Limited scope of the discussion.—The
act of Congress providing for the collection and publication of mineral
statistics under the auspices of the United States Geological Survey
restricted the field to mineral products other than gold and silver. No
attempt, therefore, has been made in the way of original investigation
of this very important branch of the mining industry. In order,
however, to present as complete a view of the total mineral output as
possible, the best available figures of the production of the precious
metals are here presented in a concise form.
Production in 1881 and 1882.—The
following table shows the yield of gold and silver in the United States
during the calendar years 1881 and 1882, as estimated by Hon. Horatio
C. Burchard, Director of the Mint; and these results are accepted
authoritatively in further computations in this report. The figures for
1882 have been kindly furnished in advance of their publication by Mr.
Burchard. The amounts are stated at the coining value, the actual
market price of the silver being considerably lower than the figure
given, while in the case of gold the actual net receipts by the miners
are also slightly under the nominal value, owing to the large amounts
of placer gold which are sold by them at a small discount.
Production of gold and silver in the United States during the calendar years 1881 and 1882.
