—British Borneo was formerly a producer of considerable importance, and much ore was exported between 1859 and 1894, mainly to England. The deposits then remained idle until 1914, when 870 tons of ore was exported; in 1915 the exports amounted to about 360 tons. It is probable that no important output at peace-time prices is to be expected, although the country is largely unexplored. The Borneo company (British) seems to have been the principal if not the only producer.
China.
—With all her vast mineral resources China has been able to obtain an important position in the world’s markets with regard to but few metals. Of these antimony is the most striking example, for since 1908 over 50 per cent. of the world’s total antimony production has come from China. In 1913 the output was estimated to be the equivalent of 10,800 tons of metallic antimony, that of the whole world being about 20,000 tons. The Chinese industry being well-established, it was able to respond rapidly to the great demand of the war. Exports increased from 14,361 short tons of regulus and crude antimony, and 4,795 tons of ore, in 1913, to 38,142 tons and 8,667 tons, respectively, in 1917.
Antimony is found over widely scattered areas in the central and southern provinces, but chiefly in the provinces of Hunan, Yunnan, Kweichow and Kwangsi. In Hunan the deposits have been most extensively exploited, probably 90 per cent. of the total production of China coming from the region about Changsha, the center of the smelting industry. Here, in the Hai-Keng-Shan district, in 1915 about 70 companies mined antimony along the outcrop of the deposits. The ore, remarkable for its purity, occurs as pockets and bunches, mainly of stibnite, in a flat bed of dolomitic limestone. Several local smelters produce liquated sulphide, and the output of the district is about 1,000 tons monthly of crude antimony averaging about 70 per cent. metallic antimony. All regulus manufacture is controlled by the Wah Chang Co. In the Panshi district the ore occurs as fissure veins in slates, shales, and quartzites. The output consists of about 400 tons monthly of 30 per cent. ore, all of which is shipped to Wah Chang Co. at Changsha for treatment.
The only district in Yunnan where antimony is dealt with commercially is near Chihtsun on the Tongking-Yunnan Railroad. The Pao Hua Co., connected with the Wah Chang Co., owns a French-constructed plant and produces high-grade regulus.
The Wah Chang Mining & Smelting Co. virtually controls the production of antimony ore, regulus, and crude in the Province of Hunan. This company operates smelters in Changsha and owns low-grade mines. It possesses a complete monopoly, granted by the Peking government, for the manufacture of regulus in Hunan and owns the patent rights in China for the Herrenschmidt furnace, the most successful means of reducing low-grade antimony ores. The mines themselves are mostly native-owned, and worked in a small way.
Prior to the war, exports of Chinese antimony were chiefly in the hands of English, French, and a few German firms. The New Chinese Antimony Co. (also known as the Chinese Eastern Antimony Co.) a subsidiary of Cookson & Co., of England, held a contract for the entire output of the Wah Chang Co. This contract was broken shortly after the war began, although the Wah Chang Co. paid a percentage on all sales to the New Chinese Antimony Co. for a year thereafter. The Wah Chang Trading Co. was organized as a direct selling agency in New York, and has established a large business in this country.
With present high scale of wages for labor, and prices for material, it is difficult to see how this country can compete with China in the production of antimony. Adverse exchange conditions due to the high price of silver have probably nearly doubled the cost of production in China and wages in that country have advanced. In spite of this, however, China can manufacture antimony far more cheaply than is possible in Europe or America; and probably, also, more cheaply than in Japan.
Chinese antimony suffered from lack of advertising before the war, being largely excluded from this country by the British metal, but has now become firmly established in our markets, and its quality has proved equal to the best English grades.