316 



UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



1860 1870 



1880 



1900 



1920 



1930 



1940 1950 1960 1970 



Figure 39. — Production of primary lead in the world and in the United States, 1830-1971, and consumption of lead, includ- 

 ing scrap, in the United States, 1918-71. Data from U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of Mines, and American 

 Bureau of Metal Statistics. 



short tons. Of this amount, less than 5 million tons 

 is estimated to have been produced prior to 1800, 

 25,167,000 tons from 1801 to 1900, and 120,995,000 

 tons from 1901 to 1969. Production during the next 

 decade will certainly exceed the production of the 

 entire 19th century. 



The signiiicant variations in the production curves 

 of lead for both the United States and the world are 

 largely related to political and economic factors 

 rather than to the discovery of large ore deposits 

 or to technological advancements in mining, milling, 

 or smelting. The effects of major events on world 

 production of lead include: (1) a leveling of pro- 

 duction during World War I, (2) a small decline 

 during the postwar economic recession of 1919-21 

 followed by a steep rise in production, (3) a second 

 decline during the depression years of the early 

 1930's, also followed by a steep rise, and (4) a 

 third major decline, essentially coincident with 

 World War II, followed by a rise in production that 

 has been relatively unbroken since 1946. The United 

 States production through 1940 in general shows the 

 same perturbations as the world production but 

 differs in some respects. During the period 1916- 



18, a slight increase in production reflects increased 

 U.S. exports, presumably to the warring nations of 

 western Europe. The decade of prosperity between 

 the economic recessions of 1920 and 1930 did not 

 result in a rise in U.S. production comparable in 

 magnitude to the rise in world production; during 

 this interval the United States became a significant 

 importer of lead. After the depression years of the 

 1930's our highest domestic production was one- 

 third less than in the best predepression years, and 

 production generally declined from 1942 to 1962, 

 largely as a result of depletion of many of our 

 major deposits. Since 1962, approximately the time 

 of the first production from the new mines in the 

 Viburnum area of southeast Missouri, U.S. produc- 

 tion has increased; by 1970 it had reached 572,000 

 tons. 



The current and future discovery and exploitation 

 of lead deposits throughout the world will undoubt- 

 edly continue to be controlled more by economic, 

 political, and environmental considerations than by 

 technological advances. In recent decades such ad- 

 vances have more than offset the losses in produc- 

 tion resulting from the exhaustion of many small 



