WORLD GOLD RESERVES

Taranaki Daily News, 12 January 1932, Page 3

WORLD GOLD RESERVES

FORECAST OF THE FUTURE NEW INFLUENCES OPERATING. REVOLUTIONARY POSSIBILITY. “The gold standard constitutes the best basis for measuring accurately financial probity and honesty in national business and the financial progresses of nations. It has weathered many an economic storm; and in spite of the proponents of bimetallism, fiat money, and other financial panaceas, no substitute has vet been found which could serve better the public interest,” writes Mr. Anthony Anable in the Review of Reviews of America. “Every nation which has abandoned the t/old. standard during the last few weeks has done so temporarily, as an emergency measure to prevent too great a drain on its gold resources. Each nation has expressed publicly its intention to return to the gold standard as soon as world conditions will permit. THE THREE MAIN GOLD FACTS. “Certain startling facts appear when one reviews the gold reserves available for monetary purposes, the rate oi gold minino- in centres of production, and present methods of winning the precious metal from the earth: — . “Firstly, the world’s annual production of gold has remained practically stationary for eight years, at slightly less than 20,000,000 ounces. Unless new fields are discovered, or more efficient mining and milling methods developed, production is likely to decrease by about one-quarter during the next ten years. , “Secondly, tne amount of gold annually consumed by the arts and crafts, coupled with the loss from wear and tear, and hoarding in countries such as India, China and Africa, leaves less gold available for monetary purposes than is required to support the increasing volume of international cunency and credit. 1 . “Thirdly, no new goldfield of importance has been developed since 1911, and no new method of recovering themetal from its ore has been perfected, until very recently, since 1886. “The world’s production of gold from 1493 to 1939, or since the discovery of America, amounted to about 1,042,850,000 ounces. .Of this approximately 65'5,350,000 ounces (55 per cent.) has been produced in the twentieth, century. Of the total produced it is said that about 500,000,000 ounces (48 per cent.) is represented in existing monetary stocks, and the rest, 542,8'50,000 ounces (52 per cent.), has been absorbed by the arts and crafts, has been lost, or has disappeared through hoard-

iu". “In India alone it has been estimated that something like 117,000,(MX) ounces has disappeared from circulation. This comes from India’s favourable trade balance, and the custom of its people not to invest the proceeds of this balance abroad.

PROSPECTING FOR GOLD BY PLANE

“Gold occurs widely distributed Jn nature. It is found associated with rocks of all the geological ages, but most frequently with quartz lodes. In the beds of rivers and streams it comes from the natural disintegration of the rock, and the hydraulic concentration of the gold by a moving stream of water. This is known as a placer deposit. In addition to lode and placer deposits there are vein deposits, in which the precious metal is found associated with such minerals as iron pyrites, copper pyrites, arsenical pyrites, and sometimes in chemical combination with tel-lurium-gold tellurides. _ 1 “Where twenty-five or thirty years ago there was an abundance of deposits to be found assaying from 20 dollars to 30 dollars per ton, practically all these have been depleted. To-day the majority of the producing mines of the world are making extractions of about 86 to 94 per cent, on ores containing from 5 dollars to 12 dollars of gold per ton. “Geophysical prospecting is. exceedingly rapid, probably a hundred times more so than the old. It gives in a remarkably short time a general picture of the sub-soil conditions and the localities where mineralised rock will probably be found. “A good crew, transported rapidly from one location to another, often by aeroplane, can do in a preliminary way in a single month the work of several years by an old-time prospector. Areas which show no indications of mineral may be eliminated quickly. More costly and reliable methods like drilling and shaft-sinking may be reserved for the areas where promising indications have been registered. “Thus the various elements of the gold industry combine to form a picture, auspicious to renewed activity on a great scale. Whether or not this will compensate for the unexpected diminution in gold output as the Rand Mines begin to show signs of depletion remains to be seen. STAGE SET FOR SUDDEN CHANGES. “With commodity prices now on a comparable basis with gold, with the possibilities of the flotation process not fully recognised, and with the old-time prospectors and their modern competitors, the electrical prospecting crews, combing the gold areas again in search of new deposits, the stage is set for sudden and revolutionary changes. “He who attempts to forecast events in these troubled days is often doomed to disappointment. But in gold mining the evidence is so striking as to encourage conjecture as to the ultimate outcome of new forces now set in motion. The next decade should see generally good times for gold miners. ° “Many an old mill reaching the end of its economic life will be revitalised by flotation, probably as an adjunct to cyanidation, and will be enabled to produce for many more years on a lower grade of ore. With the new metallurgical tools, many a refractory sulphide deposit will be developed,, old debris piles will be reworked, and operations will be conducted on a tonnage comparable with that in the copper industry, so that these low value de-, posits may be worked profitably. “The cumulative effect of many small miners, working the placer deposits, will add a certain small, thougli important increment to our production, and a new gold area may be uncovered. Electrical prospecting methods are still in their infancy, especially when applied to crold, but improvement is bound ■ to comej°and with it the ability to be I of o-reater service. “A product so intimately identified {with our credit structure must meet | the increasing demands imposed by ex- ; pandino- conditions. In the past there I has been no dearth of those who rallied to the support of production when a lack of supply encouraged proposals of bimetallism, fiat money, and other unsound economic doctrines .... Good times for gold are good times for the world.”