recovers 95 to 96 per cent of the gold contained in the ores, and this proportion is often as high as 97 or even 98 per cent. The company, while naturally refusing to disclose further details. of its perfected method, will be willing at any time to make tests of American ores and give exact reports of results. Samples of ore for this purpose should contain not less than 200 pounds. FRANK H. MASON, BERLIN, GERMANY, August 4, 1903. Consul-General. MINERAL OUTPUT OF RUSSIA. (From United States Consul-General Holloway, St. Petersburg, Russia,) The scientific mining committee has just issued a pamphlet containing full statistics on the mining industry in Russia for the year 1900. Iron. The richest yield was obtained from the iron mines. The total amount of iron ore mined was 6,730,000 tons, out of which 3,233,000 tons of pig iron were smelted. The southern part of European Russia yielded 3,792,000 tons of iron ore; the Ural Mountains, 1,828,500 tons; Poland and the northwest Provinces, 533,000 tons; the Moscow region, 426,000 tons; Finland, 98,300 tons; the northern Provinces, 37,760 tons; Siberia, 10,440 tons; and the Caucasus, 3,900 tons. The total number of men employed in the works was 57,752. Iron Pig iron was smelted at 182 works with 302 high furnaces. was worked at 137 works and steel at 82. The total amount of steel obtained was 2,441,930 tons. Gold. The next ore mined, approaching iron in value, was gold. The total amount of gold sand and dirt washed in Siberia, the Urals, and Finland was 24,615,117 tons, which yielded 2,367.2 poods (85,704 pounds) of gold, valued at 43,797,687 rubles ($22,555,809). The greatest quantity of gold was extracted in eastern Siberia, viz, 1,645.2 poods (59,411 pounds); in the Urals, 539.24 poods (19,472 pounds); and in western Siberia, 152.35 poods (5,500 pounds). workmen employed in all the gold mines numbered 90,988. Platinum. The platinum extracted amounted to 310.27 poods (12,204 pounds), valued at 4, 159,625 rubles ($2,142,207). The platinum was extracted exclusively in the Perm Province and chiefly in the Goroblagodatski district. Silver. Of silver 126 poods (4,550 pounds) were mined, and 220.39 poods (7,958 pounds) extracted from gold-smelting laboratories, the total being valued at 86,080 rubles ($44,331). Copper. Copper ore was mined as follows: Eighty-nine thousand four hundred and forty tons in the Ural Mountains, 89,000 tons in the Caucasus, 11,695 tons in the Kirghiz Steppes, and 6,517 tons in Finland. It was worked at 21 works, of which there were 10 in the Caucasus, 5 in the Urals, 3 in the Kirghiz Steppes, 2 in the Altai Mountains, and I in Finland. Lead. Of lead 243 tons, valued at 33,700 rubles ($17,355), were smelted at 3 works and 1 mine. The Altai and Nerchinsk districts and the Kirghiz works handled each about one-third of the whole. Zinc.-The smelting of zinc took place, as heretofore, exclusively in the Bendin district of the Petrokov Province (Poland), wherein 6,571 tons of zinc, valued at 1,274,000 rubles ($656,110), were produced. Mercury.-Mercury was extracted in the Bakhmut district of the Ekaterinoslav Province, where there are layers of cinnabar, from which 98,790 tons of ore were obtained, and 336 tons of mercury smelted in the works established near the layer. Cinnabar was also extracted in the Daghestan district and in the Caucasus. The total amount of mercury obtained was valued at 830,000 rubles ($427,450). Manganese. In 1900 Russia produced 884,200 tons of manganese, which, it is claimed, is the largest amount produced by any country in the world. The output was valued at 1,960,000 rubles ($1,009,400). The mineral was obtained from 372 mines, viz, 728,700 tons from the mines in the Kutais Province and 155,300 tons from those in the Ekaterinoslav Province. Tin.-The only tin smelted in Russia was at Wiborg, in Finland, where the output amounted to 9,389 pounds. Naphtha.-The total yield of naphtha amounted to 11,439,245 tons, valued at 99,470,000 rubles ($51,227,050). As heretofore, it was chiefly obtained in the Province of Baku (Apsheron Island), yielding 95.2 per cent of the whole production, the Transcaspian and the Fergan regions yielding the remainder. Coal. The output of coal amounted to 15,908,500 tons, valued at 82,193,000 rubles ($42,329,395), of which pit coal amounted to 14,642,340 tons; anthracite, to 1,139,494 tons; and brown coal, to 126,666 tons. The percentages of carbon in these grades is given as 94 in the anthracite, 84 in the pit, and 60 in the brown. The coal was mined in the following districts: Donetzk region.. Poland. Ural Moscow region Eastern Siberia Tomsk .... Caucasus.................. Kirghiz Steppes.. All other....... Total...... Tons. 10, 833, 093 4,061, 700 359, 200 284,055 138, 382 74, 610 63,304 61, 156 33,000 15, 908, 500 In addition to the foregoing, the Donetzk region produced 2,198,920 tons of coke, the Ural 10,723 tons, and Siberia 173 tons. Salt.-Salt was mined at the Iletzk mines in the Province of Orenburg, and in the Ekaterinoslav, Erivan, Taurida, Astrakhan, Kherson, Perm, Tomsk, and Bessarabian Provinces, as well as in the Karsk, Transcaspian, and Semipalatinsk region. The total amount of salt mined was 2,168,700 tons, valued at 7,810,000 rubles ($4,022,150). Asphalt.—Asphalt was worked, as heretofore, chiefly in the neighborhood of the town of Syzran, Province of Simbirsk, on the right bank of the Volga, partly in the Caucasus, the Transcaspian, and the Fergan regions. The total amount of raw asphalt and neftdegil produced was 27,649 tons, and 2,370 tons of mineral tar. Sulphur.-Six layers of sulphur-five in the Caucasus and one in Poland-produced 1,750 tons. Asbestos.-Asbestos was taken from the Ural Mountains, in the Province of Perm, to the amount of 4,944 tons. Phosphorites.-Phosphorites to the amount of 28,280 tons were produced in the Provinces of Bessarabia, Podolia, Kostroma, and Smolensk. Glauber's salt.-Glauber's salt was produced in the Provinces of Tiflis and Tomsk and in the Transbaikal region to the amount of 5,550 tons. Kaolin. Kaolin was produced in the Provinces of Ekaterinoslav, Chernigov, Volhynia, Kief, and Kherson to the amount of 36,170 tons. INCREASE IN MINERAL OUTPUT. Comparing the figures of the mining industry of 1900 with those of recent years, it is evident that the mining of coal, salt, manganese, asbestos, sulphur, phosphorites, kaolin, and the naphtha by-products, as well as the smelting of pig iron, copper, and steel, show an increase, while the platinum, iron, silver, lead, zinc, and mercury industries show a decreased output. The working of gold was without change. The mining industry in Russia is gradually progressing. following figures of the last ten years show the number of men employed in mining works of the Empire: MINERAL IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. But the home needs of the Empire are not satisfied by the home products. The reports of the customs department show that the import continues on all products of mining, except platinum, mercury, manganese, and naphtha. The imports of mineral products during 1900 are reported to have amounted to 86,475,783 rubles ($44,535,140) and the exports to 56,142,656 rubles ($28,913,645). The proportion between the imports and exports of the different products of the mining industries during 1900 is as follows: (From United States Commercial Agent Beutelspacher, Moncton, Canada.) Mr. E. D. Ingall, head of the miners' bureau of the Canadian geological survey, says: The total production of pig iron in Canada in 1902 from Canadian and foreign ores amounted to 357,903 tons, valued at $4,243,545, of which it is estimated 71,665 tons, valued at $1,043,011, should be attributed to Canadian ore and 286,238 tons, valued at $3,200,534, to the ore imported. The respective columns give quantity and value of product marketed. The ton used is that of 2,000 pounds; the copper contents of ore, matte, etc., at 11.626 cents per pound; the lead shows contents of ores, etc., at 4.069 cents per pound; the nickel shows nickel contents of ore, matte, etc., at 47 cents per pound; the silver contents of ore are valued at 52.16 cents per ounce. The coke is oven coke, all the production of Nova Scotia and British Columbia. The natural gas means gross returns from sale of gas. The oil statement includes crude oil sold to refiners and oil sold for fuel and other purposes. The total values reported for 1886, 1897, 1901, and 1902 have been as follows: 1886........ 1897... 1901....... 1902........ $10, 221, 255 28, 661, 430 66, 712, 708 64,970, 732 The rapid growth since 1897 has been largely due to the discovery and development of the gold placers of the Yukon. The report says that notwithstanding the most gratifying increase in the total value of the production of nonmetallic minerals, the grand total of the value of the production of all the mineral industries of Canada shows a falling off of 2.6 per cent. This is due not merely to the decrease in the Yukon output of gold, amounting to $3,500,000, but also to the very considerable falling off in values of all the remaining metallic minerals other than nickel. But for the large growth of the coal and coke industry, helped by increases in many of the other nonmetallic products, the decrease in the grand total on account of the metallic class would have amounted to nearly 10 per cent. In regard to their relative importance, the metallic industries as a group still occupy the most important place, although not leading to the extent they did in former years. They contributed about 55 per cent of the whole, the nonmetallic following with nearly 33 per cent and the structural class with nearly 12 per cent. Grouping the metalliferous class with coal and coke, about 81 per cent of the value is accounted for. |