Mines owned by Japanese, Spanish, French, or Chilean capital are responsible for substantially all the remaining 5 per cent. of the world’s silver output.
Financial Control Through Ownership of Mines
| Capital | 1913 output, percentage controlled |
|---|---|
| United States | 52 |
| British | 33 |
| German | 10 |
| Japanese | 2 |
| Spanish | 2 |
| French, etc. | 1 |
| 100 |
Through Ownership of Reduction Plants.
—As would be expected from the geographic location of the silver deposits, the United States and Mexico are the centers of silver smelting and refining. Important silver-smelting interests are as follows
| Company | Situation of smelters |
|---|---|
| The American Smelting & Refining Co. | United States and Mexico |
| The United States S., R. & M. Co. | United States and Mexico |
| The International Smelting Co. | United States |
| Anaconda Copper Mining Co. | United States |
| Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. | Canada |
| Compañia Metalurgica Mexicana. | Mexico |
| Compañia Metalurgica de Torreon. | Mexico |
| Compañia Minera de Peñoles. | Mexico |
Through ownership of reduction plants, the United States exercises control over a somewhat larger share of the world’s silver than it does through mine ownership. Much of the Canadian and Mexican as well as most of the South and Central American silver production enters the United States either as refined bullion or as ore and base bullion.
It is estimated that control through reduction plants is about as follows:
United States, ⁴⁄₇; Mexico, ¹⁄₇; Canada, ¹⁄₁₄; Europe and Asia, ³⁄₁₄.
As regards silver, this type of control is not at all powerful. Silver-bearing materials can bear a high transportation charge as soon as the first process of freeing from gangue has been completed. Consequently, ownership of mines, rather than of reduction plants, is the vital factor of control over silver resources, so far as production is concerned.