Dullness in the Copper Trade.

Thames Star, Volume XVI, Issue 5023, 17 February 1885, Page 2

Dullness in the Copper Trade.

An important announcement was made on January 18 at the Moonta copper mine, South Australia. This mine employs about 1300 men, and the maDagement.announced that in consequence, of the gradually receding price of copper they had been forced to decide to either reduce the wages or else stop all prospecting works, and they had therefore accepted, the former alternative. The announce* ment, which had been long expected, was received quietly. The manager, in the course of his remarks, gave the following particlars in regard to the copper market: —In 1860 it was £117 per ton; in 1863 it was down to £88; in 1864 it was up to £113; in 1865 it went down to £85, whilst the same year it rose again to £112 ; in 1870 it dropped to £68, bat in 1872 it reached £113. In 1879 it dropped to £64, but in 1880 rose to £83, and in the same year receded to£67, whilst the present price was only £57, the lowest ever known. In connection with this subject the foU lowing extract from an exchange will be read with interest: —If there is any truth in the rumors which are now current in Swansea—the seat of the copper trade of the world —there are prospects that this once flourishing and lucratire business will shortly show signs of vitality which it has not known for very many years past. When wooden vessels were well in rogue the copper trade was in full swing, for most vessels were sheeted with copper; but the introduction of iron and steel ships and steamers paralysed toavery great extent the copper trade, as it was found •impossible to, sheet iron ships with copper to prevent the fouling of the bottoms of the ships,, a most serious detriment, more especially when long,voyages had to be undertaken. The difficulty has now, however, according to the Mining Journal, been overcome. The value of copper-sheeting for vessels has never been lost sight of, and it is itated that Sir Hussey Vivian, Bart., M.P. (whose firm may be said to be the father of the copper trade in Great Britain) has at length succeeded in overcoming every difficulty, and by the means of a layer of gutta-percha upon the iron, and the fastening of the copper sheeting with a patent composition, the problem has been solved, the copper plates being fixed with a tenacity which resists all wear and tear. So much importance, at all events, is attached to the matter, and so confident is Sir Hussey of success, that an iron ship! is being sheathed With copper, and the Admiralty recently sent down a special officer to Swansea to report thereon. Should this experiment prove successful, of which there appears no doubt, it will be of national importance, and will give a much-wanted impetus to what formerly was one of the most important metal trades in the country.