Arizona republican., 1903-01-08
Ar;zona's Gold Production.

ATlLOud - oOta
 No statistics issued by the govern- ment are more unreliable than the ng- ures purporting to give Arizona's pro- duction of gold. The preliminary es- timate" made by the director or the mint for this year was published in our telegraphic columns Tuesday. He fixes upon s4, ,l55 ,O99 as the value of the gold produced in the territory during the calendar year 1902. The odd sss are im- pressive. but the correctness of the es- innate Is not increased thereby.
 The sum allotted to Arizona Is ridicu- lously below her actual production. It would be interesting to know how Di- rector Roberts arrives at these figures. One is tempted to believe that 1t is about in this fashion: the officials of the mint find that the percentage Of increase in the total production or gold has been so much: they regard 1t as fair to assign to Arizona her pro rata share of this percentage. based upon former reports-and the problem is solved. It cannot be denied that 1t is very difficult for the government to learn with approximate certainty the value of the gold produced in this terri tory each year, but 1t does seem that greater efforts might be made to come somewhere near the truth. For sev- eral years each annual estimate made by the director of the mint has failed to do justice to Arizona's yield of gold It Is entirely conservative to say that the sum of A, 155, ,O99 does not represer, more than half of the total gold pro- duction in this territory in 1902. Other states get the credit of what is taken from us In arriving at the grand total of production in the United States and Alaska, fixed by him at $50. S53,O7O. Di- rector Roberts cannot be far from the truth, for practically all of the gold mined passes under the eyes of the officials of the mint. or comes within the range of their actual knowledge.
 But it is when segregation of this vast sum is attempted that mistakes are made. and owing to a variety of circumstances Arizona is bound to "get the worst of it. in the making of the estimates. Some of these circumstances are familiar to all mining men.
 For instance. Arizona operators each year sell large quantities of gold to purchasers of bullion in San Francisco. Purchasers and refiners of gold in Cal ifornia in dealing with the mint might of course, take pains to inform the government as to the value of the gold received by them from Arizona, but there never has been any evidence of any serious efforts to enlighten the mint officials in this regard. Probably one-half of the gold amalgamared in the stamp mills in this territory is shipped to San Francisco.
 Another item practically impossible to follow up with accuracy is that of ore shipments to the smeIters. Hun dreds of carloads of gold ore and high grade concentrates are shipped to the smelters of Fl Paso, Pueblo and Den yer, and payment therefor received in
 
 cisco. The smelters at these points are credited with producing so much gold, but for the government to trace the origin of the ores from which the gold is produced is hardly possible. Be- sides, some of the largest producers of gold are the least communicative as to their exact output.
 Again. everybody who is familiar with the mining industry knows that considerably more than half the gold taken from the mines of Arizona Is combined with copper. in the form of copper matte or bullion and is shipped to the eastern refinerles The electrolytic reflners of Brooklyn, for in- stance, receive copper bullion from all the copper districts in the United States. They do not disclose their busi- ness secrets to the extent of obliging the mint with information as to the To- cality where each ounce of gold ham, dled by them was mined
 In short. so long as the gold of Ari- zona is smeIted or refined abroad, or is marketed through middlemen in other states. 1t is absurd to suppose tha, the officials of the mint, relying upon their present channels of information, will come within guessing distance of the value of this territory's gold pro- duction.