affairs and of its assets and liabilities as may be required by the Secretary of the Interior, and any willfully false statements so made shall be deemed perjury and punishable as such. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to require such annual statement and to prescribe the form thereof and the particulars to be given thereby.

The report of this corporation when received will be duly transmitted to Congress. In view of the fact, however, that the Maritime Canal Co. of Nicaragua has no relations whatever with this department and the Secretary has no duty to perform thereto except as specified in the above-mentioned law, the act should be so amended as to require the corporation to submit directly to Congress such form of report as it may prescribe.

APPENDIX A.

DEVELOPMENT OF OUR MINERAL RESOURCES.

METALS.

PRECIOUS METALS.

GOLD.

The production of gold in the United States in 1880 was $36,000,000, while in 1914 the total domestic yield was $94,500,000. The world's output of gold is approximately $460,000,000, of which the United States produces 20 per cent, and is exceeded by South Africa only, with an output of $212,000,000. Europe, outside of Russia, is absolutely dependent upon the rest of the world for its gold supply. The balance of trade in 1914 in gold, largely in the form of refined domestic bullion and United States coin, amounted to $165,300,000. In 1914, 20 States reported an output of gold, the largest producers being California, Colorado, Alaska, Nevada, and South Dakota. The most productive areas are the deep mines of the Mother lode and Grass Valley districts and the Yuba and Butte dredging fields of California, the Cripple Creek district in Colorado, the Treadwell and placer mines of Alaska, the Black Hills district in South Dakota, and the Goldfield-Tonopah district of Nevada.

In the metallurgy of gold the chlorination process has been almost entirely superseded by the cyanide process. In the latter part of the year the supply of potassium cyanide ran short owing to the interruption of imports from Europe, but the shortage was apparently met by the substitution of sodium cyanide. The ore treatment plants of Colorado, New Mexico, and South Dakota used approximately 840,000 pounds of sodium cyanide and 775,000 pounds of potassium cyanide in 1913, and 1,600,000 pounds of sodium cyanide and only 125,000 pounds of potassium cyanide in 1914.

The average gold recovery from 11,000,000 tons of siliceous ores in 1914 was $5.53 per ton. The average gold per ton from the Alaskan deep mines was $2.78; from California, $5.46, and from South Dakota $3.63. Even with these low recoveries of gold per ton of ore, the dividend yield has been large.

Dredges for mining gold placers are largely an American innovation and have been developed by years of experience. They were

introduced about 1896, and since then have recovered about $100,000,000 in gold by reworking gravels, or working gravels that were too low in gold to be profitably mined by any other method. The production by gold dredges in 1904 was $2,600,000, but in 1914 had risen to more than $12,500,000. The gold-dredging industry is being rapidly extended to the immense areas of low-grade sands and gravels in Alaska. The largest productive gold-dredging companies are in California, Alaska, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada.

It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the total reserves of gold ore in the United States, but it is safe to assume that they are sufficient for a long period of years. For example, at one of the large mines in southern Alaska there has just been completed a mill having a daily capacity of 6,000 tons of ore, and it is estimated that the ore reserves are between 75,000,000 and 100,000,000 tons.

Improved processes for the extraction of gold make possible the working of great low-grade deposits and thus enlarge the visible supply of ore. Any invention that tends to lessen the cost of production will increase the amount of ore from which gold may be extracted. Equal advances are being made in the mining and treatment of lowgrade placer gravels by the introduction of larger and more efficient dredges that recover practically all of the gold in the gravel.

In treating gold ores by amalgamation followed by cyandiation about 90 per cent of the gold content is recovered. At some of the latest improved plants the loss does not exceed 5 per cent. The bulk of the domestic gold output is from siliceous ores (known as gold quartz) and from placers, over 91 per cent of the total production being from these two sources. The total amount of gold derived from the copper, lead, and zinc mines of the United States is therefore relatively small, notwithstanding their recent enormous development and tonnage. While this latter source of gold is not large, yet it is constant and can be depended upon, and it is barely possible that with more efficient metallurgical methods the amount of gold recovered as a byproduct from such ores may be slightly increased.

As in years past, the supply of gold will continue to come from California, Alaska, Colorado, South Dakota, Nevada, and Montana. Many of the low-grade siliceous ores that are being profitably worked contain less than $3 per ton, and many more containing even less gold will constitute our main source of supply. The Alaska placers are an important source of gold for the United States, and the Government railroad from the coast to the interior should so cheapen costs that many placers from which the cream of the gold has been taken can be reworked and many placers that could not be profitably worked before will now contribute to the output.

SILVER.

In 1880 the United States produced 30,300,000 ounces of silver, valued at $34,700,000. The production has gradually increased until in 1914 the total amount produced, the largest ever recorded, was 72,400,000 ounces, valued at $40,000,000. The silver production of the world is estimated as about 225,000,000 fine ounces, of which the United States produces one-third. Practically three-fourths of the world's silver production is derived from North America, about 14 per cent from Europe, and the remainder mainly from Australia and Asia. The imports of silver in 1914 contained in foreign ore and base bullion amounted to approximately $26,000,000, while exports for the same period amounted to $51,600,000. The majority of the exports were to Europe, China, and India. The United States produces so much more silver than the domestic arts and sciences can assimilate that the price is largely regulated by the foreign demand. There is every reason to believe that the United States will continue to retain its position as the largest producer of silver and have a large surplus for exports. Twenty-five States produced silver in 1914. Nevada produced 15,900,000 ounces, mainly from the siliceous ores of the Tonopah district; Idaho 12,600,000 ounces, mainly from the Coeur d'Alene lead and lead-silver ore; Montana, 12,500,000 ounces, mainly from Butte copper ores; Utah, 11,700,000 ounces, mainly from copper and lead ores; Colorado, 8,804,400 ounces, mainly from siliceous and lead ores; and Arizona, 4,439,500 ounces, mainly from siliceous and copper ores. Almost 40 per cent of the silver produced in the United States is derived from siliceous (quartz) or dry ores, 21 per cent from copper ores, 28 per cent from lead ores, and 10 per cent from leadzinc ores. High prices for copper and lead will have a tendency to increase the yield of silver which is recovered as a by-product.

The cyanide process applied to Tonopah ores and to those of other districts has permitted the treatment of lower-grade ores which otherwise could not profitably have been shipped to smelters. In 1911 about 14 per cent of the United States silver was recovered by cyanidation and in 1914 over 22 per cent. Experiments are being conducted under the direction of the department for perfecting details and cheapening the cost of treatment to make the process more widely applicable.

Vast quantities of low-grade complex ores carrying silver with lead, copper, or zinc are now unworked in the metal-mining States of the West because of the lack of processes by which the metals can be recovered at a profit. Investigations are in progress under the direction of the department to determine the extent of these ores and the possibility of developing processes for treating them profitably, thus greatly enlarging the available supply of silver-bearing ores.

PLATINUM.

In 1914 the United States produced 570 ounces of crude or 525 ounces of refined platinum from placer sands and 110 ounces from deep mines. In 1880 the total output was 100 ounces of crude platinum from placers. In all 3,430 ounces of refined platinum were recovered in 1914 from the electrolytic refining of gold bullion, platinum sands, and copper matte, of which probably 2,500 ounces came from domestic sources.

During 1914 about 70,000 ounces of platinum, having a value of $2,908,000, were imported into the United States. This was about 42 per cent below the 1913 imports and indicates the extent to which the world is dependent on Russia for platinum. The United States has never been an exporter of platinum. Russia produces about 90 per cent of the platinum of the world, and Colombia, South America, the next largest producer, about 6 per cent.

Within the last year English capitalists have given considerable attention to the Colombian platinum fields on the Condote, San Juan, and Atrato Rivers, in the Choco district, and some American capital is turning in that direction. With the Panama Canal an accomplished fact, and the many platinum refineries on our eastern seaboard, it does not seem reasonable that much of the crude platinum from Colombia will be taken to Europe for refining. The development of Colombian fields would be a boon to this country.

The placer fields of northern California and southwestern Oregon constitute the largest source of crude platinum in the United States, and it seems probable that they will continue to prove our most reliable source of this metal, because, as has been repeatedly shown, the quantity of platinum ordinarily found in veins is too small to be of commercial value. However, in the United States we have at least three places where enough platinum occurs in the rocks to offer possibilities for production. These are the Rambler mine in Albany County, Wyo.; the Boss mine and near-by properties in the Yellow Pine district, Clark County, Nev.; and the Great Eastern mine, about 25 miles northeast of Moapa, Clark County, Nev.

The platinum recovered by gold and copper refiners occurs in the original ores in such minute quantities that it is rarely determined in assaying. Only the immense tonnages of gold, copper, and silver ores treated annually render the platinum content of importance. Our output of this by-product platinum, as it may well be called, depends entirely on the production of the other metals, particularly copper, with which platinum seems to be most often associated.

Probably one of the most important uses of platinum in this country at the present time is in the manufacture of "fuming" sul