The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-09-17
Our Mineral Reserves; How to Make
America Industrially Independent

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Other States -. 1904 1891 5l,4SO
The largest increase in sight is the
result of the application Of ore flota-
ton concentration in Montana. but an
increase due to the same cause is to
be looked for in Idaho and possibly in
Utah. In Montana the Butte & Super
Tor mill is now producing at the rate
Of $4,000 tons Of zinc year, and the
new Pilot Butte mill, which has Just
gone into operation, should raise the
state output to 10000 tons year. or
II, as planned, another unit Is added
to this mill the state output may rise
to 10000 tons and more by 1915. In
/ Colorado the new zinc oxide plant at
Leadville is reported to be purchasing
IA per cent zinc carbonate ore, as
against minimum of about 20 per
cent ore purchased by zinc smeters.
AS the Leadville carbonate ore is not
amenable to concentration this means
a large increase in the available zinc
ore resources Of that region. Another
source of zinc which will l.. >.,ade
available in the future Is zinc-bearing
copper ore the zinc content of which
now either makes the ore unstable or
when the ore is smelted for the copper
collects as tiue and playhouse dust, for
the recovery Of the zinc from which
there is at present no satisfactory pro-
cess. Much ore Of this sort is mined in
Shasta county, California, and such
zinciferous dusts are accommodating in
large quantities at the smelters in that
region.
4 With the establishment of peace in
Mexico 1t is to be expected that i'm
ports of zinc ore from that country
will again reach large proportions, and
likewise the imports from Canada may
perhaps become larger even than they
were in 1909, before the imposition of
the tariff. With the closure OF the
Belgian and other continental markets
to the zinc concentrates from Broken
Hill, Australia, those concentrates NAV
be partly diverted to the United States,
II sufficient foreign market becomes
available the surplus smelter capacity
in the United States might perhaps be
employed in smelling foreign zinc ores
under bond, and a business might
grow up similar to that which exists in
lead smelling.
1t an extensive business of smelling
foreign zinc in bond should grow up it
would probably be found desirable to
build special shelters for that work at
tidewater in the vicinity of New York
City, convenient to fuel supplies and
acid markets and to water transporta-
ton to Mexico and through the Pana-
ma Canal to British Columbia and Au-
stralia. This business could be done
only at the expense Of domestic pro-
duction of zinc ore, for the present
domestic production more than equals
the apparent domestic consumption as
spelter and as zinc oxide and bids ia
exceed 1t greatly in year or two un-
less consumption is increased by the
development Of export trade in manu-
Iactured zinc galvanized iron products
The opening Of the Panama Canal
the necessary establishment of Ameri-
can lines Of transportation to South
america, Australia, and the Orient, and
IN the present crisis the large depend.
ence Of those continents on the United
states for their supply Of zinc all make
Tor quick commercial introduction of
the products of the United States zinc
industry to those continents-an intro
auction which under other conditions
might have taken years.
1t is known that large stocks Of spell
ter exist in Europe. The Ironmonger,
OF London, gives the stocks at the end
OF March as $4,000 long tons and quotes
an estimate Of $4,000 long tons for the
END OF April. At that rate the stock
on hand June 30 must have been con-
siderably over 100000 short tons, COM
pared to $1,000 short tons in the United
states. The greater part Of the Europ-
can stocks, however, must have been
held In the interior and must now be
isolated, SO that for the term of the
war they may be disregarded. After
the war what remains of these stocks
VIII become available again and will
possibly operate to depress prices but
III the meantime the United States zinc
operators Will have had the opportun-
lty to dispose OF domestic stocks and
TO become established in the foreign
markets.
statistics Of zinc exports from the
principal zinc-smelting countries of
europe taken from the official publ
cations of the countries concerned
snow foreign market for over $4,000
tons OF zinc, Of which about 10000 tons
consists Of spelter in slabs and the re-
mainder OF zinc sheets. The American
zinc industry should stand an excellent
cnance to take over the trade in zinc
slaos and such part Of the trade in zinc
sheets as American zinc-rolling mills
can furnish. The trade in galvanized
IRON sheets Is dominated by Great
britain, which controls 81 per cent Of
the total export trade in that commod-
lty with the four countries concerned.
IN addition to smelling over $4,000 tons
OF SDelter In hnr nu,n v,1ocfo Nraat