MINERALS OF THE UNITED STATES — PEHRSON 



195 



POSTWAR SELF-SUFFICIENCY 



The discussion up to this point indicates that unless new reserves are 

 developed we are facing some changes in our "have" and "have-not" 

 status in minerals. These are only relative terms, however, and con- 

 sequently do not necessarily connate affluence or poverty. The United 

 States has been the most self-sufficient nation of the world in minerals 

 yet it has always had important deficiencies. Figure 10 shows the 

 status in 33 principal industrial minerals in the 5-year period 1935 to 

 1939. Manganese, chromite, and nickel are indispensable in our in- 



U.S. SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIAL MINERALS. 1935-39 



I Ratio of production to consumption 



Platinum 

 Metals 



e » % RCE «J 



FiQUEfl 10. — Production of principal industrial minerals in the United States 

 expressed in percentage of domestic consumption, 1935-39. Building materials 

 (stone, cement, lime, etc.) for which the United States is self-sufficient, are 

 not included. 



dustrial structure, yet we have imported almost all our needs for 

 decades. These deficiencies and others that may develop need cause 

 little anxiety as to national security provided proper steps are taken 

 to buttress our defense against shortages in time of war. 



We have been able to export part of our production of the first nine 

 minerals listed in the column at the left. The tenth mineral, natural 

 gas, is not exported to any extent. We are a net importer of most of 

 the metals. On the basis of available reserves and probable postwar 

 domestic requirements we can continue to export for some time all but 

 two of the minerals we shipped abroad before the war. An import 

 status for copper and petroleum is anticipated within a decade. Do- 

 mestic reserves or installed capacity could support for various periods 



