2G 
OITR MINERAL RESERVES. 
ing plants has not been strained to meet consumption and the plants 
have not been operated to full capacity, so that as far as manufactur 
ing facilities are concerned they are able to supply a large part of 
any demand from South America, Africa, China, Australia, and 
other countries. With lack of competition from Europe and low 
prices for crude material the export trade should be profitable to 
the manufacturers and result in the consumption of nearly all the 
domestic production of copper. 
ALUMINUM. 
During the last 10 years there has been a rapid and healthy growth 
in the consumption of metallic aluminum in the United States. 
From less than 9,000,000 pounds in 1904 the consumption has grown 
to more than 72,000,000 pounds in 1914. This increase was partly 
met, in some years at least, by the increase in imports. Although 
most of the aluminum consumed in the United States is of domestic 
origin, a very considerable part of it is imported from France and 
other European countries. With the possible cutting off of the 
European supply of the metal—scrap, crude, and manufactured—it 
will be increasingly difficult to fill the domestic need. 
The use of metallic aluminum is widespread. Its employment in 
the manufacture of articles of everyday use has become so com 
mon that such articles no longer attract attention. Its use, however, 
is now being extended to the construction of welded tanks, cooking 
vats, and vessels which are employed by brewers, preserve manu 
facturers, and fat recoverers, and in similar industries where a 
metal that will conduct heat, will not corrode, and is nonpoisonous is 
essential. Aluminum vessels of large size are used also in the manu 
facture of essences, sirups, varnishes, fatty acids, table oils, and 
nitric acid. A recently developed branch of the aluminum industry 
is the manufacture of the powdered metal known to the trade as 
aluminum-bronze powder, which is used extensively as a paint pig 
ment, in explosives, in lithographing, and in printing. The use of 
aluminum wire as a conductor in long-distance power-transmitting 
schemes is of interest. Aluminum foil, though not exactly a new 
product, is now being used on a larger scale than ever before, owing 
to improved methods in its manufacture—the result of long and 
expensive experiments which have reduced its cost appreciably. 
Finally, the use of the metal in aeroplanes and automobiles may be 
mentioned. 
Plants manufacturing aluminum in the United States have been 
rapidly expending and enlarging their output in recênt years to 
meet the growing demands for the metal. One of the largest proj 
ects is that of the Southern Aluminum Co., which is vigorously 
pushing operations on the Yadkin River, N. C. This company, with