The zinc-mining industry reflected the conditions prevailing in the smelting industry. Some companies which might have operated at a small profit frankly refused to sell ore at the market rates and closed down. Others ran intermittently and stored the ore. At the close of the year there was unsold in the ore bins in the Joplin region over 6,000 tons of blende concentrates. Many of the large mines in this district, especially in the sheet-ground area, which were closed down in the latter part of 1907, remained closed through 1908. The total production of zinc concentrates in the Joplin region fell off 21,809 tons, or 7.8 per cent, from the production of 1907. The Franklin Furnace mine, of New Jersey, and the upper Mississippi Valley region held their own in production in 1908, but the zinc production of Colorado fell off nearly 50 per cent. PRODUCTION. c The production of spelter in the United States began in 1858 in an experimental way, and regular production began in 1860 at the Lehigh Zinc Works in the East and at the Matthiesson & Hegeler works in the West. Between 1864 and 1870 nine or ten other zinc smelters were established. Statistics of production are recorded for the years 1873 and 1875, and for the census year ending May 31, 1880. Annual statistics have been collected by the United States Geological Survey since 1882. The output for 1908 of primary spelter (crude metallic zinc) in the United States from domestic ores was 190,749 short tons; from foreign ores 19,675 short tons, a total of 210,424 short tons. This production shows a decrease of 39,436 tons, or 15.8 per cent, from that of 1907. The annual progress of the zinc-smelting industry since 1873 is shown in the following table: Annual production of spelter in the United States from domestic and foreign ores, 1873– 1908, in short tons. a According to figures kindly furnished by the Producers' Information Bureau, of Webb City, Mo. Ingalls, W. R., Lead and Zinc in the United States, p. 314. In Mineral Resources for 1906, p. 461, zinc derived from ore was called "primary" spelter to distinguish it from the secondary spelter recovered from such sources as drosses, skimmings, and old metal. The former has also been called "virgin" spelter, and the latter has been called "remelted," "reclaimed," and "dross" spelter. The distinctive origin is more plainly suggested by the terms "primary" spelter and "secondary" spelter, and they will be used hereinafter. Where the word "spelter" is used without qualification primary spelter will be understood. Annual production of spelter in the United States from domestic and foreign ores, 1873– 1908, in short tons-Continued. a Including an unknown quantity smelted from foreign ore, small in 1904 but larger in 1905. PRODUCTION BY STATES. Two tabulations of the spelter production of the country in 1908 are given below, one showing the locality from which the ores were derived, the other the locality in which they were smelted. Each method has its special interests and advantages, depending on whether the view point be that of producer or consumer, or that of resources. These state totals are compiled entirely from confidential reports by each zinc-smelting company in operation in the United States in 1908. Only primary spelter is here included, the recovery of secondary spelter being given in a later table. The following table shows the sources of all ores and concentrates smelted for zinc in the United States in 1908 and the quantity of zinc actually derived from the ores from these respective sources: Production of primary spelter in the United States in 1906-1908, apportioned according to source of ore, in short tons. The subjoined table is designed to show the localities in which spelter was made. Production of spelter in the United States, 1902-1908, apportioned according to locality in which smelted, in short tons. Includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Colorado. ZINC PIGMENTS. There are four white pigments which have zinc for a base, either in whole or in part, namely, zinc oxide, leaded zinc oxide, zinc-lead oxide, and lithopone. All of these may be, and the first three usually are, made directly from ore. Zinc oxide is the most important of these pigments. In European practice the oxide is made from spelter, but in this country it is generally made directly from the ores, though in 1908 of the whole production 2,374 tons was made from spelter. The production of zinc oxide in the United States fell off greatly in 1908, being 57,237 short tons (including that made from Mexican ore), as compared with 71,784 short tons in 1907, a decrease of 14,544 tons, or over 20 per cent. The imports of zinc oxide in 1908 were 2,423 tons and the exports for the same period were 12,008 tons. Leaded zinc oxide and zinc-lead oxide are produced from ore, both in some cases at the same plant, the zinc-lead containing somewhat the larger percentage of lead. The combined production of these two pigments in 1908 was 8,430 tons, as compared with 13,516 in 1907. Lithopone is an intimate mixture by chemical precipitation of zinc sulphide and barium sulphate. It is now generally manufactured from spelter or zinc oxide, but may also be made from scrap zinc, zinc skimmings, etc. The total production of zinc and zinc-lead pigments from domestic and foreign sources aggregated 65,667 short tons in 1908. The zinc content of these pigments, excluding those not made from ore, was 48,004 short tons. A census of the capacity of the oxide plants of the United States shows that, running on ores of the same character as in the last two or three years, their maximum annual capacity is very nearly 110,000 short tons of pigment. The following is a list of the plants which produce zinc oxide or zinc-lead oxide in the United States: List of zinc and zinc-lead oxide plants in the United States. Mineral Point Zinc Company. New Jersey Zinc Company (of Pennsylvania). Mineral Point, Wis. The large plant of the Tri-Bullion Smelting and Development Company, in course of erection at Canon City, Colo., was not completed, on account of the financial depression, and is not now expected to be in operation before 1910. The oxide plant of the Empire Zinc Company, situated at West Plains, Mo., has not been in operation for some years. SECONDARY ZINC. In the ordinary method of galvanizing, where the material to be coated is dipped into a bath of molten zinc, there is great loss of zinc in the form of semioxidized skimmings and of hard zinc drosses, caused by the alloy formed by the zinc with the iron of the tank and of the article to be galvanized. In the larger galvanizing plants there are furnaces to refine these skimmings and drosses and to recover the spelter. There are also many small plants and some large ones which make a practice of buying up galvanizer's skimmings and drosses and of recovering the spelter. Once in a while the zinc smelters running on ore find occasion to work in a quantity of secondary material. In such cases they have made the proper returns to the Geological Survey, and account has been heretofore taken of such production in these reports as dross spelter. A considerable quantity of old metal in the form of various alloys of zinc and copper and other metals is also worked over and brought up to the desired composition by the addition of new metal. In the preparation of this report the attempt was made to get returns of production from as many of these refineries as possible. At almost every brass foundry in the country it is the custom to remelt and use filings, grindings, and scrap copper and brass, and it is manifestly impracticable to attempt to take full account of such. The table given below embodies the output of 40 of the largest refineries of secondary zinc. On a later page the production of secondary spelter in Europe is given. Production of secondary zinc in 1907–8, in short tons. Inasmuch as this secondary spelter takes the place of so much primary spelter, it is to be added to the figures of consumption of zine in arriving at the actual consumption. The recovery of secondary zinc is rapidly increasing, as is shown by the falling off in exports of zinc dross from 15,887 short tons in 1906 to 9,593 short tons in 1907, and to 8,405 tons in 1908, and this in spite of a large increase in the use of zinc for galvanizing. Besides increased recovery of secondary zinc as secondary spelter and in alloys, there is an increase in the use of zinc skimmings and drosses in the manufacture of lithopone, and of zinc chloride used in wood preservation. Exact figures are not available for the use of secondary zinc in pigments, but the quantity is estimated to be about 500 tons. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates the quantity of zinc chloride used in 1908 for wood preservation as 19,000,000 pounds, containing 4,500 short tons of metallic zinc derived from secondary sources, such as galvanizer's skimmings and drosses. COMPARISON OF STATE TOTALS, BASED ON SMELTER AND ON MINE REPORTS. The foregoing figures of the production of spelter by the respective States are compiled from reports from individual zinc smelters. For several years the production of the more valuable metals in the Western States has been also obtained by the Geological Survey from reports of individual mines, and since 1907 this has been extended over the whole country. In order to put the smelter production on the same basis as the mine figures, all the zinc which is manufactured into pigment directly from ore (excluding the quantity in zinc oxide manufactured from spelter, the inclusion of which would entail its duplication in the totals) is added to the production of metallic zinc. The zinc recovered from secondary sources is excluded, since it has already been once reckoned as spelter. These facts must be borne in mind in comparing this table with the table showing the production of spelter. The state totals obtained by each method are compared in the following table: Comparison of state totals of the production of zinc, 1907-8, based on smelter and mine reports, in short tons. |