[91] Incomplete data; actual production probably larger.
[92] No data.
[93] Totals for years 1914-1917 include estimates of production of countries from which data are lacking.
The Hillgrove district, in New South Wales, was formerly of considerable importance, the highest annual output being 2,450 tons of ore in 1906. Recent production has been slight, and although a very large increase took place with the stimulus of war prices, the 1917 production was valued at only about 5 per cent. of that of Victoria. Insignificant amounts of antimony ore have recently been produced in Queensland and Western Australia. New Zealand yielded a small amount during the boom of 1906 and 1907, but no production is recorded since 1910.
Imports of antimony ore into Great Britain from Australia in 1915 amounted to 3,854 tons.
Statistics of production (1912-1917) are given in the table preceding.
POSITION OF THE LEADING COMMERCIAL NATIONS
The United States.
—The United States is the largest consumer of antimony in the world, requiring under normal conditions between 7,000 and 8,000 tons of new metal, most of which, before the war, came from England. The consumption during the war was about double this amount, and was derived chiefly from the Orient, South America, and Mexico. The United States must remain dependent upon foreign sources for its supply, unless a much higher tariff is placed upon imports. Even under such conditions it is doubtful whether domestic mines would prove adequate to supply more than a small part of the country’s needs.
Chinese and Japanese antimony has largely replaced the British product since 1914 and has become so well established that it will probably continue to hold American markets. Chinese antimony in particular has shown itself equal in every way to the best British grades. With a somewhat higher level of prices the importation of ore from Mexico and South America may be undertaken by reducing plants in this country, as the experience gained by several companies during the war has made possible the production of high-grade metal.