:MINING. The mining interests are of great im portance, giving employment to over 570,000 per sons annually. Germany is the third largest coal and iron producing country in the world, standing next to the United States and Great Britain. The export coal trade is steadily in creasing. The total yield of the mines, ex clusive of lignite, for 1900, was 109,000,000 tons, valued at $230,000,000. Of this amount, 93 per cent. was produced in the Prussian provinces of Westphalia, Silesia, and the Rhine. About 5 per cent. came from Saxony and the remainder from Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine. More than 16,000,000 tons, or about 15 per cent., were pro duced in Government mines. The steadily grow ing demand for fuel has greatly increased the mining of brown coal (lignite), in spite of its inferior quality, especially since the device of mak ing it up into briquettes has enhanced its heat ing qualities and rendered it more convenient for storing and transportation than before. Of the total output of 40,000,000 tons of brown coal in 1900, 34,000,000 tons were produced in the Prus sian provinces of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Hesse-Nassau. The following table shows the growth of the coal industry during the last three decades of the century: The total production in the year 1900 was nearly 150,000,000 tons, as compared with 242, 000,000 for the United States. The annual out
put of iron has been steadily growing (as the figures below will show), owing to the constantly increasing demand for raw material from the iron and steel works of Germany. The output of iron ore in 1900 was 12,793,065 tons, 4,268,069, or about one-third, of which was obtained in Prus sia, and 7,742,315, or over 60 per cent., in Alsace Lorraine. The output of iron ore in 1891 was 7,555,461 tons; in 1895, 8,436,523. Germany is rich in other ores, such as copper, zinc, lead, bismuth, nickel, cobalt, etc., the bulk of which is produced in Prussia. The quantity of gold is very small, but the silver-mines are perhaps the richest in Europe, yielding 6,243,326 troy ounces in 1900. There are large deposits of rock and other salt and an abundance of potash salts, which have contributed greatly to the develop ment of the chemical industry in Germany. Small quantities of petroleum are found. For a more detailed description, see GEOLOGY and MINERAL OGY, under special countries.