The Parker post., 1917-05-19

OF COPPER.
ARIZONA RANKS FIRST IN THE
PRODUCTION OF THE RED
METAL EXCEEDING COMBINED
OUTPUT OF MONTANA AND
MICHIGAN.

There are many people who are
specializing on the future of the cop
per mining and smelling industry,
and no portion of the United States
is more concerned than Arizona,
ranking first in the production of this
metal. Last year Arizona produced
more copper than Montana and Mich
igan combined with enough more
| than these states contributed to fill
the present specifications of the gov
ernment for 45,0OO.OOOO pounds by
four times. The total amounted to
more than 28 per cent of the entire
| copper yield of the United States and
| was a gain over the output for 1916
OF 249,OS9,147 pounds, the total for
the year being 693, 3,262,11l pounds.
The United States produces about
five eighths of the copper of the
world, mining and marketing for
1916 the enormous poundage of L.
941,500,5S6. The gain in the
output of copper has been very
large for the last years and
much of this addition can be at
| tributed to the needs of the warning
countries, the metal being war mate
rial in the most vital sense. Every
time three-inch shrapnel shell ex-
| plodes three pounds of copper goes
with it, and this, following the ex-
plosion, is unscrapable. When one
stops to consider that shrapnel is the
| popular artillery load and is con
stantly being employed along nun
dreds of miles of battle fronts, he
| can probably get faint idea of the
| enormous quantities of copper that
are being wasted in the war alone
and in this particular form. The
shells OF nearly all kinds must
be banded with copper to save
the rifling of the gun and at
the same time it must be tough
enough to not be stripped un-
der the tremendous energy of the
powder charge. There is no substi-
tute that can be employed that is at
all practical.
The fact that for ten years prior
to her war initiation Germany has
been buying and stocking copper for
war emergencies, accounts for her
supply up to this time. 1t is we'll
known that she was steadily accumu-
lating surplus over the period sta.
ted and was well prepared in this
feature when she instituted the war.
Always the heaviest consumer of the
metal, Germany is now reduced to
very small stocks which she is con-
serving in every way possible. She
is producing little copper but her
vast stocks must now be about de-
pleted.
1t is true that there are no sur
pluses of the metal in the United
States and ingOts are still being sent
hot from all the smelters and refin-
cries Of this country With the en-
trance into the war by the United
States there undoubtedly will still be
further increase in copper OUTPUT
providing the building up of the
army and navy does not interfere
with the mining and smelling, and
patriotic work can be accomplished
in this connection we believe that
in furnishing metal so necessary
to successful war operation Copper
with steel, zinc and lead, will have
to be abundantly supplied in all the
forms in which it will be needed.
Someone has said that the country
most powerful in steel will prove
the most powerful in war, and
to steel must be added copper
under modern practices of attack and
defense.
Our government will be calling for
greater quantities of copper as soon
as it's great task of providing ships
guns, ammunition, etc, gets fairly
under way. Modern battleships con
sumo immense quantities OF copper,
as do smaller craft, submarines,
skimmers and the like. electricity
playing an important part in the con
struction of all of them. Automo-
biles, of which there will have to be
many more. particularly In the form
of trucks, will need much copper
You may not know about it, but
there are more than 400 pounds OF
| copper in every box car built, this
being in the form of bronze in bear
| ings. 1t enters into a thousand