Engineering & Mining Journal

APR 2016

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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E&MJ; 150 YEARS 70 E&MJ; • APRIL 2016 www.e-mj.com E&MJ; Satisfes a Thirst for Knowledge As the world's appetite for minerals grows, the American mining sector gains steam at the turn of the 19 th century By Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief In 1896, Engineering & Mining Journal (E&MJ;) celebrated its 30 th anniversary. The weekly tabloid more than doubled in size from the usual 20 pages to 36 pages or more. The mast read Engineering and Mining Journal with a fame safety lamp above the word COAL. Photography grad- ually began to replace the lithographic engravings. Rossiter W. Raymond had passed the torch to Richard P. Rothwell. He became the editor, but had been working for E&MJ; for nearly 20 years. The Scientifc Publishing Co. published the title and the offces moved from Park Row to Broad- way, and mining engineers visiting New York City were still encouraged to visit the offce. Raymond was now practicing law, but he still wrote regularly. More often, he revealed a melancholy favor as he wrote obituaries for friends that contributed to his success and vice versa. The previous year (1895) was one of the most prosperous in the history of min- ing. The deals were getting bigger and so too were the scandals. E&MJ; continued to expose fraudsters, but the scale was growing more and more immense as En- glish investors began to buy western U.S. mining assets. In the U.S., society was recovering from another fnancial depression. Cop- per and coal production, the feedstock for industrial demand, was growing at an accelerated pace. Meanwhile, the world was moving away from silver to gold as a form of currency. Looking forward, 1896 promised to reset all records for U.S. min- eral production. Technology continued to advance. Many mines in the western U.S. were harnessing hydroelectricity. The mule was gradually being replaced by the machine. The Mining Business in 1896 E&MJ; estimated the value of the metals produced from domestic ores in 1895 amounted to $241 million, as compared with $194 million in 1894—an increase of 24.2%. U.S. silver production was starting to wane. In 1895, it dropped to 41 million oz from 50 million oz in 1894. Even though prices increased from $0.63/oz in 1894 to $0.65/oz in 1895 (a dollar in 1895 would be worth $28.50 to- day), E&MJ; frequently reminded readers that the production of silver would con- tinue to decline. Coal production in the U.S. in 1895 totaled 195 million short tons compared with 170 million tons in 1894. The U.S. was rapidly moving up toward frst place as the greatest coal producer in the world. U.S. copper production increased sub- stantially in 1895 as domestic and Euro- pean demand more than kept pace with increased supply. American copper pro- duction grew to 172,300 long tons (or 354 million lb) a 30-million-lb increase over 1894. "…as we pointed out in our last issue the copper in sight is less than at any time since 1887. A striking fea- ture, and of interest from the home point of view, is that in spite of the increase of production and a good demand at fair prices existing abroad, exports have fallen in 1895 to 62,474 long tons as against 76,297 in 1894." Foreign copper production fell from 89,031 long tons in 1894 to 86,800 in 1895. "The improvement in copper is a real Godsend to Chilean miners of Antofa- gasta where costs are so excessive. Miners are now at work, where instead of fghting water as is so often the case, the water for the entire service has to be hauled 40 miles. This looks like an increasing prob- lem for Chile, once the greatest copper producer in the world." The New York Copper Market "The great fnancial depression which visited our country during 1893 cast its shadows far into 1895. As during previ- Miners transport a stamp mill 8.5 miles over a rough mountain trail to the Champion mine in Lane County, Oregon, at an elevation of 5,200 ft. Two mules are used to pack a 7-ft-diameter cam shaft pulley that weighs 800 lb.

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