864 MINERAL RESOURCES, 1914----PART I.
ore daily and represent the high-water mark in milling and metallurgy of the precious metals.
The
ore treated in gold and silver mills, with increase and decrease for
1914, has been noted in connection with a preceding table.
The
total yield of gold by amalgamation in the United States in 1914 was
924,253 fine ounces, valued at $19,106,005, against 927,572 ounces,
valued at $19,174,615, in 1913. The output in 1914 was 353,386 ounces
in California, 218,644 ounces in South Dakota, 144,625 ounces in
Alaska, 87,232 ounces in Colorado, and 68,879 ounces in Nevada.
The
total yield of silver by amalgamation in 1914 was only 271,417 fine
ounces, valued at $150,093, against 428,844 ounces, valued at $259,022,
in 1913. The output was mainly from California, South Dakota, Colorado,
and Nevada, in the order given, and was chiefly of silver alloyed with
gold. The production of Texas ranked first in 1914, but since the
extraction process at the Presidio silver mine has been changed from
amalgamation to cyanidation the yield by the former process has
practically ceased in that State.
The
total output of gold by cyanidation in 1914 was 1,384,935 fine ounces,
valued at $28,629,147, against 1,348,322 ounces, valued at $27,872,289,
in 1913. The output was 517,243 ounces in Colorado, 371,040 ounces in
Nevada, 133,221 ounces in South Dakota, 104,349 ounces in Arizona,
90,363 ounces in Alaska, and 64,630 ounces in California in 1914.
The
total silver yield by cyanidation in 1914 was 15,399,836 fine ounces,
valued at $8,516,110, against 14,090,407 ounces, valued at $8,510,606,
in 1913. Nevada led, with the bulk of the output— 12,061,780 ounces—and
was followed by New Mexico with 1,160,256 ounces, Colorado with 623,916
ounces, Arizona with 614,035 ounces, and Texas with 517,863 ounces.
Of
the gold-producing States whose chief output is from milling ores,
Alaska, California, and South Dakota still yield more gold by
amalgamation than by cyanidation, whereas the latter process produces
more gold than amalgamation in Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada; and it
produces much more silver in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas. Altogether amalgamation produced gold
and silver valued at $19,256,098 from milling ores in 1914, against
$37,145,257 produced by cyanidation from such ores in that year.
Of
the total output of gold from all sources in 1914, amalgamation
produced 18.8 per cent in Alaska, 35.4 per cent in California, and 61.6
per cent in South Dakota, and cyanidation produced 51.6 per cent in
Arizona, 53.8 per cent in Colorado, 66.8 per cent in Nevada, 42 per per
cent in New Mexico, and 36.7 per cent in South Dakota.
Of
the total output of silver from all sources in 1914 amalgamation
produced 36.1 per cent in South Dakota, and cyanidation produced 78.5
per cent in Nevada, 65.2 per cent in New Mexico, 61.6 per cent in South
Dakota, and 97.5 per cent in Texas.
For
details of the consumption of quicksilver in the amalgamation milling
process and of potassium sodium cyanide in the cyanidation process the
reader is referred to the mines reports of the several Western States
indicated in the prefatory note. Data as to consumption of these
supplies are not yet furnished by a sufficient number of mining and
milling companies to justify tabulation for
