SILVER 



583 



Table 122. — Preliminary report of world mine production of 

 silver, 1969, by countries' 



[Data from U.S. Bur. Mines (1870, p. 1010). The letter "e" preeedtn* 

 fls:ures indicates estimated] 



SUver 

 ( thousand 

 Country' troy ounces) 



North and Central America : 



Canada 41,929 



Haiti e 17 



Honduras 3,905 



Mexico 42,904 



Nicaragua 247 



United States 41,906 



South America: 



Argentina 2,820 



Bolivia 6,013 



Brazil 357 



Chile 3,133 



Colombia 77 



Ecuador 82 



Peru 34,147 



Europe : 



Austria 129 



Czechoslovakia e 1,100 



Finland 625 



France (mine output) 2,000 



Germany : 



East e 4,800 



West e 2,000 



Greece 258 



Ireland (mine output) e 1,866 



Italy 1,832 



Poland - e 165 



Portugal (mine output) 339 



Rumania e 800 



Spain' e 1,700 



Sweden (mine output) 3,683 



U.S.S.R. e 37,000 



Yugoslavia 3,456 



Africa : 



Algeria e 100 



Congo (Kinshasa) e 1,896 



Ghana 3 



Kenya 2 



Morocco 861 



South Africa, Republic of 3,335 



South-West Africa, Territory of 1,273 



Tanzania 2 



Tunisia e 47 



Zambia'' e 768 



Table 122. — Preliminary report of world mine production of 

 silver, 1969, by countries ' — Continued 



SUver 

 ( thousand 

 Country • troy ounces ) 



Asia: 



Burma e 1,000 



China, mainland e 860 



India 127 



Indonesia 316 



Japan 10,804 



Korea: 



North e 700 



South 906 



Philippines 1,561 



Taiwan 81 



Oceania : 



Australia 24,667 



Fiji 38 



New Guinea and Papua 17 



New Zealand 7 



Total ' 288,601 



1 Recoverable content of ores and concentrates produced unless other- 

 wise noted. 



2 Silver is also produced in Bulgaria, Guatemala, Hungary, New Zea- 

 land, Thailand, Turkey, and Southern Rhodesia and in several other 

 African countries. Quantities are insignificant or not reported. 



3 Smelter and (or) refinery production. 



* Recoverable content of Tsumeb Corp. Ltd. concentrates, as reported 

 for year ending June 30. 



^ Includes recovery from copper refinery sludges. 

 ' Total is of listed figures only. 



Domestic production of silver in 1969 was about 

 42 million ounces, but industrial use during the same 

 period was about 142 million ounces, leaving a 

 deficit of 100 million ounces; the free world deficit 

 was 124 million ounces (table 123). The marked 

 deficiency of new supplies of silver compared to in- 

 creased industrial demand, which has nearly doubled 

 for the free world since 1958, has caused major 

 changes in patterns of usage and has forced in- 

 creases in the price of silver. Until 1971, the deficit 

 in the new supply was balanced by withdrawal of 

 silver stocks from the U.S. Treasury and from sev- 



Table 123. — Estimated free-world silver consumption and new mine production, 1949-70' 



[Millions of fine troy ounces.From: U.S. Treasury Department staff study of silver and coinage, 196B; 1970 Yearbook of the American Bur. Metal Sta- 

 tistics; and U.S. Bur. Mines (1950-71)] 



Period or year 



Total 

 free 

 world 



Free 

 world 

 except- 

 ing USA 



Total 

 free 

 world 



Total 

 free 

 world 



Free 

 world 

 surplus 

 or deficit 

 excluding 

 coinage 



1949-52 (average) 101.1 153.1 36.5 48.2 137.6 237.8 38.8 173.9 -|- 20.8 



1953-57 (average) 97.8 190.1 37.5 36.0 135.3 263.6 37.7 191.0 + 0.9 



1958 85.5 190.5 38.2 41.3 123.7 270.0 34.1 205.8 + 15.3 



1959 . 101.0 212.9 41.4 45.0 142.4 299.3 31.2 188.4 — 24.5 



1960 '—'- 102.0 224.6 46.0 57.9 148.0 328.5 30.8 206.9 - 17.7 



1961 — " - - '- — - 105.5 239.5 55.9 81.2 161.4 376.6 34.8 203.0 - 36.5 



1962 '...y"-\~l — 110.4 247.8 77.4 50.2 187.8 375.4 36.8 206.9 - 40.9 



1963 "Ji'V I.'" ' . _ - 110.0 252.2 111.5 55.5 221.5 419.2 35.2 213.8 - 38.4 



1964 " I- "I- " " ' 123.0 285.9 203.0 61.5 326.0 550.4 36.3 215.5 - 70.4 



1965 " " I 137.0 336.0 320.3 60.8 457.3 717.7 39.0 214.8 -121.8 



1966 -'"II - 150.0 355.1 53.8 75.7 203.8 484.6 42.5 222.2 -132.9 



1967 I'" I 145.0 346.8 43.9 61.4 188.9 452.1 31.0 212.8 -134.0 



1968 '"-""- I '-'-'- 145.0 349.6 37.0 52.3 182.0 438.9 31.7 223.8 -125.8 



1969 "I ' " I 142.0 364.4 19.4 36.3 161.4 420.1 42.1 240.3 -124.1 



1970 "- I..." 135.0 357.6 .7 39.6 135.7 397.9 44.1 254.0 -103.0 



