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Power House at Big Dam Below Great Falls. 



the best equipment. They learned that the best of everything is cheapest in the long 

 run, and new processes are being constantly utilized; while $6,000,000 was last year 

 spent to enlarge and improve the smelting and reduction plants at Anaconda and 

 Great Falls. 



Within the last two years the zinc producing industry has come rapidly to the 

 front in Montana, and the next year is expected to see Montana the leading zinc min- 

 ing state of the Union. Gold mining, which brought the Montana pioneers across 

 the plains and built up the State's first camps, has been outstripped by the mining 

 and smelting of the baser metals, such as copper and zinc, and yet the gold produc- 

 tion of this state, which has reached a total of approximately .$330,000,000, is still an 

 important industry — the annual production now ranging between $3,000,000 and $5,000,- 

 000. The bulk of this gold is now developed as a by-product of the copper mines of 

 Butte, but in various parts of the state gold mining, both placer, including hydraulic 

 and dredging, and quartz mining contribute to the annual supply of the yellow 

 metal. 



Montana is the largest producer of silver in the world, and its annual production 

 of from 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 fine ounces is being gradually increased. Silver is 

 secured principally from the copper ores, and any increase in its production is largely 

 the result of a greater copper output. 



Extensive and profitable coal mining operations are carried on in various sections 

 of the state, and the mining of precious stones gives promise of assuming important 

 proportions. Near Yogo, Montana, is the largest sapphire mine in the world, and 

 other districts throughout the state give indication of the profitable production of 

 precious and semi-precious stones. 



Coincident with the growth of Montana has come the enormous development of 

 the water power of the state, and electricity has become the popular power in all 



