Minerals and Mining.—The mineral production of the United Kingdom reached a total value in 1890 of £100,802,657 and in 1909 of £119,394,486, with a maximum during that period of £160,605,154 in 1900 and a minimum of £73,024,066 in 1893. These figures include pig-iron produced from foreign ores. About 73% represents the value of the coal output. The figures for the more important minerals are as follows:—
| Description of Minerals. | 1900. | 1909. | Value, 1909. |
| Tons. | Tons. | £ | |
| Coal . . . . . . | 225,181,300 | 263,774,312 | 106,274,900 |
| Iron ore . . . . . | 14,025,208 | 14,979,979 | 3,689,777 |
| Clay and shale . . | 14,049,694 | 14,067,810 | 1,718,056 |
| Sandstone ore . . . . . | 5,019,874 | 4,600,084 | 1,339,106 |
| Slate . . . . . . | 585,859 | 402,184 | 1,007,013 |
| Limestone (not chalk) . | 11,905,477 | 11,811,122 | 1,226,967 |
| Igneous rocks . . . . | 4,634,301 | 6,283,297 | 1,235,046 |
| Oils shale . . . . . | 2,282,221 | 2,967,057 | 815,937 |
| Tin ore (dressed) . . | 6,800 | 8,289 | 617,376 |
| Salt . . . . . . | 1,861,347 | 1,822,744 | 548,896 |
Gold ore, manganese ore and uranium ore are produced in small quantities, and the list of minerals worked in the United Kingdom also includes chalk, lead, alum, phosphate of lime, chert and flint, gravel and sand, zinc ore, gypsum, arsenic, copper, barytes, wolfram and strontium sulphate.
Metals were obtained from the ores as follows:—
| Description of Metal. |
1900. | 1909. | |||
| Quantity. | Quantity. | Value (average market price). | |||
| £ | |||||
| Iron . . . . | 4,666,942 | tons | 4,802,163 | tons | 15,559,253 |
| Tin . . . . | 4,268 | ” | 5,199 | ” | 695,546 |
| Lead . . . . | 24,364 | ” | 22,463 | ” | 298,945 |
| Zinc . . . . | 9,066 | ” | 3,818 | ” | 87,146 |
| Copper . . . | 765 | ” | 435 | ” | 27,162 |
| Gold . . . . | 14,004 | oz. | 1,210 | oz. | 4,400 |
| Silver . . . | 190,850 | ” | 142,146 | ” | 14,030 |
The total number of persons employed in and about all the mines of the United Kingdom in 1901 was 839,178, and in 1909 1,126,372.
The workers were thus distributed between the three kingdoms and the principality in 1905:—
| Coal Mines, &c. | Metalliferous Mines (a). |
Quarries (b). | |
| England . . | 606,206 | 19,561 | 60,725 |
| Wales . . | 137,124 | 7,333 | 17,277 |
| Scotland . | 114,294 | 974 | 12,187 |
| Ireland . . | 749 | 733 | 4,464 |
The total figures given above include (a) 550 and (b) 166 workers in the Isle of Man; and the figures quoted for production include that of the isle.
The production of coal in Great Britain, though marked by fluctuation, has, on the whole, largely increased, and in 1901 the output was 42% greater than that of 1881. The maximum quantity extracted in any one year between 1890 and 1910 was 267,830,962 tons in 1907, and the Coal.minimum 164,325,795 in 1893. The maximum estimated value, however, was £121,652,596 for the 225,181,300 tons raised in 1900; the value in 1907 being £120,527,378.
| 1900. | 1909. | |
| England. | Tons. | Tons. |
| Cumberland . . . . . . | 2,022,327 | 2,309,370 |
| Derby . . . . . . . . | 15,243,031 | 16,869,347 |
| Durham . . . . . . . . | 34,800,719 | 41,240,612 |
| Gloucester . . . . . . . | 1,578,386 | 1,486,526 |
| Lancashire . . . . . . | 24,842,208 | 23,705,387 |
| Leicester . . . . . . . | 2,106,343 | 2,661,606 |
| Monmouth . . . . . . | 9,818,829 | 13,204,357 |
| Northumberland . . . . . | 11,514,521 | 14,013,135 |
| Nottingham . . . . . . | 8,626,177 | 11,106,702 |
| Somerset . . . . . . . | 1,046,792 | 1,140,818 |
| Stafford . . . . . . . | 14,222,743 | 13,517,101 |
| Warwick . . . . . . . | 2,957,490 | 4,447,978 |
| York . . . . . . . | 28,247,249 | 35,896,623 |
| Wales. | ||
| Carmarthen . . . . . . | 1,333,880 | 1,950,429 |
| Denbigh . . . . . . . | 2,447,092 | 2,556,612 |
| Glasmorgan . . . . . . | 27,686,758 | 34,461,631 |
In the chief coal-producing counties of England and Wales the quantity raised in 1900 and in 1909 will be found in the table at the foot of preceding column. Thus it appears that of the coal raised in England the county of Durham contributes about 22%, Yorkshire 17%, Lancashire 16%, Stafford and Derbyshire each about 9%, and Northumberland 7%; while of the coal raised in Wales 85% is contributed by the county of Glamorgan; and that the coal production of England and Wales together constitutes, in quantity and value, 85% of the whole production of the United Kingdom.
The export of coal greatly increased on the whole during the period 1890–1909 The following table shows this; the figures for 1893 are given as the lowest during the period. The tonnage of coke and patent fuel is included in the totals:—
| Year. | Tons. | Year. | Tons. |
| 1890 | 30,442,839 | 1900 | 46,098,228 |
| 1893 | 29,031,955 | 1905 | 49,359,272 |
| 1895 | 33,101,452 | 1909 | 65,694,267 |
The chief receiving countries are, in order, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Russian Empire, Denmark, Egypt, Holland, Argentina, Norway and Brazil.
The annual output of iron ore in the United Kingdom has on the whole decreased since 1882. Iron.In that year it reached a maximum of 18,031,957 tons; it then fell off to 13,098,341 tons in 1887, rose in the two years following to nearly 15,000,000, fell to little over 11,000,000 in 1892–1893, rose fairly steadily to 14,461,330 in 1899, stood in 1900 at 14,028,208 tons of a value of £4,224,400, and then showed a further fall and rise, until in 1905 the tonnage was 14,590,703, and the value £3,482,184.
The iron ore raised in the various countries, and in the most productive counties, is here shown:—
| 1900. | 1909. | |
| Tons. | Tons. | |
| England | 13,072,118 | 14,176,658 |
| Cumberland[1] | 1,103,430 | 1,246,228 |
| Lancashire[1] | 630,361 | 312,367 |
| Leicester | 750,708 | 514,896 |
| Lincoln | 1,924,898 | 2,037,363 |
| Northampton | 1,622,539 | 2,875,659 |
| Stafford[2] | 1,084,797 | 902,565 |
| York | 5,550,677 | 6,234,589 |
| Wales | 7,418 | 38,043 |
| Scotland[2] | 849,031 | 697,276 |
| Ireland | 99,641 | 68,002 |
The number of furnaces in blast (fractions showing the proportion of the year furnaces were in blast) was: in England 298⁶/₁₂, Wales 19⁴/₁₂; Scotland 85⁵/₁₂, total 403³/₁₂. The total number of existing furnaces in 1900 was: in England 456, Wales 42, Scotland 106; total 604; so that 33% of the number stood unused. In 1905 furnaces in blast numbered: England 244¹/₁₂, Wales 13⁸/₁₂, Scotland 87⁹/₁₂; total 345⁶/₁₂; and those existing: in England 412, Wales 31, Scotland 101; total 544; and the percentage unused was thus 36.
In 1888 the imports of iron ore amounted to 3,562,071 tons, in 1898 to 5,468,396 tons, in 1899 to 7,054,578 tons, in 1900 to 6,297,953 tons, in 1901 to 5,548,888 tons and in 1909 to 6,361,571 tons, of which the bulk was imported from Spain. The amount of pig-iron obtained found its minimum, during the period 1890–1910, of 6,976,990 tons in 1893, and its maximum of 10,183,860 in 1906, and in 1905 the quantity produced from foreign ores (4,847,899 tons) for the first time exceeded that produced from British ores (4,760,187).
The quantity of lead ore produced within the United Kingdom has decreased. It is now less than one-half of the output of about 1877, and the value has decreased more than proportionately. In the period 1890–1908 the maximum annual production of metallic lead from British ore Lead.was 33,590 tons in 1890, valued at £449,826; the production fluctuated somewhat, but generally fell, to the minimum of 17,704 tons in 1902 (value £198,875). The most productive counties are Flint, Durham and Derby; the ore obtained in the Isle of Man is increased in value by the silver it contains.
