UNITED STATES ITARIFF COMMISSION WASHINGTON INFORMATION CONCERNING TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES PRINTED FOR USE OF COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION WASHINGTON INFORMATION CONCERNING TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES PRINTED FOR USE OF COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION. Office: 1322 New York Avenue, Washington, D. C. COMMISSIONERS. F. W. Taiissig, Chairman. William Kent. Thomas Walker Page, Vice Chairman. William S. Culbertson. David J. Lewis. Edward P. Costigan. William M. Steuart, Sewetary. CONTENTS. Page. Letter of transmittal 5 Introductory statement 7 I. Summary: Description 9 Uses 9 Domestic production Quantity 9 Mining methods 9 Concentration 10 Equipment 10 Organization 10 Localities of production 10 Domestic production and domestic consumption 10 Domestic exports 11 Foreign production Countries of largest production 11 Tungsten industry in foreign countries 11 Imports 11 Prices 12 Tariff history 13 Tariffs in foreign countries 13 Tariff questions involved 13 United States Tariff Commission conferences, 1918 14 Summary table 15 II. General information: Description 16 History 17 Uses..'. 18 Substitutes 19 Mining methods 19 Concentration or milling 20 Countries of largest production 21 World's production of tungsten ore (table) 22 Domestic production and resources 22 Foreign production and resources 26 Costs. 30 Markets and marketing 31 Domestic production and prices 32 Domestic consumption and sources of supply 36 Imports 37 Exports 39 Kates of duty 39 Court and Treasury decisions 39 III. Competitive conditions 40 IV. Miscellaneous: Reduction of tungsten ore 42 Opinions of producers 42 Trad'j relations and the tungsten industry 44 M ininsr labor conditions in Portugal 46 Bibliography 47 Associations, establishments, importers, etc 47 3 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION, Washington, June 14, 1919. The Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives: I have the honor to transmit herewith, in accordance with your request, information compiled by the United States Tariff Commis- sion on tungsten-bearing ores. Very respectfully, THOMAS WALKER PAGE, Acting Chairman. 5 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. Tungsten mining was an industry that was profoundly affected by the war. In June, 1918, two conferences were held by the United States Tariff Commission one in Denver and one in San Francisco at which the producers, consumers, and importers of the ore and metal were given an opportunity to present their views as to the permanent aspects of the industry. The domestic production of tungsten-bearing ore increased under the stress of war necessity to nearly five times the output before the war. The signing of the armistice found large accumulations of ore and ferro-tungsten in this and foreign countries; and the closing of munition plants,which had been the largest consumers of tungsten steel, caused a temporary reduction in the demand for tungsten products. The result of these circumstances was a chaotic condition of the market which was aggravated by heavy importations of foreign ore released from licensing regulations. Tungsten mines throughout the United States have been closed down and domestic production is at a standstill; but the influx of foreign supplies has continued unabated and has inhibited readjust- ment of the American industry to a peace basis. Consumption is becoming adjusted, but prices are at a level that does not permit the successful operation of American mines. Reports indicate the dis- covery of large new supplies of ore in southern China, and that the flood of ore from that section is partly present production, and not merely a liquidation of stocks accumulated during the war period. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES; T. SUMMARY. 1 DESCRIPTION. There are four commercial tungsten minerals, scheelite, ferberite, huebnerite, and wolframite. Scheelite is the tungstate of lime. The other three are frequently grouped together as the wolframite series, ranging in composition from ferberite (tungstate of iron) to huebnerite (tungstate of manganese) . The pure minerals of the wolframite series contain over 76 per cent tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ). Scheelite con- tains about 80 per cent WO 3 . The tungsten ore of commerce, how- ever, contains a certain amount of nontungsten bearing material in addition to one or more of the above minerals. The standard ore contains 60 per cent WO 3 and this tenor is usually obtained by concentration of low-grade ore. USES. Practically all the tungsten ore now produced in the world is used in the making of tungsten metal or ferro tungsten. Various salts of tungsten have been employed in the dye industries, but have been almost wholly replaced by cheaper chemicals. Over 95 per cent of the tungsten production goes into the making of tungsten steel, which is in general use for high-speed cutting tools, permanent magnets, and saw blades. A small amount of very pure tungsten is consumed in the making of filaments for incandescent electric lights. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. Quantity. The maximum domestic production of tungsten ore, expressed in terms of concentrates containing 60 per cent WO 3 , was 5,900 short tons, in 1916. The 1917 output was 4,633 short tons. The valuations for the respective years were $24,780,000 and $5,932,000. Preliminary reports indicate that the 1918 output was 5,046 short tons. Mining methods. Some tungsten is obtained by placer mining, especially in foreign countries. Most of the domestic production is obtained from lode deposits. In new districts the ore may often be picked up on the surface of the ground or gouged out from shal- low open workings. Such cheaply obtained material is largoh- ex- hausted in the United States and most of the domestic production now comes from underground workings. These are of two types, which may be designated narrow or wide. The narrow deposits are typified by the stringer lodes of Boulder Count}', Colo. The lodes of the Southwest are usually wider and can be worked on a larger scale. i This first section, under "Summary," is to be regarded merely as a condensed abstract of what follows under " General Information" in later'section. 12889419 2 9 10 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. Concentration. The mechanical treatment of low-grade tungsten ore has reached its highest development in the United States. American mills are better equipped than those in foreign countries and obtain a more nearly complete extraction of the values. Tungsten ore has a strong tendency to slime. This tendency is minimized by stage re- duction and improved machinery for the recovery of fine material. Equipment. In the early stages of production practically no equip- ment is required, as the work consists largely of collecting the ore and hand sorting; but when deep mining begins, power plants, pumps, hoists, air compressors, and other machinery must be installed and considerable capital expended in development work. The treatment of a large tonnage of low-grade material requires expensive crushing .and concentrating machinery. Organization. The tungsten industry is characterized by a large number of small independent producers with only a few well-financed companies. A considerable number of the stronger operators have connections with manufacturers or consumers of tungsten metal and ore. The Atolia Mining Co. of California l is the largest producer in the United States, and its output constitutes over 30 per cent of the total domestic product. Fully 75 per cent of the tungsten mined in the United States is taken out by four large companies, the Atolia in California and the Primos Chemical Co., the Wolf Tongue M. & M. Co., and the Tungsten Products Co., in Boulder County, Colo. The remaining 25 per cent comes from a large and constantly shifting group of small operators. Localities of production. Tungsten deposits are actively exploited in the Mojave Desert and at Bishop, Calif.; in Boulder County and Silverton, Colo.; in various counties in Nevada; in Arizona; and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A sporadic production has come from sections in the above States other than those specifi- cally mentioned and from Idaho, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Utah, Missouri, and Connecticut. In the last few years California and Colorado have contributed approximately 90 per cent of the total output of the United States and in about equal proportions. The Atolia district in the Mojave Desert is the largest producer of scheelite in the world. Domestic production and domestic consumption. The domestic pro- duction of tungsten ore furnished less than 50 per cent of the domes- tic requirements in 1917 and a probably still smaller percentage in 1918. Previous to the Great War about 75 per cent of the domestic supplv came from American mines, but the consumption has increased more "rapidly than the production. The ratio of the consumption to the production of tungsten ore is not strictly an index of the tungsten requirements of the country. The imports and exports of tungsten powder and ferrotungsten must also be considered. In the prewar period some tungsten was im- ported in the form of ferro-alloy; but since 1914 practically all the imports have been of ore. In 1917 the United States exported large amounts of ferrotungsten and tungsten powder. The actual ratio of consumption to the production of tungsten metal has, there- fore, not increased quite so rapidly as has that of the ore; neverthe- less,' a less proportion of the total tungsten actually used for the i Not connected with tungsten manufacturers. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 11 making of finished steel and other products (ultimate tungsten con- sumption) is now produced in this country than in the years preced- ing the war. ' Domestic exports. Very little of the -United States production of tungsten ore has ever been exported. A small amount was shipped to Germany in 1910 to 1914. No records are available as to the exact amount, but it was n,ever large. In the last year or two there has been some export of ferrotungsten, especially to Italy, but the con- tinuance of these exports is not dependent on domestic production of ore as this metal could be, and probably to a large extent is, reduced from imported ore. FOREIGN PRODUCTION. Countries of largest production. Burma (including the Shan States) is the largest producer of tungsten ore in the world and in 1917 produced 21.4 per cent of the world output. The United States was the second largest and produced 17.1 per cent of the total for that year. Bolivia was third with an output equivalent to 15.8 per cent. In 1917, 41.8 per cent of the world supply was drawn from Asia; 22.2 per cent from South America; 18.4 per cent from North America; 11.3 per cent from Europe, and 6.3 per cent from Australia and New Zealand. Africa produced only a negligible amount. These figures indicate, as experience has shown, that tungsten is widely distributed over the earth's crust, but in no place is it found in very great amounts. Tungsten industry in foreign countries. Most of the Asiatic supply comes from surface deposits. Broadly speaking, especially in Burma and contiguous territory, the cream of this easily gathered material has been skimmed as evidenced by increased costs in spite of the cheap labor employed. * The only exceptions are certain sections of China and Korea. The Bolivian production comes chiefly from deep mines where it is found associated with tin. In general, the costs of foreign production even including freight to the United States are lower than the costs of production in the United States. This is due not only to cheaper labor but also to the fact that a larger proportion of foreign ore comes from near the surface. IMPORTS. From 30 to 50 per cent of the United States supply of tungsten ore is imported. In general the foreign ore is not so free from objec- tionable impurities as is the American product, and, therefore, sells at a discount from the American quotations. Some of the imported ore, however, compares favorably in regard to purity with the domestic. As a rule, it has a higher tungsten content, frequently running up to 65 or 70 per cent. Ore containing as little as 50 per cent WO 3 is imported, but the average grade of imported ore is in the neighborhood of 60 per cent. Germany was the trading center of the tungsten industry before the war and most of the prewar imports of the United States were .shipped from Germany. Only a fraction of those imports originated in Germany but represented a Gorman brokerage business. When 12 . UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION KEPOKT. Germany was cut off from world communication, imports came direct from the countries of origin, especially from South America and Asia. Another feature of the shortening of the routing of imports was the practical cessation of the importation of tungsten metal and ferrotungsten. The tungsten supply of the United States is now derived almost exclusively from ore, whereas German-made ferro-alloy formerly represented an important fraction of the im- ported supply. There are no tungsten reduction plants on the Pacific slope so the ultimate destination of ore is along the Atlantic seaboard. Due to the transfer of sources of supply from Europe to South America and Asia, an increasing amount of material has arrived at Pacific ports. The transcontinental freight ($42.50 a ton in 1918) to the Eastern States is not a very large item as compared to the cost of so expensive a commodity (valued at $1,000 to $1,500 a ton), and it is partially offset by nearness of centers of consumption of the ferro-alloy. Revenue. The maximum revenue collected in the form of duties on tungsten ores was less than $39,000. This was in 1913 * under a tariff of 10 per cent ad valorem. Since tungsten ore has been imported free of duty during the war period, the imports have furnished no revenue, although their value in 1917 l was nearly 13 times as great as in 1913. 1 PRICES. The price of tungsten ore is quoted in the United States in terms of the value of a short ton unit (20 pounds) of tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ) and based on material containing 60 per cent WO 3 and no objectionable impurities. Unless otherwise specified, the quota- tion is for wolframite. Scheelite and ferberite are worth a little more and huebnerite a little less than wolframite in concentrates of the same tungsten tenor. A small premium is paid for ore of higher grade than 60 per cent and there is a discount off the unit price for lower grade material. The price history of tungsten is characterized by extreme fluctua- tions. There was a general advance in price from about $2 a unit in 1900 to a little more than $7 a unit in 1914. In the winter of 1915-16 there was a "boom" in tungsten. The price soared to over $90 a unit in a period of about six months. Then followed a spectacular fall to $25 and later $18 all within less than three months. Since September 1916, the price has remained in the range $18 to $26, averaging about $22 a unit, The chief factor regulating price in the United States has been the amount and convenience 01 importation. The British Government fixed a price of 55s. ($13.365) per long ton unit (22.4 pounds) early in the war. This was later raised to 60s. ($14.60). These prices are considerably lower than those obtain- ing in all other markets and are maintained only by embargoes on shipments from British ports. The present price of 60s. corres- ponds to $13.04 a short ton unit and is based on a 65 per cent WO 3 content instead of 60 per cent as in the United States. i Fiscal years. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 13 TARIFF HISTORY. Tungsten ores and concentrates are admitted free of duty under paragraph 633 of the act of 1913. Previous to the act of 1909, tungsten ores were not specifically mentioned in the tariff law and were held to be exempt from duty as a crude mineral. The act of 1909 specifically mentioned tungsten ores and imposed a duty of 10 per cent ad valorem. Following the complete removal of the duty, Ui 1913, the imports fell off 50 per cent. Other factors in the in- dustry were more important at that time, and it was not until 1916 that foreign ore poured into the United States and again became a serious competitive factor in the market. TARIFFS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Tungsten ore is not specifically mentioned in the tariff laws of any European countries or Canada. 1 It therefore comes under the blanket clauses covering metallic ores of all kinds which are generally admitted free of duty. Export tariffs are levied on tungsten ore in Portugal and many of the South American countries. This tax in Portugal is. SI. 07 a unit and in Bolivia about $0.13 per long-ton unit, plus one-tenth of 1 per cent ad valorem. TARIFF QUESTIONS INVOLVED. The tungsten production of the United States has suffered a re- lapse from the greatly expanded output of the war period. The cheap, easily mined resources of this material are practically ex- hausted, and a continuation of production depends upon the develop- ment of underground operations which require a considerable invest- ment of capital. While it has not yet been fully demonstrated that the domestic deposits can long continue a large production, the data that are available indicate that they can furnish a substantial amount for some time. The demand for tungsten is not purely a war condi- tion. The effect of the war was merely to emphasize the necessity for tungsten steel tools as a factor in industrial efficiency. Only a very serious and general business depression would cause a serious slackening in the consumption of tungsten. The investment of the capital necessary to equip and develop tungsten mines in the United States is hindered by a serious doubt as to whether the present, or in fact any, stabilized price will be maintained. There are producers in the United States that can market tungsten at $10 a unit, but an important part of the present production comes from mines where such low costs are impossible because of the erratic character or low grade of the deposits. At the tungsten conferences held by this commission in Denver and San Francisco in June, 1918, the most important feature of the entire situation was stated by all producers to be the necessity of a stable price high enough to meet the costs of operating mines of the less favored group. 1 Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, and Germany, Kelly's Customs Tariffs of the World, 1918;. 14 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. A large part of the foreign production comes from comparatively new fields of high-grade ore that requires only to be picked off the ground. This condition existed in the United States up to about 1915, and the cost of production was less than $7 a unit even under the high wage scale obtaining in this country as compared to that in many foreign countries. Similar deposits in foreign countries can be expected to reach the same condition eventually, but for a time they are able to supply tungsten c. i. f. American ports at consider- ably lower figures than the American mines. A considerable duty on tungsten ore would encourage the invest- ment of capital in tungsten mining and a continuance of production from American mines. Under the present free importation of tung- sten ore the domestic production will remain dormant and can not be expected to recover until the deposits of foreign countries are depleted to at least the same extent as those in the United States. The world price will then rise to abovfc the cost of production in the United States and the American deposits can be worked. An important result of a duty would be the development of the comparatively low-grade, but probably extensive, deposits of the Southwest. The domestic production can not be expected to indefinitely supply the domestic needs. It must be supplemented by imported ore. The export trade in ferro tungsten and tungsten metal would not of necessity be affected by a duty on the ore, since the reduction of South American and Asiatic ore could be conducted in bond, just as the smelting-in-bond business is conducted on ores of lead and zinc. Another factor that must not be lost sight of is the necessity of placing a compensatory duty on imports of tungsten metal, powder, and salts, ferrotungsten, high-speed steel, and other tungsten prod- ucts, in case a duty be placed upon the ore. Under the act of 1913 these products are dutiable, but the duties were adjusted on the basis of the free entry of the raw material, i. e., with tungsten-bearing ore on the free list. U. S. TARIFF COMMISSION CONFERENCES, 1918. [Digest ol opinions.] The salient feature brought out in every brief and verbal statement submitted in the conferences at Denver and San Francisco in June, 1918, was the anxiety of producers as regards price. The develop- ment of properties, the exploitation of new mines, the erection of concentrating mills, and in fact all the requisites for the continuance of production of tungsten ore are handicapped by the real doubt in the minds of those able to furnish the necessary capital to do these things, whether or not an adequate price can be maintained after the war. The present widespread consumption of tungsten is not going to decrease, but will increase. The United States has a suffi- cient supply to meet its requirements for many years to come. Although many, even most, of the producers real and potential can not compete with the foreign production from surface deposits, they claim to be able to put tungsten ore on the market in adequate amounts at a reasonable price which will not handicap the consumers TUNGSTEN-BE AKING ORES. 15 of their product, provided they are assured of this reasonable price (by protection, either through tariff or other means) for a number of years. Tungsten is a vital necessity to the country in war and peace. The cheap sources of supply are rapidly disappearing in all parts of the world, and it may eventually become necessary to supply all our needs from domestic mines. It was claimed that if the domestic produc- ers are not protected from foreign supplies that are likely to flood the country as soon as embargoes and other war limitations to shipping are removed, many of them would be forced to shut down their prop- erties and allow them to deteriorate to such an extent that resump- tion of production would be difficult in the extreme. 1 The census of Colorado producers revealed the general sentiment that a maintenance of present production could not be assured at a lower price than $30 to $40 a unit. The California and Nevada sentiment was not so extravagant and indicates the greater dependa- bility of the industry in that section. A price of $28 to $30 was generally desired, but there was a strong undercurrent of sentiment that a positively stabilized price of at least $25 a unit would effect the expansion of the industry in the Southwest. Summary Table. Calendar year. Domes- tic pro- duction (long tons). 2 Imports for con- sumption (long tons). 3 Domestic exports. Ratio to produc- tion: Imports (per cent). Value (imports for con- sumption). Amount of duty. Value per unit of quantity per long ton. Equiva- lent ad valorem rate (per cent). 1910 1 6 9 6 (4) (6) 6 $178 174.00 $17, 817. 40 10.00 1911 1.017 ( 4 ) (*) 85,887.00 8, 588. 70 10.00 1912 1,187 736 ( 62.04 362,422.00 36, 242. 20 $492. 20 10.00 1913 1,372 401 (5) 29.23 213,122.00 1 13, 869. 60 531.70 10.00 1914 . 884 267 None. 30.20 130, 687. 00 Free. 523. 20 1915 2,082 1,370 None. 65.80 1,044.986.00 Free. 762. 80 1916 5 268 3 547 None 67.33 7 353 691.00 Free. 2, 074. 20 1917 4 137 4 354 None 105.24 4, 465, 5PO. 00 Free. 1,025.60 1918 4 505 10 491 232. 87 11 55^ 218.00 Free 1 101.16 1 This prophesy has since been fulfilled. 2 Calculated into equivalent tons of 60 per cent WOj. 3 Not corrected. No data as to equivalent tons of 60 per cent WO 4 Weights not recorded prior to July 1, 1911. & No statistics. 6 Six; months ending Dec. 31 , 1910. ' Duty from Jan. 1 to Oct. 3, 1913, under act of 1900. H. GENERAL INFORMATION. DESCRIPTION. Tungsten metal is never found native but occurs in nature only in the form of tungstates of iron, manganese, or calcium. The minerals are most often found in acid rocks (cf . granite or rhyolite) , especially in pegmatite dikes. Except in the United States, it is usually accompanied by tin ore in veins or placer deposits resulting from the erosion of lode formations and from the concentration in stream beds of the heavier constituents of country rock. Wolframite or iron-manganese tungstate, (FeMn) WO 4 , is the most common ore of tungsten. It occurs in long, dark-brown to black crystals or short columnar masses, with a dark brown streak. The hardness is about 5, or a little less than that of steel. It generally contains approximately 76.4 per cent of tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ), but, as the name is used to include all variation in composition from pure iron tungstate (ferberite) and pure manganese tungstate (hueb- nerite), the tungsten content varies slightly as does the specific gravity between the values for the respective components. 1 Ferberite or iron tungstate, FeWO 4 , is a dull coal-black mineral, sometimes occurring in aggregates of cubic crystals, but more often massive as black sooty material in veins in pegmatite. After exposure to the action of the weather, ferberite is often so impreg- nated with iron oxide as to appear brown even along a fracture surface. The specific gravity is 7.5 and the hardness 5. Ferberite is the com- mon ore in Boulder County, Colo., but has not been found in com- mercial quantities in other parts of the world. It is valuable ore in that district, and the pure mineral contains 76.3 per cent tungsten trioxide. Huebnerite (hiibnerite) or manganese tungstate, MnWO 4 ,is a reddish brown mineral of about the same hardness as ferberite. The specific gravity is about 7.2. or a little less than that of the iron mineral. It is found typically in needle-like crystals in quartz. The theoretical content of tungsten trioxide is 76.6 per cent. The appearance of huebnerite, like that of ferberite, is likely to be obscured by the action of weathering, and the mineral in surface exposures is generally coated with black oxide of manganese or brown iron oxide. Scheelite or calcium (lime) tungstate, CaWO 4 , is a totally different mineral from the wolframite series. The color varies from nearly pure white to yellow or gray, but always light. Scheelite has not the metallic appearance of the wolframite series and most other metallic minerals but has a stony look more like quartz feldspar or marble. It is best distinguished from gangue minerals by its greater specific gravity (about 6) and it has a greasy luster that is very characteristic, 1 The following classification suggested by F. L. Hess of the I'. S. Geological Survey has been adopted bv some writers and deserves wider recognition: Kerberite, iron tungstate with not more than 20 per cent of manganese tungstate; huebnerite, manganese tungstate with not more than 20 per cent of iron tungstate: wolframite, all mixtures iron tungstate and manganese tungstate between the above limits. 16 TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 17 especially on a freshly broken surface. Scheelite is a little softer than the minerals of the wolframite group (hardness about 4.5) but is harder than calcite. Pure scheelite contains 80.6 per cent tung- sten trioxide (WO 3 ), the highest content of all tungsten minerals. The value of all tungsten ore depends on its contents of tungsten. This is invariably expressed in terms of tungsten trioxide (W0 3 ) or tungstic acid (as it is generally, though erroneously, called). The ore as mined rarely contains more than a very small WO 3 content and requires to be concentrated before it can be utilized as a commercial product. The standard "ore" is therefore a concentrated product containing approximately 60 per cent tungstic acid. Quotations are given in terms of dollars per unit. The unit" is 1 per cent in a ton of total material, and represents either 20 pounds or 22.4 pounds of the valuable constituent, depending upon whether the short ton or long ton is referred to. HISTORY. The tungsten mineral wolframite was- known in the tin mines of Saxony-Bohemia region, and later in Cornwall, long before the ele- ment tungsten itself was discovered. In 1781 the Swedish chemist Scheele discovered a new mineral acid; the stony mineral discovered later was named scheelite in his honor, while the element he discovered was afterwards named tungsten from the two Swedish words "tung," heavy, and "sten," stone. In Great Britain and its Provinces the word "wolfram" has been com- pelled to do duty for both mineral and metal, but there is now a distinct trend to the better usage of calling the metal tungsten and the mineral wolframite. In 1785 the D'Elhujar brothers found that wolframite also con- tained tungsten and established the relation of scheelite to wolframite. They also succeeded in obtaining metallic tungsten from the oxide and were probably the first to reduce the metal from its compounds. 1 The valuable properties imparted to steel by the addition of tung- sten were recognized about 1855 and in 1857 a steel maker named Mushet took out the first patent in England for its use. A few years later the manufacture of a 25 per cent alloy was begun in Germany. This early ferrotungsten was made in crucibles on a very small scale and was very impure. The use of tungsten on any large scale in the making of alloy steel was insignificant until the twentieth century. Small amounts of ore were made into chemicals but tungsten and its ores were very unimportant commodities. The first lot of domestic ore known to have been produced and sold in the United States was in 1900. The price was then about $2 a unit. Since 1901 the growth of the tungsten industry has been fairly rapid. Germany was the chief market for ore and a large part of the world output was shipped there, to be reduced to metal or ferroalloy or exported to other countries. The history of the mining of tungsten in every country shows a marked similarity. Although the occurrence of tungsten is wide- spread, the individual deposits are never of large extent. They are usually pockety. The ore comes in lenticular snoots, and masses in 1 From Bulletin 652. Tungsten Minerals and Deposits, U. S. Geological Survey. 12889419 3 18 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. veins or irregularly distributed along contacts. When a new dis- trict is first discovered a great deal of float ore may often be found. Later the surface ore is gophered out. Up to this stage the tungsten ore is easily and quickly mined, and the production is large and low costs prevail. Then follows the period of searching for ore under- ground. This is a different problem. The geology of tungsten de- posits is not well understood. Underground prospecting is difficult. The "leads'' are hard to follow, and, almost invariably, a large amount of deadwork needs to be done before a new shoot is found. After drifting along a narrow vein or crosscutting through barren rock, it often happens that even if more ore is discovered, its value is insufficient to pay, in addition to the cost of its extraction, the heavy cost of looking for it. This is the period of depression. Temporary excitement or a "boom" like that which swept over Colorado ami the whole world in 1916 when the price soared to record heights, may bring about a greater production, but this is mostly obtained from extremely low-grade material and at high cost. Very few, if any, districts have emerged from the stages of unprofitable underground prospecting and development to the establishment of a permanent, profitable producing stage. Tungsten has the repntation of "play- ing out" at depth. The character of the ore is such as to preclude this possibility and tungsten is no njpre likely to pinch out vertically than horizontally, but as the depth increases the pockets are harder and more expensive to find. USES. At least 95 per cent of all the tungsten ores produced at the present time go into the manufacture of tungsten powder, ferro- tungsten, and tungsten steel for the making of high-speed tool steels. The addition of tungsten to steel gives it the property of holding its temper at a much higher heat than that at which simple carbon steels, and most other alloy steels, become soft and worth- less. This property of red hardness, as it is called, is very important in cutting tools, as it allows speeding up the work to five or six times the cutting speed allowable with simple carbon steel tools. The strength and comparative toughness of tungsten-steel lathe tools, even when very hot permits taking a very heavy cut or shav- ing off the work and the chips often leave the tool so hot that they turn blue. The rapid advance in cutting metals and the great increase in efficiency in machine shops in late years is in a large measure due to the development of tungsten tool steel. A new use for tungsten steel is for aeroplane engine valves and seats. For several years tungsten steel has been the most satisfac- tory material for the permanent magnetos (used for telephones and internal combustion engine ignition). An important use of tungsten ores, though one that consumes but a negligible amount, is the making of pure tungsten wire for incandescent lamp filaments. A little tungsten goes into electric contact points for spark coils, etc. (as a substitute for platinum). Steel containing 2 or 3 per cent of tungsten is in general use for saw blades. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 19 Formerly sodium tungstate and other tungsten-containing chemi- cals were used to some extent in weighting silk, mordanting, and other purposes but this consumption has practically ceased on account of the high cost of tungsten. SUBSTITUTES. No satisfactory substitute for tungsten has been found for alloy- ing with steel for high-speed cutting tools. Molybdenum has some- what similar properties, and although it has been used to some extent, especially in Europe, it has never proved so satisfactory and is now generally used in conjunction with tungsten, replacing only a part of the latter. Stellite, an alloy of cobalt and chromium, is sometimes used for cutting tools as a substitute for high-speed steel. The most satisfactory stellite alloy for cutting, however, contains tungsten as a hardening constituent, although molybdenum is also employed instead of the tungsten in this alloy. The high prices of 1916 stimulated conservation of tungsten, and most cutting tools are now made with an ordinary carbon steel stock with only a short piece of high-priced tungsten steel welded on the end. This practice results in a marked saving in the metal and was a large factor in breaking the price. Chromium as well as molybdenum has to some extent replaced tungsten in the making of magnet steel. 1 MINING METHODS. Placer tungsten may be worked by any of the usual methods for the recovery of gold or tin in placer deposits. Except when asso- ciated with tin or gold, tungsten is not known to be mined by dredg- ing, as the deposits are rarely of sufficient extent to warrant the cost of erecting so expensive a device. Hand washing in pans or sluices is the usual procedure, but in large-scale operations, hydrau- licking is done. Lode mining does not differ essentially from the mining of other ores except that tungsten rarely is found in sufficient amounts or in shoots regular enough to permit of systematic extraction. As a rule the valuable material forms a narrow, tight streak in the rock. These streaks are usually only a few inches wide; and as a man can not work for any length of time in a space less than 18 to 24 inches wide, much barren waste must be broken separately to make room. Care must be taken to prevent the mixing of this rock with the ore. This is often difficult as the tungsten stringers are " frozen" tight to the walls and, although hard, are easily fractured and lost. To further complicate the extraction of tungsten, the country rock and vein formation are usually very hard. It is evident that these con- ditions require a peculiar type of miner and one who has a personal interest in saving every possible particle of valuable material. This necessity fosters the employment of "leasers" (lessees) or "tribu- ters" each man, or group of men, working for himself and being paid for the ore he gets out rather than the usual system of day's pay. 1 See Tariff Information Catalogue on Ferrotungsten. 20 UNITED STATES TAEIFF COMMISSION REPORT. CONCENTRATION OR MILLING. The tendency of all tungsten minerals to slime, coupled with the necessity of very fine grinding to separate them from the waste rock, complicates their economical recovery in the milling operation. Stamps were formerly in common use for the secondary crushing after the breaker, but these relics of gold milling are notorious producers of slime and material too fine to be recovered effectually by any mechan- ical process. Stamps have, therefore, disappeared from most of the mills and have been replaced by several sets of rolls which succes- sively reduce the size 01 the ore with a minimum of sliming. Only a small proportion of tungsten concentrate is recovered by jigging the coarse sizes. The bulk of the recovery is on the sand and slime tables. The last slime is. still run through a "rag plant" (canvas tables) at many mills with an economical saving. The desideratum of concentration is the production of a concen- trate containing 60 per cent or more tungsten- trioxide, but the pro- duction of so high grade a product from the usual ore containing only 2 to 10 per cent WO 3 , results in high losses and much waste of tung- sten. To increase the extraction, many mills make two grades of concentrate; a high grade sand concentrate, containing approxi- mately 60 per cent WO 3 and suitable for making ferrotungsten in the electric furnace; and a slime concentrate of lower grade, containing about 20 per cent WO 3 , and suitable only for a chemical process. If any heavy minerals besides tungsten are present in the ore, the enriched product from simple gravity concentration contains these other minerals also and they must be removed, either because they lower the grade too much or because they are actually deleterious ta the product. The usual auxiliary process is magnetic separation and the method of its application depends on the character of the material. Many foreign ores contain tin as well as sulphide minerals. In the United States the chief contaminants of the concentrate are sulphides. Iron sulphide can be easily removed by a weak magnet after a light roast. Ferberite and even wolframite are slightly magnetic and can be picked out by a strong magnet, leaving nonmagnetic sulphides and tin as a separate and, frequently, a salable product. There has been marked progress in the milling of tungsten ores in the last few years, but it is still a by no means easy problem to get a satisfactory recovery of the minerals in a sufficiently high grade product. Extractions of over 80 per cent are reported, but it is doubtful if the average mill recovers 70 per cent 01 the values, and this on ore that is fairly high grade as compared to ores of other metals. It is not practicable to treat any material with less than 1 per cent of tungsten oxide, and in most districts ore with less than 2 per cent is not worth treating. Ore containing 1 per cent of WO 3 may have a theoretical value of over $20 a ton, but it is seldom profit- able to mill it even when it has been mined and on the dump, whereas ores of gold, copper, or lead with a theoretical value of only $2 or less per ton are profitably concentrated. The reason is the high cost of the separation. A relatively expensive plant is required and the ore must be put through slowly often rerun in order to get a fair recovery. Chemical concentration is rarely resorted to because it is even more expensive than the mechanical processes. Its main field is in the TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 21 separation of foreign ores containing tin and other impurities and in the treatment of low-grade slime concentrate. The usual method 1 is to decompose the material by fusing it with soda ash, forming sodium tungstate, which can be leached out with hot water. In the case of siliceous ores the consumption of soda is prohibitive, but it is possible to leave tin and most of the other metal oxides practically unattacked. The solution containing the sodium tungstate is treated with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid which precipitates tungstic acid (H 2 WO 4 ). The tungstic acid, after ignition to the anhydride (or tungsten trioxide, WO 3 ), can be reduced to metal powder by means of coal or in a stream of hydrogen. COUNTRIES OF LARGEST PRODUCTION. Tungsten ore is widely distributed and is found in all the conti- nents of the world and in a great number of countries; but no single country produces a very great amount and the resources of almost every corner of the globe are drawn on to furnish a supply. Burma (and the Shan States) is the largest individual producer, and in 1917 mined 21.4 per cent of the total world output. The United States was the next largest producer, furnishing 17.1 per cent, while Bolivia was a close third with a production amounting to about 15.8 per cent of the world's total. These three large producers, therefore, accounted for only a little more than one-half of the production ; the remainder was drawn in small amounts from many other countries especially in Asia. In the same year Asiatic countries produced 41.8 per cent of the world's output; South American countries, 22.2; North American countries, 18.4 per cent; European countries, 11.3 per cent, and Aus- tralia and New Zealand, 6.3 per cent. Africa is the only continent that does not make an important contribution to the tungsten supply. Even Africa, however, reports an annual output. The following table shows the world's production, the United States production, and the percentage of the world's total produced by the United States: Concentrates 60 per cent W0 3 . Year. World's produc- tion. United States produc- tion. Per cent produced by United States. 1910.. Short tons. 7,570 Short tons. 1,821 24 06 1911 7,517 1,139 15.15 1912 9,654 1,330 13.78 1913 8 476 1 537 18 13 1914 7,877 990 12 57 1915 12, 328 2,332 18.92 1916 23 671 5 900 24 92 1917 27 007 4 633 17. 12 Another commercial chemical method is outlined in the confidential files of the commission. 22 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. The world's production of tungsten ore, by countries, estimated so far as possible in short tons of concentrates containing 60 per cent of tungsten trioxide. Country. Year. Year. 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 U91S Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Short tons. Africa: South Africa 0) 407 P) 1,119 W 2,095 0) 1,905 0) 2,055 1 2 5 25 20,310 Asia Burma and Shan States 3,010 4,637 120 552 250 UOO 771 750 48 584 329 25,806 21,500 795 250 2100 2775 993 250 660 *350 China . , . . . .. ...... Federated Malay States 105 19 205 275 81 273 100 0) 327 317 119 % 363 219 ( l ) 478 French Indo-China (Tonkin) TnHi!\ (Tint, including Tlurma) 23 Japan " 275 287 225 Korea (Chosen) Johore and Kedah Siam . 200 200 1 33 173 244 50 442 61 0) 1 475 175 Trengganu (Malay Peninsula) .. Australia .^.\. . " 413 78 1,145 75 31 2 512 71 750 86 33 12 298 44 944 87 13 (') 220 42 587 89 1 1 1,150 New South Wales 109 50 708 150 (') (') 345 45 503 2124 1 (') 20 10 2300 250 519 292 (') ( l ) C 1 ) 60 Northern Territory . Queensland TasTiiivnift . Victoria . . . Western Australia South Australia East Indies: Billiton 21 21 8 73 216 252 111 1,466 202 20 10 75 204 300 150 900 179 20 10 75 230 300 150 1,000 175 20 10 Singkep . 12 Europe 54 307 33 105 1,132 169 50 298 188 80 1,078 106 3,000 Austria 75 399 200 150 1,038 211 2150 464 182 350 1,563 187 6 446 175 ( l ) 5,900 2 150 England France. .. * 182 2200 1,741 360 6 2550 341 (rfirman KmpirA (f?avr>ny) Portugal . . ' . . , ... Spain Italy Oceania, New Zealand 187 184 181 297 274 261 155 V 2,332 400 326 North America: Mexico . Nova Scotia. . 83 1,821 826 232 0) 1,139 683 370 17 1,330 702 547 12 1,537 591 328 ( l ) 990 482 320 United States 4,633 5,046 6,300 Ponf.h Amflrif^ .......... Argentina . , ., ,. , 189 902 908 3,624 6 9 586 i,666 4,229 Bolivia Brazil . .... Chile 210 2700 Peru 15 57 241 327 130 455 Total 7,570 7,517 9,629 8,476 7,877 12,225 23,671 27,067 36,557 1 No tungsten ore produced so far as can be learned. Figures in the above table were derived from vari- ous sources published by the U. S. Geological Survey, in Mineral Resources. 2 Estimated. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND RESOURCES. Colorado was the chief tungsten producer of the United States for 14 years. In 1914, the production of California was greater than that of Colorado. In 1916 and again in 1917, their respective productions were practically equal and their combined output is about 90 per cent of the total output of the country. Nevada is the third largest producing State, but its output is considerably less than that of either of the first two. Arizona is a small but regular producer. South Dakota has been an intermittent producer of wol- framite, which is found in association with the gold ore of the Black Hills. Tungsten ore has also been produced in New Mexico (wol- framite), Utah (scheelite), Idaho (huebnerite) , Missouri, and Con- necticut, and showings have been reported in other States. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES. Tungsten-bearing ores (concentrates containing 60 per cent W0 3 }. [Figures from Mineral Resources, United States Geological Survey.] 23 19 10 19 11 19 12 States. Quantitv (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons). Value. Arizona P) 0) 45 $16 559 24 $9 566 California ( l ) f>) (i) (ft (i) (i) Colorado 1,090 $535,567 652 234 513 725 297,533 Idaho (i) 0) (i) (i) Nevada (i) (1) (i) (i) New Mexico South Dakota 268 64 Washington 92 51 768 (i) (1) Alaska Connecticut... Utah All other 176 245 593 320 156 913 438 195 059 Total 1,626 832,992 1,017 407, 985 1,187 502, 158 19 13 19 14 19 15 States or cities. Quantity (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons). Value. Arizona 14 $6,069 13 $6, 435 113 S245, 360 California 483 226 260 0) (i) 859 1 005 467 Colorado 851 428, 760 417 182,013 860 2 311,200 Idaho . (i) (i) (i) (i) 29 47, 602 Nevada (i) (i) 49 130,466 New Mexico (i) (i) (i) (i) 40 70, 934 South Dakota 0) (i) 125 181,089 Washington (') (') (i) (i) Alaska (i) (i) Connecticut (i) (i) Utah (i) (i) (i) (i) All other 24 11,029 454 246, 552 107, 882 Total 1,372 672 118 884 435 000 2,082 4,100,000 19 16 19 17 19 18 States or cities. Quantity (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons). Value. Quantity (long tons).2 Value. Alaska 41 2.") 25 Arizona 195 156 190 1 912 1,951 1,590 Colorado 2 108 1,893 1,705 Connecticut 3 Idaho 90 4 Montana ... 1 20 4 615 790 New Mexico ... . . 14 1 South Dakota 213 3 185 Utah 36 10 All other 108 Total * 5, 243 1 4, 137 4, 505 1 Included in "All other." 2 Subject to revision. 3 Includes Utah. 4 Later figures (subject to revision) show 5,208 long tons in 191t 24 UNITED STATES TAEIFF COMMISSION REPORT. Colorado. Practically all the Colorado output is mined in Boulder County. The tungsten is found in a belt nearly 12 miles long and about 7 miles wide, situated about 25 miles northwest from Denver and centering about Nederland. Prior to 1914 this district pro- duced fully 60 per cent of the tungsten output of the United States, 75 to 80 per cent of which came from shallow workings that are now exhausted. The dominant ore is ferberite, which is not mined to any extent in any other part of the world. It is typically difficult to mine, as it is usually found in very narrow seams or comparatively small lenses in very hard granite or gneiss. The absence of tinstone, tourmaline, and other common associates of tungsten minerals is noteworthy. The Boulder County ore is exceptionally free from impurities and generally commands a higher price than foreign ores because of its extreme purity. The average grade of the ore in Boulder County is perhaps 5 per cent WOg, 1 and the dump ore at producing mines will contain about 0.5 per cent. It is significant that the great excitement of 1915-16 failed to open up any impor- tant new ore bodies in this district. Practically all the large areas of float ore and the easily mined surface deposits are exhausted, and now the production comes almost wholly from fairly deep workings, which are more expensive to mine. The ore shoots are variable in length and depth. The average thickness of the mineral bearing vein matter is only a few inches. In 1916 there were 10 concentrating mills operating in the dis- trict, but in 1918 fully half of them were shut down. Only j&e larger companies have survived. A large proportion of the pro- ducing properties are owned and operated by consumers of tung- sten, i. e., steel companies or manufacturers of ferrotungsten and other tungsten products. Mining and development are done al- most exclusively under the leasing system, the "leaser" being paid for the ore he extracts (after deducting a royalty). When an un- usual amount of prospecting or "dead" work is necessary, the ex- pense is either shared by the company and the lessee or done on "company account." Tungsten -ore has been mined at various other localities in Colo- rado, notably in the southern section, where huebnerite is the chief ore. The production has never been important, and practically all . these mines ceased operations in 1917 or earlier. California. California is the largest producer of scheelite in the world. The greatest proved bodies of tungsten ore in the United States, and perhaps in the entire world, are those of the Atolia-Rand district in San Bernardino County in the southwesterly section of this State. The Atolia deposit has been worked to a depth of 700 feet, vertical, and the width has in many places exceeded three feet of tungsten bearing material, consisting largely of scheelite and quartz. Like the Colorado ore, the California product is exceptionally free from harmful impurities. Since the adverse prejudice of consumers has been overcome, the California scheelite has commanded a premium over imported ores and even over the Boulder County concentrate which is more difficult to reduce. 1 Brief of Tungsten Producers, Tariff Commission, Denver Conference. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 25 The deposits are found along more or less continuous fissures and may be broadly classed as contact metamorphic deposits in distinc- tion from the stringer lodes of Colorado. The deposits, therefore, are often of much larger extent, although frequently low grade. The same geological formation found at Atolia extends east and west. Westward, the ore in Kern county is wholly scheelite. Eastward, more or less of the wolframite series of tungsten minerals is found along with the lime tungstate. Scheelite is the principal tungsten mineral so far produced in California and the wolframite deposits, especially those dominantly of huebnerite, have been generally low grade and pockety. There is no ferberite, but there are two districts in San Bernardino county where the ore is characteristically wolframite. There are four counties in this State from which tungsten has come, San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, and Nevada. By far the largest production has been derived from San Bernardino and the major part of this has come from the Atolia Mining Co. which began pro- ducing in 1908 and has maintained active mining ever since. One of the most interesting developments in the last few years has been that in Inyo county, where the ores differ from the more distinctly lode occurrences of other sections, as the scheelite is disseminated through metamorphic rock. The ore bodies are much larger than even the big Atolia deposit but the average grade of the ore treated is less than one per cent (occasionally as low as 0.5 per cent) whereas the ore of the Atolia Co. runs from two to eight per cent WO 3 in the mill dirt and some high grade is obtained by sorting. There are four mills operating in Inyo county (1918). The production from Kern county and from the balance of the Atolia district, outside of the Atolia Mining Co., comes largely from small operators who produce a few tons here and there, partly from lodes and partly from placer work- ings. "It appears, however, that there are large bodies of low-grade ore from which economical recovery could be made if the price was a sufficient inducement.'' 1 A small amount of scheelite has been pro- duced in Nevada county, over 300 miles from Atolia. Nevada. The only important production so far made by Nevada was in 1916 when 615 tons of 60 per cent concentrate were produced. The most extensive production has come from White Pine County and from Sodaville in liumboldt County. The ore is largely scheelite. During the period of high prices (1915-16) these counties were very active but nearly all operations were discontinued Soon after the spectacular decline in the tungsten market. Extraordinary finds of large bodies of high-grade ore have been reported from time to time, in various parts of the State, but the sudden cessation of output coincident with the break in price raises some question as to the accuracy of the statements. The evidence submitted at the United States Tariff Commission conference in San Francisco, especially the statements of Messrs. Ackerman and Bradley, indicates a strong probability of the existence of important bodies of low grade ore, particularly in Nye and Mineral Counties. In these counties, no lode deposits have been exploited, but a very large tonnage of placer material is said to be available. There is a large ore-body at Bishop, Inyo County, that is believed will eventually furnish a large supply 1 W. W. Bradley (representing Fletcher Hamilton, State mineralogist of California), United States Tariff Commission San Francisco Conference Report, p. 57. 26 UXITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION REPOET. of tungsten at a very low cost. The development of the low grade deposits of Nevada will require a considerable outlay of capital. The tungsten area can be broadly considered as a continuation of the California formations, which it resembles in many particulars. There is a larger proportion of wolframite, especially huebnerite, but scheelite is the dominant tungsten mineral. Many of the deposits also contain sulphide minerals, but a good grade of concentrate can be made as there are few very objectionable impurities. Alaska. Although scheelite had been known to exist in several of the Alaskan placers, the demand was insufficient to encourage its- recovery until 1915 The production has never exceeded 50 tons a year and this is mainly a by-product of the gold-dredging operations in the Nome placers. There is a small lode production in the Fair- banks district. FOREIGN PRODUCTION AND RESOURCES. Burma. Burma, including the Shan States, has been the largest producer of tungsten in the world since 1912. It is one of the newest tungsten producing areas. The first important output was made in 1910. There are four important districts found in a belt about 56 miles long and 7 miles wide and at least 50 producing mines. The ore is wolframite and the output has come largely from placers and surface float. Ground sluicing is the common method of recovering the valu- able mineral, but hydraulicking is employed at some of the larger properties and lode mining is on the increase. The most important lode district is Tavoy, where the veins are found in a schist of sedi- mentary origin, capping granite. No lowering in grade has been reported as the veins extend downward into the granite; but the width is generally less a vein 2.5 feet wide in the schist, narrowing down to 2 feet or less in the granite. All the tungsten deposits contain tin, which is frequently an important by-product. Other harmful im- purities, such as galena, pyrite, columbite, and molybdenite, are also invariably present. The Burmese tungsten industry passed from German to British control in 1915. All shipments had formerly been made to Hamburg and the assays made by the German Government for the duty assessment (2.5 per cent ad valorem) 1 were accepted by buyers and sellers as the Basis of settlement. The outbreak of the war resulted in a temporary derangement of the tungsten industry in this area, and in spite of the urgent need of the British Government for tungsten, Burma did not respond rapidly at first. Prospecting is hindered by heavy rainfall in the summer months, amounting to 200 inches from May to November. Lack of transportation and title diffi- culties were serious handicaps in addition to a shortage of labor. The British Government took an active part in the mining and mar- keting of Burmese tungsten in the fall of 1915. The government imported coolies and managers to work the mines and claims that were lying practically idle, and built roads and bridges. Under this, stimulus, production increased 50 per cent in 1915 and the output in 1 Mineral Industry, XXIII (1914), p. 754. Probably a countervailing tariff as tungsten ore is normally admitted free into Germany under the act of 1906. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 27 1917 was almost three times as great as in 1914. There was some protest from mine owners because of the importation of 1,500 coolies that had no mining experience and had been promised high wages (comparatively); but the main contention was the fixing of the maximum price of 55s. ($13.365) per long ton unit (22.4 pounds) of WO 3 when prices in neutral countries were several times as much. That this price did not allow sufficient profit is evidenced by the fact that it was later (1917) increased to 60s. ($14.60) a long ton unit (These quotations were for 65 per cent concentrate, f. o. b. Liverpool.) The labor in Burma is almost wholly. Chinese under the direction of white superintendents. Mining and development are usually under contract. In spite of the large increase in the output, the methods of mining are still primitive. Most of the crushing is done by hand hammers and the ore is concentrated in cradles (by hand). There is seldom any attempt to remove tin at the mine. Some of the ore is treated with magnetic separators to take out the tin before shipping to England, but usually the mixed product is shipped. One or more magnetic separators have recently been installed at Rangoon. Other Asiatic countries. Nearly all the tin mines of the Malay Peninsula produce more or less tungsten as a by-product. Smaller amounts are mined in French Indo-China (Tonkin) and in Siam. Most of the ore is wolframite, although some scheelite is found. The Siamese area is a continuation of the Burmese and the ore is found on surface. Laborers are paid not over 50 cents (gold) a day. The cost of production is very low, the chief expense is the government tax (30 to 40 per cent) and the cost of bags which is very high in that country. Permits for export were subject to the control of the British legation at Bangkok and were practically impossible to get in 1918. The ore cost $15 to $17 a unit, c. i. f. American ports. 1 A new and probably important production comes from southern China in the Provinces of Hunan and Kwantung. The production in 1917 was more than 100 tons a month. The work was done en- tirely by hand, most of the ore being merely picked up off the ground. The product had to be carried on men's backs or little river junks to Canton, whence it was shipped to Hongkong. It came under British control at Hongkong and permits to ship to the United States were not granted in 1917. The total output of Japan and Korea (Chosen) in 1917 was prac- tically 1,770 tons (on the basis of 60 per cent concentrate), nearly 1,000 tons of which came from the latter country. Korea is likely to become a more important producer as soon as the war-time em- bargoes on shipments are removed as much high-grade ore is reported from various sections and great bodies of low-grade complex ore have been proved up. Australia. Tungsten ore has been mined in all the territories of Australia. Queensland is the largest producer and New South Wales, second. Australia was for several years the largest producer of tungsten ores in the world, but when the surface ores were exhausted, mining languished, the output dwindled, and the United States took the premier position (1906-7). Both wolframite and scheelite are found in nearly all the districts. The tungsten is generally associated with molybdenite and bismuth and is rarely found in well-defined 1 O. Nassauer, Tariff Commission Conference Reports, p. 153 (?an Francisco). 28 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. lodes. The shoots are typically erratic and hard to find. The bulk of the output comes from placer deposits of scheelite. The only possible checks to the waning output of Australia are the develop- ment of lode mining and the solution of certain metallurgical problems connected with the separation of the complex scheelite ores. Every effort was made to increase the production since the outbreak of the war, but unsuccessfully (up to the end of 1917). Portugal. Portugal has maintained its position as the chief tung- sten producing country in Europe for many years. Tungsten is found in widely separated regions in Tras Os Montes and Beira Alta (in the northerly and central sections of the country) and occurs in quartz veins, of the fissure tvpe, cutting both granite and Archaean schists. There are no deep mines, mining having stopped at or near water level. The ore is generally associated with lead, zinc, or iron sul- phides in the veins and is mostly wolframite and huebnerite, though some scheelite is found. Tin and titanium are found in the country rock with no evidence of vein formation and are concentratedwith the tungsten ores in alluvial deposits. The latter are an important source of tungsten. Most of the production an 1 9 1 4 was by British-controlled companies, but French interests were extended after the outbreak of the war, and in 1916, American capital acquired important holdings. By an agreement with the Portuguese Government the products of the mines are shipped to England, France, and the United States, respectively. The remainder of the production, from locally con- trolled mines, is purchased by agents of the three foreign companies. In 1917 the average cost of production of five properties operated by hand methods was $8.22 per long ton unit plus SI. 07 Government tax and $0.50 freight. The average cost at three plants, one British and two American, operated by mechanical methods was $7.59 plus the same charges. 1 The ore was sold at the British Government fixed price of 55s. 2 Portugal produced the equivalent of 1,741 tons of 60 per cent con- centrate in 1917. This was 57 per cent of the whole European pro- duction. Most of the product is comparatively free from tin, sulphur, bismuth, and phosphorus. 3 Other European countries. Tungsten ore, chiefly wolframite, is produced in Spain, Cornwall, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. The average annual output of each of these countries is approximately 200 tons. The productions decrease slightly in the order named. Russia produced 110 tons in 1917 and this was practically its first production. A few tons are mined in Norway and Italy every vear. Most of the European tungsten deposits are associated with tin mines, and the ores are generally contaminated with tin ai}<4 other harmful impurities. South America. Wolframite, scheelite, and huebnerite are all found along the eastern cordillera in Bolivia, Argentina, and Peru and in Chile and Brazil. In 1917 Bolivia produced over 70 per cent of the whole South American output, and its production was almost as great as that of the United States, or the third largest in the world. ' F. W. Footeand R. S. Ransome, jr., Eng. Mg. Jl. 106 (1918), pp. 47-53. J Ibid. p. 50. The authors estimate the net value at $11.80 a long ton unit after deducting freight to Eng- land, insurance, etc. This leaves a profit margin of *2.64 a unit to the plants with mechanical equipment and $2.01 a unit to the plants working by hand methods. 3 A lU3uion of mine labor conditions in Portugal will be found in the miscellaneous section. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 29 The Bolivian ores are found at high altitudes, between 13,500 and 16,500 feet above sea level. Only natives, accustomed to work at such altitudes, can do any physical work at these elevations; the labor supply is, therefore, limited. Transportation is difficult and the ore must be sent down aerial tramways to a place where water can be had for concentration. Silver is a common associate of the tung- sten and is usually present in sufficient value to warrant a preliminary leaching of the ore with hyposulphite of lime to extract the precious metal before the mechanical concentration for the recovery of the tungsten. As the tungsten veins are often crossed and intertwined with tin veins, the mining of the two metals goes hand in hand, and the concentration of the mixed ore involves this difficult separation (which is rarely complete). Copper is another unwelcome associate and there is generally some bismuth. About 70 per cent of the Bolivian output comes from the Department of Orurp, 20 per cent from La Paz, and the remainder from Potosi. Approximately 75 per cent of the production is exported to the United States, most of the remainder to England, in 1917; but in that year there was much competitive buying by French and British commis- sions, and in 1918 a larger part of the ore was diverted to Europe. Argentina is the second largest of the South American producers. Tungsten and petroleum are practically its only mineral products. The chief production has come from a mine in the Sierra Cordoba, controlled by the Hansa Sociedad de Minas, a German concern. 1 The Argentine ore was all shipped to Germany before the war and in 1915 operations were temporarily suspended. Later the output was con- tracted for by American firms and production resumed and increased. In 1917-18 there were large shipments to Europe as well as to the United States. Most of the Peruvian mines are owned and operated by native capital. The tungsten minerals 'are huebnerite and wolframite and are generally accompanied by considerable, even economical, amounts of copper. As in most Andean mines, development and operation are hindered by the extreme difficulty of transportation. Only a few mills have been erected and most of the concentrating is done by women who hand pick the coarse material and pan the fines. In 1916-17 English interests secured an option on the Huara deposits in the Province of Ancachs. These are reported to be the largest bodies of tungsten ore in the world.* In common with most mineral products, tungsten ore exports from nearly all South American countries are subject to an export tax, which is generally based on a sliding scale depending on the price of the ore as well as the financial necessities of the individual country. These taxes are constantl} 7 fluctuating. Canada. No important discoveries of tungsten minerals have been made in Canada. A small and fairly steady output of scheelite has been maintained in Nova Scotia, largely as a by-product of the treat- ment of gold ore. Tungsten finds, and a sporadic production, have been reported from British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Ontario. 1 Mineral Industry, XXIII (1914), p. 750. A characteristic feature of the Cordoba ore is the presence of appreciable amounts of the very rare metal niobium, some specimens run as high as 1.5 per cent niobium oxide (NbjO 3 ). a Mm. Jour., Mar. 3, 1917. 30 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. Mexico. Since 1915 small shipments of tungsten have been made from various parts of Mexico, especially Sonora. Much of it has been marketed at a comparatively low price, being stolen ore or ore mined by "high-graders." It is handled at Douglas, Ariz., by American ore buyers. Scheelite is a minor constituent of the Moctezuma Copper Co. (Phelps-Dodge) ore at Pilares de Nacozari, but so far as known, no attempts have been made to recover it. COSTS. Any accurate estimate of the average cost of producing tungsten ore is impossible. The main difficulty is to determine trie cost of developing the ore body. This may be either very g;reat or very small. In surface workings, the element of prospecting is often prac- tically negligible and the total cost of production is only slightly more than the working cost. In deeper mines, the cost of dead work and drifting in search of .new bodies is a large item. Under the leasing system, especially, the determination of this cost is impossible, since one lessee after another will do some work on the same block of ground and then quit. Most of the production throughout the world comes from small operators that seldom keep any accurate records. Even when accurate records are kept, the costs are so widely different that any attempt to correlate them is fruitless. The main factor in all mining costs is the cost of labor, and wages have risen all over the world. Supply costs have also increased. In the tungsten industry, costs have increased from 40 to 50 per cent during the war period. Considerable data in regard to costs in 1912- 13 were given in tariff hearings and are summarized on page 15. Detailed cost figures have been furnished by a number of domestic producers. These are available in the confidential files of this com- mission together with the data furnished at the conferences held at Denver and San Francisco. In Colorado the costs in 1918 of the larger producers were estimated to run from $15 to $33 per unit, with an average cost of approximately $20. ' Calif ornian costs are lower, but it is doubtful if any large production in that section can be maintained at a cost of less than $10 per unit, with much of it cost- ing considerably more. Before the war, the Atolia Co. sold ore at less than $6 per unit, but the production came then from the upper levels of the ore body; the vein in those horizons was richer and wider, and operating costs have increased very rapidly during the war period. While the available data are not wholly satisfactory, it seems prob- able that only about one-half of the domestic output is produced at a cost of from $10 to $15 per unit, and that 'the remainder costs from $15 to $25 per unit, averaging, say, $20. It is very unlikely that any considerable amount of tungsten ore can again be pioduced at much, if any, less than $10 per unit unless large, low-grade deposits can be systematically developed and equipped for production on a large tonnage basis. Foreign costs are much more difficult to ascertain. A large range of estimates has been secured from various sources. Many of these estimates run considerably above the prices that the British Govern- ment was paying to producers during the war period and are mani- festly too high. On the other hand, it is stated that much of the TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 31 Burmese bre is produced for less than $2 per unit. There is little uniformity in the figures and no definite conclusions can be drawn from such data. A better index is the record of sales in the con- suming markets. As soon as shipping restrictions were removed after the signing of the armistice a flood of tungsten ore came to the United States from China and the Far East. This material was sold as low as $6 per unit on the New York market and most of it changed hands at much less than $8 per unit. Undoubtedly some of these sales represent liquidation of stocks with slight regard to profits. A little of it may even have been sold below the delivered cost. But it is significant that nearly seven months after the embargoes were removed this ore is offered at $7 per unit in New York, although quotations on future deliveries from China are placed at $8. ApDar- ently a large supply of Chinese ore can be placed on the New York market at less than $10 per unit, until these bonanza deposits of improved extent are exhausted (unless, of course, the cost to the importer is increased by a duty placed upon the ore). Costs in other Far Eastern countries Bolivia and Portugal must also be judged by the prices at which their product is sold in consum- ing markets. On this basis they come between the very cheap Chinese (and Burmese) material and the more expensive production of the United States. The British Government controlled prices on tungsten ore drawn from Burma, Portugal, and Bolivia have ranged from $13 in 1918 to $6.25 in early 1919. MARKETS AND MARKETING. In the prewar period Germany was the clearing house for most of the tungsten ore mined in the world, and a large part of the tungsten powder and ferroalloy was manufactured in that country and fur- nished to steel makers throughout the world. Most of the American production, however, has always found a ready market at home and was reduced in the United States. The world situation was abruptly changed by the outbreak of the war and the elimination of the Central Powers from general commerce. Great Britain controlled more than half of the tungsten output of the world, so that country now became the logical center of the industry. The construction of reduction plants was started at once and these were soon able to take double the amount of ore readily obtainable. The steadily growing demands of American steel makers, which far exceeded the domestic produc- tion of ore, resulted in active competition between British and Amer- ican interests for South American and Asiatic ore, and even for the Portuguese output. In an attempt to straighten out this tangle of interests, a contract was drafted in 1917-18 whereby each country should retain control of all tungsten produced in its own territory, while that produced in other countries was to be equally divided between the two contractors. In view of the fact that fully two- thirds of all the tungsten output of the world was produced in British- controlled territory, this agreement would have been manifestly dis- advantageous to the American industry, whose requirements exceeded those of the British steel makers, and it was never consummated. The chief market for tungsten ore in the United States is in the Eastern States, especially in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. Only a small part of the total domestic concentrate is reduced in Western States 32 UNITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION REPORT. closer to the mines, so most of the concentrate must be shipped East. In stringent markets it sometimes goes by express. Many tungsten concentrates contain deleterious impurities which impair their value as sources of ferro tungsten. Most metallic im- purities are reduced along with the tungsten in the electric furnace if not removed beforehand, and hence would go into the steel and injure its quality. Objectionable impurities are antimony, arsenic, bismuth, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, phosphorus, and sulphur. Fortunately for the American producer, domestic ores are singularly free from the more objectionable impurities. Most foreign ores contain them in more or less amounts, and, consequently, almost invariably sell at a discount. The usual quotations for tungsten ore are based on material con- taining 60 per cent tungsten trioxide and no objectionable impuri- ties. 1 Separate quotations are sometimes published for wolframite and scheelite. The latter is more easily reduced in the electric furnace and commonly valued $1 or more a unit higher than wolframite. A slightly better price can be gotten for ferberite than for wolframite, while huebnerite sells for a little less than the standard ore. The removal of a large manganese content in the electric furnace is difficult and since it tends to lower the grade of the ferro- alloy, it is undesirable. The above statements apply to ores of the same tungsten content. A reduction in WO 3 content below 60 per cent is penalized and a product containing less than about 40 per cent WO 3 is bargained for with little reference to published quotations, even though it may contain no harmful impurities. Mine dirt up to 20 or 30 per cent WO 3 can be sold only to custom concentrating mills. The price paid is a matter of agreement between the producer and the millman. A sliding scale is usually adopted. In Boulder County, Colo., one mill 2 bases its payments on the pub- lished New York schedule with liberal discounts to cover losses, cost of treatment, and market uncertainties. The following example is illustrative: Engineering and Mining Journal quotation, $22 a unit for 60 per cent WO 3 ; mill quotation, $18 on 60 per cent. The price paid per unit for 2 per cent ore is $5 a unit (i. e. $10 a ton), and this price per unit is increased by $1 a unit for each 1 per cent increase in grade of the ore up to 7 per cent (which is, therefore, valued at $10 a unit or $70 a ton). From 7 to 18 per cent WO 3 the price per unit is increased only 15 cents a unit for each 1 per cent improvement in grade. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND PRICES. The question of prices is more intimately interrelated with that of production in the tungsten industry than in any other branch of mining. The following table illustrates the growth of the industry in the United States and its extraordinary expansion under the stimulus of high prices, in spite of the depletion of easily mined deposits and surface ore: 1 Foote Mineral Co. specifications for commercial grade, guaranteed: Tungsten trioxide, minimum,. 60 per cent; sulphur, copper, and phosphorus, each, maximum, 0.05 per cent. Tin or bismutn, absent or traces. $2 to $8 per unit penalty for excess impurities beyond above allowance. ! Statement of W. F. Bleecker, Tariff Commission Denver Conference Report, p. 203 et seq. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. Production of tungsten concentrate in the United States. 1 [In tons of 2,000 Ibs., 60 per cent WO 8 .] 33 Year. Produc- tion. Average price per unit. Yenr. Produc- tion. Average price per unit. 1901 179 32 58 1910... 1,821 $7.62 1902 184 3.00 1911 1,139 5.97 1903 292 2.48 1912 1,330 6.28 1904 . .... '740 4.00 1913 1 537 7.30 1905 803 5.57 1914 990 7.32 1906 928 6.27 1915 . 2,332 29.33 1907 1,640 9.05 1916 7,469 70.00 1908 671 5.72 1917 5,313 21.67 1909 1,619 6.32 1918 1 Compiled from Mineral Industry (compare with IT. S. Geological Survey data on p. 23.) The rise in the price of tungsten was fairly steady and rapid until the latter part of 1907. The first ore, known to have been mined in the United States and sold, was produced in 1900. At that time the price of tungsten trioxide was about $2 per unit in a 60 per cent concentrate. With the betterment in price the production increased slowly. In 1906 there was a remarkable increase and at the beginning of 1907 the price had risen to from $9 to $14 a unit. During the first part of 1907 business was good and there were large gains in produc- tion both in the United States and in foreign countries. Near the end of the year came the slump in the steel industry and the panic of 1907-8. The tungsten industry was temporarily crippled. Prices dropped to $5 a unit in the latter part of the year and continued at that level through the early part of the following year with produc- tion at a low ebb. Late in 1908 prices improved and the tungsten industry responded rapidly to an active demand. Production came back in 1909 to almost the high record of 1907 and in 1910 exceeded it. Then came another slump in the steel industry which was naturally reflected in the tungsten price and production. The period from 1912 up to the outbreak of the world conflict was one of slow recuperation from the 1911 setback. Improvement in price was not so rapid as in 1909, when the declining output from Australia strengthened the market. Burma began to produce tungsten in 1910 and immediately became an important factor in the world market. Only the more general recognition of the valuable properties of the black metal pre- vented an actual slump in prices. In the early part of 1914 there was a slack demand for tungsten and a tendency toward sagging prices, most sales being made on a basis of about $6.50 a unit. The out- break of the war in August nearly paralyzed tungsten mining, and it was not until toward the end of the year that the demand quickened. Prices as high as $9 a unit were offered but throughout the year the price depended on the quality and quantity of ore and the urgency of the needs of buyers and sellers. The market was not general or active. Production fell off 40 per cent. In the first quarter of 1915 the domestic production was at about the same rate as in 1914 and 60 per cent concentrates sold as low as $5.80 a unit. War orders were beginning to pour into the United States from England and France and caused a great demand for tungsten for high-speed cutting tools and other special steels. Then 34 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. the British Government placed an embargo on the exportation of tungsten ore and products from Burma and all British possessions. This embargo practically cut off all sources of foreign supply, im- portations of tungsten suddenly and almost completely stopped, so consumers turned to the domestic producers for their supplies. Prices began to soar; in May the value of tungsten concentrates had almost doubled and before the end of the year there was a frantic demand at $50 and S62.50 a unit. Mining of all known deposits were pushed and there was active prospecting for new deposits under the stimulus of record prices. As a result the 1915 output was nearly 140 per cent greater than that of 1914 and the greatest in the previous history of tungsten mining in this country and its value was nearly two and a half times as great as that for any previous year. The boom that started in the latter part of 1915 expanded at an enormous rate in the early months of 1916 and reached its climax in April, when sales were made at the record price of $82.50 1 a unit, compared with $7.32, the average price in 1914. This was the peak price, and before the middle of May the bottom dropped out of the market. Quotations at the end of May were less than half those of the preceding month, and buyers were taking only what they needed for immediate use. The hesitancy of consumers to make purchases together with a forced restriction in consumption allowed stocks to accumulate and the great activity of producers hastened the con- tinued decline. In August the market steadied, while consumers satisfied their most pressing requirements at prices averaging only a little more than $25 a unit. The first week in September was marked by another precipitate decline, but the market soon found its level at about $17 and this price prevailed with a slight upward trend to the end of the year. The abnormal market stimulus in the spring of 1916 aroused great excitement in all tungsten districts. Speculation in mines was even greater than in the ore and metal market. The wildest scramble for tungsten properties was that in Boulder County, Colorado . Clerks, waiters, farm hands, miners, and promoters all joined in a feverish search for showings of tungsten ore. The mad rush came when the ground was covered with snow, and little could be judged as to the value of the various claims and prospects, many of which changed hands several tunes a day. Thousands of dollars were paid" for options, merely on hearsay evidence. Before the snow was gone and real prospecting and development could commence the bubble had burst. A number of " leasers " stayed and a few prospectors remained to work their claims, but most of the speculators and fortune seekers drifted away without in anyway adding to the output of the ore. Nevertheless the high prices of 1916 caused the reopening of many abandoned mines and brought about the discover}' of some new deposits. After a few months development the output began to grow. On July 1, in only six months, an equivalent of over 3,000 tons of 60 per cent concentrates had been produced more than the United States or any other country had ever produced in any 12 months previous to that tune. The total production for the year was equivalent to 5,243 tons of 60 per cent concentrate, valued at $25,000,000. 1 "In one instance, at least, upwards of $100 a unit was paid * * *." U. S. Tariff Commission, Denver Conference Report, p. 180. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 35 The year 1917 was characterized by a reasonably steady market with a gradual upward movement. The monthly quotations which are given in the table below show a preference for scheelite, which developed in that year for the first time. Wolframite, especially ferberite, had hitherto been preferred to the lime mineral. The tungsten ore market in 1918 started with a considerable ac- cumulation of off-grade ore in New York. There were also some stocks of high-grade ore that was tied up by traffic conditions. The congestion of the railroads favored further accumulations. Western ore traveled, at times, two or three months before it reached its destination; and buyers, running short of material, preferred to buy spot New York delivery, which, in spite of delayed transit, reached Eastern points quicker than material sent from California and Nevada. 1 Chinese ore first became an active feature of the market in May and thenceforth was the important factor, though, on account of impurities, it was obtainable at a considerable reduction from the quotations of high-grade ore. The latter continued to sell, right up to the signing of the armistice, at prices of $24 and $24.50 for wolframite and $25 and $26 for scheelite, while the off-grade ore, which could be used only by plants employing special chemical (acid) treatment, was selling at from $5 to $6 per unit less. Chinese ore deliveries in July to October ran up to about 1,200 ton per month, as compared with a total of only 200 tons in 1917. Im- ports from all countries were governed by the licensing system intro- duced by the American Iron and Steel Institute and which also covered the importation of all ferroalloys. When the armistice was signed, November 11, the business in tung- sten ore came almost to a stop. Government contracts were largely canceled and new business for peace purposes did not offset the loss of war orders. There was practically no market. Chinese ore con- tinued to be imported in 1919 and supplies accumulated rapidly. While at first there was no regular market, quotations for spot delivery of Chinese ore later became adjusted at $6.50 and, later, $7 per unit. By June there was some dissipation of stocks of Chinese ore in this country and quotations for future delivery were placed at $8 per unit. Domestic mines were closed and American ore was no longer quoted. Average monthly price of tungsten ore. 2 [In dollars per unit, WO 3 ]. 19 17 19 18 Wolf- ramite. Scheelite. Wolf- ramite. Scheelite. January.. 17.14 17.50 24.75 26.00 February 16.80 17.50 24.50 26.00 March 17.17 17.77 24.00 24.55 April 17.86 19.04 24.00 24.50 May 19.10 20.94 24.00 24.13 June 20.80 23.50 24.00 24.00 July 23.44 25.68 24.00 24.00 August 24.66 26.50 24.50 25.05 September 23.92 26.00 24.50 25.35 October 24.00 26.00 25.00 26.00 November 26.00 26.00 (3) (3) December .... 25.24 26.56 (i) (3) Year 21.34 22.75 24. 325 24.958 i Charles Hardy: Eng. Min. Journ. 107 (1919), p. 80. Engineering and Mining Journal quotations. * No market. 36 UNITED STATES TABIFF COMMISSION REPORT. DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION AND SOURCES OF SUPPLY. The United States has become one of the largest consumers of tungsten in the world. While it is also one of the largest single producers, the domestic output has always been insufficient to sat- isfy the demands of consumers and the balance has to be imported. Most of the foreign supply came from Germany before the war in the form of both tungsten ore and as metal or ferrotungsten, but Germany was eliminated at the outbreak of the world conflict and the United States has fallen back on South America and China to supplement its domestic supplies. This change in sources of supply has also wrought a change in the character of the imports. Since there are no tungsten reduction works in South America, the tungsten supply in later years has been imported almost wholly in the form of ore to be reduced in this country. No tungsten is exported in the form of ore but there are appreciable quantities of ferrotungsten shipped out of the United States. In considering the needs of the United States, account should be taken of these exports of a com- paratively crude form. A close approximation to recent actual consumption of tungsten is obtained in the following table. The data are based on 60 per cent concentrate, assuming that one ton of ferrotungsten is equivalent to two tons of concentrate. Domestic consumption tungsten metal. 1 (Expressed in short tons of 60 per cent concentrates: 1 ton ferro=2 tons concentrate.) 1913 1917 1918 (7 months). Tons. Percent. 2 Tons. Per cent. 2 Tons. Percent. 2 SOURCES OF SUPPLY. Imports: South America - 3,560 831 121 340 28 37.4 8.7 1.3 3.6 .3 2,126 1,931 50 211 27 30.8 28.0 3.1 .4 China-Japan Europe ... ... 1,705 12 6 52.3 .3 .2 Mexico-Canada All other Total imports 1,723 1,537 52.8 47.2 4,880 4,633 51.3 84.7 4,345 2,550 63.0 37.0 Domestic production . Total supply 3,260 100.0 9,513 100.0 6,895 100.0 DISBURSEMENTS. Exports: France . ( 3 ) () ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 316 1,328 310 20 104 3.3 14.0 3.2 .2 1.1 694 10. 1 280 4.1 Italy Canada . 16 .2 1 All other Total exports ( 3 ) ( 3 ) 2,078 2.18 991 14.4 Net domestic consumption 3,260 100.0 7,435 78.2 5,904 85.6 1 Data from Department of Commerce records, Geological Survey, and War Industries Board. 1 Per cent of total supply. 'Included in "All others" in Department of Commerce records; exports only of ferroalloy and none prior to 1914. The above table clearly shows the great increase in the consump- tion of tungsten in the United States, not only the consumption of concentrates that are merely made into ferrotungsten or tungsten TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 37 metal, but also the net consumption that goes into ultimate manu- factures. The reduction of concentrate is a comparatively minor industry, and has developed in the United States, merely as a matter of convenience, just as Germany was formerly the brokerage market as well as a consuming market. The tungsten exports are wholly of metal or ferro tungsten. Since there is no tariff on tungsten ore, no records are kept of the portion of these exports derived from domestic and from foreign ore. If the ore were dutiable, most of these exports would have been "smelted in bond" or "exported with benefit of drawback." The development of tungsten ore reduction for export is a direct result of the transfer of sources of supply, which are also indicated in the above table. Before the war, a large part of the foreign supply of tungsten came from Europe, especially Germany, and a large part | : of it was imported in the form of metal and alloy. IMPORTS. Before the war, Germany furnished the United States with about [ two-thirds of its imported supply of tungsten ores in addition to large amounts of tungsten metal and ferroalloy. Since Germany in normal times produced only 100 or 200 tons of tungsten ore a year, it is evident that Germany was not the country of origin of the large importations received in the United States, and that they were chiefly of ore produced in other countries and reexported from Germany. Until the outbreak of the war practically all the tungsten ore output of the world, with the exception of that of the United States and certain European countries, was sold to German buyers. The German firms were ready to purchase and treat ores containing objectionable impurities and low-grade material that British buyers would not touch and, naturally, a large part of the world output gravitated to this omnivorous market. Most of this ore was made into metal or ferrotungsten in Germany, 1 but the German ore buyers did some brokerage business and reshipped an important tonnage of the better class of ore, especially to the United States. In 1913 (fiscal year) the United States imported a total of 766 long tons of tungsten ore of which 600 long tons came from Germany. Just preceding the war there was little demand for tungsten and imports fell off. The sudden demand in 1915 was only partially met by the increased domestic production. Germany was cut off as a source of supply because of the war. American consumers began to draw supplies direct from South American sources and in 1917 (fiscal year) over 80 per cent of the 3,832 tons of tungsten ore imported into the United States came from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Panama, and Ecuador. The imports from Panama were reshipments from Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia. A large part of the imports from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador is of ore produced in Bolivia. In general, imported ore has a higher tungsten content than the domestic product. A little of it grades down to 50 per cent \VO 3 , but the average is close to 60 per cent. It is rarely free from objectionable impurities. Much of it is impure stuff that can not be treated directly by the electric furnace plants, but is snapped up at low prices by companies equipped to treat it by chemical processes. i In the 5-year period 1909-1913, the net imports of tungsten ore into Germany averaged 3,600 tons a year. Report of British Royal Commission. 38 UNITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION REPORT. IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES. [Fiscal years.] . 19121 1913 1914 Long tons. Dollars. Long tons. Dollars. Long tons. Dollars. G ermanv 233 60 30 48 115,307 29,703 11,532 23,212 600 80 300, 867 41,732 125 70 78,709 37,063 Spain United Kingdom 68 12 6 34, 557 6,789 2,684 22 13,519 Canada . All other Total 371 179,754 766 386, 629 217 129,291 19 15 19 16 19 17 19 18 Imported from Long tons. Dollars. Long tons. Dollars'. Long tons. Dollars. Long tons. Dollars. Germany . . 11 8 692 Portugal 34 17,558 232 286, 444 39 41,007 92 82,583 16 7 095 17 15 618 175 84 891 31 23 361 Canada 11 36,000 Straits Settlements .... Chile 19 10, 531 786 2,017,145 1,407 2,013,411 1,358 1,364,461 Peru 154 72,553 800 1 223,001 1 092 1, 073, 001 1,528 1, 455, 863 6 2 340 24 27 242 24 11 492 362 791 568 286 374, 404 965 1 157,329 Mexico 174 36, 677 304 192, 339 263 214, 072 Argentina 373 684, 677 449 1, 062, 604 251 371, 227 Bolivia 75 203 767 65 82,542 Panama 3 7,600 140 144,558 23 26, 143 Ecuador 5 5,300 10 12,559 China 25 12,768 50 42, 747 759 723,935 Siam 25 22, 778 50 48, 877 20 17, 166 All other 83 100 986 1 1 250 301 249 818 Total 439 215, 152 3,010 5, 453, 632 3.823 4,999,498 5,646 5, 793, 698 ' 1 Included in "All other articles" prior to 1912. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION REVENUE. Fiscal years. | Quan- Ratesofduty. *jj| tons). I Valnps Duties Values. collected. Actual and corn- Value per puted ad unit of , valorem quantity. rate (per cent). 19101 10 per cent do 272,311.00 i 27,231.10 241,795.00 24,179.50 184,518.00 ' 18,451.80 386,629.00 j 38,662.90 5,237.00 j 523.70 124,054.00 215,152.00 5,453,632.00 4,999,498.00 5,880,473.00 10.00 10.00 1911 1912 do 381.00 484.30 10.00 504.50 10.00 523.70 10.00 544.10 490.10 : 1,810.30 1,339.30 1,024.30 1913 do 766.37 1914 do 10.00 19143 Free 228.00 1915 do i 439.00 1916 1917 1918 do 3,012.00 do i 3,733.00 do 5,741.00 1 Aug. 6, 1909, to June 30, 1910. * July 1 to Oct. 3, 1913, under act of 1909. 3 Oct. 4, 1913, to June 30, 1914, under act of 1913. TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 39 EXPORTS. The United States is a large importer of tungsten ore, but not an exporter. Some of the California product was exported to Germany before the war, 1 but the amount was so small that no records are available. The exports shown in the domestic consumption table on a previous page were of ferro tungsten and calculated as con- centrate merely for the purpose of comparison. Before the war little tungsten in any form was exported and the comparatively large exports of ferroalloy were due solely to war conditions, the United States having taken Germany's place to some extent as the immediate market for South American and Far Eastern ore. Prices, tungsten-bearing ores (wholesale or retail) Average of concentrates, 60 per cent WO,. [Data from The Mineral Industry.] Kinds or grades. Per short ton. Kinds or grades. Per short ton. 1908 ?343 1913 $438 1909 379 1911 439 1910 457 1915 1 760 1911 358 1916. 4 200 1912 377 1917 1 300 RATES OF DUTY ON TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. Act of Para- Tariff classification or description. Rates of duty, specific and ad valorem. graph. 1909 1913 190 633 Tungsten-bearing ores of all kinds. . . 10 per cent ad valorem. Free. do " COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS. Tungsten ore or wolfram was held to be exempt from duty as a crude mineral under the act of 1897, and not dutiable as a metal unwrought nor as a metallic mineral substance in a crude state. (Hempstead v. Thomas, 122 Fed. 538 (T. D. 24506), reversing 115 Fed. 256; followed in G. A. 5400 (T. D. 24607). i J. H. Mackenzie, Tariff Commission Conference Report, p. 18. III. COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS. The United States has never produced sufficient tungsten to satisfy the domestic demand. Stimulated by the great demand and con- sequent high prices of 1915-16, the production increased enormously; but even in 1916, the production increased at a slower rate than consumption. This relatively greater increase in consumption as compared with the domestic supply is not confined to the war period, but was in progress for several years preceding the outbreak of the Great War. Table showing the approximate proportion of domestic tungsten ore requirements produced in the United States. Propor- tion of Calendar year. Domestic pro- duction. 1 Imports. 1 Available supply. available upply produced in United States. Long tons. Long tons. Long tons. Per cent. 1912 1 187 736 1 913 62 1913 1.372 401 1,773 77.4 1914 884 267 1.151 76.6 1915 2.082 1.370 3 452 60.3 1916 5,268 3,547 8, 815 59.7 1917. 4,137 4 357 8 494 48 7 i Production calculated into tons of 60 per cent WO 3 . No data for correcting import tonnage to 60 per cent basis. From 1912 to 1916, the domestic production exceeded the imports, but in 1917 and 1918, the consumption of foreign ore in the United States exceeded that from domestic mines. As has been noted else- where this increase in percentage of foreign ore is partly attributable to the fact that in recent years there have been no imports of ferro- tungsten and some ferro tungsten has been exported. The main point, however, is that domestic production was handicapped because of the drop in price and the competition of foreign supplies. The production of tungsten in every country passes through an early stage of comparatively cheap output from float ore and rich, easily-mined surface deposits. Practically no equipment or invest- ment is required and the labor necessary to secure the ore is much less than is required at a later period, when the supply of ore must be got from underground mining. In this later period, the continued production of ore necessitates deep mining, more equipment, a comparatively heavy capital outlay for development, and generally higher operating costs. Australia was in the first stage up to 1905. The United States was in it until 1915. Now, however, both countries are, broadly speaking, in the later stage. The output of both countries has dwindled, more rapidly in Australia because there the conditions are aggravated and have existed a longer time, but no less surely in the United States. The Boulder County (Colo.) district, which formerly supplied over 60 per cent of the domestic production is 40 TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 41 stripped of easily mined ore and faces high costs and large invest- ments if its production is to be maintained at anything like its former rate from its narrow veins and erratic ore snoots. In California the depletion is not so far advanced, but the exploitation of the large low-grade deposits upon which must depend the bulk of future production is delayed by the necessity of heavy capital expenditure. The general sentiment expressed by producers at the two confer- ences on tungsten held by this Commission was that capital was willing to assume the mining risk but hesitated to undertake the financing of tungsten ventures because it is not assured of a stable or adequate price for the product. An important and growing factor in the American market is the supply of foreign ore. The price level has always been governed to a large extent by the cost of importing ore from other countries. The fear of a great influx of cheap foreign tungsten has been the deterrent to the investment of the requisite capital in many of the low-grade deposits of the United States. The metallurgical treatment of tungsten ores is as efficient in the United States as in any country and far in advance of that in most other countries. While American labor is superior to that in any other large tungsten-producing region, it is necessarily much better paid. Where the output depends on a large amount of hand work as in mines of the Boulder County type, there is no possibility of producing ore so cheaply in the United States as in countries of low wages. The main dependence, therefore, of the United States are the low-grade, but probably extensive, deposits of the Southwest. American management ana equipment have demonstrated their superiority in mining of low-grade properties on a large scale. Given an adequate tonnage, iron, copper, lead, and, more recently, molyb- denum have been mined much more cheaply in the United States than in any other part of the world in spite of the high wages paid to the individual laborers. It is generally believed that there is an adequate supply of tungsten in these low-grade deposits, although it has not yet been fully demonstrated. If there is, the United States can hold its own against most of its competitors. The cost of production should not exceed greatly that of any country operating deep, low-grade mines. The only serious competition is the tem- porary production from surface ore, which can not be depended upon for a continuous supply but which does flood the market for a time with a disturbing effect on prices. While the extremely pure American ore has invariably brought a better price in the past than the less pure foreign ores, the differ- ential is rapidly becoming less because of the growing use of chemical treatment methods in place of electric furnace reduction of the crude concentrate. This differential is not likely ever to vanish altogether but it is only a small amount of protection. During the war, embargoes and high ocean freights and insurance were the chief protection of the domestic producer. In the post-war period, these conditions have changed materially. The countries from which the United States imports the most tungsten are countries with which there is an active desire to foster trade. Tung- sten ore may be used for a back haul cargo in place of ballast by vessels carrying American manufactures exported to these countries. Under these circumstances very low rates would doubtless be granted. IV. MISCELLANEOUS. KEDUCTION OF TUNGSTEN ORE. The greater part of the American and other ores free from objec- tionable impurities is reduced to ferro-alloy in electric furnaces, using carbon and the necessary fluxing agents. When ferro tungsten was first used a large proportion of it was made by reduction in crucibles, using the ore and carbon. This process generally yields a powder unless the ferro-alloy is very low grade and can be easily fused. Impure ores can be treated by the so-called German process, 1 which was largely used in Germany before the war. There are several American plants now equipped for treating ores by this method. It is distinctly a chemical method, involving fusion with soda ash and coal, leaching out the sodium tungstate thus formed, and precipi- tating nearly chemically pure tungstic acid (H 2 WO 4 ) by means of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid. The precipitate is dehydrated and re- duced to metal, either in a stream of hydrogen or by heating with carbon in crucibles. Both methods produce tungsten powder. The second process is the commoner for use in steel, while the reduction with hydrogen is employed for making extremely pure metal for making incandescent lamp filaments. To produce ductile tungsten for lamp filaments, the- pure powdered metal is consolidated into rods under great pressure in an electric furnace in an atmosphere of hydrogen and at a temperature of about 2,850 C (below the melting point of tungsten under normal pres- sure). The bar thus formed is brittle and could not be drawn into wire. It is made ductile by hammering and rolling, in a specially constructed machine, at a temperature of about 1,200 C. and still in an atmosphere of hydrogen. After some 50 successive treatments in this machine, the bar is reduced to one-sixth its former size and has become sufficiently ductile. The drawing is done at a high tem- perature in diamond dies. The production of the ordinary filament requires drawing the metal through about 100 dies, which grow suc- cessively smaller until the desired diameter is reached. OPINIONS OF PRODUCERS. Tariff hearings, 1908-1909. Abstract of brief by Walter M. Stein, president of the Primes Chemical Co., Primos, Pa., November 17, 1908: "The cost of producing tungsten ore in this country amounts to $8 minimum per unit (of WO 3 per ton of 2,000 Ibs.). Foreign ore com- ing in at a lower price forced American mines to shut down at certain periods. The tungsten ore conditions are similar all over the world, and the variation in costs of production depends entirely on the cost of labor at the mines, i. e., wages. Wages in foreign countries are > For new commercial chemical method, see confidential flies, U. S. Tariff Commissioii. 42 TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 43 lower than in the United States, as shown* by the" following data. Labor in ore mining represents about 60 to 65 per cent of the total cost of production. Europe: Portugal Miners, 44 to 56 cents a day. Ordinary workmen, 30.4 to 36 cents a day. Women and boys, 16 to 19.2 cents a day. Spain One mine, 110 workmen average 40 cents per day. Other mines, 50 tO 60 cents per day. Boys and women, 20 to 25 cents per day. Bohemia Laborers, 35 to 45 cents per day of 10 hours. Miners, 75 cents per day. South America: Argentina Laborers, 20 to 25 cents per day. Miners, 75 cents per day, United States currency. United States: Laborers, from $2 to $2.50 per day. Miners, from $3 to 15-4.50 per day. Mechanics, ore-mining centers, $5 per day. On account of the difference in the cost of labor in the United States and in foreign countries, it would be but fair and reasonable to place a duty of 20 per cent ad valorem on tungsten ore, which is now- on the free list." (Vol. II, p. 1430.) Philip Bauer Co., of New York, writes relative to tungsten ores and concentrates, submitting a report made under date of October 14, 1908, by Frederick H. Minard, in which data are given regarding production costs and prices of tungsten ore. The article advocates iree tungsten and is devoted principally to refuting statements made by W. M. Stein, president of the Primes Chemical Co., who advocates a tariff of 20 per cent. (Vol. II, p. 1491.) York (Pa.) Metal & Alloy Co. submits statement relative to tung- sten and molybdenum products under date of December 31, 1908, in which statements made by W. M. Stein, president of the Primes Chemical Co., regarding the cost of production are refuted, and the free entry of tungsten ores is advocated. (Vol. II, p. 1493.) Brief of Primos Chemical Co. (1913), in reference to ferroalloys (abstracted) : "By far the greater portion of tungsten ores is produced in foreign countries. Through the sharp competition and low cost of production of the foreign ores it has not been possible to operate the mines hi this country continuously, as in a sagging market the value of the ores soon falls below the cost of production in this country. There is between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000 invested in tungsten mines in the United States, which would be able to produce about one- fourth of the world's consumption, or enough to supply the entire domestic demand. But the world is being supplied from countries where wages are less than one-third of those paid in this country. A protest is made against the reduction of the duty provided in paragraph 190." (Vol. II, p. 1704.) Brief of the Atolia Mining Co., in re tungsten-bearing ores, January 2, 1913 (abstracted): "Tungsten concentrates. A duty of 10 per cent ad valorem is at present imposed on this material under the tariff act of 1909; it is 44 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION EEPOBT. proposed that this shall enter duty free. Tungsten ore is usually taken from the ground containing an average tungstic oxide content of not over 4 per cent. From this point it is subject to a process of concentration which involves labor and material. The buyers of tungsten concentrates require a product guaranteed to contain not less than 65 per cent tungstic oxide, and the cost of obtaining this per ton of concentrates for the last three years' operation of the Atolia has been about $306.60 per ton in labor and materials alone, exclusive of taxes, depreciation, amortization, and interest due on capital invested. It is contended it is working a hardship on the producer of tungsten to remove all protection on such so-called tungsten ore, if, at the same time, all the protection is not removed on the other forms in which tungsten can be imported, as it will naturally flow into the country by the lowest channel and defeat any hope of increasing the revenue, in addition to making the producer of tungsten concentrates bear practically the whole brunt of adjustment. It is urged that reduction in the tariff on tungsten ores, tool steel, tung- sten powder, and ferrotungsten be made pro rata. If it is proposed to place tungsten ore on the free list then it should be defined as a natural product not containing over 5 per cent tungstic oxide. "Tungsten ore has a gross content at best of about 4 per cent tungstic oxide, and a recoverable value with tungstic oxide at the price of $7 per unit (1 per cent) or about $21 per ton, 25 per cent being lost in the process of recovery. This is a raw material and could be imported free of duty without seriously affecting any interests. On the other hand, tungsten ore, as marketed (65 per cent concentrates), costs at least $300 per ton to prepare, and should be granted as much protection as any other manufactured article into which labor so largely enters." (H. R. Doc. No. 1447, 62d Cong., 3d sess., Vol. II, p. 1718.) Brief of Atkins, Kroll & Co., by Comstock & Washburn: The brief refers to court and Treasury decisions, and gives statistics of imports and duty collected for annual periods 1907-1911. The rest of the article contains practically the same information as that given in the brief of the Atolia Mining Co. (H. R. Doc. No. 1447, 62d Cong., 3d sess., Vol. II, p. 1721.) Brief of York Metal Alloy Co., York, Pa., January 16, 1912: The output of tungsten ores in Colorado is practically under the control of one concern, so much so that during the seven years in which the York Co. has been in business it has never been able to purchase any American "wolframite" with the exception of one instance of recent date when one car of 25 tons of low-grade ore was secured. Have had to depend entirely on foreign ore, and therefore the handicap of a 10 per cent duty works a hardship to them. (H. R. Doc. 1447, 62d Cong., 3d sess., Vol. II, p. 1721.) Trade relations and the tungsten industry. The major part of the imports of tungsten ore into the United States in 1916 to 1918 was derived from South American and Far Eastern countries. These are the countries with which the United States has been attempting to foster trade. In the case of a great many of these nations, the exports of tungsten ore to the United States bulk large in the value of the international trade. The placing TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 45 of a prohibitively high tariff on tungsten ore would result in the stopping of these exports to the United States and their transfer to other countries. Strong pressure 1 has been brought to bear by England to stop the growing trade in tungsten between Southern China and the United States. Whether this is merely an expression of the extraordinary British need of tungsten, or whether it has a deeper significance denoting a recognition that the tungsten trade may become the nucleus of broader trade relations, is a matter of conjecture. The fact, however, was that American importers were able to secure very limited supplies of south China ore because they have been very rarely able to secure the requisite permits from the British Government at Hongkong. Similar restrictions were placed on shipments from Siam. Speaking of the Hongkong situa- tion, Consul General George E. Anderson at that city made the fol- lowing report, dated November 9, 1917: Because of war restrictions and other conditions, most of the ore heretofore exported has gone to Great Britain, and British regulations at this time make it difficult to ship south China ore to the United States. It is anticipated that this state of things will be remedied in the course of a short time, and in the meanwhile buyers for American steel manufacturers have been investigating the south China situation and have organized the work of gathering the available ore to such an extent that there is almost a boom in the business. The course of the trade in Hongkong since the development of the south China fields commenced this year may be shown by the fact that the exports from Hongkong in June amounted to 60 tons, in July to 78 tons, and for the first half of August 92 tons, permits to ship to the United States being withdrawn about the middle of August. There is now on hand in Canton and Hongkong warehouses perhaps 500 tons of the ore ready for sending to the United States as soon as permission from the English Government covering transshipment at Hongkong can be obtained. The following statements of Mr. Robert H. Hepburn, 921 South Forty-eighth Street, Philadelphia, Pa., apply to the South American situation : The growing public realization of the importance of our trade relations with South America and the increasing demand that they be encouraged and developed imposes the duty of a careful consideration of the effects likely to follow the enactment and enforcement of possibly prohibitory trade legislation, and this applies especially to the importation of tungsten from Bolivia. Bolivia is primarily dependent on tin and tungsten exports, and if we purpose establishing a permanent interchange of commodities with this country, this circum- stance must be recognized. * * * A slightly varying price (for tungsten) per unit say $24 to 26, reasonably stabilized figures would be ideal if practical and would enable producers and users to make definite calculations. * * * Bolivian tungsten and tin can be sold readily in Europe with the natural conse- quence of imports following therefrom, but should we contribute to such a result, and in its effect blanket this and other trade relations with South American countries? *. It seems to me that the importation of tungsten and tin ores from Bolivia would be the very best protection of the Government against excess prices and still give generous profits to our mines and miners. A market price of S24 to ?26 per unit for tungsten would give only a fair profit to most of the miners in Bolivia, who pay for transportation from mine to railroad, over railroad to point of shipment, lighterage to vessel, freight to port of destination, insurance, etc., and to all these charges is added owing to lack of American banking facilities the cost of cabling moneys back for operating, etc., expenses. All this is certainly a right large protection for our own producers. Should a market price of $28 to $30 per unit be allowed for tungsten concentrates, then a duty of $2 to $4 per unit could be paid by Bolivian miners and still send us ore. 1 See confidential file, and Reports of Conference at San Francisco. 46 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. The above excerpts are from correspondence in reference to the war minerals bill and dated in the spring and early summer of 1918. (Copies of this correspondence are in the files of this commission.) Another phase of the Bolivian tungsten situation is its complica- tion with shipments of tin. Bolivia is the one source of supply for the tin smelting industry that has lately developed in the United States. Tin is as essential a commodity as tungsten and this country is barren of producing mines. Although it is the largest consumer in the world, the United States must refy wholly on foreign countries for its tin. There is active competition with foreign countries, especially England, for tin supplies, and as tin and tungsten are generally found together, a cessation of tungsten shipments may so prejudice foreign miners that they will also divert their tin ores to Europe. Additional statements of producers have been abstracted for the T. I. C. unit on ferrotungsten (p. 15, No. 10). Many of these refer to tungsten ore and should be consulted in connection with the foregoing. MINING LABOR CONDITIONS IN PORTUGAL. 1 There is no class of labor in Portugal corresponding to the miners and mill men of America. All the workmen own small farms and only work in the mines when not engaged in harvesting. Carpenters, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, etc., turn out creditable work considering the tools they use, but they are not amenable to the introduction of modern tools or improved methods. Portuguese laborers' wages are low in comparison to those paid in the United States, as shown in table, but the fact that mechanical appliances operate better and at lower cost than any Portuguese hand labor must always be borne in mind. Under proper supervision, and with the same mechanical equip- ment used in the United States, operating costs should be much less, on account of the low wages, but the substitution of hand methods, no matter how low the wages, for any mechanical appliance in Por- tugal, invariably results in higher costs and inferior grade of product. Typical Portuguese mine wage scale, July, 191 i. Topographical engineer, per month $49 00 Local superintendent, per month $35. 00- 105. 00 Portuguese engineer, per month 56. 00- 70. 00 Bookkeeper, per month 23. 00- 42. 00 Mill captain, per day .70 Mine captain, per day .63 Guard, per day .63 Miners, per day . 28- . 47 Trammers, per day .25 Helper, per day 11- . 14 Blacksmith, per day .35 Carpenter, per day .49 Women, per day .14- .21 Pack mule and driver, per day .70 Bull cart and driver, per day 1. 40 1 Digest from an article entitled " The Mineral Industry in Portugal." Footc and Ransom. Eng. Min . Jour. 106 (1918), pp. 47-52. TUXGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 47 The peasant or farmer class of Portuguese * * * is by nature slow, methodical, stupid and conscientious. The people are slow to learn anything new, and if it involves a change in the mode of opera- tion from that to which they are accustomed, it is almost an impossible undertaking. * * * The natives also have a perverted inventive sense which prompts them to adjust engines and machinery, so that they can not run. Practically all the work in the mills is done by women. For the most part the women are better workers than the men and easier instructed. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Commerce and Navigation. By United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Mineral Resources of the United States. By United States Geological Survey. The Mineral Industry. By G. A. Rousch. Tungsten Minerals and Deposits. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 652 (1917). ASSOCIATIONS, ESTABLISHMENTS, IMPORTERS, EXPORTERS, TRADE JOURNALS, DIRECTORIES. Engineering and Mining Journal. Iron Trade Review. Iron Age. Mining and Scientific Press. A large mailing list of tungsten producers and consumers was obtained from the United States Geological Survey (Mr. Frank L. Hess) preliminary to the conferences held by the United States Tariff Commission in Denver and San Francisco. .A similar list can be obtained at any time. The uncertain condition of the industry is causing rapid changes in the names and a considerable percentage of former operators and buyers have gone out of the business and many others now engaged in the tungsten business may be expected to drop out in the near future. Since a practically complete and up-to-date list is always available on application to the Survey, none is given on this page. o A 001 274 557 6