Jose Lago mine, 4 miles to Picachos, on Kansas City, Mexico Orient Railroad, less than 100 miles from Presidio del Norte, on Texas border, to which railroad is now being built; when railroad is completed it will be more favorably situated for shipping to United States than any mine in Mexico. At present ore is freighted 4 miles and shipped via Chihuahua; ore carbonate and sulphide zinc, the latter not mined at present; carbonate lead free 45 per cent metallic contents. Ore is broken down; run to open, hand sorted, and loaded into freight wagons; no power is used; practically the only cost is for labor. Ore exposed, 50,000 tons. Engineering and Mining Journal, January 4, 1908, page 69, says that the zinc properties in the Monterey district and in Chihuahua have attracted such attention during 1907 that the ores offered for sale were sufficient to maintain separate agencies of five different smelting companies during the greater part of the year and shipments out of Chihuahua over the Mexican Central were regular until arrested by the freight congestion in the late summer. Engineering and Mining Journal, September 26, 1908, at page 640, says that the Calera mine had closed a contract for the shipment of 6,000 tons of zinc ore to the works of the United Zinc and Chemical Company at Iola, Kans., and that the present output consists of about 4 cars of concentrates weekly. ORES OF ZINC. Sphalerite, or zinc blende; zinc sulphide, containing sulphur 33 per cent and zinc 67 per cent. This ore forms the chief production of the Missouri-Kansas district. Smithsonite, or zinc carbonate, containing metallic zinc 52 per cent. It" is one of the most important ores of zinc. It occurs almost invariably associated with the silicates, together with which it is extensively employed for the production of spelter." "Calamine was for a long time confounded with the carbonate of zinc, although they differ materially from one another in both chemical and physical characteristics." Is a hydrous-silicate of zinc. Contains metallic zinc 54.3 per cent. It will thus be seen that calamine (free of duty under paragraph 514 of the Dingley bill) is a very important ore of zinc. The Board of General Appraisers and Judge Burns, in the circuit court of the United States, southern district of Texas, have ruled that calamine includes both the carbonates and both the silicates of zinc. But the definitions above given are taken from Dana, the recognized American authority, and from other standard works on mineralogy. As the carbonate and silicate of zinc exists in such immense deposits in Mexico, it is confidently claimed that Congress in drafting the new tariff bill will strike calamine from the free list and make it dutiable as a zinc ore. We ask the Congress to place upon all zinc ores, including calamine, a duty of 13 cents per pound upon the metallic contents of the ore. This means that a 40 per cent ore would pay a duty of $12 per ton; a 50 per cent ore a duty of $15 per ton; and a 60 per cent ore a duty of $18. Such duty is perfectly defensible from the standpoint of the domestic producer of zinc ore. Mr. A. B. Cockerill, who is a large smelter in Kansas of both Mexican and Joplin ores, in June, 1908, in a speech at Joplin, admitted that Joplin could not produce ore for less than $40 per ton; and charitably invited all Joplin mines to stop operations until the spelter market would warrant the payment of the price. In the meantime he would continue to import Mexican ore to keep has smelteries running. He also admitted that with spelter at $5 in the St. Louis market he could procure f. o. b. the Kansas smeltery Mexican ore for $18 per ton. This Mexican ore averages about 40 per cent metallic contents. Now, $18, 40 per cent Mexican ore makes the 60 per cent Joplin ore worth $27 per ton, without any protection of tariff duty; but 14 cents duty as proposed would require Mr. Cockerill to pay $27 per ton for his Mexican ore; and raise the price of Joplin ore to $45. Cockerill admits, and the Engineering and Mining Journal (see Appendix F) says, that the Joplin price of ore must be maintained at $40 per ton to show a profit to the operator. The tabulation of mining costs (see Appendix F) shows practically the same conclusion. ARGUMENT. The zinc-ore producers of the United States ask for a duty of 13 cents per pound on the metallic contents of all zinc ores, and, in doing so, feel that they need and should have this duty to protect them against foreign importations. Mexican ore can be laid down at the Kansas smelters at $11.82 per ton, actual cost for 40 per cent ore (Appendix, Table H). This would make the cost of 60 per cent ore (which is the standard grade for the Joplin district) $17.73 per ton. A duty of 13 cents per pound, as proposed, on 60 per cent ore would be $18 per ton, or a total of $35.73 per ton for Mexican ore at Kansas smelters, while the ore in the Joplin district, under normal conditions, costs $37.78 per ton (see Appendix F), which includes royalty and amortization charge. The Mexicans have, practically and comparatively, no capital invested in equipment and development in most of the mines; it is simply a quarrying proposition (see Appendix A, exhibits 2, 3, 4, and 5) and hauling the ore to the railroads and loading on cars for shipment; while in the Missouri-Kansas district the average investment is about $37,000 per plant (see Appendix G). Labor cost in Mexico is about $2 per ton (Appendix H). Labor cost in the Missouri-Kansas district is $17.02 per ton (see Appendix F), or a difference of $15.02 per ton in favor of the Mexican ore. Total average cost, including supplies and loading on cars in Mexico, is $4.91 per ton; in MissouriKansas district the average cost, including supplies, is $28.62 per ton, or a difference in favor of Mexican ore of $23.71 per ton. On the other hand, the freight on Mexican ore is $6.91 per ton, while loading and freight on Joplin ore is about $1.20 per ton. The difference in favor of the Joplin ore is $5.71, which makes $18 per ton in favor of the Mexican ore. But since it takes one and one-half (1) tons of Mexican ore to equal 1 ton of Joplin ore, there should be deducted from the $18 one-half of the total cost of laying Mexican ore down In accordance with these views, we ask that calamine, paragraph 514 Lead-bearing ore of all kinds, 1 cents per pound on the lead contained APPENDIX. The following affidavits appear as part of the record in case of Exhibit 1. CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MONTEREY, MEXICO, William H. Robertson, being duly sworn, says that the eight cars car No. 15606, was taken from the Bispham and Monday mine, in the district of Montanas, State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and further that the calamine ore entered at the aforesaid port by the aforesaid company on or about April 6, 1906, ex car No. 81889, was taken from the La Joya Sabinense mine, in the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and all this is stated of his own knowledge. WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON. Sworn to before me this 12th day of September, 1906. [SEAL.] PHILLIP C. HANNA, Consul-General of the United States. (Two $1 consular service stamps affixed.) Exhibit 2. CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MONTEREY, MEXICO, Monterey, Republic of Mexico, ss: SEPTEMBER 12, 1906. T. H. Brown, being duly sworn, says that he is familiar with and has seen the calamine ore as it is taken from the mines and made ready to be placed in the cars and shipped to the United States, at the Mexican Lead Company's mines in the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and that the method of so getting ready the ore for shipment is as follows: The ore occurs in solid veins or deposits and is blasted out. Any of the adjoining rock that may be by accident blasted out with the ore is sorted out by hand. Afterwards the ore is broken down to a convenient size with hammers, for transportation to the railroad, when it is loaded in cars for shipment. T. H. BROWN. Sworn to before me this 12th day of September, 1906. [SEAL.] PHILLIP C. HANNA, Consul-General of the United States. ($2 consular service stamp affixed.) Exhibit 3. CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MONTEREY, MEXICO, Monterey, Republic of Mexico, ss: SEPTEMBER 12, 1906. George R. Bispham, being duly sworn, says that he is familiar with and has seen the calamine ore as it is taken from the mines and made ready to be placed in the cars and shipped to the United States, at the Bispham and Monday mines in the district of Montanas, State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and that the method of so getting ready the ore for shipment is as follows: The ore occurs in solid veins or deposits and is blasted out. Any of the adjoining rock that may be by accident blasted out with the ore is sorted out by hand. Afterwards the ore is broken down to a con venient size with hammers, for transportation to the railroad, when it is loaded in cars for shipment. Sworn to before me this 12th day of September, 1906. [SEAL.] GEO. R. BISPHAM. PHILLIP C. HANNA, Consul-General of the United States. Exhibit 4. ($2 consular-service stamp affixed.) CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MONTEREY, MEXICO, Monterey, Republic of Mexico, ss: SEPTEMBER 12, 1906. E. M. Nolan, being duly sworn, says that he is familiar with and has seen the calamine ore as it is taken from the mines and made ready to be placed in the cars and shipped to the United States, at the San Juan mine, the district of Santa Catarina, State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and that the method of so getting ready the ore for shipment is as follows: The ore occurs in solid veins or deposits, and is blasted out. Any of the adjoining rock that may be by accident blasted out with the ore is sorted out by hand. Afterwards the ore is broken down to a convenient size with hammers, for transportation to the railroad, when it is loaded in cars for shipment. E. M. NOLAN. Sworn to before me this 12th day of September, 1906. [SEAL.] PHILLIP C. HANNA, Consul-General of the United States. CONSULATE-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MONTEREY, MEXICO, Republic of Mexico, ss: William H. Robertson, being duly sworn, says that he is familiar with and has seen the calamine ore as it is taken from the mines and made ready to be placed in the cars and shipped to the United States at the La Joya Sabinense mine, in the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and that the method of so getting ready the ore for shipment is as follows: The ore occurs in solid veins or deposits, and is blasted out. Any of the adjoining rock that may be, by accident. blasted out with the ore is sorted out by hand. Afterwards the ore is broken down to a convenient size with hammers for transportation to the railroad, where it is loaded in cars for shipment. WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON. PHILLIP C. HANNA, Consul-General of the United States. Sworn to before me this 12th day of September, 1906. [SEAL.] (Two $1 consular service stamps affixed.) |