In their silver report of May 20, Messrs. Samuel Montagu & Ca. state There has been a fair amount of business during the week and movements in the price have been less erratic. Some speculative buying on May 17 was responsible for a rise of 4d. in the cash price, the difference between the cash and forward quotations on that day being Zd. This has since narrowed id. The latter part of the week found supplies rather less plentiful.
From advices to hand from New York we understand that the U. S. Mint has received the necessary instructions to purchase silver offered at si the fine ounce. The amount the U. S. Mint will have to purchase under their regulations will be limited as they require strict proof as to the American origin of all silver tendered. A mint certificate will have to be sworn to by the vendor, mine owner and reducer, indicating the situation of the mine and reduction works, and stating that no part of the relative parcel was mined, or at y time treated by any reduction arks or refineries outside the United States. It is thought that the stringency of these requirements will render unavailable silver already smelted, owing to the difficulty there would be in tracing its source. We are given to understand that the regulations outlined are not satisfactory to U. S. smell ters, who consider them to be both stringent and cumbersome, declaring that before they will-be in a position to comply with the terms in question it will be necessary to reorganize their plan of wot which will, of course. takes time.
Tt would seem from the foregoing that the effect of the Pittman Act being put into operation is unlikely to be felt, for some time least, in the market here. especially it supplies from the Continent continue to come forward to the same extent as they have been recently.
Sitver ix Semarra, We have received the following information from a mining engineer in the Dutch East Indies. The figures are much in excess of those given in official reports, which indicated 400.000 oz, a year in 1917 and 1918, and much smaller figures in some of the previous years:—"The production of silver im the Dutch East Indies—from argentiferous gold ores—is still small and in normal times did not xeeed about 46,000 kilogrammes oz.) per annum A.
al increase is unlikely, un-loss private capital comes forward to work the "argentiferous lead ore and zine ore deposits in the residency of Sumatra's West Coast. The lead ores carry from 25 to 60 oz. of silver. About 95 per cent. of the production of silver comes from West Sumatra. the remainder from North Celebes. An additional production of say 95.000 kilos (803,750 07.) is expected in 1993, when a government gold mine on the West Coast of Sumatra will start milling argentiferous gold
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.