controls the third important property (among the three most important in Mexico), which is on the peninsula of Lower California. This is the Boleo, owned by the Rothschilds; as it is far removed from the heart of Mexico, operations have not been greatly disturbed. The mine is an old producer with large potential reserves, and the actual developed reserves will maintain present output for six years. The Boleo ore deposits, which are of an uncommon type, are Tertiary sediments that contain 3.5 per cent. copper ore, usually as oxides. Smelters near the mine produce blister copper and matte, which normally is shipped to France. During the war a large part of the blister and matte came to the United States and passed into the hands of the American Smelting & Refining Co. French interests also own the Compagnie d’Inguaran, near Ario, Michoacan. There are large developed reserves, but the property is idle because of political conditions and absence of equipment or rail connections. French capital also controls the Magistral Ameca Co., in Jalisco, where large ore reserves have been developed. This property is also idle due to political conditions.
English capital
controls the Mazapil Copper Co., which has large plants, including smelters, in Zacatecas and Coahuila. This is one of the largest copper companies in Mexico as well as one of the oldest important mines. It was idle for some time because of the Mexican revolutions, but has been reopened recently.
To sum up, the production in Mexico at present is three-quarters American controlled (of which one-half may be assigned to group 3 and one-quarter to groups 2 and 4), while the remaining one-quarter is French controlled. But present output and known reserves give no true picture of future possibilities. Mexico can become of first importance as a copper producer, ranking possibly second only to the United States or equaling Chile and Japan among the world’s producers. The natural resources are there and in the future will surely be developed much more extensively than ever before.
German capital
must be taken into consideration, and especially the activities of the American Metal Co. in Mexico, notably more vigorous since 1914 than before. It is believed that the company has made substantial profits from Mexican mining investments in this period and has obtained a very strong foothold. The Compañia Metallurgica de Torreon is one of the American Metal Co. subsidiaries, owning promising mines, chiefly in the development state, and smelters already equipped to produce 20,000,000 pounds of copper yearly. The Mapimi smelter is also owned by the American Metal Co., as are many other companies. What is the future Mexican political situation to be and what part will the American Metal Co. or the German metal combine play in the Mexican copper industry? There is no more pertinent question in the entire field of the political and commercial control of the copper resources of the world, particularly as American capital is largely interested in Mexican copper mines and has made enormous investments there. Also the natural tendency is for most of the Mexican copper to be shipped to the United States for refining and marketing. American refineries, with cheap fuel and efficient methods, are the natural destination for Mexican raw copper.
SOUTH AMERICA
South America is the second largest copper-producing continent of the world, but at present stands far behind North America. The copper-producing countries of South America, in the order of their importance, are Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Argentina.
CHILE
Chile is a copper producer of rapidly increasing importance, as indicated by production records of recent years.[120]