The productive capacity of both the Hungarian and Bohemian deposits is probably enough to supply local needs in normal times, and allow a surplus for export when economic conditions are favorable. Prior to the war, exports of regulus went to Germany and small amounts of ore were exported to France and England. During the war the Central Empires probably depended largely on the Austro-Hungarian deposits for their antimony supplies. All mines were worked by the government. It is known that certain mines that had been abandoned resumed operations.
France.
—France is the most important antimony-producing country in Europe and also controls important productive deposits in Algiers and Indo-China.
The French deposits are numerous but for the most part small. The most important of these is La Lucette, in Mayenne, where stibnite associated with auriferous pyrite has been mined for many years. This deposit was considered to be approaching exhaustion, but recent work is reported to have developed new ore bodies. The La Lucette company has recently extended its holdings in other parts of France, has bought properties in Algiers and the Transvaal, and in 1911 leased a smelter at Barcelona for the treatment of ores purchased abroad. The La Lucette company is also to some degree associated with the American firm of Antimony & Compounds Co. of America. Undeveloped deposits are known in Tunis, Morocco, French Guinea, and Madagascar.
French control of foreign supplies is not of great importance. In addition to its holdings in the Transvaal, the La Lucette company purchases some foreign ores. In 1913, 4,440 tons of antimony ore was imported from China, and 205 tons from Turkey. Foreign control of French deposits is limited to a few companies. An Italian company, Minière Fonderie d’Antimonio, owns concessions in France and Corsica, from which the production before the war was about 3,500 tons of ore per year. The great Belgian smelting company, Société de la Vieille Montagne, owns the most productive Algerian deposit—the Hamman N’ Bails mine; and an unimportant Algerian mine was, prior to the war, owned by Beer, Sondheimer & Co., a German firm.
In 1913, France produced 20,872 metric tons of ore carrying about 32 per cent. metal content. The smelter output in 1913 was 6,390 tons of regulus and oxide. France is normally an exporter of metallic antimony, the average annual exports during the period of 1910-1914 amounting to about 2,000 metric tons. The principal purchasers were United States, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Russia. According to recent information, the surplus production of antimony in France is now so large that the industry can hardly continue to exist on a paying basis unless the producers come to an understanding among themselves. It is clear, however, that to be effective, any agreement among French producers must be either backed by a high protective tariff or must be extended to include their principal foreign competitors.
Germany.
—In Germany the antimony output is too small to affect appreciably the world’s market, but a few localities have possibilities of production when the price of antimony is sufficiently high. One plant in the Eifel district in 1915 was producing 25 to 30 tons of regulus and 60 to 70 tons of oxide a month. There was, however, a production of antimonial lead from the smelters that may amount to 1,000 tons or more of antimony a year. This is derived in part from German ores, especially the lead-zinc ores, and in part from ores of foreign origin.
Germany’s interest in the antimony market is chiefly that of the smelter and middle man. Average annual imports, 1910-1913, were as follows: Ore, 3,668 tons; metal, 3,398; salts, 668. The exports averaged, ore, 566 tons; metal, 331; salts, 1,226. The principal purchasers of metal were the United States and Russia; and of salts Russia and England.
German interest in foreign deposits was not extensive. The Metallgesellschaft seems to have had some connection with an Italian company, the Minière Fonderie d’Antimonio, owning mines in Italy and France, and Beer, Sondheimer & Co. was recorded as the owner of one Algerian mine.