30 BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



ore-deposits. Nickel-ore, for instance, occurs under conditions which con- 

 spicuously hinder its freedom of local concentration ; and consequently 

 the wide distribution of the metal and its relative abundance bring little 

 comfort to those who are anxious about their supplies of a metal which 

 jumps suddenly into importance with every rumour of war. We are safe 

 in predicting that we shall never recover for use in the Arts any fraction 

 of our total supplies of nickel as large as we shall of most of the others 

 which have been mentioned. Indeed, nickel stands apart from the 

 others ; for, whilst it is important in peace time and is dangerously 

 important during war, yet, under the present state of mining and metal- 

 lurgical practice, the deposits in the world worth working for nickel can 

 be numbered on the fingers of one hand, and nine-tenths of our supplies 

 come from a single district in Canada. 



Before discussing more precisely the significance of this and similar 

 facts on the question of international relationships, let us consider for a 

 moment the nature of our exploitation methods. Our reference to nickel 

 shows that the metalliferous ores vary in their degrees of concentration, 

 and, therefore, in their suitability for working ; but, as the result of 

 estimates made for a few common metals, we shall not be far from the 

 average in assuming that we shall never recover more than about one- 

 millionth of the total that lies within workable distance from the surface 

 of our accessible dry land. And another conclusion, based on a similar 

 group of calculations, shows that our greatest total tonnages are not 

 contained in the rich deposits, but in those of low-grade. 



It follows, therefore, that every advance in metallurgical science and 

 in mining technology that makes it possible to work our low-grade ores 

 adds appreciably to the actuarial value of civilisation ; for our mineral 

 resources can be worked once and once only in the history of the World, 

 and when our supplies of metalliferous ores approach exhaustion, 

 civilisation such as we have now developed during the last century must 

 come to an end. When a miner raises a supply of ore in concentrated form 

 for the metallurgist, he damages, and so places beyond reach for ever, far 

 larger quantities of residual ore than he makes available for use. When a 

 metallurgist takes over the product of the miner and separates the refined 

 metal for use in the Arts, he also incurs serious losses, although not to the 

 same extent. There are thus before both the miner and the metallurgist 

 opportunities for extending the actuarial value of civilisation ; and 

 because the cost of labour is the principal constituent in the total bill, and 

 has recently swamped contemporaneous advances in technology, the 



