Commencing from 1880, and onwards, however, when production in the Far West began, enormous advances have been made, both in connection with the principles of working as well as in practical operation. These include—

With an increased output of ore from the mines, and with increased consumption, stimulated by the growth of the electrical industry, the demand for metal increased so quickly that developments naturally followed with a view to an augmented and rapid production by more efficient and scientific processes; especially since increased competition and poorer ore supplies necessitated a very decided lowering of the costs of production. To meet the enormous present-day demand for metal with the older methods and furnaces would have been impossible. The greatest stimulus to the adoption of these new or modified processes was the shifting of the chief producing centres from the older and more conservative influences to districts like the then newly awakening West, where, with ever-increasing—almost limitless—supplies of ore available, and free from the necessity of considering the capital invested in old plants, the men in charge of the work, untrammelled by old smelting customs which might stand in the way of rapid progress, were in a position to develop their ideas with originality and vigour.

There may, nevertheless, be recalled the important share which British, and especially Swansea, workmen had in this great development of the industry. At many of the greater smelters in these new districts, Welsh furnacemen are still to be found, and large numbers went abroad in former days to take charge of such work, especially during the critical early stages. The principles underlying these modern improvements were, in many cases, first worked out by scientists in Europe.

The Price and Cost of Production of Copper.—The price of copper has been influenced to an enormous extent by financial speculation, so that until recent times it has fluctuated very considerably from year to year, the curve in fig. 1 relating to Best Select copper, indicating this variation over a considerable period. The price of the other qualities of commercial copper follows this line fairly closely, electrolytic copper being from £2 to £4 per ton lower, and standard copper £3 to £6 per ton. The average value of the standard refined metal at the present time (December, 1911) is about £56 per ton in London, and about 12 cents per pound in New York.

On three occasions during the past century, and once at least during the past decade, the market price of copper has been directly affected by more or less artificial conditions consequent on financial manipulation. The first of these instances was the 1850–1860 period, when the Welsh smelters held the monopoly of the copper trade, and were in a position to fix their own price; the second was during the French combination of Secretan during 1887–9, which, as a result of mere market speculation, caused fluctuations of price which amounted on one occasion to no less than £35 per ton within twenty-four hours. The third instance was created by the American combine.

Fig. 1.—Fluctuations in the Price of Best Select Copper.

In 1899 the Amalgamated Copper Company was formed in the United States. This corporation was established in view of the enormously increasing production of the West, and of the extensive development of electrical industry which involved a greatly increased consumption of copper; and it was probably designed to control the world’s copper industry. Prices were raised gradually for some time, but in 1901 the Trust, as then constituted, failed, owing largely to trade depression in Europe. Heavy losses resulted, as well as expensive law suits, and the price of the metal dropped again with great rapidity. Trade subsequently revived and expanded, the consumption of copper increased and appeared to overtake the rate of production, whilst stocks diminished and the price advanced, until, in 1907, copper was sold at well over £100 per ton. The American financial panic in the autumn of that year again reduced prices to a comparatively low figure, and they have, on the whole, remained fairly steady since, though showing a tendency to decrease. Production has, meanwhile, increased very largely, and a steady price of 12 to 13½ cents per pound yields handsome profits to most of the larger concerns. The present situation in the copper market is such that the enhanced production has again resulted in an accumulation of stocks, which has occasioned restricted output on the part of many of the principal smelters until briskness of trade development shall call forth increased consumption and more satisfactory prices.