Show gold and sa s1 silver aver condi conditions ti ons the stock of gold in the united states has been steadily decreasing due both to exports of gold to countries where the balance of trade is unfavorable to the united states and because other nations are unable to pay their adverse balances to this country in 6 gold go id or its equivalent and instead must resort to the use of paper media the rem tive depreciation of foreign currency may be attributed in part to this condition gold exports show a large increase during october and although imports aiso jumped the balance is greatly in favor of the exports amounting to an excess of movements of gold to and from the united states G sold 14 1 x 1 0 r ts to october september british india clana china japan hong kong 3 7 6 S 20 dutch east indies 1114 mexico france 16 3 canada columbia 20 all others 1 gold fuli imports 4 from froin october september I 1 england i new zealand canada dutell dutch east indies Belg belgium iuni central american states mexico 7 venezuela ene zuela peru all others in canada the province of ontario is the largest producer and its comparatively recent rise to a position of prominence has been very marked in 1911 the output amounted to while in 1912 it jumped to and in 1916 attained a i maximum of since that time the production has decreased and last year amounted to the chief gold mines in ontario are in tile the porcupine district australasian alasia is showing a diminished yield of 6 gold ever since 1903 when the country was the worlds greatest producer the production has declined until now it ranks third thira in importance comparative figures woud indicate that production in the commonwealth of australia has fallen off during inu current year approximately below last years output the production of austraha sia gradually declined with the exception bf the year 1915 from an annual output of the value of for 1913 to estimated for 1918 in south africa the gold miners problem has recently been under consideration in south africa where the british government was approached pro ached on the question of a subsidy for the gold old producers but this was refused on the ground that since gold is the standard of value no more can properly be paid for it than its value in currency later a ye request was made for permission to import some cheap colored labor from warmer iett in an endeavor to lower the cost of production in the low grade mines due to the susceptibility of these natives to pneumonia when working in the mines such aution is at present prohibited by law according accordia to the chamber of mines transvaal sixteen mines out of a total of thirty eight employing whites are operating at a loss in the Wit waters rand the total working profit of the whole of the rand excluding eight rich mines with high grade ore and low operating costs amounted to only for the three months ended february 28 1919 one step taken toward relief was the creation of a mint in the union of south africa which is expected to add to the profits of the gold mining industry by eliminating a pare of the present sellin selling t charges 6 which amount to per ounce the economic conference called by the 6 government overn ment hag recommended that the embargo on the export of specie be discontinued after the establishment of the mint and that the esiau lishin lish ment ent of natural exchange 6 and a reu market for gold in the union is desirable silver the prosperity of most metal mining industries dus tries in this country is greatly de dependent pend on world conditions while profitable gold old mining is a problem attendant with many handicaps silver mining is on tilt me other hand finding its position one in which the world trade factors have increased the value of its product more rapidly than the increase in cost of labor and supplies during the past month silver has further j increased ncr eased in value and various smaller saws of tile the metal have been at a price above th the e gold parity point although quantity purchases have been noted a little below that value du during ring october in silver was exported over 90 of which was shipped to china and in silver W was as imported the bulk of which came from mexico up to november 1 1919 exports of silver during tile the year exceed the imports DY showing allowing the vast quantities being shipped out of the country in an en deavor to satisfy the demands of other nations silver exports to october september china 10 hong kong canada canada england ingland lC 1 england E mexico 8 39 west indies british india japan all others silver imports from october september mexico peru central american states canada dutch east ea s t indies chile columbia all others european nations are experiencing trouble with their subsidiary currency in france hoarding of small silver cha change has resulted in the withdrawal from circulation of such an amount of metallic currency that a serious problem has beset the government in spite of the fact that more silver coinage has been minted in the past five years than for over a decade depreciation of french exchange and speculation are reasons for this situation exportation of silver coins and their melting into bullion for manufacturing purposes seems to be prevalent normally france produces only about 02 per cent of the worlds production or silver and must rely for practically all its supply on other countries unlawful to hold great britain has taken steps to make it a statutory offense to hoard british silver coins to buy or sell them above their face value and to melt or break up the silver currency export of british silver coin is already prohibited the explanation of the recent rise in me price of silver is to be found in the demand from china this country is on a silver standard and tremendous favorable balance of trade and depleted stocks of silver havu have created a demand for silver shipments irom from the united states the indian demand for silver has diminished and india has instead resorted to importations of gold to strengthen its currency reserve mexico has also found that hoarding or oll silver coins has taken place with a consequent shortage of silver change this has led to the govern governments menes imposition of strict limitations upon silver exportations exhortations specify that 50 per der cent of the bullion produced may be purchased by the government and not more than 50 per cent of production nay ay be exported conditions in colorado there have been several important developments in conditions of mining in cow tado rado during the last month the closing of the vindicator washing and flotation mill at victor colorado in october will cut down the production from that district quite heavily the cresson mine one or tuu mainstays main stays of the cripple creek district has ceased paying dividends which would indicate that it is not making profits at this time the golden cycle mill colorado springs which accounts usually for about 95 per cent of the production of the cripple creek camp was closed on november 1 to divert its coal supply to the use of the city of colorado springs if the shutdown shut down is prolonged it will mean a very substantial decrease in the record of production for the district at telluride where mining has kept up most persistently of all the camps in colorado the month of october saw the final cleanup clean up at the liberty bell mill which means that this large producing property active since 1896 has mined all of its ore and has ceased operations this is a serious blow to mining in the telluride district although the tomboy mine at telluride has about completed a new and enlarged mill it will take a very large increase from the tomboy mine to compensate for the liberty bells former production on october 31 one of the mills of the smuggler union company at telluride burned to the ground and part of the aerial tramway was also severely damaged wane this accident will not seriously cut down the production of the smuggle r union it will lessen the production from that district while there is considerable development in the silverton and ouray districts the production from both of these camps for the remainder of the year will not be heavy because of the commencement of winter and also because the development will not re suit in production until next spring the possible closing of the pueblo smelter owing to a threatened strike has been averted by granting the smelter workers part of their demands the salida calida smelter is operating on only part capacity and is buying very little ore mining operations at creede mineral county have been serio seriously asly decreased and the production is very much less than it was in the early months of 1919 the high price of silver is causing considerable sid erable interest in long abandoned properties and it is probable that a number of old mines in the aspen region as well as in gilpin county colorado will be reopened F T eddington and F E in monthly report of investigations bureau of mines department of the interior for november |