A CINDERELLA OF METALS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2028, 13 March 1907, Page 4

A CINDERELLA OF METALS

THE ROMANCE OE COPPER

Though coppor is to-day 0110 of the most valuable) of motuls, gold nob oxcoptod, it is only, comparatively spooking, during recent yenrs that it has conic so markedly to tho front. Indued, it might ho said with truth that no industry in tho world is now paying so largo an amount of profit on tho money invested as coppor mining. Copper is olio of the oldest discovered metals in tho world, and has always been in demand tor tho world’s work in some degree; but, liko tho Cinderella of tho Nursery story, it was for many years eclipsed by tho more showy and attractive charms of its sisters, gold and silver. Now, howovor, owing to the wonderful development of modern scionco in tho direct ion of electricity, copper stands at the head of profit-making metals because the demand for it is over on the increase, and tho prospects for tho future indicate that tho rate of production will by no moans keep paco with the enormous and ovcr-incroasing demand. Tho United States is the largest producer to-day of tho world’s supply, to tho extent of some Go per cent, to ‘0 por cent, of tho whole, while olscwlioro all over the world copper mines are becoming exhausted. This means that it may bo taken as a fact that tho copper production ol the world is at present centralised in the United States of America. This points to tho conclusion that any addition to the volume of production by tho discovery of now deposits ol copper in any part of tho world would mean fabulous profits to the lucky owners of a copper mine, say in New Zealand. As a proof of this it may bo interesting to show what has taken placo in connection with tho copper mining industry. Though in tho last 20 years the increase in production of coppor in America has been no less than 470 per cent., the tact remains that there has not boon tho slightest approach to over-production. As a matter of fact the American consumers aro now absorbing month by month more of tho metal than is being mined, and old stocks aro being called upon to meet the demand. During tho year 100 G no less than 1,500,000,0001bs of copper were worked up into different products, and it is calculated that up to 1912 production and consuption will bo practically equal, with perhaps tho former in advance. For the next 20 years tho total use of copper is calculated at 12,000,000 tons compared with a total consumption during the last contury of 10,000,000 tons. Tho electric zones of various transmitting agoncics are widening with stupendous rapidity, and if electricity, as seems to be inevitably the case, is to continue as tho loading medium for generating power, transmitting sound, and doing many of tho services that enter into the day’s work, coppor will have to be mined in even greater quantities than is tho case now. To-day no less than Go per cent, of the total consumption of the metal is by tho electrical interests. This has been caused by the immense expansion which has taken place during the last few years in telephonic construction, traction development, in the shape of electric tramways, municipal and private lighting,-, and tolegraph and cable services. But beyond these, which are potent factors in tho matter of 'consumption, there aro further phases of demand for copper. These are for the building of warships, requiring from 1,000,000 to 1,500,0001bs each of the best copper; the erection in the groat cities of America of “skyscrapers” with their manifold power of electric service, demanding carloads of copper, and the change which is going on extensively in America on the railroads from steam to electric traction at their terminals and for suburban services. Then there is the utilisation of natural water power for the transmission of electrical current over a wide radius of territory which is as yet only in its infancy. This all means an increased demand for hundreds of thousands of tons of copper wire. But even with these developments the use of electrical energy' is yet only on the fringe of wliat it ultimately must be. It is calculated that only 7 per cent, of tho industrial machinery of the United States is to-day impelled by electricity. The doubling of this ratio in tho next five years—which is by no means an extravagant calculation, looking at tho advances already made by electrical energy—means an enormous increase in the demand for copper. A few figures on tho consumption in America' alone will show that the demand for copper—great as tho production is—must inevitably be greatly in excess of the amount now able to lie put upon the market. Copper is largely used as -a constituent of brass, and last year one company, the American Brass Company, took 125,000,0001b5. Tho Western Electric, General Electric, and Westinghouso Electric Companies absorb from-225,000,000 to 250,000,0001bs annually, and the extension of electric tramways means the uso of hundreds of tons of copper yearly. Tho electrification of tho railroad lines in America is another cause of increased demand, and this will mean tho consumption of some 10,000,0001bs annually. Tho fact which is patent from a caroful investigation of the surroundings is that coppor will always be a commodity with a market in any part of the globe. To-day tho chief concern of tho consumer is to got the metal, regardless of price, because he is face to face with tho probability of a copper famine.

Now let us look at the resources from which the metal to meet tho enormous demands will have to come. While copper is one of the most universal of mineral deposits, it is, as has been shown, mainly confined in any quantity to a limited area. South America has long been a rich field, but the deposits hero are greatly over-estimated, and Mexico has gone through a similar experience, her mines being still an unknown quantity. It is evident, however, that copper did' not figuro much in the wealth of the Monte Zumns. The Canadian deposits are thin, and have not figured to any large extent in tho world’s productions, but it is only fair to say that the mines of the Dominion have been poorly worked. Australasia has some very good deposits, but they are not expanding, and will do little' more than hold their own in the next ten years. Algeria is out of the running as a producer, and in the best of tho copper districts of South Africa, Namaqualand, production is at a standstill. Tho general inertia of China restricts " the proper working of her mines, and instead of exporting, China is one of tho best customers of America for copper. Japan has about six miles of copper yielding area, but the prospective industrial development of tho country in the next decade will absorb more than it can give up. Great Britain mines aro exhausted, and Cornwall is merely a memory so far as the copper mining industry is concerned. In Spain and Portugal there has been a steady shrinkage from year to year, and since 1900 the output has contracted 20,000 tons. With tho immense commercial value of copper and the increasing stable demand for it, the increasing demand for new deposits is not to be wondered at. Mining engineers and geologists are to-day searching for "the mineral in every civilised country throughout the world. The excitement and romance attending the discovery of gold has caused men to bo ready even to faco death in the search for it. But nowadays there is equally as much satisfaction and profit in the opening of a vein of virgin copper, if not more so. The annual expenditure by one corporation alone in exploration

work in searching for now mines in America has reached tho sum of half a million of dollars, and so far with no result.