130 
the Broken Hill concentrates have been treated 
in the British Empire. The answer is that they 
could have been, they should have been, and 
perhaps they may yet be. 
The effect of the above situation was felt more 
quickly in Australia than in Great Britain. The 
mines, deprived of the greater part of their market, 
had to curtail production very considerably, and 
it is to their credit that, in order to minimise 
hardships among their labouring population, they 
continued to produce considerably more ore than 
they could for the time being dispose of. It was 
not until the spring of 1915, when the Ministry 
of Munitions was created in this country, and it 
was realised upon what a gigantic scale it would 
be necessary to manufacture cartridges, shells, 
etc., that the extent of the shortage of zinc became 
apparent. Moreover, the zinc famine was not 
confined to Great Britain. France could produce 
nothing like her requirements, Russia and Italy 
still less, Belgium and Serbia none at all. 
With one accord the Allied countries turned 
to the United States of America, the largest pro- 
ducer of zinc in the world, and it is no exaggera- 
tion, but the simple truth, to say that that country 
saved the situation. Her zinc smelters have been 
very highly paid for their services. For many 
months Great Britain was obliged to pay more 
than r1ool., and sometimes 125]., a ton for metal 
which normally costs between 221. and 25]. But 
the dominating fact is that no other nation could 
have come to the rescue in the way the United 
States did. In 1913 they produced 320,283 metric 
tons of zinc (2204°6 lb.); they consumed 313,300. 
The balance available for export was thus 6983 
tons. In other words, the American smelters had 
practically no balance available, and had to create 
with the utmost rapidity conditions which would 
‘enable the very large demands of the Allies to he 
met. Mr. W. R. Ingalls, one of the greatest 
authorities on zinc smelting in the United States, 
estimates 4 that the spelter production in 1915 was 
452,000 English tons, and that for 1916 an out- 
put of at least 714,000-tons seems assured. What 
these figures mean can be adequately appreciated 
only by those who know what is involved in the 
expansion of an industry where mining and ore- 
dressing operations, transport and assemblage of 
materials, erection and operation of furnaces, and, 
most difficult of all, the training of the necessary 
labour are concerned. Mr. Ingalls contents him- 
self with remarking that ‘the manner in which 
our spelter production in 1915 was expanded is 
one of the romances of our industry.” 
Canada and Japan have increased their output 
of zinc to a considerable extent, but the augmen- 
tation of output in Great Britain and Australia has 
not been large. What is going to be the future of 
the zinc-smelting industry in this country?  Thisis 
the question which has been exercising the minds 
of those who have the welfare of this industry 
at heart ever since the lamentable and dan- 
gerous situation at the outbreak of war was 
revealed. There is no doubt at all that Great 
‘4 The Engineering and Mining Journal, April 1, 1916. 
NO. 2451, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
' —_rve a Ue ee 
[OcToBER 19, 1916 
Britain can become, and indeed ought to become, 
one of the greatest centres of production of 
spelter in the world. But is she going to, and 
are steps being taken to see that she shall? Cer- 
tain considerations appear fo bear on this ques- 
tion, and an enumeration of them may perhaps 
aid in presenting the situation as it appears to the © 
writer. 
(1) No zinc concentrates will be shipped to 
Germany in future. Australian legislation, con- 
firmed by the House of Lords, has decided this: 
The Australian mine-owners will therefore have 
to find fresh markets for that proportion of their 
ore which previously went to Germany. 
(2) Germany, in spite of the length of time that 
her own ore deposits have been worked, still has 
large supplies. She has also considerable zinc- 
mining interests in China, and before the war 
shipped zinc concentrates from that country. She 
will not fail to develop her trade in this direction , 
after the war, and will continue to be an important 
producer of spelter. 
(3) The United States zinc smelters will be 
very formidable competitors after the war. They 
have used their large profits wisely in making 
their plants efficient and up-to-date, and in 
accumulating large financial reserves. Their 
present rate of production is sufficient for more 
than 7o per cent. of the world’s peace require- 
ments before the war. They will have consider- 
able tonnages of the metal available for export. 
They have very large ore supplies, not only of 
“straight” zinc ores, but of the complex ores in 
which zinc blende is associated with galena and 
other metallic sulphides, and which now consti- 
tute an increasingly important source of spelter. 
It is very unlikely, therefore—quite apart from 
the 10 per cent. ad valorem tariff to which zinc 
ores imported into the United States are liable— 
that Australian zinc concentrates will find a 
market in America. 
(4) The Canadian Government is encouraging — 
zinc smelting by granting bounties on zine pro- 
duced in Canada from Canadian ores. Australian 
concentrates are, therefore, not likely to enter 
Canada to any great extent. 
(5) The future of the Belgian industry is quite 
uncertain, but it is much to be hoped that it will 
be re-established after the war, and in this case, — 
as it will depend largely on imported ores, there 
may be a renewal of the contracts with the 
Broken Hill mine-owners. 
(6) By virtue of the magnitude. of its popula- 
tion, its transport facilities, markets, and the raw 
materials necessary for zine smelting—apart from 
the ore itself—Great Britain is the most suitable 
country for the treatment of Broken Hill concen- 
trates exported from Australia. The Swansea 
district is one of the most favourably situated 
places in the world for the production of zinc, and 
is the chief seat of the British industry. 
The complete treatment of Broken Hill con- 
centrates involves, however, more than the mere 
production of zinc. They are a potential source 
of (1) sulphuric acid, (2) zinc, (3) lead, and (4) 
