ing international fact-finding committees to ascertain and present
the essential facts as a basis for international negotiation. For
instance, some of the recent diplomatic discussion in relation to
the exploitation of oil in foreign countries has been unnecessarily
complicated by differences in.statement of fundamental geologic
facts of distribution, which might easily be eliminated by an inter-
national conference of qualified experts. The surveys of the world’s
coal and iron resources made by the International Geological
Congress independent of governments have served a very useful
purpose and are excellent examples of what may be accomplished
by disinterested scientific fact finding.
7. The Mineral Reserves of the United States in Their World Relations
In the application of the above general principles to the mineral
resource situation in the United States we present the following
basic considerations:
The United States has been endowed with mineral resources to
an extent not surpassed by any other country. It is utilizing these
resources so fully that its annual mineral production is nearly two-
fifths of that of the world. Exploration will undoubtedly disclose
further large reserves, but the geologic conditions are sufficiently
well known to warrant the belief that the extent of mineral reser-
ves in the United States can be approximated for the future. The
following tentative classification of mineral supplies is based mainly
on data gathered by various government bureaus during and since
the war. In the nature of the case it will be difficult to secure
general agreement to every item, and modifications are inevitable,
but we believe it to approximate the true situation in its main
outlines.
(4) The United States has certain minerals available in large
quantities for export. It is clear that the United States has, and will
continue to have, a valuable exportable surplus of copper, coal,
iron and steel, phosphates, silver, and sulphur. In view of recent
discoveries, borax should probably be added to the list.
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