larger size. During 1908, mill construction was naturally much less active, and there were but 15 mills completed during the year. In 1909 about 20 mills were set up, though more than half of these were second-hand mills moved to new sites and rebuilt. The crude ore yields from 5 to 20 per cent or more of zinc concentrates. The building contracts, in the case of the larger mills, generally call for a saving of 85 per cent of the blende in the crude ore, but very likely in practice this figure is not often attained. The mining methods are largely determined by the mode of occurrence of the ores, but otherwise are similar to those in vogue in working the pockety ores at Joplin. During the year the Interstate Light and Power Company, which had absorbed several municipal electric lighting plants, and secured franchises, carried well on to completion the construction of a large central power station to supply light and power all over the district.

The zinc carbonate ore is chiefly taken by the Mineral Point Zinc Company and made into zinc oxide in the plant at Mineral Point, Wis. A considerable quantity of the low-grade zinc blende concentrate is used in the same way. Only the higher-grade zinc blende concentrates are sold for manufacture into spelter.

Aside from the development of individual companies, the year was signalized by the initiation of a policy of expansion by three of the larger mining companies. The Wisconsin Zinc Company, affiliated with the American Zinc, Lead, and Smelting Company, operated a number of mines under option to purchase, and prospected a number of tracts, but most of the options were allowed to lapse. The company's main producers during the year were the Acme, Empire, and Mitchell Hollow mines. The first-mentioned was worked out and abandoned.

The Mineral Point Zinc Company, the local subsidiary of the New Jersey Zinc Company, abandoned the separate organization of its mines department under the title of the Mifflin-Linden Mining Company. Large additions were made to the mining lands held by the company in the Highland district, the zinc carbonate ores of which are so desirable for making zinc oxide. A number of mines and farms were purchased in other parts of the Wisconsin field. Of the older mines, which the company owns completely or in part, the largest producers in 1909 were the Coker, Ollie Belle, Kennedy, Winnebago, Franklin, and Highland. The Mason mine was abandoned and the Clark mine lay idle.

The Vinegar Hill Mining Company, previously an important producer in the northern Illinios district, became extensively interested in Wisconsin. In several districts options were taken on mines and lands which were in course of development during the year.

GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, LEAD, AND ZINC IN THE

EASTERN STATES IN 1909.

(MINE PRODUCTION.)

By H. D. MCCASKEY.

INTRODUCTION.

This report is a brief review of the gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc mining industries of the Eastern or Appalachian States for 1909, and contains the statistics of their production of these metals for that year. The area covered is for the greater part coincident with the broad belt of old metamorphic and associated igneous rocks extending southwest from Vermont to Alabama. The zinc-lead belt of southwest Virginia, however, and its extension southwestward into eastern Tennessee lies to the west of this great metamorphic belt and is contained within the limestone and dolomite of CambroOrdovician time.

References were given in the report for 1908 to the most important papers on these mines in the Eastern States, and the geologic relations were briefly described, and this matter will not be repeated here. Copies of that report still remain available for distribution.

In addition to the mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc ores, which form the main consideration of this report, pyrite mines known to be actually producing copper are taken into account, and the tonnage of chalcopyrite or cupriferous pyrite, given as closely as possible, is, for the purpose of this report, the tonnage of these mines.

The figures herein for the calendar year 1909 have been collected in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census. Since the work of that bureau was in connection with the general census of the United States, the figures obtained through cooperation were collected mainly by field agents of the bureau during visits to the various sections of the country, and this method entailed a greater time than required in other years by the Survey whose direct returns are had largely through correspondence. The late appearance of this report is thus accounted for. In view of this delayed publication no attempt has been made to present the subject in detailed form for 1909, although the essential facts and figures are given as in previous years.

The production set forth in the following tables is based on confidential individual reports by mine operators and may differ in details from that reported for the various metals by smelters, refiners,

and the United States Mint. The latter represent the actual production in marketable form of metals treated during the year, and may represent in part ore mined during the previous year; whereas the mine figures aim to give the metal recovery from the ore mined and sold or treated during the year in review. For a given series of years the mine and smelter-refinery-mint figures should closely agree, and for any individual year the lag at the close of the year is usually small, being largely compensated for by a corresponding overlap at the beginning of that year.

The cooperation of mine operators and others of the mining industry with the United States Geological Survey has continued to be most cordial, and is here gratefully acknowledged.

PRODUCTION.

The total value of the production of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the Eastern States for the calendar year 1909 was $11,818,531. This represents the output of 95 producing mines, of which 48 were gold placers. The gold production was 7,543.60 fine ounces, equivalent to $155,940, and the yield of silver was 66,912 fine ounces, valued at $34,794. Compared with the corresponding figures for 1908, these figures show a decrease of $103,203 in the value of gold production and a decrease of $276 in that of silver. There was a slight increase in quantity in the production of silver in 1909 over that of 1908, owing to a corresponding increase in the production of copper, as the bulk of the silver produced in eastern mines is from copper ores. The value of the silver production, notwithstanding the increase in quantity, was below that of 1908, owing to a lower price for the metal in 1909.

During 1909, 1,465.57 fine ounces of gold and 146 fine ounces of silver were obtained from placer workings, 5,387.19 fine ounces of gold and 711 fine ounces of silver were derived from quartz mines, and 690.85 fine ounces of gold and 66,055 fine ounces of silver were recovered from copper ores. Lead ores were not mined in the Eastern States during the year, and the zinc ores of these States produced no silver nor gold.

There were 25,531 short tons of dry or siliceous ores mined in 1909, with an average gold and silver value of $4.33 per ton, and 787,146 short tons of copper ore, with an average precious-metal value of $0.06 to the ton. In addition to the gold and silver, the copper ores produced 20,354,225 pounds of copper, valued at $2,646,039, and the zinc ores, 166,328,859 pounds of zinc (calculated as spelter), valued at $8,981,758. There was also a production of copper, silver, and gold included above from magnetic concentration of the iron ore of the Cornwall mines in Pennsylvania. The copper production showed an increase of 473,331 pounds in quantity and of $21,761 in value, and the lead production a decrease of 76,190 pounds in quantity and of $3,200 in value, as compared with the corresponding figures for 1908; but the output of zinc increased 29,899,059 pounds in quantity and $2,569,557 in value over that of 1908. During this year a total of 510,172 short tons of zinc ore producing no gold and silver were mined, chiefly in New Jersey, of which part was used directly in the making of spelter, and part was used in making zinc

oxide and for other purposes than smelting for spelter, and some of the spelter produced was from treating old tailings from Virginia

mines.

The following is a tabulated statement of the production of the Eastern States for 1908 and 1909:

Mine production of gold, silver, and associated metals in Eastern States in 1908 and 1909.

The total tonnage reported as producing the four metals-gold, silver, copper, and zinc-from deep mines in 1909 was 1,322,849 short tons, yielding a total value of $11,788,159. This gives an average total recovered value in metal from deep mines of $8.91 per ton of ore for 1909; the corresponding average value for 1908 was $8.33.

GOLD.

a

The production of gold in the Eastern States in 1909 was 7,543.60 fine ounces, valued at $155,940 —a decrease in value for 1909 of $103,203 from that of 1908. The most notable decreases were in North Carolina and South Carolina, amounting to more than $40,000 in each case, owing principally to greatly curtailed output of one mine in each State. All the remaining States producing gold, except Alabama, showed increased outputs, the greatest increase being $4,413 in Georgia, which showed the most important decrease in 1908. Of the gold output in 1909 the placers yielded 20 per cent, the quartz ores 71 per cent, and the copper ores 9 per cent.

b

SILVER.

The production of silver in the Eastern States in 1909 was 66,912 fine ounces, valued at $34,794. As compared with the corresponding production for 1908 an increase of 742 fine ounces in quantity and a decrease of $276 in value are noted. This increase in quantity was

• The value of gold is $20.671834625323 a fine ounce.

The Survey figure for the average value of silver in 1909 is 52 cents a fine ounce. The figure for 1908 was 53 cents.