White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-03
NEVADA CONSOLIDATED CLOSES;
POOR COPPER MARKET THE CAUSE

Last Tuesday a notice was posted
at the mines, mill and smelter OF the
Nevada Consolidated Copper Com
pany as follows:
Notice to Employes-In view OF
the extremely unsatisfactory condi-
tion of the copper mining industry.
with little hope expected of any i'm
provement until Europe returns to
normal consumption of the metal. ]
am sorry to inform you that this
company is TO Immediately close
down for an indefinite period
THE mining of ore will be dis
continued on April l. but in the gen
eral program of preparing the mines
and plants for complete shutdown
every consideration will be given tc
the employment of men with fam
lilies or dependents.
| c. B. LAKENAN, General Manager.
The above did not come In the ma
ture of a complete surprise, in view
of the fact that the copper companies
throughout the country have found
/ it necessary TO suspend operations
and a shut down here seemed inn
minet because with an immense sur
plus on hand and no market for Ii
such a course seemed unavoidable.
Men with families are perhaps bet
ter off in Ely today than they would
be in any other section to which they
might now move. Such men are es-
ltablished here and IL they seek en-
ployment in other fields they will
probably find it difficult matter not
only because of the general depres-
sion throughout the entire country
but by reason OF the fact that men
are holding fast rather than moving
fg a n fh0ca
later.
Before leaving the Ely district
every man should look well into the
future and assure himself that he
will be able to obtain employment
lelsew here before he makes the move;
iotherwise he may find himself on the
road with no place to go, while here
the valleys are still productive and
the hope is generally entertained
that the mines, mill and smelter will
liz the near future be open with
good demand for labor.
The key to the situation as figured
by those in position to know is the
European market. Foreign countries
are In need of copper and eventually
must take the product of the United
States, but under present conditions
lthey are not In position to buy be-
; money and on the other hand are nm
i able to pay their debts. In speaking
, of the situation to a representative
! OF the News one we'll yersed man
I said: You cannot sell to man
Who IL broke and expect him to pay
/ cash. prospector may have in
sight one OF the biggest mines in the
world and in order to hold the
ground he must do development. OF
at least assessment work. Ii he If
out of money the only hope is for
someone to grubstake him, and then
when the mine Is opened reap the
benefit along with The man who did
the actual work
Foreign countries in the last few
years have seen their hillsides de.
! stroyed, their temples demolished
/ and their farms neglected. When the
armistice was signed the next thing
naturally to be expected was to turn
from the affairs OF war. cultivate the
farms, rebuild the factories rail
roads and in fact all industries TIC
do this they must have raw material
: The United States was in position to
furnish this. raw material but nat.
urally would not do so until some as
, surance was given as to payment
This turned the eyes of the world to
Washington and from Washington to
Wall street
Instead of devoting their time to
the real business OF the nation some
narrow gentlemen who found their
way into the senate by mistake
thought they saw an opportunity for
personal ACKNOWLEDGMENT and played
ipolitics twenty-four hours each day
and quarter days year. From
this but one result could come and
that was the stagnation of business
industries. The copper companies
kept on producing copper and stor.
ing 1t up when they could not sell
1t. When II reached point that
they could not further stand the f.
nancial strain they suspended and
Will remain so suspended until the
market again opens up on basis
where the red metal can be manu-
factured at profit.
This should not take more than
ninety days at the outside. because
when production is stopped the sur.
plus will be used up and then there
will be demand The situation IL
similar TO man suffering for months
from all ailment which can only be
ltuTeu hY SERIOUS operation. He
hesitates but finally undergoes the
operation, and when the cause of his
suffering has been removed he starts
out I'm the world with renewed vigor
and accomplishes a task which but
a short timc before he regarded as
insurmountable. So IL will be with
the copper industry. When the bad
spots have been cut out and affairs
| in Europe have been adjusted. as
they must be. there will be an excel
lent market and the mines. mills and
smelters OF this country will again
throw open their doors and the
wheels will turn more rapidly than
ever before. That day is not far
distant and when IL arrives the Ely
district will again come into its own"
II Is generally understood that the
Nevada Northern railway will operate
the main line passenger train two OF
three times a week instead OF daily