A N T I M O N Y : ITS HISTORY, CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY ...

THE PRODUCTION AND VALUATION OF ANTIMONY ORE. 197
produced. In calculating the loss, the following may be adhered
to:—
9 per cent, for ore of 55 per cent. Sb or more.
10 „ ,, 50 ,, to 55 per cent.
11
15
18
20
„ 50
40 „ „ 45 „
35 „ „ 40 „
less than 35 per cent. Sb.
With English buyers the price is generally paid per unit of antimony
in ore. Thus, in 1904, 4s. to 5s. per unit was paid for 50
per cent, sulphide ore, when regulus was worth from £25 to £35;
in .1905, 6s. to 8s., when regulus was sold at from £35 to £60; in
1906, 8s. to 15s., and in some cases above 15s., when the price of regulus
rose from £60 to £120. Some dealers still offer ores to smelters
on the old formula: 0*9T(P-330) = V, c.i.f., in which T = antimony
content in percentage, P = market price of regulus, and V = value in
francs c.i.f. Havre, Marseilles, Antwerp, or Hamburg.
American buyers commonly make a basis of SI per unit
(22*4 lbs.), when the metal is worth 8 c. per lb., for ore containing
about 50 per cent. Sb, with a variation of one-third of the difference
in the market price for the metal per 2240 lbs. up or down. Thus,
With the metal at 8 c. per lb. or §179*20 per 2240 lbs., the value of an
pre containing 52 per cent. Sb is $52 per ton of 2240 lbs. If the price
for the metal is 10 c. per lb. or $224 per 2240 lbs., the addition of
J($224-$179'20) = $14-93 is made, giving the ore a value of $66*93.
The phrase " cost of smelting " means:—
(a) Direct operating without general expense.
(b) Including general expense.
(c) Direct operating, including general expense, plus amortisation
charges.*
A Belgian dealer offers to buy ores on the formula: t
(
in which
P=price per ton of antimony ors.
E, = price in £ of regulus in Loudon.
T=analysis of ore in percentage.
M. F. T. Havard classifies antimony ore under the following
heads:—
(a) Auriferous, with 40 to 70 per cent, of antimony in the form of
sulphide, several ounces of gold, together with, in some cases, payable
* Taken from The. Eng. and Min. Journal, N.Y., p. 124, Jan. 11, 1908.
t Private communication.