O

other minerals that have their part in the comfort and convenience of our daily life.

are found abundantly in the United States, are gold, silver, copper,

come the United States and Australia, producing almost equal amounts, Russia and Canada each produce a limited amount, and various other countries

uces it to powder, after which the gold is separated by refining processes. The gold which occurs in the sand, gravel, or clay soil, is washed out. When done on a small scale this is

banks, and also fills up the river beds with masses of rock and gravel. Some of the large rivers of California have been made unfit for steamboat traffic, and serious dama

Together they furnished nearly four-fifths of the entire supply. The remaining one-fifth comes from Utah, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon, with very small amounts from the southeastern states, the two Carolin

of the placer mines can be better judged than that of the lode or quartz mines. The placer mines are chiefly in Alaska and California. These m

$24,000,000, and it is thought that about th

ly increased, and can be relied on to last many years. From the lead ores a little over $2,000,000 worth of gold was taken. This

s. New discoveries are always probable and many new mines are opened up each

"Unless very important new discoveries are made it is thought unlikely that the production of gold in the United State

-that is, for jewelry, tableware, in dentistry, in bookbinding, and various chemical processes. The quantity used in the arts has doubled since 1900. In 1907 the s

ey were said to be inexhaustible; but they have been mined so rapidly, and the supply has proved so far short of the first excited estimates that experts say that the entire region will be almost exhausted within twenty years. The loss of gold in mining and refining is comparatively

e world's gold and silver would be much greater but for the use of paper money, bank checks, and notes. Their very general use keeps the gold as a reserve, held in banks and storage vaults much of the time. If it were in

LV

creasing and the reason is not because the supply is lessening, but because the price is too low to make a larger working of the mines profitable, and the supply is kept down to

,000,000 ounces, or about one-third of the world's supply-Mexico being the only other great producer. In many countries with a sma

each of these produces about one ounce out of every five ounces mined. Mos

ver alone. The rest was obtained as a by-product in the mining of gold, lead, copper and zinc, or, as is often the case, i

ores will probably be held for several years till prices advance. A great silver region has recently been opened in no

sue for the people of the present generation. As silver is no

at home is divided between coinage and manufacture. The quantity coined varies greatly from year to year, eight million ounces being about the average. For manufacturing, jewelry, tableware, chemicals, etc.,

PP

acting it from the ores have been employed for the last fifty years, but within a dozen years the refining of copper has been revolutionized by electric methods. An enormous amount has been produced, but production has been kept down on account of the high prices. It i

f copper and tin, and its use has greatly increased in

sed for sheathing for ships, for boilers, and for various chemical processes carried on by electricity or by acids. Very many of these processes have been discovered within ten or fifteen years

f reports be correct there is enough copper in central Africa to supply the world for years to

ater, in 1896, it had doubled; after another ten years, in 1906, it had doubled that quantity, and reached 918,000,000 pounds. I

vada each produce copper in amounts ranging from the 66,000,000 pounds mined in Utah to the 2,000,000 pounds mined in

ry would be greatly reduced. If, on the other hand, copper should rise to fifteen or twenty cents or higher, the amount of available copper land would be vastly increased. The report on the Conservation of Mineral Resources says in effect: "The copper resources of the United States are believed to be large enough to allow for a numb

opper from the ore the waste is often as much as thirty per cent., and it i

E

the production remains about the same from year to year; from Germany, where in spite of higher prices pr

oduction of the United States increased from about 70,000 tons in 1880 to 365,000 tons seventeen years later

that the present rate of increase could be kept up for at least fifty years. The other states could keep

upon (except where lead is a by-product extracted with some other ore). If prices would advance, s

or twenty per cent. The best way to prevent final loss is to store all refuse until such time as the reworking becomes profitable. Improvement in methods has been great in the last fifteen years but more economical m

e is so important, we must turn to the uses of lead. The most necessary of these is for lead pipes in plumbing. Another use is f

lead is used more than any other substance for paint, although zinc white has come into considerable use in the last few years. No other nation uses lead paint to such an extent as does the United States, partly because no other nation could afford so general a use of such an expensive material

r quantity of lead is remelted. About 25

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ined. This, of course, is permanently lost, but the price and its value as a resource is much lower than lead. This takes more than half of the entire product. The remainder of the ou

y large deposits, entirely undeveloped, are said to exist in Africa. In 1880, the United States produced 23,00

a billion pounds, and if zinc oxide should take the place of white lead in painting

heets, but a large part of the ore is a by-product obtained from the reduction of other ores. In New Jersey the zinc alone is found in a single region, where it was estimated a few years ago that there were eight million tons, of which two and a half million tons have been mined since 1904. The zinc in Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas is

present rate of increase and at present prices, will last many years. However, with increasing use for the product, we can not be

heavy loss. In the West, owing to the expensive treatment and shipment, much of the low-grade ore is left in the ground. In refining the loss is enormous, often as much as forty per cent. In order to produce zinc

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ay, cement and lime are so great that they appear inexhaustible, and need of care in their use

ars, the value of cement manufactures has increased nearly six times. In 1900 we used seventy pounds of cement for each person; in 1907, two hundred and twenty-eight pounds. The value of brick and other products made from clay has doubled in the same period and is now $160,0

d reckless methods of taking them from the ground and prepar

future as well as the present. Such supplies as sulphur, asphalt, magnesia, borax, and asbestos, as well as coal and iron, are not very plentif

well known, as well as our petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, and phosphate ro

ERE

onal Conservat

ineral Resources. U.

e U. S. Geol

d in 1908. U. S.

n of Silv

n of Lead

n of Zinc

of Structur

pamphlets on