent. Its melting point is 2950°C, but 0.5 per cent. impurity reduces that by 100°C. Platinum, with a melting point of about 1750°C., can be melted to a mobile liquid in zirconia crucibles, and it is claimed that the boiling point of pure iron has been determined in similar crucibles.
Chemically, zirconia is very inert, being highly resistant to acids, fused alkalies, fused quartz, or molten glass. Possibly no other material known to chemists possesses such a combination of desirable refractory properties. Its one undesirable characteristic is its tendency under certain conditions at high temperatures, in the presence of nitrogen or carbon, to become converted into nitride or carbide.
An instructive paper entitled “Zirconia as a Refractory,” by E. H. Rodd, was published in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, June 15, 1918.
Zirconium oxide as an opacifier has been thoroughly investigated by Hartman[95] and by Grunwald[96] with promising results; and a number of foreign patents have been granted on the use of the oxide in white ceramic enamels. Zirconia seems to be especially suitable for the manufacture of refractory bricks, or it can be applied as a lining or surfacing to other less desirable refractories. Continental practice along this line is said to have been much more highly developed than practice in this country, one example quoted being actual practice tests of a Martin Siemens furnace with a zirconia-lined hearth. After four months of continuous operation at high temperatures the hearth was still in good condition and gave promise of lasting at least an equal length of time without renewal. Statistics compiled from these tests showed a saving of about 50 per cent. in actual maintenance costs in favor of zirconia over the other refractories ordinarily used for such purposes. Bradford[97] quoted Podszus[98] as claiming to have made a furnace with the pure oxide which had first been fused in an arc furnace and then ground; and in which temperatures of 2400° to 2500°C. were obtained by firing with gas and oxygen.
[95] HARTMAN, AUGUSTUS, Zirconemail: Dissertations Arbeit: Techn. Hochschule, Munich, 1910.
[96] Ueber Zirkonoxyd in der Emailindustrie: Sprechsaal, No. 5, 1911.
[97] BRADFORD, LEOPOLD, Birmingham Metallurgical Society (British).
[98] Podszus, Zeitsch. angew. Chem., Jahrg. 30, 1917, 1, pp. 17-19.
The most important question regarding zirconium at the present time has to do with the remarkable properties that some of its advocates claim it imparts to steel. That the Germans have had this use in mind for some time is evidenced by the numerous patents they have obtained covering the use of zirconium and its alloys.
Zirconium has been obtained in the amorphous and the graphitic state; and Wedekind has produced a metal of 99.8 per cent. purity resembling white cast iron in appearance, with a hardness of 7.8 (Mohs); specific gravity 6.40; specific heat, 0.0804; heat of combination, 1958 calories; and melting point, 1530°C.
Numerous alloys of zirconium have been made and a number of foreign and domestic patents have been issued covering various alloys, both ferrous and non-ferrous. It is stated that ferrozirconium is finding a limited application in the steel industry as a scavenger for removing nitrogen and oxides. An English patent, No. 29,376, covers the use of zirconium as a scavenger, the alloy containing 20 per cent. of the element and being used in an amount equal to about 1 per cent. of the weight of steel treated.
Another alloy containing 40 to 90 per cent. zirconium, the rest being mainly iron, is said to be free from metalloids and oxides, and malleable and ductile. Alloys covered by United States Patent No. 1,151,160 are claimed to be highly resistant to oxidation and chemical reagents. They have a metallic lustre and take a high polish, are readily malleable and ductile, and it is suggested that they may find an important application in filaments for electric lamps, as they are said to have the property of selective radiation. A typical analysis of some of the alloys claimed to have been produced under this patent shows Zr. 0.65 per cent., Fe 26 per cent., Ti 0.12 per cent. and Al 7.7 per cent.
A widely circulated statement to the effect that zirconium has been used in Germany in the production of steel for armor plates and armor-piercing projectiles has not been substantiated, so far as the writer knows, by any records of analyses.
The use of zirconium for alloying in steel is so new that, pending definite determination by disinterested competent authorities of the exact properties, if any, which zirconium imparts to steel, judgment as to its value for this purpose should be withheld.
Zirconium carbide has been patented for filaments for incandescent electric lamps and it has also been used as an abrasive. Tried as a pigment, zirconia has been found to have good covering power and should be considered where protection from acids, alkalies, or gases is particularly desired. The basic acetate has been used for weighting silk, and the pure oxide is used as a substitute for bismuth subnitrate in X-ray work.
GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Zirconium occurs in nature in commercial quantities as a mixed oxide and silicate known as baddeleyite, sometimes called brazilite, and as the silicate, zircon. Baddeleyite, as supplied to the trade, usually carries 80 to 85 per cent. ZrO₂. The silicate, zircon, carries about 65 per cent. ZrO₂. The oxide deposits, containing as they do a higher percentage of zirconium and the ore being more pure and easier to reduce, will in all probability become the principal source of zirconium.
The principal known deposits of zirconium ores are in Brazil, India and the United States, the countries being named in the relative order of their commercial importance.
=The Natural Oxide.=--The natural oxide, baddeleyite, or brazilite, occurs only in Brazil in commercial quantities and is described in Mineral Foote-Notes by Meyer,[99] who writes as follows:
[99] MEYER, H. C., Mineral Foote-Notes, November, 1916, p. 29.
There are but few commercial deposits of the unusual ores which present more interesting geologic as well as economic features than do the deposits of natural zirconium oxide in Brazil. The Caldas region (visited in 1915 by the writer) in which these zirconia deposits occur, is situated partly in the State of Minas Geraes and partly in the State of Sao Paulo, approximately 130 miles north of the city of Sao Paulo. It is a mountainous plateau, the main elevation of which is about 3,600 feet. The surface is undulating, presenting differences in level of from 300 to 600 feet.
The whole area is bounded on all sides by ridges rising abruptly from 600 to 1,200 feet above the general level and forming a roughly elliptical enclosure with a major axis of approximately 20 miles in length and a minor axis of 15 miles. This peculiar arrangement of the higher ridges is very significant when coupled with the fact that the predominant rock of the plateau is a phonolite and the presence of highly mineralized thermal water of considerable medicinal value.[100] No thorough geological survey has been made of this area with a view to determining the origin of the zirconia. The character of the ore, however, and the formation, seems to point to pneumatolitic agencies. A careful study of the relationship of the large masses of coarsely crystalline nephelite-syenite in this area, with pronounced segregations of eudialyte, might throw some light upon this subject.
[100] DERBY, O. A., “Nepheline-rock in Brazil:” Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., August, 1887.
Zirconia ore can be roughly divided into two classes:
First, alluvial pebbles ranging in size from one-half inch to three inches in diameter, generally carrying about 90 per cent. to 93 per cent. zirconium oxide. These pebbles, known as favas and having a specific gravity ranging from 4.8 to 5.2, are found along small stream beds and on the talus slopes of low ridges.
Second, zirconia ore proper, or zirkite (a trade name), which ranges in shade from a light gray to a blue black, the lighter colored material carrying a higher percentage of zirconium silicate, as evidenced by analyses, which in some cases show a minimum of 73 per cent. zirconium oxide. The blue-black ore generally carries from 80 per cent. to 85 per cent. zirconium oxide. By careful sorting, however, a uniform grade carrying about 80 per cent. is produced.
Prior to the investigations of Derby and Lee, this ore was considered identical with baddeleyite. It has now been shown, however, that it is a mechanical mixture of three minerals; namely, brazilite, zircon, and a new and unnamed zirconium silicate carrying about 75 per cent. zirconium oxide. This new mineral has the same crystal form as zircon (67 per cent. ZrO₂) but is readily soluble in hydrofluoric acid, while zircon is not affected, this being a characteristic differential test. The finely powdered mineral, on being treated with a weak solution of hydrofluoric acid, leaves a residue of minute, perfect, pyramidal crystals of zircon, the brazilite and new zirconium silicate going into solution. Several large outcrops of the ore occur on the extreme westerly edge of the plateau, one or two isolated boulders weighing as much as thirty tons. This very cursory examination of the zirconia deposits makes it unsafe to venture any conjecture as to the quantity of ore available. Suffice it to say, however, that the deposits have been traced for a distance of fifteen miles between Gascata and Caldas, and if surface indications are of any significance, are of vast extent.
The oxides have also been found in the State of Montana, and in Ceylon, Sweden, and Italy, but none of these occurrences are of commercial importance.
=The Silicate.=--The simple silicate, zircon, is found in seashore and river concentrations of monazite sands, associated with ilmenite, garnet, rutile, and various other heavy minerals usually found in such places.
An important concentration of zircon occurs along the coast of Brazil, in the states of Bahia, Espirito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro, where cusps of the beaches are protected on the north by granite headlands and bordered by Tertiary bluffs, which are cut by various streams and lagoons that constantly furnish fresh material for the concentrating action of the tides and waves.
Probably the next most important occurrence of zircon is in India, in the beach sands of the province or state of Travancore at the extreme southwestern end of the Hindustan peninsula.
Next in importance is an occurrence in the United States at Pablo Beach, Florida, where not only the beach sands, but the dunes bordering them, contain appreciable quantities of the following minerals in their relative order of abundance: ilmenite, garnet, epidote, zircon, rutile, and other heavy minerals including monazite.[101]
[101] HESS, FRANK L., Letter of May 1, 1918.
Other occurrences in this country, most of which are of academic interest only, are in Colorado, at St. Peter’s Dome, near Pike’s Peak; in Idaho, in the Clearwater region and elsewhere in black sands and in certain granitic rocks; in Sussex County, New Jersey, at the Williams mine, where zircon occurs abundantly in magnetite; in New York at Lyon Mountain, Clinton County; at a few places near Crown Point; abundantly in pegmatite at Old Red Mines, Mineville, Essex County, and in numerous places in Orange County on the south, and St Lawrence County on the north. In North Carolina, in Burke, McDowell, and Rutherford counties, zircon occurs in monazite sands, and also in Henderson County near Zirconia and in Fredell County near Sterling.
Large crystals of zircon occur in a small pegmatite area in Comanche County, Oklahoma, in the southwestern portion of the Wichita National Forest. Oregon has many localities in which the presence of zircon has been noted, chiefly in black sands, old and present beaches, placer gravels, etc., and the same is true of Washington. In Virginia, zircon is found in pegmatite in Aurelia County, and in sandstone near Ashland, not far from Richmond.
Zircon is also found in Norway, the Ural Mountains, Ceylon, Australia, and British South Africa.
POLITICAL CONTROL
The important zirconium resources of the world are controlled politically, in the order of their commercial importance, by Brazil, Great Britain, and the United States.
=Brazil.=--A number of years ago John Gordon, an American mining engineer, became interested in deposits of monazite sand on the coast of Brazil in the vicinity of Prado, Bahia. A thorough investigation of all the known monazite deposits of the world showed that those in Brazil were by far the most desirable, and that those in Travancore, India, were second in commercial importance.[102]
[102] See Chapter XIII.
Other firms exporting zirconium minerals from Brazil, in addition to Gordon & Rogers, of 141 Broadway, New York, are Suffern & Co., of 135 Broadway, New York; S. R. Scott & Co., 39 Broadway, New York; Foote & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; P. S. Nicholson & Co., Caixa 91, Rio de Janeiro; E. J. Lavino & Co., Bullitt Building, Philadelphia, Pa.; Luiz de Rezende & Co., Rua Ouidor, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Chas. Spitz, also of Rio de Janeiro, who is agent for the Société Minière, a French company in which Rezende & Co. are said to have a considerable interest. Sometime ago the firm of A. C. de Freitas & Co. of Hamburg, Germany, had a contract from the Brazilian government on monazite sands and agreed to export at least 1,200 tons annually. How much zircon that company exported is not known. The de Freitas properties are now being worked by the Société Minière (French).[103]
[103] Production figures 1902-1916 for the United States and Brazil are given in Table 34.
Until very recently, zirconium has been of minor interest in this country, the monazite sands having been exploited for their thorium contents only, not for zirconium. However, Germany and Austria seem to have placed considerable value upon zirconium-bearing sands, and, as shown by the attached table, more was produced in 1913 than in all the time prior, and practically all the material produced during that year went to Germany. This is in accord with the efforts of Germany, just before the war, to obtain tungsten and molybdenum, and is an evidence of preparations long before hostilities began.
=India.=--Before the war, the German users of monazite were in control of the Travancore, India, deposits. That control of course ceased and the contracts were cancelled. The India Office decided that, in the future, all directors of the company must be British born, and that the company must be ready at all times to sell monazite sand to British firms, direct, at a fair price.
=United States.=--It is hardly probable that the deposits in the United States will be able to compete, on a commercial basis, with the Brazilian ores; but, if the necessity should arise, this country can produce, within its own borders, enough zirconium to manufacture many thousand tons of zirconium steel. The cordial commercial relations between the United States and Brazil will probably protect this country from any undue restraint on exports from South America.
=General.=--All of the large countries interested have facilities for making the ferro-alloy. Numerous alloys of zirconium have been made, and a number of patents, both foreign and domestic, have been issued covering various alloys, both ferrous and non-ferrous. No secret processes, as such, are known to the writer.
TABLE 34.--PRODUCTION OF ZIRCONIUM MINERALS IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRAZIL, 1902-1916[104]
----+------------------+-------------------- | United States | Brazil +------------+-----+------------+------- | Quantity |Value| Quantity | Value Year|(short tons)| |(short tons)| ----+------------+-----+------------+------- 1902| ... | ...| 12 |$ 3,947 1903| 1¹⁄₂ |$ 570| 7 | 1,947 1904| ¹⁄₂ | 200| 9 | 3,935 1905| 4 | 1600| 18 | 5,506 1906| ¹⁄₂ | 248| 26 | 5,041 1907| | 46| 38 | 8,756 1908| 0 | 0| 275 | 15,151 1909| 1 | 250| 117 | 11,838 1910| 0 | 0| 128 | 23,271 1911| 1¹⁄₂ | 802| 45 | 16,169 1912| 0 | 0| 43 | 14,772 1913| 0 | 0| 1,119 | 54,767 1914| 0 | 0| 237 | 14,903 1915| 0 | 0| 8 | 2,915 1916| 0 | 0| 104 | 16,647 ----+------------+-----+------------+-------
[104] Adapted from Mineral Resources, U. S., 1916, Part II, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1917, pp. 377-386.
SUMMARY
The principal use for zirconium ores at present is determined by the refractory properties of the oxide, zirconia. Refractory bricks and shapes for furnace linings, chemical ware, and other heat, acid, and alkali resisting articles are made of zirconia, and are finding a limited market.
The recent interest in zirconium is due to the remarkable properties which it is said to impart to steel. Its real worth, or function, in that direction is yet to be definitely determined, and tests conducted by the Bureau of Mines, Bureau of Standards and others are being made to ascertain the facts.
The best and most available source of supply at present is Brazil, where the natural oxide, baddeleyite, occurs in considerable quantities in the states of Minas Geraes and Sao Paulo. The deposits have not been explored sufficiently to make any reliable estimate of tonnage possible, but, judged from their surface showing, they are of vast extent. The silicate, zircon, is found in Brazil, India and in the United States in commercial quantities.
The important deposits of zirconium minerals are controlled by Brazil, Great Britain and the United States, but the actual ownership of many of the deposits is unknown. This is particularly true of the oxide ores.
XIII. MONAZITE, THORIUM, AND MESOTHORIUM
BY R. B. MOORE
USES OF MONAZITE
Practically the only use of monazite has been as a source of thorium salts. In extracting these, by-products are recovered, such as cerium, lanthanum, and other rare earths. Thorium salts are used almost exclusively for the manufacture of Welsbach mantles, which consist of 99 per cent. thorium oxide and 1 per cent. cerium oxide. For this use there is no known substitute. The one other use of thorium salts is in ordinary chemical laboratories, but this use is very limited. The fluoride and other salts of cerium are used in connection with the flaming arc, their presence giving increased luminosity.
Mesothorium is a radio-active element always found in thorium minerals. Until quite recently it has been thrown away in the manufacture of thorium nitrate; but it is now being produced as a by-product, and is useful as a substitute for radium in luminous paints, and for therapeutic purposes.
GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
The principal sources of monazite are Brazil and India, although it has been mined successfully in the United States in the Carolinas and in Idaho. It has been found in Swaziland, Africa, and in Australia, and also, to a limited extent, in native rock and in placers in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Monazite is usually found in the gravels of small streams or bottom lands, although it is sometimes found in the soil of hillsides. In Brazil and India it occurs mainly in the beach sands of the sea coast. In places it is found in small crystals in gneiss, granite and pegmatite rocks. As these rocks become disintegrated, the crystals are washed into streams and with other heavy sands are deposited in the stream beds. On the coast of Brazil, the monazite grains from the crystalline rocks of the coastal mountains are concentrated by the waves of the sea.
=United States.=--The deposits of the Carolinas cover an area of several hundred square miles east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In North Carolina, the counties of Cleveland, Burke, Alexander, Rutherford and Lincoln furnish the richest deposits. In South Carolina the only deposits of value are in the counties of Cherokee and Greenville. Practically all of the monazite mined in the Carolinas is derived from gravels in streams and bottom lands, the miners usually following the stream courses. The gravels vary greatly in thickness, and it is therefore difficult to make a true estimate of the average, but in general the monazite-bearing gravels are between 1¹⁄₂ and 2¹⁄₂ feet thick. The top soil in the bottom lands averages 3 to 6 feet thick and may be 7 feet or more.
The deposits in the State of Idaho are near Centerville and Idaho City. In the future, under more favorable conditions of price, transportation, etc., these deposits may possibly become a commercial source of monazite. Almost all of them contain small quantities of gold. The gravel beds are considerably thicker than those in the Carolinas, and with the gold content might be more profitable were it not for labor being higher priced.
Monazite has been found in Colorado, in the Newland Gulch district, 20 miles south of Denver, where it occurs in gravels that carry considerable gold.
=Brazil.=--There are three kinds of monazite sand deposits in Brazil; the deposits within the government lands along the coast; deposits lying behind the government coastal lands, which are private state possessions or belong to private parties; and inland deposits. The bulk of the monazite is derived from coast sands in the states of Espirito Santo and Bahia, the sand being washed by means of oscillating tables or sluice boxes. The coast lands are the property of the federal government for 33 meters inland, measuring from the point where the sea waves wash the beach at mean high tide. This uncertain method of marking property has of course given rise to disputes when boundaries are established.
At a few places along the coast strips of monazite-bearing sands lie directly behind the government land, and some of these might be worked profitably were it not for the fact that it has been difficult to prove to the federal government that these sands were not taken from the nearby government land. One French concern has exploited such lands in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Along the banks of the large rivers, such as Parahyba, there are great quantities of black sands with traces of monazite. Near Sapucaia such deposits have been worked by a French concern. Many of the inland deposits can not be exploited on account of the expense of transportation of the products, as the deposits are many miles from a railroad.
=India.=--India is the newest source of monazite sands, the deposits lying on the sea beach like those in Brazil. The deposits are in the Travancore district near the southwestern end of the Hindustan peninsula. Very little information is available concerning these deposits.
CHANGES IN TREATMENT PRACTICE
The general method of treatment employed until quite recently has involved leaching the concentrate with concentrated sulphuric acid, thus getting the thorium, cerium, and other rare earths in solution and separating them from the silica, zircon, ilmenite and other insoluble products. From this stage different companies used slight variations in practice, such variations being kept strictly secret, although they all involved the precipitation of the thorium as oxalate by means of oxalic acid.
At the outbreak of the war the price of sulphuric acid went to four or five times the original cost, and the increased price of oxalic acid was practically prohibitive. Consequently the manufacturing companies had to change their entire procedure and to use chemicals that they could obtain at a reasonable price. In this difficult undertaking the companies were successful, and at least one company devised a process that was considerably more efficient than the old one.
At present mesothorium is being produced as a by-product by the Lindsay Light Co. and the Welsbach Co., the process used by the latter company having been originated by the Colorado Station of the United States Bureau of Mines. This process is cheap and extremely efficient, and will no doubt enable the Welsbach Co. to compete commercially with any other manufacturer of mesothorium. Of course as the process was developed by the Bureau of Mines it will ultimately be made available for anyone, but as mesothorium can only be made at a profit as a by-product of thorium nitrate, anyone who manufacturers mesothorium must first establish a thorium industry.
POLITICAL CONTROL
The important monazite resources of the world are controlled politically by three nations: the United States, Great Britain (India) and Brazil. The deposits of the United States, in normal times, probably can not be worked successfully in competition with the foreign deposits without the protection of a high tariff.
COMMERCIAL CONTROL
=United States.=--The widely scattered monazite deposits of the United States are of importance only during a period of abnormally high prices or during the restriction of imports from Brazil and India. The known reserves are small and the deposits will probably never be an important factor in the world monazite market. As far as the writer knows, all of the American deposits are controlled by American capital.
The manufacture of thorium nitrate in this country is closely controlled by two large companies, the Welsbach Co. and the Lindsay Light Co.; they own the only two commercial plants of any size in the United States.
All of the manufacturers of mantles in the United States, with one exception, must obtain their thorium nitrate from one of these two companies. As these companies supply practically all the thorium nitrate requirements of England and France, they control the thorium industry. The only other manufacturer of thorium nitrate in this country is the Block Co., of Chicago, which uses about 15 tons of monazite a year, making sufficient thorium nitrate for its own production of mantles. The Welsbach Co. uses about 1,200 tons of monazite annually and the Lindsay Light Co. about half that amount. The Welsbach Co. has contracts for the delivery of monazite, up to its requirements, from Brazil; the Lindsay Light Co. has obtained all of its monazite from India.
Most of the processes used, including those used by the Welsbach Co. and the Lindsay Light Co., are secret. As thorium can be extracted from monazite in more ways than one, a secret process does not necessarily mean commercial control unless such a process is in every way efficient and the company owning it is willing to get into a commercial war.
=Brazil.=--As the Brazilian deposits have for so many years been the chief source of the supply of monazite, the history of their commercial control is practically a history of the commercial control of the monazite industry. About 27 years ago, John Gordon, an American now residing in New York, found monazite on the coast of Brazil. He brought large quantities to Hamburg, Germany, and was able to obtain a monoply of the monazite sand.
At that time the manufacture of thorium nitrate, the principal product of the monazite sand, was confined in Europe to a few large chemical firms in Germany and the Welsbach Co. in Vienna. They not only supplied the European market with thorium nitrate, but also sent large quantities to the United States. The American Welsbach Co. early manufactured thorium nitrates from sands mined in the Carolinas, a protective duty of 6 per cent. making this possible.
In 1902 Mr. Gordon agreed to supply the four large German manufacturers and the Austrian manufacturers with monazite at a price of $150 a ton and a profit on the manufactured nitrates. A close combination thus formed, known as the German Thorium Convention, prevented other thorium manufacturers from acquiring any of the mineral mined by Mr. Gordon, and raised the price of thorium nitrate 100 per cent.
For a considerable period Mr. Gordon exported the sand from the coast lands of Bahia, near Prado, Brazil, without interference. Finally the Brazilian government became acquainted with the value of the resources and decided that no private individual or state government had the right to mine, sell, lease, or remove any monazite on so-called state lands without the consent of the federal authorities. In 1908 the government advertised that coast lands in the State of Espirito Santo would be leased to the highest bidder for the exploitation of the sands. A contract was thus obtained for the firm of A. C. de Freitas & Co., of Hamburg, Germany. By the contract the firm agreed to pay to the Brazilian government a rental equal to 50 per cent. of the selling price of the monazite sands and to export at least 1,200 tons annually.
To avoid trouble the German Thorium Convention arranged later that half of its supply should be furnished by Mr. Gordon and half by the de Freitas company. A new convention was formed by the four German chemical manufacturers with Mr. Gordon and the de Freitas company, preventing firms in other countries that had started to manufacture thorium nitrate from getting raw material. Consequently great efforts were made to find and develop new deposits of monazite. The high price for thorium nitrate made possible the mining of monazite in the Carolinas and its export to Germany, especially to one German manufacturer who was not in the German Thorium Convention.
Ultimately there was an overproduction of thorium and in 1906 the price dropped 50 per cent. Monazite mining declined in all localities where the cost of mining was high, and production in the Carolinas and the interior of Brazil practically stopped.
During the four or five years antedating the war the German Incandescent Gas Light Co., of Berlin, succeeded in controlling the largest manufacturers of thorium nitrate in Europe, except those in France. It controlled both the English and Australian companies and became the active competitor of the so-called Thorium Convention, which at that time had lost much of its power. Mr. Gordon still has extensive interests in Brazil, but he does not have a monoply. The exportation rights from Brazil are in the hands of Luis de Rezende & Co. (Rio de Janiero), Mr. Gordon, and others. Luis de Rezende & Co. is mainly a French concern, but has Brazilian and Portuguese stockholders. The company controls the French company, Société Minière, associated with the Welsbach Co.
As noted above, one French company has exploited monazite deposits in the territory immediately behind the government lands in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Another French company has worked the black sands along the Parahyba River, near Sapucaica, which contain traces of monazite.
=India.=--Before the war, the German manufacturers of thorium nitrate exercised as close control over the monazite deposits of Travancore, India, as over those of Brazil. Only a limited quantity of the sand was sold to gas-mantle manufacturers and other consumers in the United Kingdom, and then at a price nine times the price paid by the German consumers. Such a monoply of the supplies of raw material made the German monoply of the thorium nitrate industry almost complete.
According to S. J. Johnstone, in an address at the annual meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry in July, 1916, the Germans obtained practical control of the Travancore monazite deposits in the following manner: A lease for working these deposits was granted some years ago by the Travancore Durbar, with the approval of the Government of India, to the London Cosmopolitan Tin Mining Co., which contracted to sell the whole of its output to a German firm. Soon after the outbreak of war it was found that the whole of the preference shares and 11,000 of the ordinary shares of the Travancore Minerals Co. were held in trust for the Auer company, of Berlin.
The India Office decided that in the future all directors of the company working the concession must be British-born and that the company, must be ready at all times to sell monazite sand direct, and at a fair price, to British firms. German contracts were canceled. A second company, Thorium, Ltd., obtained a 20-year lease to work 150 acres in Travancore for monazite sand, and is exporting the sand and manufacturing thorium nitrate from it at works in England. A great deal of Travancore monazite has been imported by American companies.
POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES
As outlined above, it can be readily seen that the United States is dependent upon Brazil and India for its raw materials, as domestic deposits are not large enough to furnish the required supply and cannot be worked in competition with the more cheaply mined foreign deposits.
The average concentrate obtained in the Carolinas runs about 3¹⁄₂ to 4 per cent. thorium oxide; that obtained in Brazil averages somewhat over 8 per cent. Under such conditions it is difficult for the Carolina monazite to compete with that from Brazil or from India. In addition, a very considerable amount of the Carolina monazite available has been removed. The old workings are more or less covered up and the whole industry has become completely disorganized.
Whilst these deposits were being mined and operated farmers were in the habit of making their own concentrate in crude sluice boxes. The product thus obtained averaged about 35 per cent. monazite. The concentrates were then sold to a refinery, where it was best treated by electromagnetic separators, such as the Wetherill machine. The final product obtained from these machines was ready for chemical treatment for the extraction of the thorium.
Practically the same treatment is given to the monazite from Brazil and India. As the concentrate obtained is of much higher grade, the additional charges for freight and duty, which are not borne by the Carolinas product, are more than offset. Undoubtedly, unless a very high tariff is placed on the monazite from Brazil and India, our future supplies will come from these two sources, at least for some time. It is very doubtful whether with a high tariff the Carolina deposits could furnish the monazite required in this country, even for a few years, and under the most favorable conditions it would take some time, possibly six months to a year, to revive the industry.
The Allies and practically the whole world are dependent upon the United States for the manufactured products, thorium nitrate and gas mantles. Whether this monoply will continue is doubtful, as there is a movement in England to encourage both the thorium nitrate and the gas-mantle industry.
XIV. COPPER
BY F. W. PAINE
Introduction
One country stands pre-eminent as the world’s great producer of copper, and that is the United States, whose production was 60 per cent. of the total world output in 1917. Iron, coal, oil and copper are fundamental raw materials of which the United States produces more than any other country, but only in copper and in oil is the output greater than that of all other countries together. In copper this has been true since the early nineties. American copper, English gold, Russian platinum and Chilean nitrate are common phrases in world markets; as common as the commodities themselves.
No other country produces or has for many years ever produced one-sixth as much copper as the United States. While the world output of copper has been increasing, at the average rate of 5 per cent. annually for 10 years up to 1914 and three times as rapidly since then, the relative importance of the United States has not declined. On the contrary it has increased at a greater rate than the total world output. Certain individual countries, it is true, have since 1914 increased their output faster than the United States, but there is no indication that the United States will lose its present dominating leadership.
Because of the magnitude of the copper industry of the United States, great refining plants have been built up here. American capital also has gone largely into Canadian, Mexican and South American copper properties. As a result the United States now imports nearly one-third as much copper as is produced (18 per cent. of the total world output in 1917). Thus American capital controls, through refining in addition to ownership of mines, 78 per cent. of the world’s copper production. This control should also be equally strong as regards selling. Obviously, a large part of our domestic, and, as regards statistics, all the imported copper, is exported in finished form--copper ingots and bars, brass, electrical machinery, etc. But as regards selling and even mine ownership in Mexico and South America, there is considerable German control; although the important mines of Canada, Mexico and South America are owned by either American, British or French interests, except those owned by local foreign capital.
TABLE 35.--GEOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL CONTROL OF THE WORLD’S COPPER MINES
(Production in Metric Tons)
-----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ Per-| | | | Per-| | cent-| | | |cent-| | age | Average | |Estimated| age | | of |1916-1917| | capacity| of | Owned by| World|output of| |output of|world| U. S. | total| copper |Country of origin | copper |total| capital | -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ | |_Western | | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | | 59.2| 868,903|United States | 928,000| 57.5| 899,000| 3.3| 49,168|Canada | 58,000| 3.6| 28,000| 3.4| 49,478|Mexico | 65,000| 4.0| 49,000| 1.0| 14,000|Cuba | 10,000| 0.6| ... | 0.2| 2,000|Venezuela | 2,000| 0.1| ... | 4.8| 70,000|Chile | 110,000| 6.8| 86,000| 3. | 43,620|Peru | 45,000| 2.8| 45,000| 0.4| 6,000|Bolivia | 12,000| 0.8| 6,000| -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ 75.4|1,103,169|Total Western | | | | | |Hemisphere |1,230,000| 76.2|1,113,000| | | | | | | | |_Eastern | | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | | 3.2| 47,500|Africa | 58,000| 3.6| ... | 2.5| 36,550|Australia | 43,000| 2.7| ... | 7.9| 112,900|Japan | 125,000| 7.7| ... | 2.9| 42,000|Spain and Portugal| 42,000| 2.6| ... | 1.3| 18,500|Russia (estimated)| 18,000| 1.1| ... | 4.8| 71,000|Central Powers | | | | | |(estimated) | 71,000| 4.4| ... | 1.4| 19,000|Norway | 19,000| 1.2| ... | 0.1| 1,000|Sweden | 1,000| 0.1| ... | 0.4| 6,250|Other countries | 6,250| 0.4| ... | | | | | | | -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ 24.6| 354,700|Total Eastern | | | | | |Hemisphere | 383,250| 23.8| | -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+ World| | | | | | Total|1,456,869| |1,613,250|100 |1,113,000| 100%| | | | | 69[106] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+---------+------------------+---------+-----+---------+
-----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+ Per-| | | | | cent-| | | | | age | Average | | | | of |1916-1917| | Owned by | Owned by | World|output of| | British | German | total| copper |Country of origin | capital | capital | -----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+ | |_Western | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | 59.2| 868,903|United States | 29,000 | | 3.3| 49,168|Canada | 30,000 | | 3.4| 49,478|Mexico | Idle | 2,500 plus| 1.0| 14,000|Cuba | ... | 2,000 plus| 0.2| 2,000|Venezuela | 2,000 | | 4.8| 70,000|Chile | 2,500 | 4,500 plus| 3. | 43,620|Peru | | | 0.4| 6,000|Bolivia | | ... | -----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+ 75.4|1,103,169|Total Western | | | | |Hemisphere | 63,500 | 9,000 | | | | | | | |_Eastern | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | 3.2| 47,500|Africa | 58,000[105]| ... | 2.5| 36,550|Australia | 43,000 | | 7.9| 112,900|Japan | ... | ... | 2.9| 42,000|Spain and Portugal| 40,000 | ... | 1.3| 18,500|Russia (estimated)| ... |18,000(?) | 4.8| 71,000|Central Powers | | | | |(estimated) | ... |71,000 | 1.4| 19,000|Norway | 10,000 | ... | 0.1| 1,000|Sweden | ... | ... | 0.4| 6,250|Other countries | 250 | ... | | | | | | -----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+ 24.6| 354,700|Total Eastern | | | | |Hemisphere | | | -----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+ World| | | | | Total|1,456,869| |212,750 |98,000 | 100%| | | 13.3[106] | 6.1[106] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+---------+------------------+------------+-----------+
-----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+-------------- Per-| | | | | cent-| | | | | age | Average | | | | Owned by of |1916-1917| | Owned by |Owned by|local capital World|output of| | French |Japanese|in producing total| copper |Country of origin | capital | capital| countries -----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+-------------- | |_Western | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | 59.2| 868,903|United States | | | 3.3| 49,168|Canada | | | 3.4| 49,478|Mexico |13,500 | | 1.0| 14,000|Cuba | ... | ... | 8,000 0.2| 2,000|Venezuela | | | 4.8| 70,000|Chile | 9,500[105]| ... | 7,500 3. | 43,620|Peru | | | 0.4| 6,000|Bolivia | 6,000 | | -----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+-------------- 75.4|1,103,169|Total Western | | | | |Hemisphere |29,000 | ... |15,500 | | | | | | |_Eastern | | | | |Hemisphere_ | | | 3.2| 47,500|Africa | ... | | 2.5| 36,550|Australia | | | 7.9| 112,900|Japan | ... | 125,000| 2.9| 42,000|Spain and Portugal| ... | ... | 2,000 1.3| 18,500|Russia (estimated)| | | 4.8| 71,000|Central Powers | | | | |(estimated) | | | 1.4| 19,000|Norway | ... | ... | 9,000 0.1| 1,000|Sweden | ... | ... | 1,000 0.4| 6,250|Other countries | 2,000 | ... |(3,000)(Italy) | | | | |(1,000)(China) -----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+-------------- 24.6| 354,700|Total Eastern | | | | |Hemisphere | | |31,500 -----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+-------------- World| | | | | Total|1,456,869| |31,000 | 125,000| 100%| | | 1.9[106] |7.7[106]|2.0%, divided | | | | |as follows: | | | | |Cuba, 0.5; | | | | |Spain, 0.1; | | | | |Norway, 0.6; | | | | |Sweden, 0.05; | | | | |Chile, 0.5; | | | | |China, 0.05; | | | | |Italy, 0.2 -----+---------+------------------+-----------+--------+--------------
[105] Includes Belgian capital.
[106] Percentage of ownership.
TABLE 36.--BUSINESS CONTROL OF THE WORLD’S COPPER MINES
All figures metric tons
------------------------+----------+---------+---------+-------+ | Estimated| | | | | capacity | | Refined | | | output of| Refined | in |Refined| | refined | in | British | in | Country of origin | copper |the U. S.|Dominions|Germany| ------------------------+----------+---------+--------+--------+ Western Hemisphere | | | | | United States | 928,000 | 928,000| ...| ...| Canada | 58,000 | 28,000| 30,000| ...| Mexico | 65,000 | 52,000| ...| ...| Cuba | 10,000 | 10,000| ...| ...| Venezuela | 2,000 | 2,000| | | Chile | 110,000 | 43,000| 2,500| ...| Peru | 45,000 | 45,000| | | Bolivia | 12,000 | 6,000| ...| ...| +----------+---------+---------+-------+ Total Western Hemisphere|1,230,000 |1,114,000| 32,500| 0| Percent of total |76.2%[107]| 69 | 2 | ...| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Eastern Hemisphere | | | | | | | | (or in| | | | | Belgium)| | Africa | 58,000 | 5,000| 53,000| ...| Australia | 43,000 | ...| 43,000| ...| Japan | 125,000 | 3,000| ...| ...| Spain and Portugal | | | | | (estimated) | 42,000 | 2,000| 35,000| ...| Russia (estimated) | 18,000 | ...| ...| ...| Central Powers | 71,000?| ...| ...| 71,000| Norway | 19,000 | ...| 19,000| ...| Sweden | 1,000 | ...| 1,000| ...| Other Countries | 6,250 | ...| 250| ...| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------+---------+---------+-------+ Total Eastern Hemisphere| 383,250 | 10,000| 151,250| 71,000| Percentage of total | 23.8 | .7| 9.3| 4.4| Total percentage | 100% | 69.7| 11.3| 4.4| ------------------------+----------+---------+---------+-------+
------------------------+-------+-------+--------------+--------- | | | | | | | | Formerly |Refined|Refined| Refined | sold | in | in | in other |by German Country of origin | France| Japan | countries | houses ------------------------+-------+-------+--------------+--------- Western Hemisphere | | | | United States | ...| ...| ...|( 73,000) Canada | ...| ...| ...|( 21,000) Mexico | 13,000| ...| ...|( 2,500) Cuba | ...| ...| ...|( 10,000) Venezuela | | | | Chile | 9,500| ...| 55,000|( 20,000) Peru | | | | Bolivia | 6,000| | | +-------+-------+--------------+--------- Total Western Hemisphere| 28,500| 0| 55,000 |(134,500) Percent of total | 1.8 | ...| 3.4 | (8¹⁄₄%) | | |(Chili copper)| | | |(U. S. owned) | | | | | Eastern Hemisphere | | | | | | | | | | | | Africa | ...| ...| ... |( 5,000) Australia | ...| ...| ... |( 43,000) Japan | ...|122,000| | Spain and Portugal | | | | (estimated) | 5,000| ...| ... | Russia (estimated) | ...| ...| ... |? Central Powers | ...| ...| 18,000 |? Norway | ...| ...| ... |? Sweden | ...| ...| ... |? Other Countries | 2,000| ...| 3,000 (Italy)| | | | 1,000 (China)| +-------+-------+--------------+--------- Total Eastern Hemisphere| 7,000|122,000| 22,000 |( 48,000) Percentage of total | .4 | 7.6 | 1.4 | (3%) Total percentage | 2.2 | 7.6 | 4.8 | (11¹⁄₄%) ------------------------+-------+-------+--------------+---------
[107] The United States controls the sale of substantially all this copper.
TABLE 37.--FUTURE IMPORTANCE OF PRESENT COPPER-PRODUCING COUNTRIES AS INDICATED BY KNOWN RESERVES OF COPPER ORE, AND CAPITAL CONTROLLING THESE RESERVES
-------------------------+---------+-----+--------------------- | | |Developed reserves in | | |terms of years’ life | | | at capacity output -------------------------+---------+-----+-----+-------+------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | |Estimated| Per-| | | | |capacity |cent-|Owned| | Owned| |output of| age | by | Owned | by | | copper | of |U. S.| by |German| | (metric |world|capi-|British| capi-| Producing country | tons) |total| tal |capital| tal | -------------------------+---------+-----+-----+-------+------+ W. Hemisphere: | | | | | | United States | 928,000| 57.5| 12.4| 12.4 | ... | | | | yrs.| yrs. | | Canada | 58,000| 3.6| 15 | 20 | ... | Mexico | 65,000| 4.0| 5 | large | large| Cuba and Venezuela | 12,000| 0.7| ... | ... |3 yrs.| Chile | 110,000| 6.8| 150 | 3 | ? | | | | | | | Peru | 45,000| 2.8| 4 | ... | ... | Bolivia | 12,000| 0.8| ...| ... | ... | -------------------------+---------+-----+-----+-------+------+ Total |1,230,000| 76.2| ...| ... | ... | Percentage total reserves| ... | 76.8| 73.6| 2.4 | 0.1 | | | | | | | Eastern Hemisphere: | | | | | | Africa | 58,000| 3.6| ...|66[110]| ... | Australia | 43,000| 2.7| ...| 7.2 | ... | Japan | 125,000| 7.7| ...| ... | ... | Spain and Portugal | 42,000| 2.6| ...|50 | ... | Russia | 18,000| 1.1| ...|18(?) |18(?) | Central Powers | 71,000| 4.4| ...| ... | ? | Norway | 19,000| 1.2| ...|10 | ... | Sweden | 1,000| 0.1| ...| ... | ... | Other countries | 6,250| 0.4| ...| ... | ... | -------------------------+---------+-----+-----+-------+------+ Total | 383,250| 23.8| ...| ... | ... | Percentage total reserves| ... | 23.2| ...|18.4 | 0.95 | World total |1,613,250|100 | ...| ... | ... | Percentage of world total| | | | | | reserves | ... | ... | 73.6| 20.8 | 1.05 | -------------------------+---------+-----+-----+-------+------+
-------------------------+----------------------+-------+------- | Developed reserves in| | | terms of years’ life | | | at capacity output | | -------------------------+------+------+--------+-------+------- | | |Owned by| | Per- | | | local | |centage | | Owned| capital| | of |Owned | by | in | | total | by |Japan-| produc-| | re- |French| ese | ing | Exten-| serves | capi-| capi-| coun- | sion | of Producing country | tal | tal | tries | [108] | world -------------------------+------+------+--------+-------+------- W. Hemisphere: | | | | | United States | ... | ... | ... | 713 | 34. | | | | | Canada | ... | ... | ... | 63.3| 3. Mexico |6 yrs.| ... | ... | 20.8| 1.15 Cuba and Venezuela | ... | ... | 3 yrs. | 2.1| 0.10 Chile |5 | ... | consid-| 795.8| 37.9 | | | erable | | [109] Peru | ... | ... | | 11.2| 0.55 Bolivia |4 | ... | ... | 2.8| 0.10 -------------------------+------+------+--------+-------+------- Total | ... | ... | ... |1,609.0| Percentage total reserves| 0.4 | ... | 0.3 | ... | 76.8 | | | | | Eastern Hemisphere: | | | | | Africa | ... | ... | ... | 237.6| 11.3 Australia | ... | ... | ... | 20 | 0.95 Japan | ... | 6 | ... | 46.2| 2.2 Spain and Portugal | ... | ... | 50 | 130 | 6.2 Russia | ... | ... | 18 | 19.8| 0.95 Central Powers | ... | ... | ? | 20 | 0.95 Norway | ... | ... | 10 | 12 | 0.55 Sweden | ... | ... | 10 | 1 | 0.04 Other countries | ... | ... | ? | 1.4| 0.06 -------------------------+------+------+--------+-------+------- Total | ... | ... | ... | 488.0| Percentage total reserves| ... | 2.2 | 1.65| ... | 23.2 World total | ... | ... | ... |2,097.0| Percentage of world total| | | | | reserves | 0.4 | 2.2 | 1.95| ... | 100 -------------------------+------+------+--------+-------+-------
[108] Extension is the product of “Percentage of World Total” and “Developed Reserves in Terms of Years Life,” and gives total ultimate relative importance of different countries.
[109] In so far as it affects production this high figure must be discounted because of the large reserves being compact, the distance from market and the unfavorable mining conditions of a thinly settled country.
[110] Katanga equals ⁶⁵⁄₆₆ of this.
NOTE.--Not much weight is to be attached to figures showing more than 10 years of life. Total full future value over long number of years is greatly reduced when expressed in terms of present value on normal interest discount. All countries with reserves good for ten or more years may be considered as being on an equal footing so far as copper resources are concerned. But, large reserves may mean expanding production (as in Chile and Africa) and be important on that account and only on that account.
To weigh ore reserves they have been taken in toto, but Spain would be no worse off as compared to the United States if her reserves were put at 10 years instead of at 50 (as calculated above). Her reserves happen to be of a kind easily blocked out, but her output is stationary.
Table 35 shows the different copper-producing countries of the world and the chief features of financial control of the producing mines. Table 36 shows the chief features of business control (refining and selling control) as distinct from control by mine ownership. In both tables a forecast for future conditions is made by using estimates of 1918 and 1919 production. These figures are followed out to the different forms of control. The actual outputs of 1916-17 are given as a reference and check. Table 37 shows reserves, largely those of producing mines. Plate VIII shows the location of the principal copper deposits of the world.
NORTH AMERICA
UNITED STATES
=Production.=--The maximum output of copper from mines within the borders of the United States was in 1916, and amounted to 1,927,850,548 pounds. In 1917 the output was less, because of labor troubles, but six leading states showed an increase, and if Montana had equaled the output of 1916, the 1917 output would have been 1,962,034,512 pounds. Without good markets and favorable labor conditions, the United States production cannot reach anything like 2,000,000,000 pounds a year.
Commercial Control
Control Through Ownership of Mines.--All the productive bodies of copper in the United States are owned by Americans, except a small number controlled by English capital. Before the war, there was evidence of German affiliation and potential control in the copper industry, but this centered in refining and selling the metal. Accordingly, the German grip on the industry was highly centralized, and direct and effective measures were used in breaking it.
Five leading groups are in control of copper production in the United States. Certain of these have additional important ownerships in South America and Mexico, which will be discussed under those countries.
TABLE 38.--LEADING FINANCIAL GROUPS IN CONTROL OF COPPER PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES
Pounds Group 1. Hayden-Jackling “porphyries” (closely affiliated with group 2) Utah Copper, Ray Consolidated (Ariz.), Nevada Consolidated, (Nev.) Chino (N. Mex.) and Butte & Superior (Mont.); 1917 output (custom ore not included) 448,887,253
Group 2. Morgan-Guggenheim (American Smelting & Refining Co). Kennecott (Alaska) and a large number of smaller mines owned by Americans which have their ore treated at plants controlled by this group. The 1917 output of Kennecott and eleven of the chief customers of American Smelting & Refining plants (smaller custom shipments to smelters must be added) was 156,954,722
Group 3. Rockefeller-Ryan: Anaconda, Inspiration, North Butte, Utah Consolidated, Mountain Copper (Cal.), Balaklala (Cal.), Walker mine (Cal.), and Arizona Copper Co., 1917 output (custom ore not included) 357,308,558
Group 4. Phelps-Dodge and affiliations: Arizona and New Mexico only. Copper Queen, Detroit, Burro Mountain, Commercial Mining Co. (Phelps-Dodge); 1917 output 123,000,000
Calumet & Arizona--New Cornelia (Briggs-Congdon); 1917 output 79,360,000
United Verde Extension (affiliated with each of above); total 1917 output 63,242,784
To which must be added custom business which is important, e.g., Arizona Commercial mine, etc.; 1917 business (other custom ore not included) about 10,000,000 ------------- Total for group 4 275,603,113
Group 5. Calumet & Hecla: 1917 output, Calumet & Hecla mine and subsidiaries 168,765,033
Total 1917 output of these five leading groups[111] 1,407,518,679
[111] Exclusive of the small mines (shippers of custom ore) partly controlled through smelting and refining contracts by same interests.
Important smaller groups may be listed as follows:
Group 6. W. A. Clark: United Verde, Elm Orlu (Mont.) and Ophir Hill (Utah); 1917 output 88,390,038
Group 7. Adolph Lewisohn: Miami and, by sale of output, Shattuck-Arizona; 1917 output 57,058,666
Group 8. U. S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Custom ore and Mammoth mine, Cal., Utah Apex, and Tintic (Utah) mines; 1917 output 22,600,000
Group 9. Lake mines (other than Calumet & Hecla): Copper Range Co., Mohawk, Quincy, etc.[112]; 1917 output 99,700,000
[112] Ten different interests.
There is also a group, discussed later, of uncertain or unclassifiable affiliations, owned by Americans, but in many instances worked under smelting and refining contracts that merit special mention:
1917 output, pounds Old Dominion (Ariz.), (perhaps group 4) 25,758,381 East Butte (and custom ore), (perhaps group 9) 18,000,000 Shannon Copper Co., (Ariz.), (independent) 6,138,219 Penn. Mining Co. (Cal.) (independent) 3,400,000 Cons. Arizona Smelting Co. (independent) 5,000,000 Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Co., Ltd. (Tenn.), (English) 5,523,573 -------------- Total unclassifiable and uncertain 63,820,173 Total of groups 1 to 5 1,407,518,679 Total of groups 6 to 9 267,748,704 -------------- Total of all interests 1,739,087,556 Total 1917 United States copper production (from domestic mines only) 1,873,546,171 Balance (custom ore from small shippers)[113] 134,458,614
[113] This balance includes copper produced as by-product in mining of other metals in Colorado and the East, estimated at 50,000,000 pounds, and custom shipments from 1,000 small operations, chiefly to smelters controlled by groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, estimated at 84,458,614 pounds.
Certain mines in the above groups are owned in England, but are classed with that interest which refines and sells the production. In group 2, for example, is listed the Tennessee Copper Co., whose copper is refined and sold at the American Smelting & Refining plant in Baltimore. In ownership, however, this property should be placed in group 7, (output 10,547,704 pounds).
In group 3 are two English-owned mines: Arizona Copper Co. (Scotch) and Mountain Copper Co., (English). Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron in the last group (uncertain and unclassifiable) is also English-owned. The combined output of these three English-owned properties is 48,000,000 pounds. This comprises all properties not owned by American capital. Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Co., Ltd. is English-owned, but all its production (copper matte) is sold to the American Metal Co. The others in the group designated above as uncertain, or unclassifiable, are entirely American owned, although their production has been marketed by the American Metal Co. or L. Vogelstein, as discussed later.
None of these groups actually own the mines outright, the mines being owned by hosts of stockholders scattered all over the country. Of many companies the president and directors own a very small percentage of the stock. As regards group 6 and to a less extent group 4, however, the actual ownership is in very few hands; but this is exceptional. The copper mines of the United States, like the railroads and the largest industrial enterprises, such as the United States Steel Corporation, etc., are, in the last analysis, controlled by their stockholders.
Summarized on the basis of the 1917 output, one finds that the ownership of American copper mines is as follows: American 97¹⁄₂ per cent., English and Scotch, 2¹⁄₂ per cent.
Control Through Ownership of Smelters and Refineries.--Ownership of smelters that treat domestic ore is substantially identical to the mine ownership given above. Interests owning active smelters are less numerous than interests owning mines, because efficient smelting requires large-scale operations.
The electrolytic refineries are all American owned. Large-scale units, representing heavy capital investments, are essential in electrolytic refining. A small refinery cannot compete successfully with large ones. The average important copper mine produces enough ore to make about 25,000,000 pounds a year, whereas the average smelter produces three or four times as much blister or casting copper, and the average electrolytic refinery can produce over 250,000,000 pounds annually. Consequently, there are only six groups (Hayden-Jackling, Morgan-Guggenheim, Rockefeller-Ryan, Phelps-Dodge, Calumet & Hecla, and U. S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co.) interested in refinery ownership. No small producer has the capital or the size to be able to enter this field. Table 39 shows electrolytic copper refineries of the United States and their ownerships:
TABLE 39.--OWNERSHIP AND CAPACITY OF AMERICAN COPPER REFINERIES
------------------------------------------+----------+--------------- |Ownership,| 1917 capacity Works | group-- | (pounds) ------------------------------------------+----------+--------------- Baltimore Copper Smelting & Rolling Co. | 1 and 2 | 720,000,000 Nichols Copper Co. Independent and in part| 4 | 500,000,000 Raritan Copper Works | 3 | 460,000,000 American Smelting & Refining Co. | 1 and 2 | 288,000,000 United States Metals Refining Co. | 8 | 250,000,000 Tacoma Smelting Co. | 1 and 2 | 204,000,000 Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (new plant) | 3 | 180,000,000 Calumet & Hecla Mining Co. | 5 | 65,000,000 Anaconda Copper Mining Co. (old plant) | 3 | 65,000,000 Balbach Smelting & Refining Co.[114] | | (former German affiliations) | ... | 48,000,000 | +--------------- Total capacity | | 2,780,000,000 | | | |1917 production | | (pounds) Electrolytic copper | ... | 1,452,744,593 Secondary electrolytic copper | ... | 66,337,771 Imported copper made into electrolytic | ... | 555,000,000 | +--------------- Total 1917 refinery production | ... | 2,074,082,364 ------------------------------------------+----------+---------------
[114] This company treats copper scrap and imported copper ores and matte.
The refineries control the situation to a very considerable extent. A copper producer must obtain electrolytic refining in order to market his product. Lake copper and casting copper do not require electrolytic refining, although producers of casting are often at a disadvantage when there is a big premium on electrolytic copper and casting can only be sold at a large discount.
The smelters do not control the situation in the same way. In the United States are a large number of custom smelters--32--that actively compete for ores; some have many branches. Moreover, a mine of any size will have its own smelter, as the capital investment is far less than that required for an electrolytic refinery. As the table shows, there are only seven groups (the six above enumerated and the Balbach Smelting & Refining Co.) interested in electrolytic refining, and one of these (the smallest) is to a considerable degree interested in the treatment of secondary or scrap copper.
The electrolytic refinery control of the copper production of the United States is shown by the 1917 figures. In that year the production of electrolytic copper was 1,452,744,593 pounds; of Lake copper, 238, 508,091 pounds; and of casting copper, 152,293,487 pounds. Electrolytic copper thus constituted 77¹⁄₂ per cent. of the total.
Control Through Selling and Distribution of Copper in Finished Form.--Groups owning mines, smelters, and refineries invariably also control or own the selling agencies that distribute the product to the consumer. In these cases, control through selling is the same as control through mine ownership, but is increased by the copper in ores received at custom smelters.
Control through selling, then, is identical to the control shown in Table 38, so far as groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 are concerned, if certain additions at the expense of the other groups are made. But every producer of Lake copper controls the sale of its product, because Lake copper needs no electrolytic refining. Hence in groups 5 and 9 mine ownership and control through selling are identical. This is a fact of considerable interest and confirms the fact of control through refinery ownership. Groups 6 and 7 (Table 38) are large producers, and although they do not own refineries they are able to control the sales of their product. The refineries are willing to refine their copper on toll and return the marketable copper to the mine owners, who make sale to the trade. Groups 2, 3, and 7 now control copper even further, as they own brass mills, wire and rod mills, etc. They manufacture a part of their production and sell it as copper wire, finished brass, etc., instead of making sales to the brass and wire mills of ingots, bars, cakes, etc., which is and has been always the general practice.
There remains to consider the control, through selling, of the six uncertain groups (total production 63,820,173 pounds) and some of the 134,458,614 pounds of copper produced from custom ore. A large part of this, as noted, is lodged in groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8.
For many years three concerns affiliated with the German metal combines (Merton Co. and Metallgesellschaft, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and Aaron Hirsch, of Halberstadt) have been active in the copper business of the United States. Their activity has been confined to selling of copper produced in this country, and to ownership and selling of copper produced in foreign countries but brought to the United States for smelting and refining. One small refinery is or was owned by this group in the United States, and two smelters, treating mainly foreign ores. It also owns smelters in Mexico and South America, and had close connections with two large refineries in New Jersey, so that it sold all the electrolytic copper produced by one plant and an important part of the production of the other plant.
German Control of American Copper.--The exact German ownership of these concerns was disclosed during the war by the work of the Alien Property Custodian, and was as follows: (1) American Metal Co., with an issued capital of $7,000,000, of which the German holdings amounted to $3,336,000, or close to 50 per cent.; these holdings were taken over by the United States authorities; (2) L. Vogelstein & Co., of which 80 per cent. of the stock was held by Germans (A. Hirsch & Sohn) and 15 per cent. by L. Vogelstein, a naturalized American citizen; (3) Beer, Sondheimer & Co., entirely German owned. The government seized the two last-named concerns.
The American Metal Co. markets the copper of the Old Dominion, East Butte, Shannon, Penn. Mining Co. and Ducktown Sulphur, Coal & Iron companies. Blister copper 99 per cent. pure is purchased on contract from the first-named four companies by the American Metal Co. This copper is refined for the American Metal Co. by the Nichols Copper Co., and the finished product sold to the trade by the American Metal Co. The Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Co. sells all of its production, as copper matte, to the American Metal Co., which has it treated and sells the finished product. In this manner 58,820,173 pounds was controlled through sale by the American Metal Co. in 1917. In addition, considerable domestic custom ore and a large amount of copper imported from Canada (Granby), South America and Mexico is handled by the American Metal Co. in the same way. Such imported copper totals up to three times as much as the domestic copper so controlled.
So far as domestic copper is concerned this situation will be corrected. The Nichols Copper Co. is free to refine this copper and sell it or turn it back to the producers for sale; it does this latter for Phelps-Dodge and Miami. It can be assumed that control through selling will cease as regards the 58,820,173 pounds cited above and also as regards Granby’s production--about 50,000,000 pounds.
The American Metal Co. may be sold to American interests,[115] thus clearing up the situation in imported copper to some extent. Certain Mexican and Chilean properties owned by the American Metal Co. will perhaps not be sold, and such properties can be considered as likely always to be German owned.
[115] The German holdings in the American Metal Co. are reported sold to an American syndicate in which L. Vogelstein participated.
The American Metal Co. owns the Balbach electrolytic refinery, and from treatment of scrap and imported copper (Chilean and Japanese blister and copper) at that plant obtains and sells about 50,000,000 pounds of refined copper per annum.
The concern of L. Vogelstein & Co. lost its chief hold on American copper production in 1915. Up to that time L. Vogelstein & Co. worked very closely with group 8 (United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co.). The output of the United States Smelting Refining & Mining Co. mines and smelters was sold by Vogelstein as well as the output of its electrolytic refinery. But since 1915 this American-owned enterprise itself sells all the copper produced by its own mines and smelters.
But Vogelstein still controls the sale of the copper treated at the plant of the United States Metals Refining Co.,[116] over and above what is produced by the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. from its own mines and smelters. This remaining copper consists in part of imported copper, and in part of the output of the Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co., which is an American-owned enterprise. The output was large in 1917 (about 20,000,000 pounds) but three-fourths of it was ore from the United Verde Extension mine. The United Verde Extension has since completed its own smelter and no longer turns over a part of its copper output to Vogelstein through the Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co. The output of United Verde (group 6) also was formerly sold by Vogelstein, but now is sold by the owner of the mine.
[116] The United States Metals Refining Co. was a subsidiary of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., sold, 1920, to the American Metal Co.
Therefore, the only copper controlled in 1918 by Vogelstein through selling was about 50,000,000 pounds a year, the output of mines owned by Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co. (about 5,000,000 pounds) and the imported copper, of which about 45,000,000 pounds was treated in 1917. The latter is controlled by Vogelstein not only by selling of the product but in part by smelting contracts and in part probably, as regards South America, by ownership of mines.[117]
[117] L. Vogelstein is reported to have sold his interests to the American Metal Co. and subsequently, early in 1920, to have acquired a fifth interest in that company.
Beer, Sondheimer & Co. has never been a large factor in the United States copper industry, although much interested in zinc. But the firm does control the sale of some copper and owns a smelter at Norfolk. This smelter treats imported ores for the most part, but also obtains some copper from pyrites (sulphur ores) coming from the United States and Canada. Perhaps as much as 10,000,000 pounds of domestic copper was sold by Beer, Sondheimer & Co. in 1917. The company owns an important Cuban mine.
As American capital owns American copper mines, smelters and refineries, German interests were able to obtain a foothold only through selling organizations (trading in metals), which later they extended to close working arrangements with electrolytic refineries, which were naturally interested in finding a good cash market for their output. The fact that Germany prior to 1914 was the biggest foreign buyer of United States copper, made easy the successful development of the carefully laid German plans.
In the future such plans can be guarded against by encouraging copper producers to sell their own output. All the large producers already do this, a change in this respect having developed since 1914. Sales in foreign markets can now be properly managed under the provisions of recent legislation permitting copper producers to enter into a combination in the sale of export copper. This counteracts the old German system of a buyers’ combine against the sellers of copper, which was an important factor in forcing American producers to have German concerns sell their product. But it will be necessary for the electrolytic refineries to co-operate in this policy of American selling control of American copper. Producers whose output is only a few million pounds per annum probably cannot afford to establish their own selling agencies; such producers will include all who have no smelter but ship to custom smelting plants. The production can be sold by the large custom smelting plants, which are American owned, or these small producers could establish a common sales agency. Other larger producers, as those whose copper is now sold by the American Metal Co., should be enabled to do their own selling. In this they have been blocked by the lack of refining facilities, except on a basis that took away from them selling control of their product. This situation can be corrected by regulations that put electrolytic refineries on a recognized toll basis for all American customers. All refineries have about the same costs and their combined capacity is ample to treat all the blister copper that will be produced. They should receive good profits on the business, but it should be unlawful for refineries to refuse to treat blister copper on toll and insist that copper must be sold to them outright. The toll system is already in use at several refineries and has proved satisfactory.
As shown above, there are in the United States a few very large refineries whose ownership is in few hands. If these refineries control the sale of all the production of copper several objectionable features develop. The few sales agencies handle so much copper that there is a tendency to co-operate with representatives of foreign consumers who can buy in large quantities, and it is not difficult to manipulate the market temporarily, in disregard of actual conditions of demand and supply. Thus the entire output of copper, one of our great natural resources, is placed in the hands of groups who, while interested in mining, are more interested in refining. The best interests of the industry are more nearly those of the miner than of the refiner. Therefore, the most positive dislodgment of former German control of copper through selling will come from the breaking up of the former system and transferring each unit of that system to other hands; rather than transferring the old units in block to non-German hands. Sales of American copper should be handled by a large number of separate agencies actively competing for the domestic market; this is essential in the interests of the consumer and of the country. But export copper business should be handled through one agency or association representing all the sales agencies, as is now legal, and this should be done in the interests of the producer and of the country.
=Reserves of United States Copper Mines.=--The developed reserves of United States copper deposits are fully equal, in proportion to output, to such reserves in foreign copper deposits. This insures the fact that for the next ten years, at least, the copper production of the United States will maintain its present relative dominance over all foreign countries.
A large proportion of all copper deposits are of such a deep-seated character that at no time can large reserves be positively developed, even when they exist. On the other hand, all over the world the mines with large known reserves are horizontal deposits, lying near the surface, because only in such occurrences is it possible to block out easily and cheaply big tonnages of ore. There are in the United States six very important deposits of this type, the so-called “porphyries.” These are:
TABLE 40.--“PORPHYRY” COPPER MINES IN THE UNITED STATES
---------------------------+-----------+---------- | | Years of | | life at | Reserves| present Mine | (tons) |production ---------------------------+-----------+---------- Utah Copper Co. |200,000,000| 31 Ray Consolidated Copper Co.| 90,000,000| 30 Chino Copper Co. | 80,000,000| 27 Inspiration Consolidated |120,000,000| 20 Nevada Consolidated | 80,000,000| 20 Miami Copper Co. | 50,000,000| 20 +-----------+---------- Total |620,000,000| 26 ---------------------------+-----------+----------
These mines in 1917 produced 31.5 per cent. of the total United States output.
The New Cornelia mine is of similar type and has already developed 75,000,000 tons, but as it is new its 1917 output was small. The Arizona Copper Co., Ltd., is also of this type, as are certain new developments in the Phelps-Dodge properties.
These “porphyry” deposits occur in or near intrusive igneous rocks of various ages. Fully one-third of the United States production is now and will continue to be obtained from such deposits. On the average, about 1 per cent. copper is recovered from the ore.
Distinct from the shallow and horizontal-lying disseminated ores or “porphyry coppers,” are the deep mines. The two oldest and most important deep-mine districts in the United States are Butte, Montana, and the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan. The mines of Butte work steeply dipping veins. It cannot be considered that over five years of ore reserves are known, and probably not over 2¹⁄₂ years of reserves are actually blocked out on three sides. However, there are no indications of early exhaustion, as the veins are profitable at more than 3,000 feet, the greatest depth to which mining has yet progressed. The deposits of northern Michigan are in pre-Cambrian rocks. They have been important producers of copper for over 50 years, and several mines have reached a vertical depth of more than 5,000 feet. Certainly not over five years of ore reserves are fully developed, but there are no signs of early exhaustion. These two districts, Butte and Michigan, now produce about 30 per cent. of the total United States output, a smaller proportion than before the development of the “porphyries.” The average copper content of the Michigan deposits ranges from 0.5 per cent. to 2 per cent. and of the Butte deposits 2.5 to 5 per cent.
Certain ore deposits (usually massive but irregular) which are situated mainly in Arizona constitute the third important general class. These deposits produce about one-quarter of the total United States output. Bisbee, Jerome and Globe (Arizona), and Kennecott (Alaska), are the main localities. Owing to the irregular nature of the deposits and the distance from the surface at which the ore is found, large developed reserves cannot be blocked out in advance. Such reserves are assumed to be five years.
Apart from the three classes of deposits described above are many smaller deposits, of which the most distinct class are the pyritic bodies, notably those of Tennessee and California. Such deposits are often profitable even when of low grade, because the sulphur as well as the copper is recovered. Reserves in such deposits are large: equal, say, to ten years’ life. Deposits of this class are important in Spain, Norway and in part in Japan. Mines producing copper as a by-product should also be grouped here.
From the above outline the table below has been compiled:
TABLE 41.--DEVELOPED RESERVES OF UNITED STATES COPPER MINES
------------------------------------+----------+--------+----------- |Percentage| | | of | | | total |Years of|Extension General group | output | life | [118] ------------------------------------+----------+--------+----------- The “porphyries” | 35 | 26 | 9.10 Deep mines | 30 | 5 | 1.50 Rich ore bodies (Arizona and Alaska)| 25 | 5 | 1.25 Pyritic ore bodies | 5 | 10 | 0.50 Others | 5 | 2 | 0.10 +----------+--------+----------- Average | 100 | 12.4 | 12.45 ------------------------------------+----------+--------+-----------
[118] “Extension” is the Percentage of Total Output multiplied by the Years of Life, giving the relative importance of each group.
The known ore reserves serve as a basis for the assumption that the production of copper in the United States will continue at the present figures for at least ten years.
CANADA
Canadian copper-producing properties are entirely controlled by American and British capital in about equal proportion, changes involving construction of new refineries and a shift in selling control being assumed to be already effective. Up to the present time the natural development has been for Canada to depend largely on the United States for refining facilities. It is likely that in the future local or English control in this field will be closer than heretofore, although the Canadian copper industry will always be closely identified with that of the United States.
There are three chief copper properties in Canada which are controlled by United States capital, all in British Columbia, as well as several small mines in this province and in others. By far the largest is the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting & Power Co. This company has mines in two districts. One of these properties is nearly exhausted; the other is a new and vigorous producer. Smelters are operated at each place. The Granby company is controlled by the same interests that own the Nichols Copper Co. (electrolytic refinery). Considerable custom ore is treated by Granby, a large amount coming from Alaska. The other two mines are those of the Canada Copper Co. and the Howe Sound Co. Their production is refined and sold in the United States by American concerns. The developed reserves at these three mines are all large, being fully adequate for fifteen years at the present rate of production.
The only property in Canada which has established facilities for producing copper ready for the consumer is the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co., of Trial, B. C. This Canadian company owns and operates its own mines, smelter and electrolytic refinery. The capacity of the refinery is now 14,000,000 pounds refined copper annually. The ores are massive pyritic bodies without great developed reserves, but the probable reserves are large.
The English and American properties at Sudbury yield nearly as much copper as the Granby company, although their main business is nickel production. A small part of the output is refined in Wales, producing copper sulphate; but the largest part has been refined in New Jersey. A refinery is being completed in Canada that will treat these copper-nickel mattes and produce refined copper. These copper-nickel deposits occur in pre-Cambrian rocks, and the known or potential reserves are very large. They are described in more detail in Chapter VI.
In Ontario and Quebec there are a number of pyrite mines where some of the pyrite contains considerable copper. Most of the pyrite is shipped to the United States, where the copper is recovered, refined and sold.
The production of Canada is growing, and the country will become of increasing importance as a source of copper. Known reserves are larger in proportion to output than in the United States and there will probably be important developments of new districts. The northern British Columbia region is of exceptional promise.
CUBA AND THE CARIBBEAN
The copper output of Cuba has increased in an extraordinary degree during the past few years, but there are no indications that this increase will continue. Two mines are responsible for nearly all the production. One is an old mine near Santiago, the El Cobre, which yielded about one-quarter of the total output. It is owned by the German metal combine, which ships the ore and concentrates to Norfolk, where they are treated by the smelter owned by Beer, Sondheimer & Co., who have always marketed the production. The Matahambre mine, in Pinar del Rio Province, yields nearly the entire remaining Cuban output; it is owned by Cubans. Ore is shipped to the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., of New York, and is believed to be sold by L. Vogelstein & Co. The reserves of copper ore in Cuba can not be considered large. Statistics of Cuban output are conflicting: producers’ reports, statistical authorities and United States commerce reports not being in agreement. All production is shipped in crude form to the United States for refining.
There are copper deposits in Central America,[119] and at one or two points in the West Indies outside of Cuba. To date production has been insignificant, although future possibilities are considerable.
[119] The Rosita mine, in Nicaragua, has 1,500,000 tons of ore blocked out, running over 5 per cent. copper. It has not been equipped.
MEXICO
The future importance of Mexico as a producer of copper or of other metals will be determined not only by the character of her natural deposits but by political conditions. The latter have materially decreased the output during the past few years, so that in 1917 production was about 100,000,000 pounds, probably not much over half what it would have been had normal conditions been continuous since 1912.
=Commercial Control.=--Three companies now produce about three-fourths of the total copper. Two of these are owned by American capital and their product is refined and sold in the United States. Situated near the Arizona border, they have not suffered from the revolution as much as the properties farther south. These two companies are the Greene Cananea Copper Co. (Ryan-Rockefeller, group 3 of Table 38) and Montezuma Copper Co. (Phelps-Dodge, etc.; group 4 of Table 38). The developed reserves at the Montezuma Copper Co. are equivalent to five years at present production and those at Cananea can be considered about the same. Both districts have important possibilities. Near Greene Cananea is another American property, Democrata Cananea, which is a producer of moderate size. The Cananea district is now producing at the rate of over 50,000,000 pounds per annum. Another American property of note is the Teziutlan Copper Co., Puebla, now idle due to revolutions. It has a smelter which normally ships 12,000,000 pounds of blister copper annually to the Anaconda company’s electrolytic plant. Considerable copper is produced at the plants of the American Smelting & Refining Co., which has three copper smelters, one at Matehuala, San Luis Potosi; one at Asarco and another at Aguascalientes, Durango.
French capital controls the third important property (among the three most important in Mexico), which is on the peninsula of Lower California. This is the Boleo, owned by the Rothschilds; as it is far removed from the heart of Mexico, operations have not been greatly disturbed. The mine is an old producer with large potential reserves, and the actual developed reserves will maintain present output for six years. The Boleo ore deposits, which are of an uncommon type, are Tertiary sediments that contain 3.5 per cent. copper ore, usually as oxides. Smelters near the mine produce blister copper and matte, which normally is shipped to France. During the war a large part of the blister and matte came to the United States and passed into the hands of the American Smelting & Refining Co. French interests also own the Compagnie d’Inguaran, near Ario, Michoacan. There are large developed reserves, but the property is idle because of political conditions and absence of equipment or rail connections. French capital also controls the Magistral Ameca Co., in Jalisco, where large ore reserves have been developed. This property is also idle due to political conditions.
English capital controls the Mazapil Copper Co., which has large plants, including smelters, in Zacatecas and Coahuila. This is one of the largest copper companies in Mexico as well as one of the oldest important mines. It was idle for some time because of the Mexican revolutions, but has been reopened recently.
To sum up, the production in Mexico at present is three-quarters American controlled (of which one-half may be assigned to group 3 and one-quarter to groups 2 and 4), while the remaining one-quarter is French controlled. But present output and known reserves give no true picture of future possibilities. Mexico can become of first importance as a copper producer, ranking possibly second only to the United States or equaling Chile and Japan among the world’s producers. The natural resources are there and in the future will surely be developed much more extensively than ever before.
German capital must be taken into consideration, and especially the activities of the American Metal Co. in Mexico, notably more vigorous since 1914 than before. It is believed that the company has made substantial profits from Mexican mining investments in this period and has obtained a very strong foothold. The Compañia Metallurgica de Torreon is one of the American Metal Co. subsidiaries, owning promising mines, chiefly in the development state, and smelters already equipped to produce 20,000,000 pounds of copper yearly. The Mapimi smelter is also owned by the American Metal Co., as are many other companies. What is the future Mexican political situation to be and what part will the American Metal Co. or the German metal combine play in the Mexican copper industry? There is no more pertinent question in the entire field of the political and commercial control of the copper resources of the world, particularly as American capital is largely interested in Mexican copper mines and has made enormous investments there. Also the natural tendency is for most of the Mexican copper to be shipped to the United States for refining and marketing. American refineries, with cheap fuel and efficient methods, are the natural destination for Mexican raw copper.
SOUTH AMERICA
South America is the second largest copper-producing continent of the world, but at present stands far behind North America. The copper-producing countries of South America, in the order of their importance, are Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina.
CHILE
Chile is a copper producer of rapidly increasing importance, as indicated by production records of recent years.[120]
[120] According to Chilean statistics, and estimate for 1917.
1914 1915 1916 1917 Metric tons 44,665 52,341 71,288 95,000
The largest mines of Chile are controlled by American capital. Group 2 of Table 38 (the Morgan-Guggenheim interests) controls the Chile Copper Co., Braden Copper Co. and the Caldera and Carrizal custom smelters. The developed ore reserves of the Chile Copper Co. are the largest in any known copper deposits in the world and the reserves of Braden are among the largest known. Group 3 of Table 38 (Anaconda Copper Co.) has a property with large developed ore reserves--the Andes Copper Co. This mine is not yet (1918) producing.
Table 43 (p. 243) gives data concerning these American-owned mines.
These three mines are allied to the “porphyries” of the United States in character, but they are less profitable because the external conditions make operation more difficult.
TABLE 42.--CHIEF COPPER PRODUCERS OF CHILE. THEIR OWNERSHIP AND RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
-------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+ Con- | | Plant | | trolled| | capacity, | | by | | 1918 | | capital| | (pounds | Nature of | of | Company | a year) | product | -------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+ United | Chile Copper Co. |120,000,000 |Refined copper | States | | | | | | | | Do | Braden Copper Co. | 72,000,000 |Blister copper | | | | | Do | A. S. & R. Co. | 24,000,000 |Blister copper | | | |and matte | | | | | Do | A. S. & R. Co., custom | | | | smelters | 24,000,000 | | | +------------+ | |Total United States |240,000,000 | | | | | | | United States properties’| | | | reserves | 150 years | | -------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+ England| Central Chile Co. | 6,000,000 |Matte | | | | | Do | Poderosa mine | 2,000,000 |Ore (rich) | | | | | Do | Lota custom smelter | 8,000,000 |Blister | | | | | | +------------+ | |Total British | 16,000,000 | | | | | | | British properties’ | | | | reserves | 3 years | | -------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+ France | Chanaral | 15,000,000 |Blister and matte| | | | | Do | Naltagua | 10,000,000 |Blister | | +------------+ | |Total French | 25,000,000 | | | | | | | French properties’ | | | | reserves | 5 years | | -------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+ Belgium| Catemo | 11,000,000 |Blister | | Reserves | 5 years | | | | | | Germany| Gatico smelter | 8,000,000 |Blister | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Guayacan smelter | 3,000,000 |Matte | | | | | | | | | Chile | 6 mines with smelters | 5,000,000 |Matte | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Great numbers of mines | large |Ore | | | | | | | | | | +------------+ | |GRAND TOTAL |308,000,000 | | | | | | | Expected output 1918-1919|244,000,000 | | | | (110,000 | | | |metric tons)| | -------+---------------------------+------------+-----------------+
-------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------ Con- | | | trolled| | | by | | | capital| | Source of | of | Company | product | Remarks -------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------ United | Chile Copper Co. |Mines of the |Capacity will be States | |Company |increased | | | Do | Braden Copper Co. | Do | Do | | | Do | A. S. & R. Co. |Local owned |Caldera plant | |mines | | | | Do | A. S. & R. Co., custom | | | smelters | Do |Carrizal plant | | | |Total United States | | | | | | United States properties’| | | reserves | | -------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------ England| Central Chile Co. |Panulcillo |Balance custom ore | |mine ¹⁄₃ | Do | Poderosa mine | |Shipped to U. S. | | | Do | Lota custom smelter |Largely custom|Treat custom matte | |ore | | | | |Total British | | | | | | British properties’ | | | reserves | | -------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------ France | Chanaral |Mines of the }|Product treated at | |company }|Balbach plant Do | Naltagua |Mines of the }|(U. S.) in 1917 | +company }| |Total French | | | | | | French properties’ | | | reserves | | -------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------ Belgium| Catemo |Mines of the |Refined by | Reserves |company |Balbach, 1917. | | | Germany| Gatico smelter |Custom ore |Tributary to rich | |and mines |mining district. | |controlled. | | | | | Guayacan smelter | |Formerly shipped | | |matte to England. | | | Chile | 6 mines with smelters |Locally owned |Shipped to big | |mines |smelters or | | |exported. | | | | Great numbers of mines |Locally owned |Shipped to big | |mines |smelters or | | |exported. | | | |GRAND TOTAL | | | | | | Expected output 1918-1919| | | | | | | | -------+---------------------------+--------------+------------------
TABLE 43.--OUTPUT, RESERVES, AND LIFE OF THREE AMERICAN-OWNED COPPER MINES IN CHILE
-----------------+--------------+-----------+--------------- | Output, First| Ore | Life at Company | six months of| reserves |present output, |1918, (pounds)| (tons) | (years) -----------------+--------------+-----------+--------------- Chile | 50,000,000 |350,000,000| 200 Braden Copper Co.| 36,000,000 |150,000,000| 125 Andes Copper Co. | non-producing| 50,000,000|Work suspended | (capacity | | for present | 24,000,000)| | -----------------+--------------+-----------+---------------
The Caldera and Carrizal custom smelters of the American Smelting & Refining Co. treat ores shipped from various smaller mines. The Carrizal plant has been closed. Two chief properties are tributary to this plant,--the Carrizal Alto and the Astilla mines. A large number of properties are tributary to the Caldera plant, among them: Dulcinea, Flamenco, Morado, San Juan, El Gallo, etc. Throughout northern Chile there are a great many small copper mines. From the Braden property east of Valparaiso to the Chili Copper Co., southeast of Iquique, the entire country seems to be unusually rich in copper.
There are five important Chilean mines controlled by French or British capital. See Table 42. All are vein mines with no considerable tonnage of developed ore reserves, and the combined output is nearly 50,000,000 pounds of copper a year (a considerable part being from custom ore shipped by small mines) in the form of blister or matte. This production is normally shipped to France or England.
The American Metal Co. and L. Vogelstein, representing German capital, are believed to control, through selling and refining, much of the output of the French, British and Belgian mines. These concerns also own custom smelters in Chile and probably have interests in many mining properties there. The big business in Chilean ores shipped into the United States is done by these concerns, although the American Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. is also an important factor. These ores come from many small mines, although there are a few important ore shippers, one of which is British owned. Most of the mines are ostensibly Chilean owned, but much of the financing, marketing of products, etc., is done by American houses with German affiliations.
It seems that Chile may soon become the second largest copper producer of the world. American capital has led in the development of the Chilean deposits, as American interests have discovered and furnished funds for the equipment of the two leading producers, and the third most important ore body is American owned. This is the more remarkable in light of the fact that American capital has so far been conspicuous by its absence in the development of the other important industries of Chile. Were it not for the present difficulties of building up plant facilities, due to shipping shortage, high cost of equipment, etc., the American-owned copper mines would today be still larger producers than they are. However, American capital now completely controls about seven-eighths of the total output. Substantially all the copper produced in Chile is shipped to the United States. The Chili Copper Co. produces in Chile a refined electrolytic copper, and this is the only finished refined copper produced in South America. Braden can produce a grade of copper that does not compete with electrolytic but is refined enough to go directly to the consumer.
PERU
Peru is one of the important copper-producing countries of the world. The chief mines are at extreme altitudes, however, and their character and location is such as to indicate that production will probably remain stationary or at least not show any important increases in the next few years. There are two important districts: Cerro de Pasco (elevation, 14,300 feet) and Morococha (elevation 13,700 feet).
The chief mines of these districts are now controlled by American capital and may be classed with group 2 of Table 38. The Morococha district was formerly English controlled, but the majority interests have lately been acquired by the Cerro de Pasco Copper Co. (American). The ores in both districts are exceedingly rich and the properties are well fortified with reserves. Developed reserves are adequate to insure four years’ production, and everything indicates that the mines are working extensive and persistent ore deposits. Blister copper is shipped to the American Smelting & Refining Co. in New York for treatment and marketing. Both mines have fully equipped plants, including smelters.
At the plant of Backus & Johnson Co., Morococha, some custom ore and matte from locally owned mines is treated. Among these mines are those of J. Galliver, producing 600 tons matte a year. Backus & Johnson also have a smelter and mines in the Casapalca district. The Sayapullo Syndicate (English) is working the Sayapullo mine under option from the Peruvian owners. Some of this matte is shipped to the Casapalca smelter, and the rest is exported to the United States. The output so far is small; at present 800 tons per year.
Certain small companies ship ores to the United States: from these the copper content amounted to about 4,000,000 pounds in 1917. This goes (1919) chiefly to the American Metal Co. and L. Vogelstein for refining and selling. This ore comes from Salaverry and Trujillo (Casapalca district), Mollendo (southern district, including Ferrobamba, see below), and Callao. All the blister copper is shipped from Callao except small amounts shipped by Backus & Johnson from the Casapalca district. An American company has developed a large body of low-grade ore at Ferrobamba (Cotobamba Province), southern Peru. The property is inaccessible and no work is now being done.
The following résumé gives some of the salient facts concerning the Peruvian copper producers:
TABLE 44.--PRODUCTION OF COPPER IN PERU IN 1918
----------------+--------------+---------+--------------+------------- | |Developed| | | Output | Reserves| Product | Control ----------------+--------------+---------+--------------+------------- Cerro de Pasco | 72,000,000(-)| 4 years |Blister Copper|United States Backus & Johnson| 28,000,000(-)| 4 years | Do | Do Huaron (new) | 5,000,000(?)| 4 years | Do |French Ore shippers | 5,000,000 | ? |Ore |Local +--------------+ | | |110,000,000 | | | ----------------+--------------+---------+--------------+-------------
BOLIVIA
There is one important copper producing locality in Bolivia--Coro Coro, central Bolivia (elevation 12,000 feet). Beds of sandstone carry native copper and veins of sulphides. The mines are owned by French capital. There is no smelter, but concentrates running up to 85 per cent. copper are exported to France for treatment. Production is about 12,000,000 pounds annually. Reserves are large, but the almost inaccessible location of the mines has retarded development. Recently, there has been more activity, a flotation concentrator having been installed.
Some of the Bolivian tin and silver mines produce small amounts of copper, but outside of Coro Coro total copper production is insignificant.
VENEZUELA
The Aroa Mines, an English syndicate, owns a copper mine and smelter producing low-grade matte. The property is located along the railroad which terminates at the port of Tucacas. In 1917 the output was 3,500,000 pounds. The product was shipped to the United States and refined and sold there by L. Vogelstein & Co.
ARGENTINA
There are some copper prospects in the extreme western portion of the country, which are really extensions from the Chilean copper-producing areas. One company, Famatina, Ltd., is an English concern which has had an unfortunate career. The company operates the only copper smelter in Argentina, a small affair that mines irregularly. At last accounts a few hundred tons of blister copper was the annual output; this has always been shipped to England, but recently attempts have been made to ship to New York. This blister is exceedingly rich in silver (6 per cent. silver).
AFRICA
Africa is a copper producer of growing importance, almost entirely because of the development of one group of deposits (Katanga), which overshadows all others to such an extent that the African situation is almost completely described by a discussion of the properties of the Tanganyika Concession, Ltd. The mines of this company yield now three-quarters of the copper production of Africa, and their importance in the future will be still greater.
The copper production of Africa comes from south of the Equator and from six general districts, as follows:
TABLE 45.--COPPER PRODUCTION OF AFRICA
(Production, pounds of fine copper)
-----+---------------------+------------+------------+ | | | | | | | 1918-1919, | Dis-| Province and chief | | estimated | trict| mines | 1917 output| output | -----+---------------------+------------+------------+ 1. |Congo: Katanga[121]| 60,000,000 | 80,000,000 | |Bwan M’Kubwa | 4,000,000?| 3,000,000 | 2. |Transvaal: Messina | 14,000,000 | 12,000,000 | 3. |Rhodesia: Falcon | 7,000,000 | 7,000,000 | 4. |Cape Colony: | | | |Cape Copper-Namaqua | 7,000,000 | 6,000,000 | 5. |Former _German | | | |Southwest-Africa_: | | | |Tsumeb (Otavi) | 10,000,000?| 15,000,000?| | | [122] | | | | | | | | | | |Khan, etc. | 2,000,000 | 4,000,000?| 6. |_Miscellaneous | | | |northern Africa_ | | | |not specified | 1,000,000?| 1,000,000?| | +------------+------------+ |Total |105,000,000 |128,000,000 | | | | | -----+---------------------+------------+------------+
-----+---------------------+------------------+--------------- | | |Reserves, years | | Control | of life at Dis-| Province and chief | | this rate trict| mines | | of output -----+---------------------+------------------+--------------- 1. |Congo: Katanga[121]|English-Belgian | 100 |Bwan M’Kubwa |English | large 2. |Transvaal: Messina |English | 1¹⁄₂ 3. |Rhodesia: Falcon |English | 4 4. |Cape Colony: | | |Cape Copper-Namaqua |English | 2 5. |Former _German | | |Southwest-Africa_: | | |Tsumeb (Otavi) |(English since | 4 | |conquest of German| | |Southwest | | |Africa) | |Khan, etc. | | 4 6. |_Miscellaneous | | |northern Africa_ | | |not specified |French | ? | +------------------+--------------- |Total |Almost entirely | | |English | -----+---------------------+------------------+---------------
[121] Kanshanshi included in Katanga.
[122] Basis 1914. Present political conditions govern extent of work. Shipped 1,000,000 pounds copper in ore to United States in 1917.
In District 1, the Katanga district, which includes the Belgian Congo and adjacent territory, the Union Minière du Haut Katanga has acquired from the Belgian Special Committee the ownership of all of the Katanga copper belt but not the Kanshanshi deposit in Rhodesia. Equal, but not the entire, share interests of this company are owned by the Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd., and the Katanga (Belgian) Special Committee. The Lubumbashi smelter of U. M. du Haut Katanga, at Elisabethville, close to the Rhodesian boundary, has seven blast furnaces with a daily capacity of 2,000 tons. The ore treated runs 15 per cent. copper, and yields 96 per cent. blister copper. The past production is as follows: 1911, 996 tons blister copper; 1912, 2,492 tons; 1913, 7,407 tons; 1914, 10,722 tons; 1915, 14,190 tons; 1916, 22,165 tons; 1917, 30,000 tons. This copper is shipped to England, and is consumed there and in France after further refining. There is very little gold and silver in the copper, so it goes to market largely as refined, best selected and tough copper.
Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd., owns concessions in northern Rhodesia containing the Kanshanshi mine (a deposit similar to those in Katanga) owned by a subsidiary railroad company, 70 per cent. of which is owned by Tanganyika Concessions, Ltd. A small blast furnace there is producing. The actual railroad connection with Katanga is north from Rhodesia and thence to the eastern coast of Africa. An uncompleted line from the West Coast is planned to connect these mineral deposits with Lobito Bay (Benguella By. Co.). The Portuguese government has a small interest in certain railway lines in its territory. It seems that the English group, (R. Williams, who was an associate of Cecil Rhodes, T. White and others) with the Belgian Special Committee, control the entire group; but a considerable interest has been sold to the public, mainly British and Belgian investors.
The Bwan M’Kubwa mine farther south on the Rhodesia railroad is a deposit of the same general character. This is owned by British capital, two of the Rhodesian development companies holding a large block of the stock.
Ore bodies are found in Katanga over a district extending 250 miles east-west and 50 miles north-south, and also at scattered localities in Rhodesia. Malachite chiefly and other oxidized ores impregnate certain sediments and constitute the ore bodies, which are very rich (10 to 15 per cent. copper). At Luushia sulphides (3 per cent. copper as chalcopyrite) occur beneath the oxidized ore. Cobalt is common; there is some nickel but not much gold and silver. The developed reserves of the mines of Katanga are estimated at 40,000,000 tons of 8 per cent. copper ore above water level, equal to 100 years’ production at the present rate of output; of the Bwan M’Kubwa mine in Rhodesia at 3,000,000 tons of 4 per cent. ore, besides ore of lesser grade. The reserves of the Kanshanshi mine, in Rhodesia, are not included in the estimates.
In District 2, near the Rhodesian boundary, is the Messina mine, the only copper producer of the Transvaal. Along veins in very old gneissic rocks occur shoots and lenses of chalcocite and enargite with some oxide. A little matte is made at the mine but the chief product is concentrates (45 to 50 per cent. copper), all of which were shipped to England. Lately they have been in part sent to the United States. The production was about 14,000,000 pounds in 1915 and the same in 1916. Reserves of 208,000 tons of 5 per cent. ore are reported developed, or not much over one year’s supply. The company is strictly English.
In District 3, the Falcon mines in Central Rhodesia belong to an English company which is treating copper-gold ore occurring in old schists. The production was about 7,000,000 pounds in 1916. The ore carries 2 per cent. copper, $5 in gold, and the reserves are stated at 862,000 tons of this grade, or about four years’ supply.
In the French Congo, just north of the mouth of Congo River, is a belt of copper deposits 60 miles long, which have been worked for centuries by the natives. Diabase rocks occur in this vicinity. The output is very small.
District 4, Cape Colony, is the oldest important copper producer of modern Africa, but its chief deposits, worked since 1852, are nearly exhausted. The Cape Copper Co. and Namaqua Copper Co. are south of the Orange River in a district 90 miles by rail from a port on the West Coast. The ore is bornite and chalcopyrite, in irregular lenses; the reserves are equivalent to only two years of production. Each mine has a mill and smelter. Further refining is done at the Briton Ferry smelter of the Cape Copper Co. in Wales, which has a capacity of 12,000 tons per year of refined copper and electrolytic copper. All these companies, including the railroad, are entirely British. Cape Colony copper production is dependent on this one district, from which the 1917 output was 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 pounds.
In District 5, the former colony of German Southwest Africa, copper deposits are numerous, and next to diamond mining the production of copper is the most important industry of the province. The main deposit is the Tsumeb in the northeast part of the country, where solid sulphides of lead and copper occur in dolomite. Fifty thousand tons of ore carrying 13 per cent. copper and 40 per cent. lead was shipped in 1917. There is a smelter here and the mine has rail connection. The company working these deposits was the Otavi Minen und Eisenbahn, but through the Southwest Africa Co. the English had an interest in the property. The English now have control. The Khan mine, second in importance to Tsumeb, is working a pegmatite vein in schist. In 1914 a mill treating 50 tons a day was shipping 60 to 70 per cent. concentrates to Europe. The ores are chalcopyrite and chalcocite.
In District 6, northern Africa, there are some deposits of copper in Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. They are not of importance at present. De Launay describes them as chiefly veins in rocks of much younger age than the important deposits of Africa which lie south of the Equator.
Matte and blister produced in Africa are normally treated at small English plants or at the Briton Ferry smelter, Wales, which is a plant of some size.
The general economic situation as regards African copper ores in 1917 is shown in the table.
TABLE 46.--PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENTS OF COPPER FROM AFRICA IN 1917
-------------------+-----------+--------------------+-------------- |Production,| Chief product | Shipped to-- Mine | (pounds) | shipped | -------------------+-----------+--------------------+-------------- Katanga | 60,000,000|matte and blister |England Cape Copper-Namaqua| 7,000,000|matte |England Messina | 14,000,000|concentrates, matte,| | | hand-picked ore |England Falcon | 7,000,000|concentrates or ore |England Bwan M’Kubwa | 4,000,000| |Katanga plants German Southwest | | | Africa, Otavi, | | | Khan | 12,000,000|ore |England or | | |Germany North Africa | 1,000,000|ore |France +-----------+ | |105,000,000| | -------------------+-----------+--------------------+--------------
Considerable of this copper goes to the United States. In 1917, as shown below, the total amount of copper received in this country was 7.5 per cent. of the total African production.
TABLE 47.--SHIPMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1917
-----------------------+---------------------------+-------+--------- | | Ship- | Copper | | ments | content | Grade Shipped | (tons)|(pounds) -----------------------+---------------------------+-------+--------- Otavi to New York |Ore (12 per cent.) | 3,900 |1,048,000 Messina to New York |Ore (45 per cent.) | 703 | 715,000 Do |Matte (45 per cent.) | 306 | 310,000 Cape Copper to New York|Concentrates (55 per cent.)| 375 | 460,000 | +-------+--------- | | 5,284 |2,533,000 Katanga |Blister | ... |5,437,000 | | +--------- Total | | |8,000,000 -----------------------+---------------------------+-------+---------
AUSTRALASIA
Copper production in Australasia is not now increasing. In recent years the production (metric tons) has been as follows:
1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 16,600 22,900 37,592 32,512 35,000 38,100
Formerly German metal buying and refining companies controlled the Australian copper output (as that of lead and zinc) by virtue of refining and selling contracts. Hence the year 1914 brought disorganization to Australian mining. War-profits taxation on Australian mines has been severe; and government aid, formerly granted, has been largely withdrawn. Lack of labor, inability of new properties to obtain railroad connections, and absence of government encouragement to prospecting, have retarded the copper industry since August, 1914. Aside from former German control based on selling and refining contracts, all Australian copper mining is and has been under British control. The properties are owned by British and Australian capital and present refining and selling arrangements will prevent the German metal companies from again getting any foothold in the field. All former contracts with German agencies were abrogated. The government took this phase of the matter in hand, and one step was to purchase the entire production of Australia for the first half of 1918 at £106 to £108 per ton.
The Australian copper situation in 1917 is exhibited in the table following:
TABLE 48.--PRODUCTION OF COPPER AND REFINING PLANTS IN AUSTRALIA IN 1917
--------------------------+-----------+------------------------------- |Production,| | 1917, | Refineries Chief mines |(long tons)| --------------------------+-----------+------------------------------- Queensland: | | Mount Morgan | 8,000[123]|Port Kembla plant, Electrolyte | |Refining & Smelting Co., Ltd. Hampden Cloncurry | 8,000[123]|Capacity, 29,000 tons | |electrolyte copper per annum; | |12,000 tons fire-refined copper | |per annum. Other Cloncurry district| | mines | 4,000[123]|Mount Elliott completed | |refinery at Bowen, Queensland, | |in 1917; capacity 10,000 tons | |refined copper. | | South Australia: | | Wallaroo & Moonta | 7,000 |Wallaroo & Moonta smelter, | |Bowen, Queensland; capacity | |increased from 7,000 to 10,000 | |tons per annum. | | Tasmania: | | Mount Lyell | 5,000 |Ships to Port Kembla. New South Wales: | | Great Cobar | 2,500[123]| C. S. A. and Mt. Hope, | | etc. | 2,250 | West Australia and Papua: | | New pyrite ore bodies of | | promise opened | 1,250 | | | +-----------+ |38,000 | --------------------------+-----------+-------------------------------
[123] Ores mined are primary, consisting of chalcopyrite and chalcocite. Secondarily enriched ores near the surface have been entirely mined out.
As stated, the ownership of these mines is strictly British, and at present the refining and marketing is now British instead of German. Two refineries, both recently enlarged and improved, now have a capacity of over 60,000 tons a year, which is well in excess of the present output of the country. Towards the end of 1917, the Copper Producers’ Association Proprietary, Ltd., was formed in Australia for the purpose of selling and shipping copper on a co-operative basis. All copper producers were invited to join. Wallaroo & Moonta, Mount Morgan, Mount Lyell and the Cloncurry mines are members of this association, as is the Electrolytic Refining & Smelting Co., which treats the ores of these mines. The company markets its products in England and Australia. Its chief brands are E. S. A. (electrolytic) and E. S.A.F.R. (fire refined). These brands are also sold by Elder Smith & Co., Ltd., of London and Australia, which has had a financial interest in the Wallaroo & Moonta Co. since the early days, and has financed and marketed the copper production of this company since 1915.
Metals Products, Ltd., has recently been formed, with works at Port Kembla producing copper wire, brass goods, etc. Importation of copper and brass products into Australia should entirely disappear if the plans of the Australian government and copper producers do not miscarry.
The oldest mine and one of the two leading mines in Australasia is the Wallaroo & Moonta, in South Australia. This deposit occurs in a pre-Cambrian complex, intersected by pegmatitic dikes. Ore reserves are believed to be ample: say five years’ supply of developed ore. In recent years, production has been very steady at about 7,000 tons per year of refined copper. This is the only important copper deposit of pre-Cambrian age in Australia.
The other leading mine in Australia is Mount Morgan, in Queensland, which until 1910 was one of the largest gold mines in the world. The gold was in the oxidized top of a large low-grade copper deposit, which is now being mined from open cuts. Primary chalcocite, chalcopyrite and pyrite with quartz constitutes the ore deposit. The ore runs 2¹⁄₂ per cent. copper and is concentrated up to 7 per cent. The reserves exceed 4,000,000 tons of 2¹⁄₂ per cent. copper, or 10 years’ supply.
The Cloncurry district is a large area, 200 by 40 miles in extent, containing several copper deposits, which occur in schist and are mainly small bonanzas. The future of this district seems very promising. The chief mines are Hampden Cloncurry, Mount Elliott, Mount Cuthbert; and the developed ore reserves insure five years’ production. The Hampden Cloncurry mine has 300,000 tons of 7 per cent. ore in reserve, a smelter producing blister copper, and railroad connections. The district is hampered by bad climate, etc., and especially by labor conditions. Recent government rulings (1918), as to very short hours of labor and higher wages, are reducing outputs. The Mount Elliott mine, which has a 300,000-ton deposit of 10 per cent. ore, is now (1919) idle because of labor conditions. The Mount Cuthbert mine, which completed a new smelter in 1917, has reserves of 150,000 tons of 6¹⁄₂ per cent. copper, and railroad connections.
The Mount Lyell mine, in Tasmania, is an old and steady producer. One class of ore runs 0.5 per cent. of copper and 1.25 ounces silver; the other contains 6 per cent. copper ore, with the same amount of silver. This is a disseminated deposit in schist, near a conglomerate contact. No igneous rocks are known in the vicinity. The reserves are 2,000,000 tons of low-grade ore and 1,000,000 tons of high grade; insuring the present output for 15 years. Considerable of the ore is mined open cut, and this is one of the lowest grade profitable mines in the world. Ores are smelted direct after being mixed, so that the product going to the furnace runs 2¹⁄₂ per cent. copper.
The Great Cobar mine, in New South Wales, works cupriferous pyrite carrying 2 to 2¹⁄₂ per cent. copper. Cobar used to produce 4,000 to 5,000 tons of copper a year. After erecting a 1,200-ton smelter in 1912, the company was placed in the hands of a receiver, April, 1914. The reserves are believed to be large. The other chief mines in New South Wales (the C. S. A., Mount Hope, Nymagee, etc.) produce together about as much as Great Cobar. These mines have smelters, and for the most part were formerly of much greater importance than they are today. Several have no railway connections, and this is an important handicap to New South Wales mines, which once produced twice the present output.
In West Australia, there have been developed recently a number of promising deposits of pyritic copper ores. There are no important producers, there being no railways.
The present conditions in Australia, in which labor conditions are most important, and the absence of new railroad construction, have seriously affected the development of the copper industry, but the future seems promising. Several important deposits have proved large and the ore bodies persistent. Much of the country has not been explored and many good showings could be worked and some probably developed into profitable mines if conditions were favorable to new ventures. Just the reverse is the case, however. The Mount Lyell company has been exploring northern Tasmania, and recently found in the mine of the Tasmania Copper Co. about 1,000,000 tons of ore carrying copper, zinc, gold and silver and worth $20 to $30 per ton, gross.
It is believed that Australia will continue to be an important copper producer; probably its importance will increase. Weighted reserves, in terms of ore supply to maintain present output, insure copper production continuing undiminished for 7.2 years. These reserves are well distributed among the various producers.
ASIA
JAPAN
Copper deposits are found over a large part of central Japan. The ores, which occur in Tertiary volcanics, consist of chalcopyrite and pyrite running 2¹⁄₂ to 3¹⁄₂ per cent. copper, and are commonly concentrated before smelting. The gangue is usually quartzose. Lenticular deposits of cupriferous pyrite in Paleozoic schists and sediments occur on the west and the south side of Japan. These mines yield smelting ore carrying about 3¹⁄₂ to 4 per cent., but contain very little silica. Pyritic smelting is extensively practiced. Over one-half the copper production comes from four chief mines: Ashio and Kosaka of the Tertiary type; and Hitachi and Beshi of the Paleozoic schist type.
The state reserves to itself the right of original ownership in all ores, including copper. The right to work them is granted to individuals or companies of Japanese nationality. Copper mining, smelting and refining companies seem to be entirely Japanese in ownership and policy. The number of mines is considerable, but their ownership is concentrated into a few hands and the smelting and refining industry is still more concentrated. Japanese producers sell their own copper, all foreign selling agencies being strictly Japanese. The mines in Japan are not generally worked as joint-stock enterprises, but are mostly family properties inherited by the present owners. A table showing the 1917 copper production of Japan indicates these facts. (See Table 49.)
Because of labor conditions, abundant fuel near the mines and water transportation, Japanese copper production has increased rapidly in recent years. High prices and the adoption of modern methods of mining and smelting have been important contributing factors. There seems no reason to expect that Japan’s production will decrease, but not enough is known of geological conditions to enable one to discuss the future outlook. The only mine whose reserves are known is the Beshi, which has reserves adequate for 100 years of production at the present rate, which is 10 per cent. of the Japanese output. The reserves at other mines are not developed far ahead, but must insure several years of continued production at the present rate.
The production and exports of Japanese copper in recent years are as follows (in terms of metric tons):
----------+------+------+------+------+-------+------- Year | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 ----------+------+------+------+------+-------+------- Production|63,893|67,697|71,046|76,039|101,467|124,306 Exports |30,000|42,000|45,500|59,500| 62,000| 72,000 ----------+------+------+------+------+-------+-------
TABLE 49.--JAPANESE COPPER PRODUCTION
Producing companies and brands of copper marketed. The companies named have selling offices in London and in other foreign consuming centers.
---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ | Smelters | +-----------+-----------------------------------+ Company and | |1917 production (pounds) of refined| chief mines owned | Location | and casting[124] and brands sold | ---------------------+-----------+-----------------------------------+ Mitsu Bishi & Co. |Osaka |15,000,000 | Osaruzawa | | | Arakawa | | | Ikuni and 6 | | | smaller mines | | | Brands sold | |Arakawa, Mitsui Bishi, casting, | | |etc. (rough copper) | | | | Furukawa & Co. |Osaka |17,000,000 | Ashio |(Amagasaki)| | also Ani, Furukura,| | | Kune and 6 smaller | | | mines | | | Brands sold | |Furukawa, Ani Tiles, refined | | |Maragata Best Selected | | | | Fujita & Co. |Inushimo |3,000,000 | Kosaka (North end | | | Honshu) | | | Brands sold | |Obiye casting, etc. (rough copper) | Kuhara Mining Co. | |None | Hitachi (near | | | Tokio) | | | | | | | | | 3 smaller mines 30 | | | per cent. custom | | | ore | | | Brands sold | | | Baron Sumitomo |Shikoku |22,000,000 | Beshi |Island |Beshi Best Selected | Brands sold | | | Nippon Metals Co. of | | | Kobe |Moji | | Brands sold | |S. Z. K. (Susuki) and some casting | | | | Denkibundo Co. | | | | +-----------------------------------+ Total casting rough| | | copper and best | | | selected sold | |57,000,000 | | | | Total electro- | | | lytic refining | | | capacity[125] | | | | | | 1917 output of | | | electrolytic | | | estimated | |217,000,000 | | +-----------------------------------+ Total | |214,000,000 or 124,306 metric tons | | |Eng. & Mining Journal figure 1917| | |output. | ---------------------+-----------+-----------------------------------+
---------------------+----------------------------------------------- | Electrolytic refineries +-----------+----------------------------------- Company and | | 1917 estimated capacity chief mines owned | Location | (pounds) and brands sold ---------------------+-----------+----------------------------------- Mitsu Bishi & Co. |Osaka |15,000,000 Osaruzawa | | Arakawa | | Ikuni and 6 | | smaller mines | | Brands sold | |M. B. (Mitsu Bishi) | | | | Furukawa & Co. |Osaka |67,000,000 Ashio |(Nikko | also Ani, Furukura,|Plant) | Kune and 6 smaller | | mines | | Brands sold | |F. M. (Furukawa Mines) | | | | Fujita & Co. |Mosaka |20,000,000 Kosaka (North end | | Honshu) | | Brands sold | |Kosaka Kuhara Mining Co. |Hitach |100,000,000 Hitachi (near | | Tokio) | |Reported capacity at least 20% in | |excess of 1917 output. | | 3 smaller mines 30 | | per cent. custom | | ore | | Brands sold | |H. M. (Hiatachi Mine) Baron Sumitomo | | Beshi | | Brands sold | | Nippon Metals Co. of | | Kobe | |19,000,000 Brands sold | | | | Denkibundo Co. |Bundo |13,000,000 | +----------------------------------- Total casting rough| | copper and best | | selected sold | | | | Total electro- | | lytic refining | | capacity[125] | |235,000,000 | | 1917 output of | | electrolytic | | estimated | | | | Total | | | | | | ---------------------+-----------+-----------------------------------
[124] Balance smelted to cathodes and treated electrolytically.
[125] Plant capacity. Evidently not reached in 1917.
Since the high copper prices of 1916 there was a heavy importation of Chinese copper coins into Japan. In 1917 one concern alone had contracted for 200,000 tons of such coins, which contain about 85 per cent. copper, and the rate of importation at that time would mean 60,000 tons refined copper a year from this secondary source. This development has enabled Japan to make heavy exports of copper.
The collapse of Russia removed one of Japan’s big copper markets. Japan will probably not be able profitably to produce a large exportable surplus of copper unless the price obtained is fairly high compared to quotations ruling in 1912 to 1914. Under normal conditions Japan will supply her own needs for copper with little or nothing to spare.
KOREA (CHOSEN)
The Seoul Mining Co. (Collbran and Bostwick) is producing from contact deposits, one 50 miles and the other 100 miles from a harbor. This American concern is a dominant trading and banking house in Korea and is working mines formerly operated by Koreans. The copper ores are sulphides between limestone and granite. Five hundred tons of 60 per cent. concentrates were shipped from Chosen to the United States in 1917.
CHINA
The present production of China is 2,000 tons a year, and the chief deposits are in Yunnan Province. A great many localities are reported to show copper ores, mainly cupriferous pyrite in very old schists, or in Permian basalt. The latter deposits are too small for modern methods. In the last hundred years, lack of wood to make charcoal has restricted output to a nominal amount. Small seams of native copper are highly esteemed by the natives. The ores are carefully hand-picked, and the small-scale methods are wasteful.
The Tungschuanfu mine, Yunnan, the chief mine in China, has a yearly output of about 1,000 tons of copper. The district has been worked for hundreds of and probably is very rich. The ores, replacements in limestone and veins in shale, are 8 per cent. copper and the reserves are large. The Yaoki Kansu government smelter is a modern plant with a capacity of four tons of copper a day.
There are several other mines, all controlled by the government. Outside engineers have reported favorably on some of them, but the government closely regulates copper mining in China because it affects currency and government profits on coinage of copper. There are also some copper mines worked with the contact iron deposits of China (formed by contact action of diorite); and deposits of malachite in Triassic sandstone are worked at several points.
INDIA
India is not a copper producer. The Rakha Hills mine of the Cape Copper Co. (see Cape Colony) has 400,000 tons of 4 per cent. copper ore developed and a smelter is being built. India is an enormous copper consumer, and it is surprising she has never been a producer.
EUROPE
Political and commercial control of much of the copper production of Europe is obviously uncertain in the extreme, as are any figures of production for the Central Powers and Russia. (See Table 49.)
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, NORWAY AND SWEDEN
Spain is the oldest and steadiest producer of copper in the world. The chief deposits are controlled by English capital and their developed reserves insure present production for 30 to 60 years. The copper is largely refined to finished form in England and enters the market there under various brands. The Rio Tinto is an enormous deposit worked by open pits.
TABLE 50.--PRODUCTION AND CONTROL OF COPPER IN EUROPE
----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+ | | | | | |Estimated| + | Output | output | Estimated| |1916-1917|1918-1919| output | Country and chief localities| (metric | (metric | 1918-1919| in which copper is produced | tons) | tons) | (pounds) | ----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+ Germany | | | | Mansfeld | 30,000 | 30,000 | ... | | | | | Mitterberg, etc. | 10,000 | 10,000 | ... | Austria-Hungary | 10,000 | 10,000 | ... | Serbia, Bor, etc. | 10,000 | 10,000 | ... | Turkey, Aghano, etc. | 10,000 | 10,000 | ... | Bulgaria and Roumania | 1,000 | 1,000 | ... | +---------+---------+ | Total Central Powers | | | | (est.) | 71,000 | 71,000 | ... | | | | | Spain and Portugal[127] | 42,000 | 42,000 | ... | Mason & Barry | ... | ... | 5,000,000| Rio Tinto | ... | ... |62,000,000| Tharsis | ... | ... |12,000,000| Misc. (United Alkali, | | | | Huelva, Cordoba, etc.) | ... | ... |11,000,000| Miscellaneous (Calva, Los | | | | Guardos, etc.) | ... | ... | 3,000,000| Russia (See Table 52) | 18,500 | 18,000? | ... | Norway[128] (Sulitolma 40 | | | | per cent.) | 19,000 | 19,000 | ... | Sweden | 1,000 | 1,000 | ... | Other countries | | | | Italy | 3,000 | 3,000 | ... | France | 1,000 | 1,000 | ... | England | 250 | 250 | ... | ----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+
---------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Control by: | +---------------+------------+--------+ | | | | | | | | Country and chief localitie| | |Handling| in which copper is produced|Financial[126] | Political |of sales| ---------------------------+---------------+------------+--------+ Germany | | | | Mansfeld | |Now entirely| | | |German | | Mitterberg, etc. | | Do | | Austria-Hungary | | Do | | Serbia, Bor, etc. | | Do | | Turkey, Aghano, etc. | | Do | | Bulgaria and Roumania | | Do | | | | | | Total Central Powers | | | | (est.) | | | | | | | | Spain and Portugal[127] | | | | Mason & Barry |English |Portuguese |English | Rio Tinto | Do |Spanish | Do | Tharsis | Do | Do | Do | Misc. (United Alkali, | | | | Huelva, Cordoba, etc.) | Do | Do | Do | Miscellaneous (Calva, Los| | | | Guardos, etc.) |Spanish | Do | Do | Russia (See Table 52) | ? | ? | ? | Norway[128] (Sulitolma 40 |¹⁄₂ English and| | | per cent.) |¹⁄₂ Norwegian |Norwegian | | Sweden |Swedish |Swedish |Swedish | Other countries | | | | Italy |Italian |Italian |Italian | France |French |French |French | England |English |English |English | ---------------------------+---------------+------------+--------+
----------------------------+----------------+------------------------ | | + | | | | | Country and chief localities|Reserves | in which copper is produced | of ore |Remarks ----------------------------+----------------+------------------------ Germany | | Mansfeld | |Output in future should | |not be nearly as large. Mitterberg, etc. | | Austria-Hungary | | Serbia, Bor, etc. | | Turkey, Aghano, etc. | | Bulgaria and Roumania | | | | Total Central Powers | | (est.) | | | | Spain and Portugal[127] | |No statistics since Mason & Barry |32 years’ supply|1914. Rio Tinto |Very large |60 years’ reserves Tharsis | Do |known. Misc. (United Alkali, | | Huelva, Cordoba, etc.) | Do | Miscellaneous (Calva, Los | | Guardos, etc.) | Do | Russia (See Table 52) | |1914 output 36,340 tons. Norway[128] (Sulitolma 40 | | per cent.) |Important |Like Spanish deposits. Sweden | | Other countries | | Italy | |Some English capital. France | |French pyrite mines. England | |Tin mines. ----------------------------+----------------+------------------------
[126] All companies have foreign stockholders, but dominant nationality is as indicated.
[127] Export copper to France and England in form of blister, alloys, cement, pyrite ore and copper ore.
[128] Export copper to England and Sweden chiefly in form of cupriferous pyrite.
NOTE. Production for 1919 in Germany probably smaller than estimate.
The copper deposits, chiefly massive cupriferous pyrite, in Norway and Sweden, are similar to those of Spain geologically as well as economically. Their commercial value depends not only on their copper content, but on the sulphur and iron recovered. In many cases the sulphur used in sulphuric acid manufacture is of greater money value than the recovered copper. Hence the exported copper from Spain, Portugal and Norway is in several forms: pyrite, matte, ingot copper from Norway and considerable cement copper or precipitates from Spain and Portugal. Pyrite is exported to England, the United States, and perhaps a little to France; the matte, ingot, etc., to various European countries. Sweden imports as well as produces pyrite. France, Italy and Russia produce considerable pyrite and before the war France exported pyrite. Under normal conditions, the copper in all this pyrite is shipped back and forth over Europe and can hardly be traced. The table shows the location of raw materials but not the place where marketable copper is produced. The chief imports and exports of pyrite are normally as follows:
TABLE 51.--NORMAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF PYRITE FOR CERTAIN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
-----------------+-------------+-------------+------------- Exports from-- |Amount (tons)|Imports to-- |Amount (tons) -----------------+-------------+-------------+------------- Spain | 1,500,000 |England | 1,050,000 Norway | 500,000 |Sweden | 100,000 Portugal | 250,000 |United States| 1,000,000 | |France | 100,000 +-------------+ +------------- Estimated total| 2,250,000 | | 2,250,000 -----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
GERMANY
Under existing conditions the present output of Germany can not be closely estimated. The figures in Table 49 are guesses based on the information available. The Mansfeld deposits are clearly the most important, and as they are in shales that extend over a large area, the reserves must be considered large. The Mitterberg mine, owned by the Krupps, had a pre-war output of only 1,000 tons yearly. Several copper deposits in the Austrian Tyrol had a pre-war output of 1,000 tons annually.
The chief source of copper in Germany during the war, however, must have been from conversion of articles containing copper which were in use before the war. It is doubtful if 10 per cent. of the yearly copper production of peace times was destroyed in use. Consequently, in all countries there is normally a big store of copper in the form of wire, brass, machine parts, etc. This is what Germany used during the war, and its replacement is essential to her industrial success in peace.
RUSSIA
The copper production of Russia was rapidly increasing before the war and reached a maximum in 1913. The ownership of the mines and refineries was largely English but in part French. Enough development had been done to indicate that Russia will probably be a large producer of copper when consistent industrial progress is possible. In 1918 the mines had been seized by workmen and operations were nearly or entirely suspended. The copper districts are all in the Urals, the Caucasus or Siberia. The Russian copper production (in long tons) has been as follows:
1905 1910 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 8,700 22,310 33,794 31,435 25,472 20,557 15,700 (34,911) (27,295)
TABLE 52.--COPPER PRODUCTION AND ORE RESERVES OF RUSSIA
(All figures long tons)
----------------+---------------+-------+------+------+---------+ | | Orig- | | 1915 | | | | inal | | pro- | | | |invest-| 1913 | duc- | Ore | | | ments | pro- |tion, | reserves| | | made | duc- |(esti-| (devel- | District | Company | by: | tion |mated)| oped) | ----------------+---------------+-------+------+------+---------+ Urals |Kyshtim |British| 7,000| 7,600|3,150,000| Do |Bogoslovsk | Do | 4,300| 4,100| ... | | | | | | | Do |Sissert | Do | 1,100| 1,500|5,000,000| Do |Tanalyk | Do | 600| 600| 126,000| | | | | | | | | | | | | Do |Verch-Isselz |Russian| 3,000| 2,500| large | | | | | |reserves | Do |Nishni Tagilsh | | | | | |(Demidov) | Do | 2,000| 1,500| | | | +------+------+ | Urals total | | |18,000|17,800| | ----------------+---------------+-------+------+------+---------+ Caucasus |Caucasus Copper| | | | | |Co. |British| 5,500| 3,000|3,600,000| Do |Allah Verde |French | 2,000| 700| ... | | | | | | | Do |Siemens Co. |Russian| 1,500| 800| ... | | | | | | | | | +------+------+ | Caucasus total| | | 9,000| 4,500| | ----------------+---------------+-------+------+------+---------+ Siberia |Spassky |British| 4,756| 3,450| 543,000| Do |Miscellaneous | Do | | 734| ... | | | | | | | Do |Irkysh (Ridder)| Do | (New)| ... |2,300,000| | | | | | | Do |Russian Mining | | | | | |Co. | Do | 410 | ... | 500,000| Do |Alexeieff Co. | Do | 377 | ... | | Do |Russo-Asiatic | | | | | |Corporation | Do | | | | | | +------+------+ | Siberia total | | | 5,553| 4,184| | ----------------+---------------+-------+------+------+---------+ Russian chemical| | | | | | works | | | 1,358| 811| | | | +------+------+ | Grand total | | | | | | Russia| | | |34,911|27,295| |
----------------+---------------+--------+---------------------------- | | | | | Copper | | | in ore | | |reserves| | | (per | District | Company | cent.) | Remarks ----------------+---------------+--------+---------------------------- Urals |Kyshtim | 2.75 |Obtains gold as by-product. Do |Bogoslovsk | ... |Ore hard to follow; | | |excellent possibilities. Do |Sissert |(2³⁄₄)-4| Do |Tanalyk | ... |Developing into a gold | | |rather than a copper | | |deposit. Do |Verch-Isselz | | | | 2-3 |Massive pyrite ore. Do |Nishni Tagilsh | | |(Demidov) | | | | | Urals total | | | ----------------+---------------+--------+---------------------------- Caucasus |Caucasus Copper| | |Co. | 3 |Mines at Khot Eli and Katar. Do |Allah Verde | ... |Industrial & Metallurgical | | |Co. of Caucasus. Do |Siemens Co. | ... |Mines at Tcherek and | | |Kedabeck. | | | Caucasus total| | | ----------------+---------------+--------+---------------------------- Siberia |Spassky | 10.7 | Do |Miscellaneous | ... |Development companies, see | | |below. Do |Irkysh (Ridder)| 5 |1,000,000 low-grade ore also | | |in reserves. Do |Russian Mining | | |Co. | 2.6 |Ore carries other metals. Do |Alexeieff Co. | | Do |Russo-Asiatic | | |Corporation | | | | | Siberia total | | | ----------------+---------------+--------+---------------------------- Russian chemical| | | works | | |Ouchkoff, Kreiners, etc. | | | Grand total | | | Russia| | | |
Russian reserves insure maintenance of 1913 maximum output for at least 15 years
Copper refineries Capacity per year. Electrolytic Kyshtim 10,000 Electrolytic Bogoslov 6,000 Best selected (refined) Caucasus Copper Co. 10,000 ------ Total 26,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Russia has always been in large part dependent on foreign copper and there was a tariff premium on domestic production. It is likely that ultimately Russia may more nearly be self-supporting as regards copper requirements, even if consumption increases greatly. Table 52 shows the important developed properties, their production in 1913 (maximum) and in 1915 (estimated), their developed ore reserves, and the nationality of original capital that made the developments possible.
SUMMARY
Copper, the red metal, is surpassed only by gold and silver in malleability and by silver alone in electrical conductivity. Next to iron it is industrially the most important of all metals, as its value per pound is much greater than that of lead or zinc, and the world requires and consumes much greater quantities of copper, lead, and zinc than of any other non-ferrous metals.
The uses of copper are many, but the electrical industry is the largest consumer. Brass, bronze, and other copper alloys are second in importance. A considerable quantity of copper sheets, tubes and other wares are used outside of the electrical industry. Copper is used in coinage, and in China it is the money standard of the working population.
The United States, producing a major part of the world’s copper, has also been responsible for financing and developing more successful copper mines abroad than any other country. Success has been facilitated by the presence in the Western Hemisphere of the world’s chief copper deposits and also by the advances in mining, milling and metallurgy that have been in great measure the work of United States engineers. England and Japan control considerable copper production, but it is small compared to that controlled by the United States.
In the consumption of copper Germany is a big factor. Because of this fact, German interests and international metal houses have in the past secured a considerable control over copper supplies through refining and selling contracts with mining companies. Such control is based entirely on refining and selling companies and does not extend to ownership of producing mines, and only to a small degree to ownership of smelters.
Chile, Mexico, Canada, and the Belgian Congo should become of increasing importance as copper producers not only because of known reserves but, in the case of Canada and Mexico particularly, because of the likelihood of new and important discoveries. The position of the United States, including Alaska, should be maintained as at present, neither gaining nor losing as compared to the rest of the world.