General statement.—The
total silver product for 1906 was, as usual, about evenly divided
between siliceous ores, copper ores, and lead ores. In percentages of
the total the division is as follows: Siliceous ores, 29.3 per cent;
copper ores, 27.7 per cent; lead ores, 26.7 per cent; copper-lead ores,
11.8 per cent; lead-zinc ores, 4 per cent; zinc ores, 0.2 per cent;
placers, 0.3 per cent. Compared with 1905 there was a small loss from
siliceous ores, a larger loss from lead ores, a small gain from copper
ores, and a rather heavy increase from the mixed ores. The States rank
as follows: Colorado, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and
California.
Placers.—The
placers yielded 171,058 ounces as a by-product; corresponding to the
greater yield of placer gold, the gain in silver over 1905 was large.
Dry and siliceous ores.—The
total quantity from this source was 16,792,799 ounces, compared with
17,187,889 ounces in 1905. The important States rank as follows:
Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, California.
Although
the total is large, the proportion of silver from ores in which that
metal predominates is small. This emphasizes the fact that silver is
practically a by-product of smelting ores and gold-
