The gross production of the Union Leasing Co. on the Gold Sovereign during 11 months of 1913-no shipments made in December-was slightly more than 4,665 tons, with a total value of $56,647. The shaft was deepened 98 feet.1 The United Gold Mines Co. controls several suosidiary mining companies and leases its mines at Cripple Creek. The report covers the year ended December 31, 1913. No ore was produced on company account, and the output by lessees, amounting to 20,259 tons, valued at $11.36 per ton, was made up as follows: The Wild Horse mill was operated under lease and treated 11,593 tons, yielding $39,206.2 Mines between Altman and Goldfield. The producing mines were the Burns, Christmas, Findley, Golden Cycle, Isabella, Mountain Beauty, Pharmacist, Shurtloff, Victor, and Vindicator. The annual report for the Acacia Gold Mining Co. shows that, with the exception of the South Burns shaft, the property was worked by lessees. Total (net) receipts were $10,303, including $2,032 for royalties. The report of the Isabella Mines Co. shows that the Ore shipments and sales for the year 1913 were: Mine ore, 11,385 tons; dump ore, 6,903 tons; total, 18,288 tons; total gross value, $243,252; average value per ton of mined and dump ore, $13.30. The Vindicator Gold Mining Co., in its annual report, shows * * * that the profit from operations has been the largest in the history of the company. During the year ending December 31, 1913, at the No. 1 shaft, 73,084 tons of crude ore were produced on company account, yielding 22,829 net tons, or 31.24 per cent of shipping ore, of a gross gold content of $702,119, or $30.75 per ton. Lessees working through No. 1 shaft produced 2,222 net tons of a gross content of $85,965 or $38.69 per ton. Lessees working through other shafts on the property produced 8,466 net tons, of a gross gold content of $132,273, or $15.62 per ton. * * * Development work of a total length of 10,187 feet was done. * Development of the 1,600-foot level progressed in a most satisfactory manner. were opened on 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, and 1,500 foot levels. our property has been allowed to drain into the Golden Cycle, to be pumped to the surface under our joint agreement with them. * * * * * Other ore bodies * * The water from * Battle Mountain.-Producing mines were the Ajax, Carbonate Queen, Coriolanus, Dead Pine, Eclipse, Granite, Gold Coin, Mary Cashen, Necessity, Portland, Stratton's Independence, and Strong. 1 Min. and Eng. World, Feb. 7, 1914, p. 293. As shown by the twentieth annual report (dated February 2, 1914), of the Portland Gold Mining Co., during the year there were 53,245 tons of ore mined and shipped to the Colorado Springs mill, having an assay value of $25.93 per ton. The mine also produced 127,054 tons of low-grade ore, a large part of which was taken out in the course of development work, and the remainder was the reject from the ore shipped to the Colorado Springs plant. In addition to this, 51,108 tons of low-grade ore were taken from the dumps, making a total of 178,162 tons treated at the Victor mill, of an average assay value of $2.95 per ton. *No great amount of development work or crosscutting has been done on the lower levels of the mines for several years, especially below the eleventh level at No. 1 shaft, but for the coming year a plan has been adopted * * * * for an extensive system of development work and prospecting all over the company's property ** The development work on the seventeenth level alone, as now planned, involves over 2 miles of crosscutting and drifting. The work of sinking shafts No. 1 and No. 2 is being prosecuted vigorously, and it is expected that each of these shafts will reach a point 150 feet below the present sixteenth level by the 1st of April, after which this new level, to be known as the Seventeenth level, will be opened up as rapidly as possible. * * * The Portland property is situated about 7,000 feet from the Roosevelt tunnel heading, which does not permit of the drainage of your property as rapidly as we would like. The average drainage for the year in the Portland mine was about 8 feet per month. This tunnel should drain your property to a further depth of about 500 feet. The grand total of production from April 1, 1894, to December 31, 1913, was 1,767,592 net tons, of a gross value of $36,268,797. The report for the Stratton's Independence mine for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, shows that no ore bodies of importance were discovered, hence the area of stoping ground was diminished. The net production from lessees has rapidly declined during the past two years, decreasing $60,791 for the year ended June 30, 1912, and $127,264 during the year under review. The production of shipping ore by the company shows a decrease of $20,072 over the previous fiscal year. 1 Eng. and Min. Jour., Feb. 7, 1914, p. 329. See also Metall. and Chem. Eng. January, 1914, p. 11, and Min. and Sci. Press, Dec. 27, 1913, p. 1030. ANTIMONY. By FRANK L. HESS. PRODUCTION. No antimony ores were mined during the year so far as was reported to the United States Geological Survey. Prices were too low. As has been pointed out in the Survey's reports, at the usual prices antimony ores can not be worked profitably under the high labor costs prevailing in the mining regions of the United States unless the deposits are very large and advantageously situated. No deposits of antimony ores have been found in the United States which fulfill these conditions, and as a result practically all the antimony metal used here is imported from European and Japanese smelters, mostly from England. The ores for these smelters come largely from China, Mexico, France, and Austria. For several years the production of antimony in the United States from domestic ores has been confined to that contained in antimonial lead and small quantities recovered in the electrolytic refining of copper and lead. A production of antimony from foreign ores, which can only be estimated, is also made. The antimonial lead is mostly a by-product in the smelting of the precious metals, and efforts are made to save all possible, so that this production can not be largely increased. The quantity saved in electrolytic copper refining can probably be increased, though not enough to make it a serious factor in the market. The following table shows the production of antimony in the United States since 1909: Year. Production of antimony in the United States, 1909-1913, in short tons. a Estimated, using 7.8 cents as the average price per pound. b None produced from domestic ore. Figures not collected for foreign ores. Estimated, using 8.24 cents as the average price per pound. d Figures collected by J. P. Dunlop, United States Geological Survey. In 1910 a total of 9 tons, in 1911, 10 tons, in 1912, 13 tons, and in 1913, 45 tons was recovered as antimony, the remainder as alloy. Estimated, using 8.58 cents as the average price per pound. The total of 2,508 tons of antimony produced from both domestic and foreign ores in 1913 was contained in 16,665 tons of antimonial lead, of which it formed 15.05 per cent. The percentage of antimony in the antimonial lead is lower than that reported for 1912, in which year the percentage was 22.8. The values given in the table are arbitrary and must not be taken as exact. Antimonial lead generally contains impurities, such as arsenic, iron, and copper, and it is impracticable to obtain pure antimony and pure lead from the alloy at a cost low enough to afford a profit, though the alloy sells at a lower price than the metals singly. A rule by which antimonial lead is sometimes sold is to add the price of the contained antimony, supposing it to be equal to Cookson's, to that of the contained lead and then to subtract $5 per ton. For lack of a better basis, for the year 1913 the value of the antimony content has been figured at 8.52 cents per pound, the average price of Cookson's during the year. Although the production of antimony in antimonial lead is indirect, it is quite as important as the production of an quivalent quantity of segregated antimony, for there is a demand for antimonial lead which would have to be met by alloying the two metals were they not thus produced, and in fact most of the antimony imported both as metal and as ore is thus used. IMPORTS. For years large quantities of antimonial lead were imported into the United States under the name type metal, for which it is largely used; but during the last two years these imports have decreased greatly. The following table showing imports of type metal for consumption is taken from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce: Type metal imported and entered for consumption, 1904–1913, in short tons. In the customs returns the lead content only is given, and it is assumed that the remainder is practically all antimony. This assumption is, however, wholly arbitrary, for imported type metal contains as much as 2 per cent of impurities, such as iron, arsenic, and copper, but there is no way of estimating its impurities. The antimony content is therefore probably too large by some quantity less than or approximately equal to 2 per cent of the total quantity of type metal, and the correct percentage is correspondingly lower. Old type weighing 86 short tons, valued at $10,398, and new type weighing 23 short tons, valued at $8,876, were also imported in 1913. In the following table the imports of antimony and antimony ore for consumption, as obtained from the Division of Statistics, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, are given since 1904 in order to show the great variation in both quantity and value of the imports from year to year. The imports of salts of antimony are given from 1904 to 1910, the earliest and latest years for which the Survey has obtained statistics. Antimony, antimony ore, and salts of antimony imported and entered for consumption in the United States, 1904-1913, in pounds. a Oxide only. No figures showing the imports of antimony salts are now given in the customs returns. > Imports of salts are included for the last three months of 1913. PRICES. 1 The price of antimony has not fluctuated greatly during the last six years, the extreme monthly averages as given by the American Metal Market and Daily Iron and Steel Report being 7.22 and 10.31 cents a pound for Cookson's antimony, and both prices prevailed in 1913, the lower being that for February and the higher that for November. Hallett's generally sells for about a cent a pound less than Cookson's, and other brands are lower according to quality and to reputation, which seems to be fully as important. The average price of Cookson's for 1913 was 8.52 cents a pound. CONSUMPTION. The approximate domestic consumption of antimony is equal to the production, recovery, and imports. For 1913 the consumption was roughly as follows: Domestic consumption of antimony in 1913, in short tons. Quantity. Value. Recovered from wastes, scrap, etc. (including a little ore), nearly all as alloy Metal and regulus... Crude antimony and ore (probable antimony content). Antimony contained in antimonial lead from all sources, including by-product antimony Approximate consumption of metallic antimony. 12,755 1,828,967 1 Metal Statistics, 1913, p. 243. |