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PRICES

The delivered price of refined bismuth metal held firmly at $6 per pound, in ton lots through the first half of 1971. The price, however, was reduced for the first time in many years, when the two principal US. companies dropped their price from $6 to $4.75 per pound, in ton lots, in July and to $3.50 in November. The new domestic price of $3.50 per pound continued in effect throughout the remainder of 1971. The London Metal Exchange (LME)

price for imported bismuth metal, c.i.f., was quoted in the range of $5.55-$5.70 per pound through February, but dropped to $5.45-$5.50 in early April. The price held through May but resumed the downward trend in June to the $3.55-$3.75 level. The European market continued to grow weaker during the summer and fall months and was quoted in the range of $2.98-$3.03 per pound at yearend.

FOREIGN TRADE

In 1971, exports of bismuth in all forms to 20 countries amounted to 71,000 pounds gross weight, declining drastically from the 910,000 pounds exported in 1970. The sharp decrease in bismuth exports valued at $200,000 was attributable to the relatively low LME price. Canada, the United Kingdom, and India received 64 percent of the exports, and other countries of Western Europe took 20 percent. Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico imported 11 percent of U.S. bismuth and other countries took the remaining 5 percent.

General imports of bismuth metal in 1971 amounted to 848,700 pounds, approximately 85 percent of the amount imported in 1970. The decline was especially evident in the receipts from Peru and Mexico. The 800percent increase from Japan failed to offset the decrease from these two major sup

Table 3.-U.S. exports of bismuth 1

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1968.

1959

1970.

1971.

Year

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Gross

Italy..

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24,998

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1,135

78 1,074

Kingdom.... 2,301 Total 997,924

23

2,039 5,636 848,708

10

4,050

1 Includes bismuth, bismuth alloys, and waste and scrap.

WORLD REVIEW

The oversupply situation and the slackening demand in the industrialized areas of the world resulted in a weak market and several price reductions. World production of bismuth metal in 1971, excluding data withheld for the United States, has been

estimated at 7.9 million pounds, compared with 8.4 million pounds in 1970. Because of the byproduct relationship of bismuth to copper, lead, molybdenum, and zinc ores, future production is expected to continue increasing as the demand for the host

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1969

1970

1971 D

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433

e 500

1,338

1,340

* 1,440

579

590

267

r 550

550

550

137

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Revised. W Withheld to avoid disclosing individual company con

In addition to the countries listed, Brazil, Bulgaria, East Germany, and South-West Africa are believed to produce bismuth, but information is inadequate to make reliable estimates of output levels.

Less than 11⁄2 unit.

Production by Corporacion Minero de Bolivia (COMIBOL) and exports by medium and small mines. * Bismuth content of refined metal and bullion and recoverable content of concentrates exported.

Australia.-Mine production in 1971 was about 500,000 pounds, all of which was exported to Japan for refining, and is expected to expand within the next year. Active exploration and expansion work, mainly by Peko Wallsend Investments Ltd. is continuing, particularly at Tennant Creek, in the Northern Territory. In 1970, the company began an expansion project, which was to include an Outokumpu flash smelter and bismuth recovery plant at Tennant Creek. The new plant is expected to start operating in 1973 and will treat ores from the Juno and nearby Warrego mines. The plant will have a rated annual bismuth production capacity of 3 million pounds. Reserves of copper-gold-bismuth ore at the Juno mine were estimated at 275,000 tons assaying 0.65 percent bismuth and 2.2 ounces of gold per ton. The Warrego mine has reserves of 5 million tons averaging 0.30 percent bismuth.

Belgium.-Two giant base-metal com. plexes, Société Géneral Métallurgie de

Hoboken, S.A., and Société des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne S.A. produced refined bismuth metal. Most of the bismuth was refined from imported ores and a large portion exported to the consuming industries of neighboring countries.

Bolivia.-Bolivia is one of the few areas where ores, which run as high as 40 percent bismuth, are mined for bismuth alone. A decline in lead production would not affect the Bolivian bismuth industry. Bismuth ores and concentrates, which in the past have been exported to Peru and Europe for treatment, will soon be processed at a Bolivian smelter. The smelter will be built in Telemayo by Reunione Poudriere Belgique of Belgium. The operation, which is scheduled to begin in 1972, will produce, in the initial phase, a crude bismuth bullion to be exported for further refining.

Canada.-Bismuth is obtained in Canada as a byproduct in the processing of ores mined for other metals. The most impor

tant sources are molybdenum ores mined in the Malartic district of western Quebec, lead-zinc ores produced in southeastern British Columbia, and copper ores mined near Gaspé in eastern Quebec. Molybdenite Corp. of Canada Ltd., Preissac Molybdenite Mines Ltd., and Cadillac Moly-Mines Ltd. produced about 60 percent of the Canadian output from molybdenum ores. This bismuth was recovered as concentrates and treated as far as the crude-metal step and exported for commercial upgrading. Of the remainder of its bismuth production, about 35 percent, was produced from lead-zinc ores at Trail by Cominco Ltd. and 5 percent was recovered from copper smelting flue dust by Gaspé Copper Mines Ltd.

France. Crude bismuth was recovered as a byproduct of lead-zinc production at both Société des Mines & Usines de Salsigne and Société Minière et Métallurgique de Peñarrova. The crude bullion (98 percent bismuth) was exported to the United Kingdom for refining.

Japan. Although a leading producer of bismuth metal, a sizeable portion of the output from the eight metallurgical plants

came from imported base-metal ores, concentrates, and smelter products. Most of the domestic production is a byproduct of copper and lead mining.

Mexico.-Almost all Mexican bismuth production was from lead refinery byproducts recovered by Met-Mex Peñoles, S.A., and Asarco Mexicana S.A. at Monterrey. Approximately one-half of the crude output was refined to metal, which was consumed in domestic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and the alloy industries. Unrefined bismuth was exported as bullion to the United States and the United Kingdom.

Peru.-Bismuth associated with the Peruvian base-metal ores was recovered mainly by Cerro Corp. at the vast metallurgical complex at La Oroya. Additional Peruvian production was obtained from many other smaller producers. The concentrate products from these mines, together with some Bolivian copper-bismuth ores were smelted and refined in Peru. Virtually all Peruvian refined bismuth was exported to the Latin American Free Trade Association, Europe, and the United States.

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Production and domestic consumption of boron minerals continued the rising trend that began in 1961 and reached a new high in 1971. However, recorded exports declined sharply as compared with the previous 2 years. For some time, all U.S. output had been in the form of sodium borates (such as "tincal" and kernite) and boric acid. In mid-1971 production of calcium borate (colemanite) was started on a commercial scale in California, the same State which provides the entire domestic production of boron minerals.

Legislation and Government Programs.— During 1971 there were no Government programs and no legislation proposed or enacted pertaining to boron. The Government had no stocks of boron, and no procurement programs for borates were in effect in 1971. All Government stocks had been sold in 1967.

The depletion allowance remained at 14 percent for both domestically and foreignproduced borates in accordance with the Tax Reform Act of 1969.

Table 1.-Salient boron minerals and compounds statistics in the United States (Thousand short tons and thousand dollars)

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Domestic production and sales of boron minerals increased very slightly in 1971 as compared with 1970. As in past years, most of the output came from Kern County, Calif., and to a lesser extent from San Bernardino County, Calif.

A large open pit mine at Boron in Kern County, belonging to the U.S. Borax & Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Zinc Corp. Ltd., remained the world's foremost source of boron. U.S. Borax produced an upgraded crude sodium borate at the mine site and refined borates at plants located at Wilmington, Calif., and Burlington, Iowa. Wilmington was also the company's port of export. A new processing line and two new thickeners installed at Boron raised processing capacity by one

3

fifth in 1971. U.S. Borax's plant capacity in the United States in 1971 topped 500,000 short tons of B0 per year. The firm maintains a storage center at Botlek in the Netherlands whence borax and borates are transported to other parts of Europe.

American Potash & Chemical Co. and Stauffer Chemical Co. produced boron compounds as coproducts from brines of Searles Lake in San Bernardino County, Calif., at their plants in Trona, Calif. American Potash's plant production is rated at 100,000 short tons of B2O, per annum and that of Stauffer Chemical's plant at 25,000 to 30,000 tons per annum.

1 Supervisory physical scientist, Division of Nonmetallic Minerals.

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