Excerpt from Mineral Resources of the United States, 1923, Vol. 1: Metals All the main branches of the mineral industry in 1923 showed marked improvement over the preceding years of depression, and several established new high records of production. The several elements Of the industry were restored to or had gained over their pre-war vigor with probably only three notable exceptions - copper mining, through overdevelopment followed by curtailment of its market; precious-metal mining, by reason of depreciated purchasing power of its products; and bituminous-coal mining, from excessive capacity and overmanning. The year 1922 had on the whole been one of gradual betterment in tone of business despite the longest and most widespread strike in the annals of coal mining and a strike among the railroad shop crafts which for a few months seriously interfered with transportation. These difficulties had been over come before the beginning Of 1923, and throughout that year there was generally steady improvement in conditions affecting the mining industries. The total value of mineral products of the United States in 1923 was about an increase of 29 per cent over the value in 1922 and 45 per cent over that in 1921, but a decrease of 14 per cent from 1920, when prices were at the peak. Soft-coal mining shared with other industries a continued recovery from the depression of 1921 and the early part of 1922, but the domii nating influence in the market was the after effect of the great strike of the year before. Stocks of consumers at the beginning of the year were low - only tons on January 1. Though above the danger point, this was not enough to conduce to a feeling of safety, and in consequence prices were high. The average spot price in January, according to Coal Age, was a ton, against in the corresponding month of 1922. Congestion of the railroads pre vented rapid accumulation Oi reserves until the winter peak of con sumption was passed, and distribution continued under nominal supervision by the Federal Fuel Distributor. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.