Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources

Chapter XV: Lead (2)

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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.

[136] L. Vogelstein is reported to have sold his interests to the
American Metal Co. and subsequently, early in 1920, to have acquired
a fifth interest in that company.

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

---------+-------------------+---------------------+--------+---------
| | | | Annual
Financial| | | Number |capacity
Group No.| | | of |(tons of
| Operating company | Location |furnaces| 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 |Perth Amboy, | |
|& Refining Co. |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
---------+-------------------+---------------------+--------+---------

[137] Refinery also.

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

---------+---------------------------------------+---------------
| | Percentage
| | of production
Financial| Company +----------+----
group | |Oct.-Nov.,|
No. | | 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.

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

TABLE 56.--SILVER LEAD SMELTERS IN MEXICO

=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

----------+---------+----+-----+--------------------------------------
| Recent | | |
| pig-lead| | | Financial control by
| pro- | | Per +------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| duction| |cent.| Home | | | |
| (short | | of | cap- | United| Great | |
Country | tons) |Year|world| ital | States|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 | | | | | | | |
produc- | | | | | | | |
tion. | | |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.

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Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resourcesChapter XV: Lead (2)

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