—The output of lead ore in Tunis in 1913, almost wholly by French companies, was 56,072 metric tons. It is all exported.
Practically all the output of lead ore in Italy is derived from the Inglesias district of Sardinia, which in 1915 produced 40,829 metric tons of ore averaging 55 per cent. lead, out of a total national production of 41,590 metric tons. The principal operators are the Monteponi and Pertusola companies, the former Italian, the latter English. The remainder of the ore comes from the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia Cuneo, and Grosseto, and the operating companies are the English Crown Spelter Co. (English), and the Societa Austro-Belga and Société de la Vieille Montagne (Belgian).
In Czecho-Slovakia, the most important district is that of Przibram, in Bohemia. Rich lead ores were once mined at Mies, but the district is now exhausted. The district of Joachimsthal was for centuries an important producer.
In German-Austria are the silver-lead mining districts of Schneeberg, in Tyrol, and Raibl, in Upper Carinthia. In both districts the mines were before the war owned and operated by the Austrian state. Miess, in Carinthia, is one of the chief sources of ore in recent years.
The lead mines of Great Britain in 1916 produced 17,083 tons of dressed lead ore. The largest operator is the Weardale Lead Co., operating the Boltsburn and Stanhopeburn mines and smelting its own and some custom ores.
In Greece the only important lead deposit is that of Laurium, which was worked on a large scale in ancient times. It is now controlled and operated by a French company, the Compagnie Française des Mines de Laurium.
The lead production of Canada is chiefly from British Columbia, the most important producers being in the Slocan district. The largest operator is the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd., proprietor also of the Trail smelter. This company operates the Sullivan and other mines and produced during the year ended September 30, 1917, 29,542 tons of lead ore from the Sullivan mine, and 1,100 to 1,500 tons from several others. The Sullivan mine has been reported to have reserves of 3,500,000 tons of galena-sphalerite ore. Numerous smaller properties in the same district ship ore to the Trail smelter, which produced some 22,000 tons of lead during the year ended September 30, 1917.
The most important lead-silver mines of Asiatic Turkey are those at Hodsha Gernish (Balia), belonging to the Société des Mines de Balia-Kara-Aidin (French), which yield about 12,000 tons of lead annually. There is a state-owned mine at Bulgardagh producing lead, gold, and silver. The English company, Asia Minor Mining Co., produces about 3,000 tons of ore annually.
In China the ten lead mines in the Province of Hunan are controlled by Chinese. The Wah Chang Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., operates the Tien For Tai mines. The Shui-Ko-Shan mine, controlled by the Hunan Mining Board, from a deposit in limestone, produced in 1913, 51,561 net tons of ore, which yielded 3,762 tons of lead concentrates and 12,275 tons of zinc concentrates. Since 1913 the production has been increased, but the possibilities of the deposit are limited. The Japanese have endeavored to secure control of this mine, but without success. The pig-lead output of China is chiefly consumed in the country. The only modern lead smelter is at Changsha and is owned by Japanese.
The lead production of Southwest Africa (formerly German) has been derived chiefly from the Tsumeb deposit in the Grootfontein district in the Otavi Mountains. The ores exported in the fiscal year 1913-14 amounted to 48,000 long tons, averaging 13 per cent. copper, 25 per cent. lead, and 7.7 ounces silver. The ore is a coarsely crystalline aggregate of argentiferous galena and chalcocite with minor amounts of other minerals. The Otavi Mines & Railway Co. owns and operates this mine, the ore having been exported in 1913-14 to the United States for smelting.