In the State of Durango, the gold mines, most of which also produce silver, are owned by the American Smelting & Refining Co. (American), the Bacis Gold & Silver Mines Co. (British), and the Inde Gold Mining Co. (American). Most of the gold-silver mines of the State of Guanajuato have been developed by American capital. The State of Sinaloa is becoming a gold-producing region; the Palmarito mines of the Mocorito district and the Minas de Tajo at Rosario are owned by American interests. Gold is found in the copper ores of Sonora. Most of the mines of the district are controlled by Americans.
The mines of Chihuahua, Hidalgo, and Zacatecas are primarily silver mines but their ores carry some gold. In Chihuahua, American capital is probably predominant, with British ranking second. During recent years, German interests, through the American Metal Co. and its subsidiaries, have been acquiring control of properties in Chihuahua and in other parts of Mexico. German capital is also invested in Zacatecas, the main company being controlled by A. Goerz & Co., Ltd. The mines of the State of Hidalgo, the leading silver-producing district of Mexico, are owned by American, British and Mexican capital.
The gold mines of Central America[177] are of some importance at present, and production may increase somewhat in the future. The mines are owned for the most part by American and British capital, in the order named. Subsidiaries of the United Fruit Co., and the Tonopah Mining Co., both American, operate properties in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
[177] “Investments in Latin America and the British West Indies,” Special Agent Series No. 169, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1918.
In Colombia, the leading gold-producing country of South America, most of the large companies are British, the most important being the Pato Mines, the Nechi Mines, and the Frontino and Bolivia Mines. A Belgian company, the Platinum & Gold Concessions of Colombia, Ltd., and a French company, the San Antonio Gold Mines Co., Ltd., have recently acquired gold-mining concessions. American capital is also invested in the industry.
The two most important mining companies of Brazil, the St. John del Rey Mining Co., Ltd., and the Ouro Preto Gold Mines of Brazil, Ltd., are under British management. Some French capital is interested in the latter property. Most of the mines of French Guiana are controlled by French companies. In the remaining South American countries gold mining is of comparatively little importance. Production is controlled largely by British and American capital.
The foreign capital invested in the mines of Siberia and Russia is mainly British, though Germany is known to have been much interested in the industry. Some Russian capital, especially that furnished by the large Russian banks, was invested in Siberian mining properties. The mining laws of the old Russian Empire provided that mineral properties could be held both by foreign and Russian companies under concessions or leases granted by the crown or under leases from Russian estates. In many cases foreign capitalists formed holding companies to acquire a controlling interest in a Russian company in whose name the property was held and operated. Most of these holding companies had their main offices in London and most of the directors were British citizens. Control was apparently British. The shares of the companies were bearers’ shares, however, and were traded in extensively on the Petrograd exchange.
The most important gold-mining district of Siberia is in the Province of Irkutsk, on the Lena River. A Russian company, the Lenskoie Gold Industrial Co., has been operating the principal properties of this district since 1863. The directors of the company are Russian Jews. A British company, the Lena Goldfields, Ltd., held 70 per cent. of the shares of the Lenskoie Co., but in 1917 completed the sale of 51,000 shares of stock to a Petrograd group including the Imperial Foreign Corporation, Ltd., and the Russian and English Bank. The Lena Goldfields, Ltd., now owns less than 10 per cent. of the Lenskoie stock.
A pyrite-copper mine yielding enough gold as a by-product to make the profit is located in the government of Perm, southern district of the Ural Mountains, and is owned by the Kyshtim Mining Works, a Russian company controlled by the Kyshtim Corporation, Ltd., of London. The company holds a large concession, including forests, farms, and mineral land. The control of the Kyshtim Corporation is apparently British.
The Tanalyk Corporation is controlled by practically the same interests as those controlling the Kyshtim Corporation and was organized to acquire entire control of the South Urals Mining & Smelting Co. The property of the company, situated in the County of Orsk, Orenburg government, southern Urals, is only a prospect and has not been fully developed. It includes a total area of 28,350 acres of timber and mineral land. The ore contains copper, gold, and silver, the copper content being the most valuable. During 1917, the shares held in the Kyshtim Mining Works and the South Urals Mining & Smelting Co. were vested in the Canadian Development Corporation, Ltd., a company registered in Canada, probably for the purpose of escaping the high British income taxes. The transfer involved no change of control, as the two British holding companies, the Kyshtim Corporation and the Tanalyk Corporation, Ltd., control the Canadian company.