SUMMARY
The chief uses of lead are as metal and in the form of white lead or basic carbonate, as a pigment. Metallic lead is used for water pipe, covering for electrical cables, lining acid chambers and vats, and for shot, bullets and shrapnel. Alloys with various other metals are used in type, bearings, and fuses. The red and orange oxides are used for pigments. The largest single form of consumption is white lead.
Lead and zinc ores are commonly associated and are widely distributed over the world. Galena is the chief lead mineral, the other ore minerals, cerussite and anglesite, being derived from it by oxidation. Galena is a persistent mineral, being found in nearly all types of ore deposits. The countries producing the most ore are, in order of importance, United States, Australia, Spain, Germany, and Mexico. Districts of major importance are Broken Hill, New South Wales; southeastern Spain; southeastern Missouri; and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The developments in selective oil flotation, by which the detrimental zinc content is eliminated from complex ores and made an asset, constitute the greatest recent advance in the dressing of lead ores. Electrolytic refining is the greatest recent advance in the metallurgy of lead.
The readiness with which lead is reduced from its ores and its utility as a collector of the precious metals in smelting have resulted in a wide distribution of reduction plants. Nevertheless a large percentage of the world’s output of ores is transported from the countries of origin to others, for reduction near the market and where skilled labor and fuel are more abundant and cheaper.
The countries of largest smelter production are, in order, United States, Spain, Germany and Australia; those of much less importance are Mexico, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Greece, Canada and, recently, Burma. Other countries are of little importance.
The countries of major consumption are, in order, United States, Germany, Great Britain, and France. The United States produces its own requirements, but the other three countries import ores for smelting and also pig lead in large quantity. Australia and northern Africa have supplied the bulk of the ores, and Spain, Australia, and Mexico most of the pig lead. This is the situation at last analysis, the actual trade movement being, of course, much more complex.
The political control of the world’s lead production, in terms of the lead content of ores, in 1913 was as follows: United States, 36.0 per cent.; British Empire, 23.9 per cent.; Spain, 6.4 per cent.; Germany, 5.9 per cent.; Mexico, 5.1 per cent.; and France, 4.0 per cent. Three powers thus control 76 per cent. of the production.
The ownership of mines is important chiefly as determining the distribution of ores to smelters. Ore-purchasing contracts may modify or annul the effect of political jurisdiction and mine ownership. The ownership or control of reduction plants has been the most effective basis for commercial control of the industry. In the United States the American Smelting & Refining Co. dominates the market, but controls directly only one-third of the output. In Spain the French company of Penarroya controls more than half the production. In Germany the “Trio” headed by the Metallgesellschaft controlled the domestic industry prior to the war, and through the “Lead Convention” extended its domination to half the European output and most of the exports of Australia, Mexico, and the United States. This control was, however, never absolute. In Australia at present the Broken Hill Associated Smelters controls the marketing of most of the pig lead exported.
Joint political and commercial control has been established in the British Empire and France. During the war, political jurisdiction was quite generally invoked to modify or eliminate commercial control, particularly with regard to alien-enemy interests.