Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-05-20
.COUNTRY'S MINES
NOT PLAYING OUT
PRESIDENT VAN HIsE TAKES oP.
TIMIsTIc VIEW OF MIN
ERAL RESOURCES.
DISCOVERY OF NEW DEPOSITS
WILL KEEP AHEAD OF
EXPLOITATION.

Washington, D. c., May 14.-That
a review of the mineral resources Of
this country does not warrant such ex-
tremely pessimistic views as have
sometimes been expressed in refer
ence to the reserves of iron, lead. cop
per and zinc, and that it is not pro-
bable that this generation or the next
will see any great shortage Of these
metals. was the substance of an in
formal address made by President
Charles r. Van Hise of the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin in discussing the
address of Andrew Carnegie upon the
need of conservation of metallic re-
, sources, and especially of iron and
steel, at President Roosevelt's con-
ference at the white house.
Iron ore available to the United
States, President Van Hise believes,
viii continue to be discovered more
rapidly than it is exploited and con-
sequently the known total reserves
win increase rather than decrease.
The highest point for known iron ore
reserves of high grade may therefore
be some years in the future. Never
theless. President Van Hise expressed
his conviction that In exploiting the
metallic ores it Is the duty of this
country to do so in such a fashion
that the reserves of lower grade prod
ucts not now available because of
market conditions, may in the future
be exploited. 1t is also a national re-
sponsibility, he pointed out, 20 use
metals which have been mined and
reduced, so that the yearly loss shall
DO as small as possible. He spoke as
follows:
Iron Ore Resources Large.
while the additio. to the known
reserves of iron ore available to the
United States which are TO be made
by discoveries in the western states.
in Canada, in Mexico, In Cuba, and in
South America are uncertain 1t is
hardly possible that the amount will
not be very important; but as yet
there is no reason to suppose that the
discoveries in any Of these counties,
with possible exception Of Cuba, VIII
reveal iron ore deposits comparable
in Importance TO the Lake Superior
and the southern Appalachian dis
tricts.
1T appears probable, therefore, that
/ for some years to come, iron ore avail
able to the United states will con-
tinue TO be discovered more rapidly
10 rnIa oil
quently the known total reserves will
increase rather than decrease. Hence
the crest for known iron ore re-
serves OF high grade may be some
years In the future.
While, therefore. 1t is safe 20 say
that the available high grade iron ore
will be adequate for possibly cen
fury. even If the rate Of production
further greatly Increases, II Is to be
remembered that as the percentage Of
iron in the ore goes down, larger
amount OF coal is required TO obtain
a ton Of metallic iron, and that there
fore, In proportion as our rich ores
are exhausted, the draft will become
steadily heavier upon the most import
ant Of the underground resources
fuel.
| Copper Supply Limited.
Although no systematic attempl to
estimate the copper reserves has
been made, ii is safe to say that the
well known reserves of high grade
copper are at the present time very
much less than they were some years
ago. 1t is clear that the crest OF
known reserves Of high grade copper
ore has been passed, and II has been
suggested that, IL we have not al
ready reached the crest of production
OF copper. we are nearing 1t.
For lead and zinc, gold and silver,
II Is not possible TO make statement
ever as definite as Of those concern
ing copper There are no great
known reserves of these metals In the
sense that there are reserves Of iron
ore. Since the great acceleration In
the exploitation of metallic resources
has occurred so recently the yard
stick with which we are to measure
into the future is very short. Hence
il is not possible to make any definite
forecast as to the time when the
ores OF any given metal shall be ex-
hausted. If we disregard our plain
duty 10 mine and preserve our metal
lie resources with the least possible
loss our descendants will justly