Chapter XV · LEAD By Frederick B. Hyder

USES OF LEAD

Lead is used in the form of the metal, of alloys with other metals, and of various chemical compounds. As metal its chief uses are as pipe for water and corrosive solutions; for protective covering of electrical cables; as sheet lead for lining chambers for the manufacture of sulphuric acid and vats for chemical manufacturing processes. In smelting, lead is used as a collector of other metals, particularly of gold and silver, from which it is later separated, now most generally by the use of zinc by the Parkes process of desilverization.

Lead alloys readily with nearly all other metals in all proportions. Its alloys of industrial importance comprise type metal, bearing or babbitt metals, shot, solders, casting metals, some brasses, and the fusible alloys used for the protection of electrical apparatus and in automatic sprinklers for the protection of buildings against fire. Type metal, originally composed of 83 per cent. lead and 17 per cent. antimony, now often contains bismuth and sometimes a little copper and iron. An alloy of 9 parts lead, 2 antimony and 2 bismuth is used for stereotype plates. Less than 2 per cent. of arsenic is added to lead used to make shot to increase the hardness and sphericity of the product. Antimony also imparts the hardness essential to shrapnel, etc. Bearing metals comprise alloys of lead and antimony or these with copper, tin, and zinc. Antimony imparts to lead the property of expansion on solidification, essential to type metal and casting materials generally. Lead makes a brass that is soft and machines easily. Solder is commonly an alloy of lead and tin. The melting point varies with the proportions of these constituents and others, sometimes added for special purposes. The cheapest solder in general use is 30 per cent. tin and 70 per cent. lead. Solders seldom contain more than 50 per cent. tin. The addition of bismuth, cadmium, or mercury lowers the melting below the boiling point of water. Fuses can thus be obtained which interrupt electric circuits at any desired temperature.

The largest uses of lead compounds are as pigments. White lead or basic carbonate, 2(PbCO₃)Pb(OH)₂, is the most extensively consumed, being used alone or mixed with zinc oxide and barytes. Red lead (Pb₃O₄) is used for painting structural steel, as a pipe-joint cement, and in the manufacture of glass. Litharge, another oxide, is used in assaying as a flux, in rubber manufacture, and in making glass. The acetate, carbonate and other chemical compounds are used in medicine.

The relative amounts of lead consumed in the various uses in 1913 were: In pigment, comprising white lead, red lead, litharge, and orange mineral, 38.0 per cent.; in alloys such as type metal, bearing metals, and solders, 29.7 per cent.; in pipe, 15.2 per cent.; in shot, 10.4 per cent.; and in sheets, 6.7 per cent.

CHANGES IN PRACTICE

The most revolutionary advance in ore dressing of recent years has been the development of oil-flotation, electromagnetic, and electrostatic processes for the concentration of lead-zinc ores. These processes permit the elimination of the objectionable zinc content of many ores and render it an additional credit of great importance in the exploitation of low-grade complex ores.

The Murex process applied to the treatment of complex ores consists of coating the metallic sulphide minerals with oil and particles of magnetite and pyrite roasted to magnetic sulphide, then separating them from the gangue by an electromagnetic machine. The Lyster preferential flotation of galena depends on the presence of various salts in the water used. In the Broken Hill mines these salts are present in the mine waters. After removal of galena the blende may be preferentially floated by the Bradford copper salt or Bradford hyposulphite or sulphurous acid processes.

In the reduction of lead ores, there are improvements constantly being made. These are chiefly in the mechanical appliances, such as mechanical ore hearths and continuous roasting machinery, such as the Dwight-Lloyd, and in details of furnace construction and the handling of materials, rather than in processes or recognized principles. Various new processes have been proposed, most of which are intended to make available the ores now of too low grade, or the complex ores of lead and zinc whose separation is difficult or commercially impracticable. These processes are now the subject of experiment, with some indications that successful applications may be found. One process involves the volatilization by chloridizing roast of sulphide ores, the precipitation of the lead chloride fume by Cottrell electric precipitation, and smelting the fume with lime. At least 50 per cent. of the chlorine is recovered as calcium chloride, which can be substituted for salt in the further operations. With oxidized ores it is proposed to dissolve the lead by means of brine acidified with sulphuric acid and to precipitate metal sponge by electrolysis.

Gillies’s process consists in roasting the complex sulphides to a low sulphur content, mixing with carbonaceous matter, distilling in excess of air, and volatilizing the lead, zinc, bismuth, cadmium, arsenic, etc., as oxides and sulphates, the lead in form of sulphate, the zinc chiefly as oxide. The fume is caught and digested with a solution of ZnSO₄ and free H₂SO₄ from the electrolytic vats; PbSO₄ remains, which can be used as pigment or smelted. The ZnSO₄ solution is electrolyzed, in the presence of gum arabic in the electrolyte, rendering the zinc deposit more dense.

The Ganlin process, reported successful on Burma zinc-lead middlings, consists in feeding the dry pulverized ore into a molten bath of Zn and NaCl in equal parts. Zinc replaces lead and silver, which are dissolved as chlorides, ZnS being precipitated. When this reaction is complete the lead and silver are precipitated as metals by granulated spelter added to the amount of 35 per cent. of their weight, the dissolved spelter forming ZnCl₂. The silver-bearing lead is tapped off, the residue granulated, the salts leached with water, and the zinc-bearing gangue freed from lead shot by tabling, leaving a zinc ore free from lead.

Electrolytic refining has been one of the greatest advances in the industry; it makes possible the preparation of pure lead from any source and the recovery of numerous by-product metals.

GEOLOGICAL OCCURRENCE

Zinc and lead are commonly associated in mineral deposits, sometimes intimately mixed, sometimes segregated enough so that one metal predominates, but seldom free entirely one from the other. The geological and geographical distribution of the two metals is, therefore, nearly identical. Galena is the most common and important of the lead minerals. Cerussite, anglesite and pyromorphite usually result from the oxidation of galena, the sulphate being usually an intermediate state in the oxidation to the carbonate. Pyromorphite and wulfenite are of minor importance. Jamesonite is more an ore of antimony than of lead. Sphalerite (zinc blende) weathers more readily than galena, and therefore zinc in many places is carried below water level more rapidly and completely than lead. For this reason some mines change from predominantly lead mines to zinc mines with greater depth. Apart from the effect of such secondary enrichment, this change is often encountered in primary ores with increase in depth.

Lead ores occur in deposits of several distinct genetic types. Many deposits lie at shallow depth in sedimentary rocks, without apparent connection with igneous rocks, occurring as tabular replacements of receptive beds. In regions of slightly disturbed strata the ore shoots tend to follow pitching troughs. Ores of this type usually contain lead (galena), zinc (sphalerite), and iron (pyrite) minerals; many contain manganese and cadmium; some contain cobalt and nickel; but few carry gold, silver, copper, or antimony. Deposits of this type are of world-wide distribution, and many are extensive and commercially important. The greater purity of the ore and the simplicity of treatment (particularly for the ores in the oxidized zones), caused them to be exploited first and most extensively, and to dominate formerly the world production of lead. To this type belong, with many others, the deposits of the Mississippi Valley and Silesia, that together yielded 15 per cent. of the world’s production in 1913.

Other important deposits are closely associated with igneous rocks, and are characterized by complex ores. They comprise vein deposits, disseminated replacements of igneous rocks, and silver-lead replacements in limestone.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

The chief lead-ore deposits of the world are situated in the countries that are listed below in the order of their importance in 1913.

Recoverable Lead Content of the Lead Ores of the World Produced in 1913[129]

Rank Country Short tons Metric tons Percentage of world’s total production

1. United States 484,880 440,000 36.0

2. Australia 267,169 242,440 19.8

3. Spain 209,193 189,830 16.4

4. Germany 79,344 72,000 5.9

5. Mexico 68,343 62,000 5.1

6. Tunis 31,076 28,200 2.3

7. Italy 24,905 22,600 1.8

8. Canada 24,244 22,000 1.8

9. Austria 22,591 20,500 1.7

10. Great Britain 20,277 18,400 1.5

11. Greece 19,836 18,000 1.5

12. Turkey-in-Asia 15,428 14,000 1.1

13. China 13,995 12,700 1.0

14. German S. W. Africa 13,224 12,000 1.0

15. Algeria 12,893 11,700 1.0

16. France 9,587 8,700 0.7

17. India (Burma) 6,502 5,900 0.5

18. Peru 4,331 3,930 0.3

19. Japan 4,143 3,760 0.3

20. Egypt 3,196 2,900 0.2

21. Russia 3,083 2,800 0.2

22. Bulgaria 2,204 2,000 0.2

23. Sweden 2,094 1,900 0.2

24. Hungary 1,256 1,140 0.1

25. Bolivia 1,102 1,000 0.1

26. Portugal 661 600

27. Rhodesia 361 330

Total 1,345,918 1,221,390 100.0

The four districts now of pre-eminent importance are, in order, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia; southeastern Spain; southeastern Missouri and Coeur d’Alene, in Idaho: which are credited respectively with about 19, 16, 12 and 10 per cent. of the world’s production in 1913.

United States.

—The chief producing regions and their percentage of the domestic lead production in 1915 are as follows:

Region Percentage of total domestic production

Southeastern Missouri 33

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 27

Utah 18

Joplin (in Mo., Kans., Ark., and Okla.) 6

Colorado 5

As regards the types of ores and the character of the lead produced, there are two metallographic provinces: the Mississippi Valley, including southeastern Missouri and Joplin, and the minor district of Wisconsin, producing as soft lead 39 to 45 per cent. of the total domestic production; and the Western province, in which the ores are complex, carrying precious metals and often antimony and copper. All of the output from the Western province, but only a part of the soft lead, is desilverized.

Ninety per cent. of the ore mined in southeastern Missouri comes from St. Francois and Madison counties. The ore deposits contain predominantly galena, and are disseminated in Cambrian limestone over large areas at depths of 100 to 550 feet. Copper, nickel, and cobalt occur in the Madison County ores, and copper concentrates are separated and shipped by nearly all the companies in the region. The principal operating companies, with the names of companies absorbed by them or now subsidiaries, shown in parenthesis, are: St. Joseph Lead Co. (Doe Run Lead Co.), Federal Lead Co., National Lead Co. (St. Louis Smelting & Refining Co.), Desloge Consolidated Lead Co., Baker Lead Co. (St. Francois Lead Co.), Boston Elvins Lead Co., Missouri Metals Co. (Mine La Motte Co.), and Missouri Cobalt Co. (North American Lead Co.). The St. Joseph Lead Co. is normally the second largest lead-producing company in the United States. Its holdings have a conservatively estimated life of 20 years, at a rate of production of 2,000,000 tons of ore, or 80,000 short tons of lead, per annum. In 1917 this company mined 2,485,431 tons of ore, nearly half the total output of the region. The Federal Lead Co., a subsidiary of the American Smelting & Refining Co., is the next largest producing company in the region. In 1915 it mined and milled 1,355,000 tons of ore. The National Lead Co., through its subsidiary, the St. Louis Smelting & Refining Co., works three mines near Flat River and has a concentration plant with a daily capacity of 2,400 tons. Its smelter at Collinsville treats its own concentrates, as well as those of the Baker Lead Co. and the Boston Elvins Lead Co. The Desloge Consolidated Lead Co. operates three mines and a mill of 1,700 tons’ daily capacity; its ores are smelted by the Federal Lead Co. The Missouri Metals Co. operates the Mine La Motte and a mill treating 700,000 tons annually at the 1917 rate. In 1915 it was estimated that this mine could produce 3,000,000 tons of ore annually for sixty years.

In the Joplin region, which is chiefly in Missouri but also includes adjacent areas in Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, the ores lie at three horizons in horizontal limestone and chert beds of Lower Carboniferous age. At the upper horizon, usually 100 to 150 feet below the surface, the ore occurs in clayey chert breccias. The ore bodies are characteristically “runs” up to 300 feet wide, and continuous in one horizon for several hundred feet and, rarely, for more than a mile. The middle horizon, or “sheet ground,” at a depth of 150 to 300 feet usually ranges from 6 to 15 feet in thickness. The ore, mixed galena and blende, cements brecciated chert. The third and lowest horizon, in sandy limestones, contains disseminated ores mainly, and as yet is little exploited. In 1915, about 4,000,000 tons of ore was mined from the upper horizon, and 6,500,000 tons from the middle horizon or “sheet ground.” The average lead content of the ore as mined was about 0.25 per cent. Most of the lead concentrates are sold in open market. The Webb City district is the most important in the Joplin region, and the American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co. is the largest galena producer. Most of the output is by lessees and small operators. The Joplin district ranks second in importance. The A. W. C. Mining Co. is the largest miner of “sheet ground.” The Ravenswood and Ritz mines of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co., in Jasper County, produce 218,000 tons of ore annually. The concentrates of this region are chiefly smelted by the plants of the Eagle-Picher Lead Co. at Galena, Kansas; Joplin, Missouri; Webb City, Missouri; and by the Granby Mining & Smelting Co. at Granby, Missouri.

The Coeur d’Alene region is in Shoshone County, Idaho. The deposits are metasomatic veins formed by replacement of siliceous sedimentary rocks along zones of fissuring, and carry mainly galena and siderite with some pyrite and sphalerite. In 1915 the crude ore shipments amounted to 95,169 tons with a lead content of 35,271 short tons. The remainder of the ore, or nearly 96 per cent. of the total, is concentrated to carry about 50 per cent. lead. The 1915 yield of concentrates of all kinds amounted to 329,530 tons, having a lead content of 128,928 short tons, making the total lead content of crude and concentrate shipments 164,199 short tons. The mining companies form three groups, determined chiefly by their relations or affiliations with the smelters, as follows: The Bunker Hill group, comprising the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co., and the Hecla Mining Co.; the Day group, comprising the Tamarack & Custer Mining Co., the Amazon-Manhattan mine, and the Hercules Mining Co.; and the American Smelting & Refining group, comprising the Federal Mining & Smelting Co. and various small producers.

The mines of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co. had reserves on December 31, 1917, of 3,457,634 tons. The ore bodies are replacements of quartzite. This company’s production in 1917 was 493,030 tons of ore, the metallic lead recovered by smelting being 46,996 tons. The Bunker Hill & Sullivan Co., while still shipping its own ores to the Helena plant of the American Smelting & Refining Co., built its own smelter at Kellogg, Idaho, where it smelts the Hecla and other ores. The Day family controls the Hercules, and Tamarack & Custer companies, the Northport smelter at Northport, Washington (now closed down), and the Pennsylvania Smelting & Refining Co. at Pittsburgh, Pa. The 1916 shipments of the Hercules had a lead content of about 22,000 tons. Both companies are close corporations and make public little information as to their operations. The Tamarack & Custer probably has large reserves of ore averaging about 9 per cent. lead; it has produced as much as 3,000 tons of shipping ore and concentrates per month. The Federal Mining & Smelting Co. operates several mines. One-sixth of the stock is owned by the American Smelters Securities Co. and all its silver-lead ores and concentrates are contracted to the American Smelting & Refining Co. The Success Mining Co., working two mines, has been an important producer. The Interstate-Callahan has been chiefly a zinc producer but ships some lead concentrates to the Salida plant of the Ohio & Colorado Smelting Co.

The lead production of Utah is chiefly from the Park City, Bingham Canyon, and Tintic districts. The ores, composed of galena, tetrahedrite and pyrite, and in places sphalerite, with their oxidized derivatives, occur in lodes cutting limestones, sandstones and shales, chiefly of Carboniferous age, and also as bedded deposits in limestone. Both types are frequently associated with porphyry and form irregular ore bodies in contact-metamorphosed limestone. In many mines copper is an important constituent of the ores and the silver content is always important.

The production of Colorado in 1917 comprised 33,995 short tons of lead, of which 9,293 short tons came from the Leadville district in Lake County, 10,412 short tons from the San Juan district in San Juan, San Miguel and Ouray counties, and 6,816 tons from the Aspen district in Pitkin County. The Leadville deposits are in the Mosquito range. The chief producing companies are the Iron Silver Mining Co., the Yak Mining, Milling & Tunnel Co. and its subsidiary, the Leadville Exploration & Mining Co.; the Western Mining Co.; the Downtown Mines Co.; the Ibex Mining Co.; and the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. The Yak Mining, Milling & Tunnel Co., and the Western Mining Co. are subsidiaries of the American Smelting & Refining Co. In the San Juan district, the principal producers are the Liberty Bell; Smuggler-Union; Tomboy; Black Bear; Iowa-Gold Tiger; Dives; Shenandoah; and Silver Lake mines. The veins penetrate all the clastic and igneous rocks of this region, and the ores are exceedingly complex. In Pitkin County, the Smuggler Leasing Co. operates most of the producing mines at Aspen. The ores are peculiarly free from other metals than lead, antimony, and silver.

Australia.

—The lead resources of the Commonwealth of Australia are chiefly in New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania, and Queensland. New South Wales has been the chief producer in the past, but the Tasmanian deposits are now being rapidly developed and equipped for production.

The most important source of ore in New South Wales is the great Broken Hill lode, situated in the arid Barrier Ranges at an elevation of about 1,000 feet above sea level. The lode ranges in width from a few inches to 400 feet and has been worked over a distance of three miles. Mining began in 1884 and now is conducted by several mining companies which, in the order of the importance of their production and ore reserves, are: Broken Hill South Silver Mining Co.; Broken Hill North Mining Co.; Zinc Corporation; Sulphide Corporation; British Broken Hill Proprietary Co.; Broken Hill Proprietary Co.; Broken Hill Proprietary Co., Block 10; and Broken Hill Proprietary Co., Block 14.

Although the deepest workings are 1,815 feet deep, the ore still continues downward. For many years the estimated ore reserves of all the mines have approximated 12,000,000 tons. The upper part of the lode consisted of a gossan 20 to 100 feet wide of siliceous and manganiferous limonite, hematite, and kaolin. Below the gossan were great masses of cerussite, anglesite, cuprite, and malachite, with abundant cerargyrite, embolite, and iodyrite. Between the oxidized and primary sulphide ores was a thin zone of secondary sulphides. The early operations in the district were conducted for the purpose of obtaining lead ores, and immense dumps were accumulated of zinc-bearing ores sorted out or zinc-bearing tailings left after concentration of the lead ores. In 1903 these dumps were estimated at 5,687,400 tons, carrying 18.6 per cent. zinc. With the development of a demand for zinc sulphide ores and of oil-flotation methods of separation and concentration, these dumps have been important sources of zinc. There are two classes of sulphide ores, distinguished as silicate gangue ore, and calcite gangue ore. The sulphide ores are a close mixture of galena and zinc blende, carrying silver. The silicate gangue ore bodies carry rhodonite, garnet, and quartz; and are richer in zinc and silver than those with calcite gangue.

The Broken Hill South Silver Mining Co. has ore reserves estimated at 3,350,000 tons and is the largest ore producer in the field. Broken Hill North, Broken Hill South, Amalgamated Zinc (De Bavay), Zinc Corporation, and Barrier South, Ltd., are controlled by the Hoover-Govett-Bailliau group of British and Australian capitalists.

The Amalgamated Zinc Co. in 1913 treated 498,289 tons of tailings containing 17.1 per cent. zinc, 3.7 per cent. lead, and 4.4 ounces silver, obtaining 140,098 tons zinc concentrates carrying zinc, 48.9 per cent., lead 5.9 per cent., and silver 8.5 ounces per ton. The Zinc Corporation, a company formed by Bewick, Moreing & Co., has ore reserves estimated at 1,504,211 tons, averaging 14.8 per cent. lead, 9.2 per cent. zinc, and 2.5 ounces of silver per ton.

The largest lead-producing district of Tasmania is on the West Coast, where the largest producers, the Hercules of the Dundas group and the Primrose and Tasmanian copper mines of the Rosebery company group, are now controlled by the Mount Read-Rosebery Co., affiliated with the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Co., Ltd. The deposits contain complex sulphide ores, the reserves being estimated by the state geological staff at 1,272,500 tons, averaging 29.79 per cent. zinc, 8.89 per cent. lead, 12.16 ounces of silver, and 0.17 ounces gold per ton. This estimate has since been revised and made more conservative.

In 1913 Western Australia produced 26,589 long tons of lead ore and 125 tons of silver-lead ore, almost wholly from the Northampton district on the West Coast. The only company working on a large scale is the Fremantle Trading & Smelting Co., operating the Baddera and Narra Tarra mines and, formerly, a smelter at Fremantle. The Chillagoe district is the largest producer in Queensland, its output amounting to 2,550 long tons of pig lead in 1913, chiefly from the Girofla mine of the Mungana company, but in part from lead-copper concentrates. The Chillagoe operated a small smelter. The total pig lead production of Queensland was 3,603 long tons in 1913.

Spain.

—Spain yielded in 1913, 314,369 short tons of lead concentrates, from which were smelted 189,559 tons of pig lead. In 1915 only 1,010 short tons of ore or concentrates was exported, and 161,912 short tons of desilverized lead was exported, mostly to England. Over 90 per cent. of the production of ore came from the provinces of Jaen, Murcia, Cordoba, and Ciudad Real. In 1913 the Province of Almeria occupied fourth place, but its mines are now nearly exhausted. These provinces are in the southeastern part of Spain and cover the Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.

In the Province of Jaen are two principal districts—the Linares-Santa-Elena and the La Carolina. Many years ago Linares was the greatest lead-producing district in the world. The veins cut granite and thin overlying sandstone and are very narrow. The Arrayanes, a state-owned mine, has been exploited over a length of two and a half miles and to 1,500 feet in depth. The gangue is granite, quartz and calcite. Iron and copper pyrites and sphalerite are present, but a 79 per cent. lead concentrate is easily made. The deepest mine is 1,800 ft. deep and is still in rich ore. In the Santa Elena vicinity, the San Fernando, Ojo Vecino, and Santa Ana mines are owned locally. The Caridad is owned by French capital and the Santa Susanna by a Belgian concern, the Compagnie Real Asturienne des Mines. In La Carolina district the nearly vertical lodes cut Silurian quartzites and Cambrian and Silurian slates. The ore attains a greater width than in the veins of the Linares district. The Nuevo Centenillo mine (English owned) produces 27,000 short tons of concentrates annually. The great Guindo lode runs through six mines, two of which are owned by Spanish companies, and three by the Guindo Co., a German-Spanish corporation having an output of 27,000 short tons of concentrates yearly. The Castillo La Vieja, owned by a French company, has a yearly output of 20,000 tons of marketable ore.

In the Province of Murcia the Mazarron and Cartagena districts are important. Most of the veins are nearly vertical but many have spurs or branches forming lenticular and bedded deposits in the sedimentaries. This district extends southwestward along the coast from Cabo de Palos a few miles north of Cartagena. The production of this province has been steadily decreasing.

In the Province of Cordoba (district of Posadas) many silver-lead-zinc mines were worked by the Romans and are still profitable. Near Alcaracejos are the mines of Anglo-Vask and Penarroya, the latter owned by a French company of the same name.

The development of the lead ores in the Province of Ciudad Real has been retarded by lack of transportation facilities. The best known district is that of El Hoyo-San Lorenzo, which in 1915 had risen to fourth place among the lead-producing districts of Spain.

Germany.

—In imperial Germany the lead-producing districts in the order of their importance were as follows: Upper Silesia, Rhenish Prussia, Westphalia, Saxony, Hanover, and Nassau. Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia are usually grouped together as one metallographic province. At Gladbach, east of Cologne in Rhenish Prussia, are ore deposits lying in troughs and basins in limestone. The ore is smithsonite and galena mixed with shale. The chief deposits of Westphalia are at Iserlohn and Brilon. At Iserlohn ores containing calamine, galena, and blende are found in irregular pockets. The deposits of Brilon are similar, but most of the ore is found in crevices in the limestone. Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia are the source of about one-third the German production of lead.

The greater part of Upper Silesia lay within the boundaries of Germany in 1914, although formerly part of the kingdom of Poland, the population being still predominantly Polish; but portions were included in the old empires of Russia and Austria. The pre-war production of lead ores from Russian Poland was entirely from this metallographic province. The deposits, which contain lead and zinc together, lie in Triassic beds that overlie Carboniferous rocks carrying important seams of coal. This juxtaposition of ore and fuel furnish an ideal basis for the great smelting industry that developed locally, for the conditions permit smelting of low-grade ores.

The historic mines at Freiberg, in Saxony (Erzgebirge) yield a small quantity of blende in connection with the concentration of galena ores from a remarkable series of intersecting veins, which number more than 900, although few are more than 2 feet thick. They have been worked to a depth of 2,100 feet. More than 10 per cent. of the lead production of Germany is derived from Saxony. These mines are owned and operated by the Saxon government, which also owns the smelting plants.

Lead predominates over zinc in the ores of the Upper Harz, in Hanover. These ores occur in veins and zones in slates of Devonian and Lower Carboniferous age. These mines are worked by the Prussian Department of Mines, which also operates two smelting plants, the output being about 10 per cent. of the total German output. In Nassau, in the valley of the Lahn, lead ores are produced as a by-product, with zinc blende concentrates.

Mexico.

—In Mexico lead ores are mined in several states, the more important being Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, San Luis Potosi, and Zacatecas. In many districts during a considerable part of the past eight years work has been intermittent and occasionally suspended for long periods.

The Santa Eulalia district in Chihuahua is largely owned by American companies, including the American Smelting & Refining Co., operating the Mina Vieja, Sin Nombre, Velardeña, San Antonio and Santo Domingo mines; and El Potosi Mining Co., operating the mines of the same name. The San Toy is under lease to the American Metal Co., now purged of German interests. The Santa Eulalia Mining Co. belongs to the Hearst estate. The Buena Tierra Mining Co. is a British concern. The mines of the Santa Barbara and Parral districts are also largely under American control, among many others being the Montezuma Lead Mining Co. of the R. S. Towne interests, Granadeña Mining Co., American Smelters Securities Co. and American Zinc Extraction Co. The American Smelters Securities Co. operates the Tecolotes, Montezuma, San Diego, Guadalupe and Alfarena mines. The San Francisco mines are owned by British capital. In the San Isidro district the Calera, Prieta and Buena Vista mines are operated by the American Smelting & Refining Co. The Lago mine is operated by C. M. de Las Plomosas (French). In the Parado district are mines of the Compañia Minera Aurora y Anexas, controlled by the Madero family (Mexican). Other Chihuahua mines of the American Smelting & Refining Co. are Orizaba and La Union at Magistral, the Jibosa at Dolores, La Luz and Parcionera at Cordera, the Veta Grande and Veta Colorado.

The largest operators in the state of Durango are the American Smelters Securities Co. at Velardeña and the Cia. Minera de Peñoles at Mapimi, both now American since the selling of the German-held stock of the American Metals Co. by the Alien Property Custodian.

In Sonora, the Carnegie Lead & Zinc Co. worked a mine near Cananea, during the war, but the best part of the deposit is now depleted.

The Tiro General mines, in San Luis Potosi, belong to the American Smelting & Refining Co.

The Cabrilla and Paloma mines, in the Cabrillas district in Coahuila, are owned by the Compañia Minera de Peñoles, controlled by the American Metal Co. The Sierra Mojada district is dominated by American companies, the principal mines being owned by the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co., a subsidiary of the American Smelting & Refining Co. The Boquillas de Carmen mine has been acquired by an American company.

In the state of Nueva Leon, deposits lying within a radius of 50 miles of Monterrey, at Villadama, Vallecillo, Ladera Occidental de Minas Viejas, etc., have been exploited by German and American companies, including the Compañia Metalurgica Mexicana (American), Joplin-Mexican Mining Co. (American), and the Metallgesellschaft (German).

Other Countries.

—The output of lead ore in Tunis in 1913, almost wholly by French companies, was 56,072 metric tons. It is all exported.

Practically all the output of lead ore in Italy is derived from the Inglesias district of Sardinia, which in 1915 produced 40,829 metric tons of ore averaging 55 per cent. lead, out of a total national production of 41,590 metric tons. The principal operators are the Monteponi and Pertusola companies, the former Italian, the latter English. The remainder of the ore comes from the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia Cuneo, and Grosseto, and the operating companies are the English Crown Spelter Co. (English), and the Societa Austro-Belga and Société de la Vieille Montagne (Belgian).

In Czecho-Slovakia, the most important district is that of Przibram, in Bohemia. Rich lead ores were once mined at Mies, but the district is now exhausted. The district of Joachimsthal was for centuries an important producer.

In German-Austria are the silver-lead mining districts of Schneeberg, in Tyrol, and Raibl, in Upper Carinthia. In both districts the mines were before the war owned and operated by the Austrian state. Miess, in Carinthia, is one of the chief sources of ore in recent years.

The lead mines of Great Britain in 1916 produced 17,083 tons of dressed lead ore. The largest operator is the Weardale Lead Co., operating the Boltsburn and Stanhopeburn mines and smelting its own and some custom ores.

In Greece the only important lead deposit is that of Laurium, which was worked on a large scale in ancient times. It is now controlled and operated by a French company, the Compagnie Française des Mines de Laurium.

The lead production of Canada is chiefly from British Columbia, the most important producers being in the Slocan district. The largest operator is the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd., proprietor also of the Trail smelter. This company operates the Sullivan and other mines and produced during the year ended September 30, 1917, 29,542 tons of lead ore from the Sullivan mine, and 1,100 to 1,500 tons from several others. The Sullivan mine has been reported to have reserves of 3,500,000 tons of galena-sphalerite ore. Numerous smaller properties in the same district ship ore to the Trail smelter, which produced some 22,000 tons of lead during the year ended September 30, 1917.

The most important lead-silver mines of Asiatic Turkey are those at Hodsha Gernish (Balia), belonging to the Société des Mines de Balia-Kara-Aidin (French), which yield about 12,000 tons of lead annually. There is a state-owned mine at Bulgardagh producing lead, gold, and silver. The English company, Asia Minor Mining Co., produces about 3,000 tons of ore annually.

In China the ten lead mines in the Province of Hunan are controlled by Chinese. The Wah Chang Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., operates the Tien For Tai mines. The Shui-Ko-Shan mine, controlled by the Hunan Mining Board, from a deposit in limestone, produced in 1913, 51,561 net tons of ore, which yielded 3,762 tons of lead concentrates and 12,275 tons of zinc concentrates. Since 1913 the production has been increased, but the possibilities of the deposit are limited. The Japanese have endeavored to secure control of this mine, but without success. The pig-lead output of China is chiefly consumed in the country. The only modern lead smelter is at Changsha and is owned by Japanese.

The lead production of Southwest Africa (formerly German) has been derived chiefly from the Tsumeb deposit in the Grootfontein district in the Otavi Mountains. The ores exported in the fiscal year 1913-14 amounted to 48,000 long tons, averaging 13 per cent. copper, 25 per cent. lead, and 7.7 ounces silver. The ore is a coarsely crystalline aggregate of argentiferous galena and chalcocite with minor amounts of other minerals. The Otavi Mines & Railway Co. owns and operates this mine, the ore having been exported in 1913-14 to the United States for smelting.

In 1913 all the lead-ore production of Algeria was from the Department of Constantine, and amounted to 21,442 tons. Practically the whole production was by French companies.

Lead ore is produced in several scattered districts in France, chiefly in the south. Among the mines are the Chaliac et Chassezac (Ardeche) mines of the Société Metallurgique et Minière des Cevennes, producing 2,200 metric tons in 1913; the mines of the Société Civile des Mines des Malines; La Londe mine of the Société des Mines des Bormettes; that of the Société des Mines de Bleymard, producing 2,470 tons of galena ore in 1913; and the Pierrefitte (Haute Pyrenees), Peybrune, and Bulard de Sentein-Saint Lary (Ariege) mines. All of these appear to be French companies, except the Pierrefitte, which is English controlled.

In Burma, the chief deposits are those of the Bawdwin mines, in the Northern Shan States (Burma), now connected with the Burma Railway from Rangoon. The ore bodies of present interest are nearly vertical shoots in a feldspathic grit (rhyolitic tuff or silicified rhyolite) and rhyolite series. The Chinaman and the smaller Shan ore body are believed to have been one, though now separated by faulting. Estimated reserves on December 31, 1917, were 4,033,000 tons of lead-zinc ore assaying 24.7 ounces of silver, 27.4 per cent. lead, 19.1 per cent. zinc, and 0.4 per cent. copper; and 105,000 tons of copper-silver ore assaying 21.0 ounces of silver, 19.9 per cent. lead, 8.8 per cent. zinc, and 8.9 per cent. copper. Since then development has considerably increased these reserves. In addition there is estimated to be 1,600,000 tons of low-grade ore averaging 5.1 ounces of silver, 7.5 per cent. lead, 4.8 per cent. zinc, and 0.2 per cent. copper per ton, with excellent prospects of larger developments. A large tonnage of gossan outcrop ore containing 4 or 5 ounces silver, 4 to 5 per cent. lead, and a little zinc is cheaply mined and available as siliceous flux. The essential constituents of the ores are galena and sphalerite with a little pyrite and chalcopyrite. All of the ore is argentiferous.

The lead and zinc concentrates are available for the customary methods of smelting. A zinc-distilling and sulphuric acid plant is being constructed at Sakchi, with the aid of the Indian government, to treat the table zinc concentrates. Its initial capacity of 25,000 tons of concentrates is expected to be increased to 75,000 tons. The company operates a lead smelter at Nam-Tu, 11 miles from the mines, using a mixture of ore and ancient slags. Treatment of the middlings by the Ganlin process is proposed and a 100-ton unit is under construction at Avonmouth, England. The Bawdwin deposits may be expected to be an important factor in the world’s production of lead in the immediate future. They are owned by the Burma Mines, Ltd., an English corporation representing the R. Tilden Smith-Govett-Hoover interests and some American capital.

The lead production of Peru is largely in the form of ancient high-lead slags from the Cerro de Pasco district, Department of Junin, shipped to plants of the American Smelting & Refining Co. in the United States. Lead occurs as a minor constituent of copper deposits.

The domestic lead-ore deposits of Japan are all owned and operated by Japanese. During the war Australian concentrates and Chinese ore were imported and smelted, 10,666 short tons of the former, carrying 56 per cent. lead, during the fiscal year 1915-16, and 9,829 short tons of the latter during the year 1916. The Fujita company, mining in Japan, Korea, and Formosa, produces 382 short tons of lead yearly. Its principal mine is the Kosaka, at the northern end of Hondo, the main island of Japan. The ore is a complex sulphide mixture of lead, zinc, iron, and copper minerals. The annual output of this mine is about 335 short tons of lead. The Mitsui Mining Co., Ltd., is the largest producer, its output in 1915 having been 3,561, and in 1916, 8,098 short tons of pig lead. This is derived wholly from the Kamioka zinc-lead mine, in the Province of Hida, on a contact metamorphic deposit in limestone lenses enclosed in Archean gneiss near a quartz porphyry contact.

The only deposit exploited in Egypt is that known to the ancients, Gebel Rosas, now operated by the French company, Compagnie Française des Mines de Laurium. As regards the former empire of Russia, the lead production of Russian Poland and the Caucasus Mountains is small, the output in 1913 coming chiefly from the Caucasus Mountains and being made by the Elboruss Co., and the Compagnie d’Alagir (Belgian).

In the Altai Mountains, in Siberia, a zinc-lead-silver deposit, the Zmeinogorsk, formerly belonging to the Russian Mining Corporation (British), is now owned by a Russian company, Altai Mines, Ltd., though part of the capital is probably British. The Nerchinski district, in eastern Siberia, comprises many known deposits. The Akatonevski, Kadaenski, Algachinski and Klichinski deposits are veins, whereas many of the Zerentniski, Gasimoura Valley, Koultoumski and Maltzevski are lenticular masses of disseminated ore. In the Kadaenski deposits two massive disseminated ore bodies occur in dolomite between two veins. These deposits were controlled by the Imperial Cabinet, and their exploitation was being seriously considered by British and American capital shortly before the revolution. The deposits of largest present importance in Siberia are those of the Ridder Mining Co., controlled by the Irtysh Corporation of London, which has developed two mines, the Ridder and the Sokolni, on the same mineralized zone. The deposits are replacements by complex sulphide ore of members of a conformable series of slates, tuffs, and igneous sills. In 1916 the reserves were estimated at 945,000 tons of a grade of 31.2 per cent. zinc, 18.1 per cent. lead, 1.5 per cent. copper, 9.7 ounces of silver, and 0.47 ounces of gold; and also 2,229,000 tons averaging 6.7 per cent. zinc, 3.5 per cent. lead, 0.5 per cent. copper, 1.7 ounces of silver, and 0.7 ounces of gold per ton. Other known mineralized zones have not been developed, but the possibilities of the property are immense, being limited chiefly by general political and economic conditions.

A small quantity of lead is produced in Bulgaria from a few small deposits containing intimate mixtures of lead, copper and zinc minerals; usually either zinc or copper predominate.

The most important lead deposit in Sweden is the Sala, in Vestmanland, where irregular masses and veins of galena and blende with minor amounts of pyrite, etc. occur in limestone. Similar deposits occur at Lofas and Guldmedshyttan.

Hungary has no lead mines of importance, although galena occurs in some of the veins exploited, notably at Schemnitz, where the larger mines are the property of the Hungarian state.

Most of the ore from Bolivia exported to the United States comes from the Majo mine, which produced 884 tons, lead content, in 1912. This mine is in southern Bolivia in the region of La Quiaca.

The most important lead-producing area in Portugal is Merlota, near the Guadiana River, where silver-bearing galena and oxidized ores are found. Other districts are those of Villa Real, Vizen, Aveiro, Portalagre, and Beja. The deposits are similar to those of Spain.

The only deposit of importance in Rhodesia (South Africa) is the Rhodesia Broken Hill. The large ore bodies are, so far as developed, almost wholly oxidized. One ore body is estimated to contain 250,000 long tons of ore averaging 26 per cent. lead and 22.5 per cent. zinc; another ore body is estimated to contain 300,000 long tons, averaging 32 per cent. zinc, with little lead, but much iron oxide and carbonate. These ore bodies are controlled by British capital. Considerable difficulty has been experienced in developing a commercial treatment. Reports indicate this deposit is of greater magnitude than is generally recognized.

The most important lead deposit of Belgium, or rather of the neutral district of Moresnet adjoining Belgium, belonged to the Belgian company, Société de la Vieille Montagne at Moresnet. It was exhausted in 1882.

Changes in Geographical Distribution of Production in the Near Future.

—No marked change in the pre-war rate of production of ores by the countries of Europe or northern Africa is anticipated when normal conditions are resumed. Most of the districts in those countries have been exploited a long time and have passed their zenith of production; many are approaching exhaustion. A possible exception to this statement is the Ciudad Real Province of Spain, which is being energetically developed by the Penarroya company. The division of Austria-Hungary will not materially affect the control of the lead industry.

The United States will continue to be the largest source of lead in the world, and the only change anticipated is a slight increase in the relative importance of the hard-lead output of the Western States.

The chief new factor in production will be the Bawdwin mines of Burma, which are being developed on a large scale for the production of 300,000 tons of ore annually.

Recent developments in the Altai Mountains of southwestern Siberia have proved immense bodies of complex zinc-lead ores. Their geographic isolation will prevent them from becoming an important factor in the world market for a long period, notwithstanding their large size and excellent grade. The extent of their exploitation will be determined largely by how far the Russian market is affected by internal social and political conditions. The loss of the Polish industrial region, with its market protected by stringent tariffs, materially restricts the extent of visible outlets.

In the future, but not soon, it is anticipated that there will be developments in the Andes region of South America of complex lead-ore deposits similar to those of the Western United States.

POLITICAL CONTROL

Political control of the lead resources of the world up to the outbreak of the war in 1914 seems to have been a minor factor in the industry, and to have made itself felt chiefly through imposition of protective tariffs or bonuses designed to stimulate domestic production, smelting, and refining. Such measures resulted in the establishment of lead smelting in British Columbia and were an inducement to the development of the Altai district of Siberia. As will be described later in detail, the growth of international commercial relations had permitted the establishment by German interests of organizations which, although not all-inclusive, gave effective control of the industry.

During the World War, however, political jurisdiction was largely invoked to restore control of national resources to citizens. This movement was particularly marked in the British Empire, where there now exists a joint political and commercial control. Alien interests have been eliminated by governmental action and the government retains a share in the control through its interest in marketing organizations or its financial participation in reduction works. In France, the consortium Société Minerais et Metaux, organized by government action, is the arbiter of the industry and comprises all the important French companies both at home and abroad. In the United States the Alien Property Custodian was active in eliminating all enemy-alien interests.

COMMERCIAL CONTROL

Copper, lead, and zinc form a class by themselves, with respect to industrial utility and tonnage produced, ranking after iron, which far outclasses them, as the most important base metals. The total yearly production of each throughout the world is considerably more than a million tons.

Table 53.—Ore Production, Smelting, and Consumption of Lead in 1913 (Tons of 2,000 Pounds)

Country Recoverable lead content of ores and concentrates Primary pig lead Recoverable lead in ores and pig lead

Mine production Exports Imports Smelter production Imports Exports Consumption Net imports Net exports

Net tons Per cent. [130] Net tons Per cent. [130] Net tons Per cent. [130] Net tons Per cent. [131] Net tons Per cent. [131] Net tons Per cent. [131] Net tons Per cent. Net tons Per cent. [132] Net tons Per cent. [132]

Algeria 12,900 1.0 12,900 1.0 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 12,900 1.3

Australia [133]244,500 19.7 132,000 10.6 ... ... 112,500 9.0 ... ... 101,900 8.1 10,600 0.8 ... ... 233,900 18.7

Austria-Hungary 23,800 1.9 ... ... 2,800 0.2 26,600 2.1 12,500 1.0 ... ... 39,100 3.0 15,300 1.2 ... ...

Belgium ... ... ... ... 56,000 4.5 56,000 4.5 ... ... 8,700 0.7 47,300 3.7 47,300 3.8 ... ...

Bolivia 1,100 0.1 1,100 0.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,100 0.1

Bulgaria 2,200 0.2 2,200 0.2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,200 0.2

Canada 18,800 1.5 ... ... ... ... 18,800 1.5 6,400 0.5 ... ... 25,200 2.0 6,400 0.5 ... ...

China 14,000 1.1 14,000 1.1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 14,000 1.1

Egypt 3,200 0.3 3,200 0.3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3,200 0.2

France 9,600 0.8 ... ... 21,300 1.7 30,900 2.5 87,700 7.0 ... ... 118,600 9.1 109,000 8.7 ... ...

German S. W. Africa 13,200 1.0 13,200 1.0 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13,200 1.0

Germany 79,300 6.4 ... ... 120,300 9.7 199,600 15.9 46,800 3.7 ... ... 246,400 19.1 167,100 13.4 ... ...

Great Britain 20,300 1.6 ... ... 13,300 1.1 33,600 2.7 177,400 14.1 ... ... 211,000 16.4 190,700 15.2 ... ...

Greece 20,300 1.6 ... ... ... ... 20,300 1.6 ... ... 20,300 1.6 ... ... ... ... 20,300 1.6

Holland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10,500 0.8 ... ... 10,500 0.8 10,500 0.1 ... ...

India (Burma) 6,500 0.5 [134]2,200 0.2 ... ... 4,300 0.3 ... ... 4,300 0.3 ... ... ... ... 6,500 0.5

Italy 24,900 2.0 [134]1,000 0.1 ... ... 23,900 1.9 12,000 1.0 ... ... 35,900 2.8 11,000 0.1 ... ...

Japan 4,200 0.3 ... ... ... ... 4,200 0.3 17,000 1.3 ... ... 20,400 1.6 17,000 1.3 ... ...

Mexico 68,300 5.5 7,100 0.6 ... ... 61,200 4.9 ... ... 61,200 4.9 ... ... ... ... 68,300 5.5

Norway ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 500 ... ... ... 500 ... 500 ... ... ...

Peru 4,300 0.3 4,300 0.3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,300 0.3

Portugal 600 ... 600 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 600 ...

Rhodesia 400 ... 400 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 400 ...

Russia 3,100 0.2 [134]2,000 0.2 ... ... 1,000 0.1 63,700 5.1 ... ... 64,800 5.0 61,700 5.0 ... ...

Spain 209,200 16.8 ... ... 9,900 0.8 219,100 17.4 ... ... 219,100 17.5 ... ... ... ... 209,200 16.7

Sweden 2,100 0.2 500 ... ... ... 1,600 0.1 1,200 0.1 ... ... 2,800 0.2 700 ... ... ...

Switzerland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6,400 0.5 ... ... 6,400 0.5 6,400 0.5 ... ...

Tunis 31,100 2.5 31,000 2.5 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 31,100 2.5

Turkey-in-Asia 15,300 1.2 ... ... ... ... 15,300 1.2 ... ... 15,300 1.2 ... ... ... ... 15,300 1.2

United States 411,900 33.3 ... ... 13,200 1.0 425,100 33.8 ... ... 10,800 0.9 414,300 32.1 2,400 0.2 ... ...

Other countries ... ... ... ... 2,600 0.2 2,600 0.2 34,100 2.7 ... ... 36,700 2.8 36,700 2.9 ... ...

World[135] 1,245,100 100.0 227,800 18.2 239,400 19.2 1,256,700 100.0 476,200 37.8 441,600 35.2 1,290,500 100.0 682,700 52.9 636,500 50.9

The ownership or operative control of mines is a minor factor in the commercial control of the lead industry and in general is of importance only as determining the distribution of ore to smelters competing otherwise on nearly equal terms. Most of the large smelter interests engage in, or have subsidiaries engaged in, mining or have sufficient holdings in large mining companies to influence their smelting contracts. The actual basis of control of the industry is, therefore, often through combined ownership or control of mines and of reduction works.

The ownership or control of reduction plants has been the dominating factor in the commercial control of the industry. The production of each country in 1913, the principal lead reduction works of the world, and their affiliations and control are discussed below.

United States.

—The control of the lead industry of the United States through ownership or control is vested in ten groups as follows:

1. The Morgan-Guggenheim group, comprising the American Smelting & Refining Co.; American Smelters Securities Co.; and their subsidiaries: Selby Smelting & Lead Co.; Tacoma Smelting Co.; Garfield Smelting Co.; Consolidated Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co.; Federal Lead Co.; Federal Mining & Smelting Co.; Western Mining Co.; Silver Lake Mining Co.; and the Yak Mining, Milling & Tunnel Co.

2. The St. Joseph Lead Co.

3. National Lead Co.; St. Louis Smelting & Refining Co.; United Lead Co.

4. The Rockefeller-Ryan group, comprising the International Smelting Co.—Tooele smelter, Utah; and the International Lead Refining Co.,—refinery at East Chicago, Ind.

5. The United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. group, comprising the United States Smelting Co.—Mid vale smelter, Utah; U. S. Metals Refining Co.,—electrolytic lead refinery at Grasselli, Ind.; Needles Mining & Smelting Co.,—zinc-lead custom concentrator at Needles, Calif.; Bingham Mines Co. and other mines in Utah (Bullion, Beck, Champion, Utah-Apex, Centennial-Eureka and Tintic); Sunnyside and Gold Prince mines at Silverton, Colorado, and formerly a half interest in International Metals Selling Co.; and the Leadville Unit.

6. The Day group, comprising the Northport Smelting & Refining Co.; Pennsylvania Smelting & Refining Co.; Hercules Mining Co.; Tamarack & Custer Mining Co.; and the Amazon-Manhattan mines et al.

7. The American Metal Co. group, controlling the Ohio & Colorado Smelting Co. (owning 65 per cent. of its stock), and the Balbach Smelting & Refining Co. (owning one-third of its capital stock and selling the entire output).

8. Hayden-Stone-Clark-Coolidge group, comprising the American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co.; American Zinc Co. of Tennessee; American Zinc. Co of Wisconsin; American Zinc Co. of Illinois; Granby Mining & Smelting Co. of Missouri; and the Butte & Superior Mining Co.

9. The Eagle-Picher group, comprising the Eagle-Picher Lead Co., Joplin, Mo. with smelter at Joplin, Mo., and controlling the Galena Smelting & Manufacturing Co., Galena, Kan.; and the Webb City Smelting & Manufacturing Co., Webb City, Mo.

10. The Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co., controlled by Bradley-Crocker interests, and probably representing a certain proportion of English capital.

11. The Desloge Consolidated Lead Co., which formerly operated its own smelter but now has its ores smelted on toll by the Federal Lead Co. and markets its own lead.

All of the above companies are owned and controlled by American citizens so far as known, except certain interests in the American Metal Co. and perhaps the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co.

The American Metal Co. has 70,000 shares of capital stock, of which 34,644 shares were owned by the Metallgesellschaft, one of the German “Trio,” 18,620 shares belong to Germans who have become naturalized American citizens and have had the management, and the remaining 16,736 belonged to Henry L. Merton & Co., of London, a firm that is in process of liquidation. The Alien Property Custodian took over the 34,644 shares referred to above and sold them at public auction. The control of the company is vested in three voting trustees selected by agreement between the Alien Property Custodian and the American shareholders.

Vogelstein & Co. at one time linked groups 5, 7, 8, and 10, chiefly through selling contracts. Vogelstein & Co. owned the International Metals Selling Co., formerly marketing the production of the United States Smelting, Mining & Refining Co., but this connection is now broken. A contract for sale of the entire output of the American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co. was held by L. Vogelstein & Co., partly owned by Aron Hirsch & Sohn, another member of the great German metal combine. L. Vogelstein & Co. (Inc). was seized by the Alien Property Custodian and was controlled by five directors, two of whom were appointees of the Custodian.[136] The operative control of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co. is vested in Americans, but Vogelstein & Co. sells the output. Groups 5 and 8 are probably linked to some extent by large stockholders in common, Clark & Coolidge of Boston.

As a result of the activities of the Alien Property Custodian, the ownership and control of substantially all the mines and reduction works in the United States are vested in American citizens. Further information regarding the activities of German interests in the American metal trade is given in the chapter on copper, pages 232-235.

Table 54 lists the important lead smelting and refining plants of the United States at the present time.

Table 54.—Silver-lead Smelters in the United States

Financial Group No. Operating company Location Number of furnaces Annual capacity (tons of charge)

1 American Smelters Securities Co. Selby, Calif. 3 210,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Denver, Colo. 7 510,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Pueblo, Colo. 7 380,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Durango, Colo. 4 210,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Leadville, Colo. 10 510,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Murray, Idaho 8 657,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. East Helena, Mont. 4 306,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Omaha, Neb.[137] 2 82,000

1 American Smelting & Refining Co. Perth Amboy, N. J.[137] 4 170,000

1 Con. Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co. El Paso, Texas 6 380,000

10 Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co. Kellogg, Idaho 3 600,000

7 Ohio & Colorado Smelting Co. Salida, Colo. 3 200,000

5 U. S. Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. Midvale, Utah 7 530,000

6 Northport Smelting & Refining Co. Northport, Wash. 2 216,000

6 Pennsylvania Smelting Co. Carnegie, Pa. 2 60,000

4 International Smelting Co. Tooele, Utah 5 500,000

Total 77 5,521,000

The following Table 55 shows the relative importance of the various financial groups controlling the production of lead in the United States.

Table 55.—Financial Groups Controlling the Production of Lead in the United States

Financial group No. Company Percentage of production

Oct.-Nov., 1918 1917

1 American Smelting & Refining Co 34.1 37.7

3 National Lead Co. (St. Louis Smelting & Refining Co.) 5.9 9.0

2 St. Joseph Lead Co. 20.1 16.4

4 International Smelting & Refining Co. 3.7 6.5

5 U. S. Smelting Refining & Mining Co. 5.5 8.3

6 Pennsylvania Smelting Co. 6.2 7.2

7 American Metal Co. 1.8 2.1

8 American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co. 1.7 1.3

9 Eagle-Picher Lead Co. 9.3 6.2

10 Banker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co. 6.3 1.7

11 Desloge Consolidated Lead Co. 2.6 3.3

Ontario Smelting Co. 1.9 0.0

The American Smelting & Refining Co., through the preponderance of its production and the wide distribution of its interests, dominates the domestic industry, although its proportion of the total output has decreased greatly during the past few years.

Spain.

—More than 60 per cent. of the pig lead made in Spain comes from the smelters of the Penarroya company (French), which within the past few years has absorbed the Spanish smelters of Escombrera-Bleyberg at Esconbrera, and the two smelters of Figueroa, at Linares and Cartagena. This gives the Penarroya company a dominant position in the Spanish lead industry. English interests, E. J. Enthoven & Co., have a smelter producing about 25,000 short tons of lead annually. All the smelting companies have made a combination to stop competition in ore buying. The Spanish government imposes a duty of about $1.80 per ton on lead concentrates exported.

Australia.

—Smelting plants in Australia that produce lead have the capacities shown below.

Company Location 1913 production, short tons pig lead

Broken Hill Associated Smelters Port Pirie, South Australia 92,824

Sulphide Corporation Cockle Creek, New South Wales 19,660

Total 112,484

The annual capacity of the Port Pirie plant is now 165,000 short tons of pig lead.

Table 56.—Silver Lead Smelters in Mexico

Company Location Number of furnaces Annual capacity tons of charge

American Smelting & Refining Co. Monterrey 7 410,000

American Smelting & Refining Co. Aguascalientes 1 (lead) 40,000

American Smelting & Refining Co. Chihuahua 7 400,000

American Smelters Securities Co. Velardeña 3 150,000

Compañia de Minerales y Metales Cerralvo 2 35,000

Compañia de Minerales y Metales Guadalupe, N. L. 1 70,000

Compañia Fundadora y Refinadora de Monterrey (leased to American Metal Co.) Monterrey 4 (or 8?) 210,000

Compañia Metalurgica Mexicana (Towne) San Luis Potosi 10 250,000

Compañia de Minerales y Metales (reported about to be dismantled) Torreon 9 350,000

Compañia Minera de Peñoles Mapimi 6 350,000

Mazapil Copper Co., Ltd. (English) Saltillo, Coahuila 1 36,000

Total 51 2,301,000

Mexico.

—Practically all the Mexican smelting works are owned and operated by American companies. Prior to the war several of these were controlled by German interests through the American Metal Co. (incorporated in the United States), but the action of the Alien Property Custodian eliminated all foreign control in those companies, which comprise Compañia Minera de Peñoles, Compañia de Minerales y Metales, and Compañia Metalurgica de Torreon, leaving only the Compañia Fundadora y Refinadora de Monterrey still under German control. The American Metal Co. normally controlled 60,000 to 75,000 tons of bonded Mexican lead and 12,000 to 15,000 tons of lead smelted in Mexico, together with over a thousand tons of antimonial lead.

The Aguascalientes and Velardeña plants are chiefly copper smelters. There are small lead smelters at Terrazas and Santa Rosalia, Chihuahua, but they are probably abandoned.

British Isles.

—During the war the British lead-smelting capacity is reported to have been increased. Before the war a large amount of foreign lead bullion from Spain, Belgium and Germany was desilverized in the British Isles.

Other Countries.

—The lead-smelting plants of France escaped destruction during the war, being outside the war zone. The capacity of the Pontgibaud plant was greatly increased. They are all French owned. The most important lead smelting plant in Italy is that of the Societa di Pertusola (English), with a pig-lead output in 1915 of 16,625 metric tons; the other plant is that of the Societa di Monteponi (Italian), with an output of 5,187 tons. The only lead smelting of Greece is that of the Compagnie des Mines de Laurium (French).

The only important lead smelter of Canada is that of Trail, British Columbia, which is controlled by the Canadian government. This plant includes a refinery using the Betts electrolytic process.

The only lead smelter in Turkey is one controlled by French interests, that of the Société des Mines de Balia-Kara-Aidin, at Kara-Aidin. The lead smelting plant of the Burma Mines Corporation, Ltd., at Bawdwin, Burma, has a capacity of 22,000 short tons lead.

In Siberia the Ridder Mining Co., controlled by the Irtysh Corporation, of London, has constructed 165 miles of railroad, which, together with river transport, brings the ore from the Ridder concession and the coal of the Ekibastus coal fields to the smelting plant at Ermak, which has a capacity of 15,000 tons of lead annually.

Trade Combinations.

—National and even international control of the lead market has at times been attained through marketing organizations or trade combinations of reduction works, ore-buying and metal-selling agencies with interlocking directorates, joint ownership, and long-term contracts for ores, concentrates, and metals.

In 1909 the so-called Lead Convention, or officially the International Sales Association, was formed in Paris. It was composed of German, Spanish, and Belgian producers and metal-selling agencies controlling directly about one-half of the European production. Some companies not nominally in the association acted in concert with it. This convention was renewed in 1910 and again in 1913 for three years. The association was dominated by the same interests as the German Zinc Syndicate,—the Merton group, comprising the Metallgesellschaft, the Metallbank and Metallurgische Gesellschaft of Frankfort and the Merton companies of London; Beer, Sondheimer & Co., controlling a dozen German metal and chemical concerns, and Aron Hirsch & Sohn at Halberstadt. The Merton group of London and Frankfort were the selling agents of the association, and the dominant “Trio,” through the Australian Metal Co., controlled the lead exported as metal or concentrates from Australia.

In the United States and Mexico all lead exported was controlled by the American Metal Co., affiliated with the association, or the American Smelting & Refining Co., acting in concert with it. The German “Trio” maintained and was rapidly extending and strengthening its ascendancy throughout the world through banks, holding companies, affiliations with syndicates and cartels, interlocking directorates, joint share holdings and purchase in whole or in part of mines and smelters. Some of the English lead refineries were closely associated with the Convention, and all lead exported from the Port Pirie smelter was sold by Merton & Co. The association was able to fix the price of lead in Europe and thus affect the output and, it has been claimed, so manipulated the market that lead outside the Convention was controlled just as effectively as that inside. The membership was international, brought together by mercenary motives. That the strongest and most aggressive interests were German citizens was purely incidental.

As a result of the war, however, the production of Australian lead concentrates and bullion is permanently diverted from German control. The activities of the Alien Property Custodian tended to eliminate all German interests in the United States. Most of the Australian lead bullion production is now marketed by the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, Prop., Ltd., of whose capital stock the Broken Hill Proprietary owns one-third and the Broken Hill South, Broken Hill North, and Zinc Corporation each own two-ninths. The plant of this company is now the largest smelter in the world.

The nationalist movement in France resulted in the formation of trade associations known as “consortiums,” comprising the principal factor in each industry. These “consortiums,” were recognized by the government, and each was made virtually arbiter of its particular field. The consortium of the mineral industry has been perfected into the Société Minerals et Metaux, 154 Boulevard Hausmann, Paris. The official announcement states that this society is organized under the auspices of the French government in order to group the French metal producers operating both at home and abroad into a co-operative association for the purchase and sale of metallurgical products.

The participants comprise the principal companies in France producing or refining metals and also the mining and smelting companies controlled by French capital in Spain, Algeria, Tunis, and other foreign countries. A highly centralized organization of that part of the mineral and metal industry under French control is thus achieved for mutual protection and advantage in competition with other nationalities. Members of this organization will produce most of the ore from Algiers and Tunis and probably 75 per cent. of the Spanish lead bullion. The present annual output of the participating companies is about 200,000 metric tons of lead, 50,000 metric tons of zinc, and 40,000 tons of copper, besides iron, antimony, platinum, etc. The association comprises the following companies: Société Minière et Metallurgique de Penarroya; Société d’Affinage de Metaux; Compagnie des Mines d’Ain-Barbar; Association Minière; Société des Mines de Zinc d’Ain-Arko; Compagnie du Boleo; Compagnie Française des Mines de Bor; Corocoro United Copper Mines, Ltd.; Société des Mines de Fedj-el-Adoum; Société des Mines de Zinc de Guergour; Compagnie des Mines de Huaron; Société Minière du Kanguet; Compagnie des Minerais de Fer Magnetique de Mokta-et-Hadid; Comptoir Lyon Allemand; Société Anonyme des Mines de Malfidano; Compagnie des Mines d’Ouasta et de Desloula; Société des Mines de Parzan; Compagnie Industrielle du Platine; Société Anonyme des Mines et Fonderies de Pontgibaud; Société des Mines d’Antimoine de Rochetrejoux; Société des Anciens Etablissements Sopwith; Société Française d’Etudes et d’Enterprises; Société des Mines du Djebel-Ressas; Société Anonyme Française du Djebel-Hallouf; Société Anonyme des Mines et Usines de Peyrebrune; and Compagnie La Cruz.

One of the results of the war was the stimulation of co-operative enterprises between British companies, the movement being encouraged by the government, which in some cases participated financially. The British Australian Lead Manufacturers Proprietary, Ltd., was formed as a consolidation of the Australian interests of British firms, with the object of establishing a white-lead industry in that country. Those participating comprise: Alexander Ferguson & Co.; Cookson & Co.; Foster, Blockett & Wilson; Locke, Blockett & Co.; Locke-Lancaster; W. W. & R. Johnson & Sons, Ltd.; Mersey White Lead Co., Ltd.; and Walkers Parker & Co.

The Chloride Syndicate comprising the Zinc Corporation, Ltd., Burma Mines Corporation, and the Swansea Vale Smelter, Ltd., is conducting experimental work on the Ganlin process with the object of perfecting it.

Richard Tilden Smith, having acquired controlling interests in J. H. Enthoven & Sons, Locke-Lancaster, Walkers Parker & Co. and a one-third interest in the Burma Mines Corporation, became a strong link between these important companies and thus secured an arrangement with the Imperial Government for financial assistance with the new plant of the National Smelting Co., Ltd., at Avonmouth to the extent of £500,000 out of the total estimated cost of £750,000, the government being particularly interested in the production of by-product acid. The National Smelting Co. agreed to take 25,000 tons yearly of Broken Hill concentrate and smelt no foreign ore without government permission. Enthoven & Sons control through ownership the output of one of the Spanish smelters and through desilverizing and marketing contracts the output of the French Laurium company of Greece. An attempt to bring about a closer combination of all the above-mentioned English and Australian companies failed.

It is reported that in 1917 Vivian, Younger & Bond, and Morgan, Grenfeld & Co. were instrumental in forming a “Metal Bank” in London. Broken Hill Associated Smelters Prop. Ltd., and the Penarroya company were said to have agreed to market their production through this bank, but it is probable that the arrangement was never made effective. A Chemical and Metallurgical Bank has been formed in London, among the shareholders being Richard Tilden Smith. Its proposed field is not clear, but it will probably endeavor to influence the control of lead in the United Kingdom.

A British Metals Corporation was formed in 1918 by Vivian, Younger & Bond, Chas. Tennant Sons & Co., Cookson & Co., the British Aluminum Co., Morgan, Grenfeld & Co., and large stockholders of the Rio Tinto Co., with a capital of £5,000,000. The Imperial Treasury will be represented on the board of directors. The purposes are to finance British non-ferrous metal companies, bring all the production within the empire of those metals under one marketing organization and preserve British control. If plans are successfully carried out, the smelting both in England and on the Continent of Europe, should any British concentrates be allotted there, will practically be on toll, the metal remaining in the control of the Metals Corporation or the affiliated bank.

POSITION OF THE GREAT NATIONS

The accompanying table presents available statistics of production since 1913 in order to show the extent to which the industry in each country is controlled by domestic or foreign capital, and attempts to show the extent of commercial control by each of the great powers. Such statistics are at best only approximate; the control varies from year to year and the data are difficult to obtain and verify.

Table 57.—Commercial Control of the World’s Output of Pig Lead

Country Recent pig-lead production (short tons) Year Per cent. of world Financial control by

Home capital United States Great Britain France Germany

United States 612,200 1917 44.6 ... 612,200

Australia 127,800 1913 9.4 ... ... 127,800

British Isles 12,600 1916 0.9 ... ... 12,600

Canada 20,400 1916 1.5 ... ... 20,400

Burma 20,000 1917 1.5 ... ... 20,000

France 30,800 1913 2.2 ... ... ... 30,800

Italy 24,000 ... 1.8 5,700 ... 18,300

Belgium 39,400 1913 2.9 15,000 ... ... 24,400

Venezuela 200 1917 ... ... ... ... ... 200

Bolivia 2,400 1917 0.2 400 ... ... 2,000

Greece 12,800 1916 0.9 ... ... ... 12,800

Japan 12,300 1916 0.9 12,300

Peru 3,000 1917 0.2 500 500 2,000

Russia 1,100 1913 0.1 1,100

Chile 6,000 1917 0.4 3,000 ... 1,000 ... 2,000

Mexico 61,200 1913 4.4 ... 53,200 8,000

Spain 157,000 1917 11.4 20,000 ... 25,000 105,000 7,000

Sweden 2,100 1915 0.1 1,100 ... ... ... 1,000

Germany 200,000 1913 14.5 ... ... ... ... 200,000

Austria-Hungary 26,600 1913 1.9 26,600

Total 1,371,900 ... 100.0 665,900 235,100 175,000 210,200

Per cent. of world production. 100.0 48.6 17.2 12.7 16.3

United States.

—During the war the United States demonstrated that its lead-ore deposits were capable of a production greatly in excess of the normal. That the increase was not greater was chiefly because of insufficient incentive in the market price of lead, which did not attain the early inflation of many of the other metals; and later, when the price was right, was restricted by lack of refining capacity. The existing capacity was at times not fully utilized because of the congestion of railway traffic. The lead-ore deposits in the United States have large possibilities, but with the exception of the disseminated lead deposits of southeastern Missouri the developed ore reserves will supply production for only a few years. Control of the mines in the United States is vested almost exclusively in Americans or American companies, some of the latter, however, having foreign stockholders, chiefly British or Canadian.

The United States imports lead ores, to a small percentage of its total production, from Mexico, Canada, South America and Africa. The Mexican ore is largely imported to meet the especial needs of the El Paso lead smelter, and not because of lack of smelting capacity in Mexico. The smelting capacity of the United States has always been in excess of the actual production of ore and is now very greatly in excess of the normal production. The ownership of most of the important smelters has always been vested in American capital, and as a result of the activity of the Alien Property Custodian all of them are now owned and controlled by American citizens. A considerable amount of lead bullion is imported, chiefly from Mexico, for refining. Most of this is re-exported. United States capital through ownership of smelters controls the greater part of the pig lead produced in Mexico and Peru. The importation of ore and bullion for refining from Canada is restricted by the government bounty on lead smelted and refined in Canada. United States capital also controls a considerable percentage of the mines of Mexico and has some interest in the Burma Mines Corporation, and the Irtysh Corporation.

Notwithstanding the enlarged smelting capacity and the possibilities of production from American mines, it is not expected that there will be any considerable export of domestic lead after the period of readjustment following the World War.

British Empire.

—The countries of the British Empire in the order of the importance of their lead output in 1913 are Australia, British Isles, Canada, Burma, and Egypt.

British capital controls the mines and smelters of the British Isles, Canada, Australia, Burma, and the Altai Mountains in Siberia, and, by ownership of mines and smelters, some 25,000 tons of lead annually from Spain and over 70 per cent. of the production of Italy. By contracts for desilverization and marketing it has controlled the greater part of the Spanish output and part of the production of Greece. It is reported also to control small tonnages of ore from Peru and Chile. In view of the recent increase of refining capacity in Spain by the Penarroya company (French), and the organization of all French interests into the Société Minerais et Metaux, future control by English capital of Spanish output above the 25,000 tons produced by the English smelter is doubtful, although it has been reported that the Penarroya company had agreed to market its lead through the new Metal Bank of London. Prior to the war much base bullion from Spain, Belgium, and Germany was imported and desilverized, and in large part re-exported.

The ore production of the British Empire is about 25 per cent. greater than its consumption, but insufficient smelting capacity has caused dependence on foreign-smelted lead. The smelting capacity has been increased, and the additional capacity contemplated will make the total equal the consumption. The empire can be made independent of the rest of the world should the policy of “Imperial preference” be adopted.

All the large interests in the lead industry of the British Empire have shown during the war period a strong tendency to co-operate and organize for mutual protection and benefit. A culmination of this movement is apparently the formation of the British Metals Corporation, intended to vest the marketing control of the production of the whole British Empire in one organization under governmental auspices.

Australia.

—The Australian production of lead ore and concentrates, derived chiefly from New South Wales, makes Australia rank second in world production of lead ores. In 1913 little more than half the output was exported to Europe for smelting, the remainder being smelted at Cockle Creek and Port Pirie. The pig lead produced, less a small local consumption, was also exported.

Australian mines have always been owned by British and Australian capital. Prior to the war the marketing of concentrates and of all lead bullion exported was controlled by the Australian Metal Co., affiliated with the German metal “Trio” headed by the Metallgesellschaft. During the war, however, the governments of Great Britain and Australia annulled the long-time ore- and metal-purchasing contracts, and the ore producers and smelters have organized for mutual protection and to keep the industry permanently under exclusive British control. The capacity of the Port Pirie reduction works has been increased by capital contributed jointly by the principal mining companies, and the plant is now the largest lead smelter in the world.

British Isles.

—The small output of lead ore in Great Britain is obtained from a few scattered deposits of little importance. Some ore is imported and smelted with the domestic production. The consumption of the British Isles is so large that very large imports of pig lead are necessary, amounting to 14 per cent. of the world’s production. All of the mines and smelters of the British Isles are owned and controlled, so far as known, by British capital.

Canada.

—With the assistance, through bounties, of the Canadian government, the Trail smelter has become firmly established and is the only important lead producer of Canada. It handles most of the British Columbia output of ores, which otherwise would have to go to the United States for reduction. The Canadian consumption is, however, about one-third greater than the production.

Burma.

—Although the production of ore and pig lead in the Northern Shan States by the Burma Mines Corporation was in 1913 an insignificant part of the world’s output, the company has developed its deposits so as to be capable of a very much greater yield, which may amount in the near future to 75,000 tons annually. This company is controlled by British with probably some American capital.

Egypt.

—The small ore production of Egypt is exported for smelting and is controlled by French capital.

Germany.

—Germany, a large producer of lead ores, imported in 1913 for smelting nearly 10 per cent. of the world’s output and in addition imported a considerable amount of pig lead, being the second largest consumer of lead in the world. Should Germany lose Upper Silesia, which produced nearly half the domestic ores, it will be still more dependent on imports to supply its smelters. Prior to the war the German lead industry was closely organized, much of the lead mining and smelting being conducted by departments of the state governments, although some of the largest concerns were private corporations. The German metal “Trio” headed by the Metallgesellschaft through the International Sales Association controlled directly about one-half the European production, comprising in this so-called Lead Convention, besides the German concerns, most of the Spanish and Belgian producers, most of the lead exported from the United States and Mexico, and the pig lead and concentrates exported from Australia. This system of control outside of Germany has now been permanently destroyed, and the magnitude and the organization of the German lead industry in the near future cannot be anticipated.

France.

—In France the output of lead ore is small and is controlled, with probably one exception, by French capital. Some ores are imported for smelting, Tunis and Algeria being capable of supplying even more. To provide for the large consumption, France ranking fourth among lead-consuming countries, there is imported in the form of pig lead some 7 per cent. of the world’s output. Recently smelting capacity has been increased. French capital controls more than half the production of Belgium through ownership of smelters, and through ownership of mines and smelters controls more than half the production of Spain and most, if not all, of the output of Greece. It also controls the ore production of Egypt and most of the ores produced in Algeria and Tunis. Under government auspices a strong organization of all the metal-producing companies controlled by French capital in France and foreign countries has recently been effected under the name of the Société Minerais et Metaux, which controls the sale of all the production of its members, as well as acting as a purchasing agent for them.

Belgium.

—Belgium produces no ores but smelts about 4¹⁄₂ per cent. of the world’s output, nearly the whole of which is consumed within her borders. A little less than half of this production is controlled by Belgian capital, the remainder by French interests. Belgian capital is also interested to a minor extent in Spain, Algeria, the Caucasus Mountains and Tunis. It is believed that a part of the Australian concentrates may be allotted to Belgium for smelting.

Italy.

—The Italian ore production, amounting to about 2 per cent. of the world’s total, is smelted in that country. The product is consumed, together with about 50 per cent. more, imported as pig lead. More than three-fourths of the domestic output is controlled by English capital; nearly all the remainder is controlled by Italian capital, but other English, French and Belgian companies produce insignificant amounts of ore.

Austria-Hungary.

—The Austro-Hungarian Empire produced and smelted ores to the amount of about 2 per cent. of the world’s output in 1913, and consumed this with about 50 per cent. more metal imported in the form of pig lead. The several lead-producing districts and smelters, some of which belong to the states of Austria and Hungary, with the partition of the empire fall within three or more distinct political jurisdictions, the lead production of none of which will be of importance. One of the important lead smelters is at Fiume.

Spain.

—Spain ranks third in content of ores produced and second in smelter production. The domestic consumption being negligible, all of the lead is exported. Prior to the war most of the production went to England to be desilverized. During the war, however, the refining capacity of Spain was greatly increased, and it now seems likely that any silver lead which the domestic plants can not take care of will be shipped to France for desilverization. More than half the Spanish production is controlled by French capital, and to a minor degree by Belgian and German interests.

Japan.

—Japanese lead-ore resources are meagre. The output of lead ore and pig lead in 1913 was about 25 per cent. of the domestic consumption. Since then ores and concentrates have been imported from China, Formosa, Korea, Siberia, and Australia, but importation of pig lead has still been necessary. The Japanese are endeavoring to secure control of ore deposits in China and Siberia, and supply the raw material for the increase of their domestic smelting and manufacturing industries. It is probable, however, that Japan will be dependent for many years on imports from other sources for most of the lead consumed.

SUMMARY

The chief uses of lead are as metal and in the form of white lead or basic carbonate, as a pigment. Metallic lead is used for water pipe, covering for electrical cables, lining acid chambers and vats, and for shot, bullets and shrapnel. Alloys with various other metals are used in type, bearings, and fuses. The red and orange oxides are used for pigments. The largest single form of consumption is white lead.

Lead and zinc ores are commonly associated and are widely distributed over the world. Galena is the chief lead mineral, the other ore minerals, cerussite and anglesite, being derived from it by oxidation. Galena is a persistent mineral, being found in nearly all types of ore deposits. The countries producing the most ore are, in order of importance, United States, Australia, Spain, Germany, and Mexico. Districts of major importance are Broken Hill, New South Wales; southeastern Spain; southeastern Missouri; and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

The developments in selective oil flotation, by which the detrimental zinc content is eliminated from complex ores and made an asset, constitute the greatest recent advance in the dressing of lead ores. Electrolytic refining is the greatest recent advance in the metallurgy of lead.

The readiness with which lead is reduced from its ores and its utility as a collector of the precious metals in smelting have resulted in a wide distribution of reduction plants. Nevertheless a large percentage of the world’s output of ores is transported from the countries of origin to others, for reduction near the market and where skilled labor and fuel are more abundant and cheaper.

The countries of largest smelter production are, in order, United States, Spain, Germany and Australia; those of much less importance are Mexico, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Greece, Canada and, recently, Burma. Other countries are of little importance.

The countries of major consumption are, in order, United States, Germany, Great Britain, and France. The United States produces its own requirements, but the other three countries import ores for smelting and also pig lead in large quantity. Australia and northern Africa have supplied the bulk of the ores, and Spain, Australia, and Mexico most of the pig lead. This is the situation at last analysis, the actual trade movement being, of course, much more complex.

The political control of the world’s lead production, in terms of the lead content of ores, in 1913 was as follows: United States, 36.0 per cent.; British Empire, 23.9 per cent.; Spain, 6.4 per cent.; Germany, 5.9 per cent.; Mexico, 5.1 per cent.; and France, 4.0 per cent. Three powers thus control 76 per cent. of the production.

The ownership of mines is important chiefly as determining the distribution of ores to smelters. Ore-purchasing contracts may modify or annul the effect of political jurisdiction and mine ownership. The ownership or control of reduction plants has been the most effective basis for commercial control of the industry. In the United States the American Smelting & Refining Co. dominates the market, but controls directly only one-third of the output. In Spain the French company of Penarroya controls more than half the production. In Germany the “Trio” headed by the Metallgesellschaft controlled the domestic industry prior to the war, and through the “Lead Convention” extended its domination to half the European output and most of the exports of Australia, Mexico, and the United States. This control was, however, never absolute. In Australia at present the Broken Hill Associated Smelters controls the marketing of most of the pig lead exported.

Joint political and commercial control has been established in the British Empire and France. During the war, political jurisdiction was quite generally invoked to modify or eliminate commercial control, particularly with regard to alien-enemy interests.

The various combinations of British companies to insure British control of the resources of the empire, particularly of Australia and Burma, culminated in the formation of the British Metals Corporation for the sale of the output. A representative of the Imperial Treasury will be on the board of directors and either the Metal Bank of London or the Chemical & Metallurgical Bank may finance its operation, unless it absorbs their functions. This organization is doubtless intended to take the place of the Metallgesellschaft as the dominant factor in the lead industry of the world. It will have much influence, as British capital controls all the production of the British Isles, Australia, Burma, Canada, and normally Siberia, most of that of Italy, part of that of Spain and Mexico, and perhaps of Greece. Probably the British Isles will not in the future desilverize as much foreign lead as formerly, so that the importance of this basis of commercial control will be greatly decreased.

The Société Minerais et Metaux, comprising all producers controlled by French capital, under government auspices is selling and purchasing agent for its members, and controls all the French and most of the Grecian production, more than half of that of Spain and Belgium, besides the ores of northern Africa and of Egypt.

Since the elimination of alien-enemy holdings by the Alien Property Custodian, United States capital controls substantially all the domestic production and nearly all that of Mexico, besides some ores imported from Mexico, Canada, and South America. Notwithstanding large ore reserves and reduction capacity, the United States is expected, after the period of readjustment, to supply its domestic needs, but to export little lead, as was the case prior to the war.

The position of Germany will depend largely upon arrangements for foreign ore supply. Some Mexican ore production may still be under German control. Belgium is wholly dependent on foreign ore, which presumably will be obtained largely from Australia; and with more than half her production controlled by French capital, she will be under British and French domination; but she consumes most of her smelter output. Italy consumes 50 per cent. more than the domestic production, which is chiefly controlled by English capital. None of the states formed by the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be of importance in the lead industry.

The commercial control of the smelter production of lead, calculated from the latest statistics available, is approximately as follows: United States, 48.6 per cent.; British Empire, 17.2 per cent.; Germany, 15.3 per cent.; and France, 12.7 per cent.; or a total for the four powers of 93.8 per cent. of the pig-lead output of the world.