reports
for gold or silver, or both, and opposite relations oi excess of
smelting and refining and drawing upon stocks are indicated by larger
returns in the Mint report.
UNITS OP MEASUREMENT.
In
measurement of ores and concentrates the short ton of 2,000 pounds is
used throughout. The price of gold is fixed by law at $20.67+per fine
ounce. The annual average prices for silver from 1865 to 1917,
inclusive, based on the equivalent New York value of a fine ounce with
exchange at par, are given elsewhere in this report. (See p. 729.) The
average price for silver in 1918 is that given by the Bureau of the
Mint as the approximate actual selling price of all silver sold. The
average commercial prices (or dealers' prices) for silver 0.999 fine at
New York are those quoted from day to day on the market and run
uniformly somewhat below the prices as given elsewhere by years.
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER REPORTED FROM THE MINES.
The
following table gives the quantity and value of the output of
recoverable gold and silver ("mine production") by States reported from
the producing mines in 1918 to the United States Geological Survey. The
increase or decrease of production shows results by comparison with the
corresponding Geological Survey mine figures for 1917.
