The copper era., 1911-01-06
Government Statistics Issued.
(Continued from page II

Smelling & refining company, where 1t will be refined.
 There are already on the dump 25O,0OO tons of Miami ores, shipments of which Will be made soon after the first of the year, when the mill com mences operations,
 THE INSPIRATION
 Is about to double the nun Der of it's churn drills and carry forward the work of proving up aud blocking out new ore much more rdpidIy than 1t has heretofore. '.Scout" hOles, which have been put down recently to the north and west, ve ,ncountered good ore and tended to confirm the estimates of the engineers tnat at least 3o,OUO,UUO to 4J,UoO,OUO tous of ore will be developed in tn prop erty eventually.
 THE CALUM T & ARIzoNA's
 plan f'r a consolidation W tn Superior x Pittsburg has so far failed to stim- ulate any considera ble speculative in- terest. Mining men who are familiar with underground conditions at the two properties declare that Stu perior x Pittsburg is now a very big mine, that development work is fully con- tirming the original expectations of the promoters, and tn tt the property will be able to put out large ton- mage of high grade smelling ore for a great many years to come. They. say, however, that Calumet & Arizona is rapidly nearing the end of it's ore re- serves, aud that the. success of the proposed consolidation is even more to be desired by this eompany's stock holders than by holders of Superior & Pittsburg. One mining man ven lures the opIuion that the consolida- ted company will be able fit wishes, to close down all the mines with the exception of the Junction, and pay S4 share annually on 62S, ,OOO shares of stock from the mine alone.
 THE METAL MARKET.
 Geo. L. Walker in his weekly cop per letter this week says:
 Copper continues very dull with prices unchanged Lake is IS cents and electrolytic F 3-4 cents a pound. Sales of small lots of the latter at l2 5.S cents have been reported re- gently. A break in metal prices at present is practically Impossible. Pro- ducers have sold all their surplus ac- emulation they desire to, and many oi them have disposed of their out put as far ahead as the end Of Jan- uary. There is no one to offer prices down, and it is practically certain that consumers will come into the mai ket and buy heavily within the next week or two.
 The worlds copper surplus, now aggregaling over 3OO,OOO, 900 pounds, is believed to be made up of about l50, 100000 pounds held by spe cula- tors, chiefly foreign; 6O,OOO, 900 pounds in various lots held speculatively by small producers, metal dealers, brok CTS and individuals, and the remain ing lOO,OO0,O00 pounds represents the copper which accumulates in smell ters in the Lake Superior district and refinerics elsewhere, on docks and at other shipping points, awaiting boats or cars. This last OO,0O0 900 pounds of the worlds surplus will never dis appear. It is the amount which un- avoidably accumulates at one point and another in the process of turn over; for 1,3OO,OCO, ,OOO pounds of cop per, the present annual production, cannot all be kept in constant mo- tiOn until it reaches the consumers.
 One thing that is unfortunate about the statistIgs as now published is that they come exclusively from the producers. If the consumers were also furnishing their figures. the whole situation would appear in a much more cheerful fight. The pro- ducing interests report deliveries" and it is easy for the pessimistically inclined to assume that a portion of this copper goes into warehouses, where it is hidden away to create a fictitious statistical situation. AS a matter of fact actual consumption this year has considerably exceeded the deliveries of the producers, for it has absorbed in addition the ten mil lions of pounds of copper which has found it's way to market from various sources.
 It has been figured out by some statisticians that the decrease in the worlds surplus has been just about offset by the curtailment in produc- tion during the last half of the year If this is true, it must be conceded that consumption has at least equaled the total producing capacity of the