Production.— The world's production of tin in the calendar year 1916 amountcd to 135, 360 short tons. Of this total, 49,130 tons (about 36 per cent) came from the Federated Malay States; 23,500 tons from Bolivia; 14, 000 tons from Banca, Dutch East Indies; 9,400 tons from Siam; 8,400 tons from China; 5,980 tons from Australia; 5,680 tons from Nigeria; 5,500 tons from Billiton and Singkep, Dutch East Indies; 5,260 tons from Cornwall, Eng land; 4,900 tons from the British Protected Malay States; 2,100 tons from the Union of South Africa; and 1,500 tons from all other countries. About 33,000 tons were lode tin — from Bolivia, Cornwall, South Africa and Australia—and the remainder from placer workings. The total is 10,870 tons less than for 1913, just preceding the war. Incomplete figures indicate that the output for 1917 is about 2,000 tons more than for 1916, in spite of the serious decrease of nearly 5,000 tons from the Federated Malay States; a condition resulting from an increase of 5,800 tons in the output of Bolivia. Although the complete blockade of Germany left that nation's usual consumption, amounting to 21,000 tons annually, free upon thc market, the price of tin rose enormously during 1917 — from 44.19 cents per pound in January to 85.35 cents per pound in December. These figures are to be compared with an average price of about 44 cents per pound for the years immediately preceding the war. During the first years of the conflict the price fell below 31 cents.
The contribution of the United States to the 1916 total was about 140 short tons, derived almost entirely from Alaska, and chiefly the product of dredges operating in the York dis trict, in the western part of the Seward Penin sula. The output of this district was 162 tons of °stream tin* estimated to average 60 per cent of metallic tin. Nearly two-thirds of the whole Alaskan output was sent to Singapore to be smelted and refined. The United States output for 1917 was but 90 tons. Nearly all of the production is from placer workings, the one lode mine worked being the Lost River mine, in Alaska. The other tin producing lo calities in the United States are in Lander and Humboldt counties, Nevada; the Black Hills in Pennington County, South Dakota; near Lincolnton in North Carolina; near Gaffney, South Carolina; and in the Franklin Moun tains, north of El Paso, Texas. In all of these
localities the ore is cassiterite. This ore has been found in small quantities also in the Te mescal Mountains of California, near Corona — a deposit which produced 135 tons of tin in 1890-91; in Virginia, in Rockbridge and Nelson counties; in Washington, at Silver Hill, near Spokane; in Maine, at Winslow, and several other localities; and in New Hampshire, at Jackson. Wood-tin has been found in the gold bearing gravel of Panther Creek, Idaho; and in the Big Prickly Pear Creek district of Mon tana. There was in 1916 but one smelter in the United States handling tin ores, the plant of the American Smelting and Refining 'Com pany at Perth Amboy, N. J. Its capacity is about 14,000 tons of tin per year and it works almost solely upon Bolivian concentrates. Be fore the war a large percentage of the Bolivian tin concentrates was sent to Germany for smelt ing. With the cessation of this service a large smelting plant was built in Chile and another plant erected in the United States.
In 1917 there was imported into the United States for consumption a total of 77,866 short tons of metallic tin, having an aggregate value of $68,603,439. Thus it appears that the United States consumed nearly 57 per cent of the en tire world's output of tin for the year.
Mum—The principal use of tin in the United States is in the production of tin-plate for the manufacture of tinware and of terne plate for roofing and building purposes. In terne-plate the tin used to plate the iron sheets carrie.s a percentage of lead. Tin is used also in the manufacture of cheap mirrors, the °sil vering') compound con.sisting of an amalg-am of tin and mercury. It is also used largely in the technical arts in various alloys; as in Britan nia metal, type metal, solder, pewter, bell metal and several bronzes.
Charleton, A. G., 'Tin: Chief Methods of Mining, Dressing and Smelt ing) (1884) ; Fawns, S., 'Tin Deposits of the World) (1905); Hess, F. L., and E., 'Bibliog raphy of the Geology and Mineralogy of Tin) (Washington 1912); Neumann, B., 'Die Me talle) (1904); Ressing, A., "Geschichte der Metalle) (1901). For general statistics and industrial information consult (The Mineral Industry) (annually; New York).