Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1922-01-07
WALKER LAKE BULLETIN
Saturday. January L 1922
COPPER MINING LISTED
TO MAKE BIG NEW START


The copper market has developed considerable
Improvement during the last few months and the
opinion in the trade is that the mines may resume
operations much sooner thaa believed possible
several months ago, says the New York Times
Much Of the ground LOST earlier in the year has been
reeained Current prices for the metal range from
1875 10 IA cents per pound and copper is selling
faster than at any time during the current year
Compared with the It's cent price OF August, the
increase amounts to almost 20 per cent.
The increase in price has brought much better
feeling in producing circles, but it has not been
without criticism the part OF consumers, some
OF whom Of the opinion that the advance has
been too sudden and oyerdone II is easy to Tor
get after seeing copper selling for months for L tc
1880 cents pound, that the present improvement
is The markets has not even brought the metal back
to pre-war average price, says the Engineering
and Mining Journal in It's current issue Copper
ii is pointed out is still Al an unusually low level
"lhe record for the last half OF 1921 is especially
pleasing when compared with the similar period
last year. says the paper. "'lhen copper dropped
steadily from 1855 cents in the end OF 1920. The
present behavior Of the market is complete reversal
OF last years record"
Viewed from all angles. the opinion is expressed
that the copper situation is better than it has beer
at any time since the signing OF he armistice, dis
counting the initiation which carried the metal il
company with other commodities to unhealthy
high levels in 1910. Developments in the last ten
weeks have placed copper in much sounder pc
siton than it has been in for years, it is added and
although IFS position is not entirely satisfactory
should present developments continue, unemploy-
ment and the passage OF dividends will no longer
be troubles OF the copper industry
'Ihe surplus stocks Of copper which have been
a serious factor in the situation Of second
airy Importance, it is said AT the beginning Of
the year almost billion pounds of copper was
available surplus which is estimated at Co.,
100000 pounds. When it is recalled that 100000
900 pounds OF the surplus was ear-marked for ex
port by the Copper Export Association early this
year, through the medium of bond ISSUE and that
thus the quantity of copper has been substantially
reduced by export sales present stocks do not APP
pear formidably large"
The greater part of the copper exported from
this. country during the first ten months of the
current month was shipped to Germany
The pre-war average monthly shipments to Ger
many was Is, 100000 pounds, to England, 5583,0OC
pounds and to France li,53o,0O0 pounds.
Exports of copper from this country since the
beginning of the year have been excess OF domes.
tic production, that virtually all of the con-
sumption on the part of American consumers has
been drawn from the surplus stocks. Should do
nestle deliveries cotinue at the current rate OF
about 100000 pounds monthly, exports at 500OO,-
600 pounds and production from all sources, in
GLIDING imorts, at 100000 pounds it is expected
that it will only take four five months to reduce
the surplus stocks OF metal on hand to normal
figure.
1t is the opinion in some quarters that resump-
ton Of mining operations may be looked for in the
Spring, possibly March or April, but even ii some
of the mines production at that time it
will be some time before production will be any
where near normal One guess is that the mines
will resume operations at about 40 per cent Of
capacity.