The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-05-16
PRODUCTION OF GOLD
SHOWS GREAT DECLINE
INDUSTRY HAS SUFFERED FROM
WAR AND HIGH COST
OF MINING.
mining and Scientific Press)


The statistics Of gold production US
ually available early in the year ar
now to hand. so that 1t is possible t
estimate the total output of gold IL
1917. Such an estimate necessaril,
includes a guess as to about one-sev
enth Of the total, although this fac
is obscured In the elaborate figure.
published by various authorities. TIL,
ions furnish fairly accurate figure.
promptly, but other countries are SLOW
in issuing statistics, sometimes post
poning them for two years or more
However, the English speaking coun.
tries produce SO per cent of the tota
output, so we are able to make gen
eral estimate near enough for ouI
purpose, which is to consider the
status Of the gold mining industry. II
will be noted that last year in every
case the production declined. The
principal contributor, the Transvaal
shows decrease of $5,63l, 900, which,
however, is relatively small, being
less than 3 per cent. In itself it is not
significant, because the production
last year was about equal to that of
1915 and a million dollars more than
in 1913, the year preceding the war.
That the gold mining industry of the
Rand Is at its zenith of gross produc-
ton and already past it's zenith Of
profitableness is certain, but the de-
cline may not be made manifest in
statistics for several years, thanks to
the expansion of the eastern end Of
the great goldfeld. In the adjoining
province of Rhodesia the decrease
was about 10 per cent. Toward the
close of the year several discoveries
Of ore underground galvanized the
market for Rhodesian shares, but
there is no reason to anticipate any
real accession of vigor to the gold
mining industry of a region that has
been victimized by share peddling
and financial chicane. In West At
rica--the gold coast-the decrease was
also about per cent, the two chief
producers, the Ashanti Goldfelds and
the Prestea, particularly the latter,
showing signs of decadence. The In
dian output Of gold, which comes en-.
tirely from the Kolar goldfeld, ex-
one lode that is being mined by four
successful British companies is lean
in the bottom workings and it is only
the large quantity of ore in reserve
that enables the mines to maintain
uniform output. A serious collapse is
inevitable within a few years. The
bulk Of the Canadian production
comes from Ontario, and predomin-
antly from the Porcupine district,
which in 1917 yielded $S,229.774, the
average yield being 81 per ton. OF
this total the Holinger Consolidated
Gold Mines contributed $4,23S,777, or
more than half. In the United States
the yield shows decline Of about S&
per cent as compared with 1916 and of
over 16 per cent as compared with
1915. California continues to be the
foremost producer, yielding $2OS15,-
900 in 1917, but in this state, as in
every other except Arizona, there
was a small decrease. Colorado's de-
crease was $3,240,000 and California's
$1,160,000. Arizona advanced from
$685., 800 to $5,533,SO0 and the in
crease is significant because it was
due to the production of gold as by
;y, ha x,yirn snn nf
Whereas &C per cent of the gold pro-
duced in the United States in 1915
came from quartzose ores. and rs per
cent from placers, it is probable that
in 1917 this proportion, making to-
gether over 80 per cent Of the total,
decreased 6 per cent, while on the
other hand the yield from copper ores
increased from 6 per cent in 1914 to 10
per cent in 1917. The report of the U.
s. geological survey on this phase Of
any year later than 1915, so these es-
Inmates are only reasonable guesses,
but they serve to indicate an import
ant trend in gold production, namely,
an increasing production of the out
put in the United States in particu-
lar, and in other countries also, Is
being derived from the exploitation of
base metal ores. principally copper.
but including lead and zinc ores as
well. The Australasian output has
been decreasing steadily for many
years, owing to the exhaustion Of the
big mines in western Australia and the
decline Of the older goldfields in VIC
toria, without an adequate corrective
from fresh discoveries. Last year the
total diminution in Australasia was a
little more than II per cent. which Is
a serious proportion. 1t is impossible
to give an accurate estimate of the
production Of gold last year in Rus
STA and Mexico, both these countries
being in state of anarchy rendering
statistical inquiry out Of the question.
The guesses given in the accompany
) ing table probably err on the hopeful
side, for conditions in Russia be-
came so much worse during the clos
ing months of 1917 that systametic
United States
Canada ......,......