Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-08-24
THE PRICE Of LEAD.
10 Hay 10 40 High that Silver May
Become . By.PrOduct.

\. = Engineering and Mining Journs''l
Tho price Of silver has DOW de-
olined to about 70 cents per ounce,
add further depreciation 10 sntioi
pated upon the repeal Of the Sberma"
ACT which seer assured. The effect
OF this has been to close most of tho
mines in several States, especially
Idaho, Colorado and Utah, which are
tho ones moot directly affected. CAL
iiornia and South Dakota are gold
mining States, with only . small IN
terest 10 silver mining; Montana and
Arizona have q great copper mining
industry. wh,oh is independent OF the
price OF silver, although their copper
ores are areentiterous; in Nevada the
Coms.ock hiss been the only mining
distsist of Importance, Tor many years;
its ores have 40 per cont. Of their
value in gold, and we are informed
that they will continue to be worked.
. red 1ction in wages and other ex-
;penses having been effected; but in
Idaho, Utah and Colorado every thing
hangs on silver. which has been the
metal Of paramount importance in
their mining industry. These States
are tho chief producers OF lead, with
which the silver 10 for the most part
associated, but under present condi>
sions the ores cannot be worked profit
ably for lead alone.
1t seems on the face Of things that
the closing down OF the mines in
these States, especially those of the
Occur d'Alene in Idaho. the Bingham
district in Utah. and Leadv,lle in
Colorado, must have . serious effect
upon tho production, and conse-
quently the price of lesd in the
United States. How important thi,
may be is shown by the statistics for
1892 in the volume OF 1.-THE Mineral
Industry" for that year. The to.a'
output of domestic lead in 1892 is re-
ported ss l7S.S92 short tons (of 1900
lbs.), Of which 81 800 tons came from
Colorado, $4,000 tons from Utah, and
Sc, 500 tons from Idaho and Montana
Tho production at Idaho and Mon
tana WAS not divided, but the forme,
State should 30 credited with tn.
major portion. In addition to tn.
domestic production 3S,6O8 tons o
lead IN ore and bullion we're brough
into tho United States from Mexico
al of which came from ara.ntiferou
ores. The total production OF lea,
from not. argensifsrous ores in tn
Unitsd States in 1892 amounted t
$4,000 tons only. or less than II pc
cont. OF tho total production Of GU
mines and Is per cent. OF that Of tn
smelling works, the latter including
tho Me xican orc reduced and bullio,
refined in bond aud exported. If tn
mines of the silver States remain idle
therefore, Il 10 apparent that Their
will 10 \ gre Il deficiency in the out
put Of load in shi. country within
very lew months. The London an,
other European markets will be in
flusnoed in the same manner, sine,
much OF the foreign lead. especially
the Australian and Mexican, whicI
reaches them is also reduced fron
srgentiferous ores, and the mines i.
those countries are affected similsrl,
to those in the Rocky Mountains
moro 90. of course, in Australia tina,
in Mexico, where tho decline in tn
price of silver has for a time at leas
lesssened the cost of production, tina
country being on silver basis already
We are informed that the Rrea
Broken Hill mine, the largest singh
producer of lead in the world, has (, |
ready closed down, although ther,
are probably soms ul,erior motives i,
this action, - We have shown pre-
viously that it can be operated At
profit with silver at SO cents pc
ounce.
Notwithstanding this prospect, tn
price OF lead has remained at the lov
level which has been ruling for
number Of months, and which is ia
below the average price of 1872 or O
any yesr since 1878. This ia du
undoubtedly to two reasons, tho fir.