period
of ore extraction, the mines report being as much as three or four
months in advance of the mint report. The mill and placer bullion
reaches mints and refineries soon after its production, and it does not
require a long time to obtain it from the ore; but in smelting, and
especially in custom work, several months may pass before the refined
metals come on the market. Sampling, shipping, mixing, roasting,
smelting, shipment to refinery, and refining—all these operations take
time to perform.
The
figures obtained by the two methods will agree, within certain limits
of error, if the mining and smelting industries are carried on
uniformly and at the same rate. But important disturbing factors may
result in marked discrepancies between the two sets of figures, each
one being a correct statement in itself. Especially is this so when
abnormal conditions appear near the beginning or close of the calendar
year. In time the discrepancies will balance if the reports are
intrinsically correct.
In
1904 and 1905 the two reports agreed closely. In 1905 the refinery
report gave $88,180,700 in gold and 56,101,600 ounces of silver, while
the mines report recorded $88,159,881 in gold and 56,272,496 ounces of
silver. In the latter half of 1906 the extremely rich ore bodies of the
Goldfield camp were worked, and in the last month of the year gold-ore
production from the Mohawk mine was rushed to an extraordinary degree,
owing to the expiring of certain leases. At the same time, in the last
months of 1906, the whole country experienced a great car shortage,
resulting in a corresponding delay in ore shipment and scarcity of
fuel for the smelters. This meant that smelting and refining of ore
shipped in the last months of the year to custom works would take much
longer than usual, and consequently that much of the gold from ores
mined in 1906 would be credited to the refinery output of 1907. In a
less degree these conditions obtained at all smelting centers and
applied to silver as well as gold.
The
financial panic of 1907, as already noted, compelled a great number of
mines and smelting works in the Western States to close, while the
refineries, as a rule, were enabled to continue work on stocks received
earlier in the year. The result of this finds expression in a very
considerable reduction of the metals as reported from the mines. On the
other hand, the reports from the refineries are much higher and
correspond very fairly to what would have been the normal production of
the year.
The
total of gold given by the mint report in 1906 is $94,373,800. The
mines report has $97,219,645, an excess of $2,845,845. In 1907 the mint
report shows a total of $90,435,700, while the mines report has only
$87,471,136, showing an excess of $2,964,564 in the mint report. The
two years, therefore, balance very closely. In Alaska the figures of
the mine report for 1907 are approximately $900,000 higher than the
mint report, a condition which has now occurred in three successive
years. In other States where mill and placer bullion predominate in
1907 there is close agreement. In California the mines report has
$16,727,928 against $16,853,500 of the mint report; in Oregon,
$1,129,261 against $1,222,200; in Idaho, $1,255,911 against $1,255,900;
in Colorado, $20,826,194 against $20,897,600; in South Dakota,
$4,138,189 against $4,138,200. The States in which most of the ore is
smelted also show close correspondence. In Arizona
