Evening star., 1928-12-23
WORLD SUPPLY OF COLD
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

The greatest gold hunt in the history
of the world now is in progress. It Is
not being conducted by picturesque
prospectors, equipped with pick and
grubstake and hope, but by the geolog-
ical departments of governments.
The International Geological Con-
gress is an organization made up of
scientists, which meets every two years.
At each biennial conference the dis
| cussion centers about one principal
mineral, the topic being selected at
each preceding conference Two years
! ago when the conference was held in
Spain on the subject of mineral fertil-
| izers, South Africa vas selected as the
| next place of meeting and the subject
| chosen was gold. 1t was the first time
that gold had been made the subject
of this world gathering, iron, coal, oil
and other mineral products having oc-
cupied previous meetings.
The congress Is to meet In Johannes
burg, Union of South Africa, next Au-
gust, and all principal nations of the
world have been asked to furnish data
on their potential gold resources. One
| strong reason for selecting gold as the
mineral to be studied was the monetary
situation throughout the world. The
war threw many nations off the gold
standard. The more important ones
have struggled back, France. for in
stance, having returned only last June.
But in addition, India Is planning to go
on gold standard basis and China
Is not unlikely to follow. These two
nations, the most populous In the world,
will effect an enormous demand for
gold as a reserve for their currencies
and therefore 1t behooves the world to
take stock Of the potentialities.
World gold production in 1926, the
last year for which complete figures
have been tabulated, amounted to $685.
664, 700. From 1860 to 1925 world gold
production had amounted to $l5,677,-
897 800. So, In round numbers, the
existing gold stock of the world is $16,-
SOC, 100000.
The work now being done throughout
the world contemplates arrival at an
estimate of what amount of gold NAV
be expected to come out of the ground
within the next few years. In this
country the work is being done by the
Geological Survey in cooperation with
the Bureau of Mines.
Determination of what gold may be
in The ground is one Of the most diff
f1cult Of geological problems. The pres
ence OF some other minerals Is much
easier to detect. Iron, for example,
uoAaAAJ OOAOtS bAlC LUCkS rusty TCQ ana
even hidden iron ore will, under given
circumstances, respond to magnetic in.
struments. Oil shows surface seepages
and colors streams. But gold, chem
ically inert mineral, is responsive to no
detecting instrument and does not vis-
ually betray its presence.
Search Is Often Blind.
Biologists know the general types of
formations which are hospitable to
gold deposits, but the search, In the
main, is rather a blind one.
However, the Survey and the Bureau
of Mines are carefully canvassing known
workings and attempting estimates as
to how long they will last. There are
25 substantial producing gold mines in
the United States and Alaska. The
largest, the Homestake Mine in South
Dakota, is producing at the rate of
about $275,0 year and the mines
in California are yielding annually in
excess Of $500,000. The California gold
for the most part is being recovered
through dredging and placer mining
streams Just as It was in the DAYS of
'49, when the strike was made at Sut-
ter's Mill
In gold mining the lodes are charted
and the ground prepared for ore extrae-
tion for about two years in advance on