mounts of pig lead. Its principal
deposits were those of Silesia; under the Peace Treaty they may possibly
be lost to Poland, leaving German smelters largely dependent on imports.
Australia before the war normally shipped lead concentrates and pig lead
to England and also to Belgium, Germany, and Japan. England, the second
largest European consumer, before the war had insufficient smelting
capacity within the British Empire and was partly dependent on
foreign-smelted lead. During the war, however, England contracted for
the entire Australian output, and enlarged its smelting capacity
accordingly. This may mean permanent loss to Belgium, which had depended
mainly on the Australian ores for its smelting industry before the war.

In North Africa there is a small but steady production of lead, most of
which goes to France. Recent developments in Burma have shown large
reserves of high-grade lead-zinc-silver-copper ores, and this region may
be expected to become an important producer. There are also large
reserves of lead in the Altai Mountains of southwestern Siberia and in
the Andes Mountains of South America.

England, through control of Australian and Burman lead mines and
smelters, domestic smelting facilities, and some financial control in
Spain, Mexico, and elsewhere, and France, through financial control of
Spanish and North African mines and Spanish, Belgian, and domestic
smelters, have adequate supplies of lead.

The United States produces about a third of the world's lead and twice
as much as any other country. Normally the domestic production is almost
entirely consumed in this country. Mexico sends large quantities of
bullion and ore to the United States to be smelted and refined in bond.
Mexican lead refined and exported by the United States equals in amount
one-sixth of the domestic production. Small quantities of ore or bullion
from Canada, Africa, and South America are also brought into the United
States for treatment.

Through domestic production, smelting facilities for Mexican ore, and
commercial ownership in Mexico and elsewhere, the United States controls
over 45 per cent of the world's lead production. Before the war Germany,
through the "Lead Convention" or International Sales Association, and
through smelting and selling contracts with large producing mines,
practically controlled the European lead market as well as exports from
Mexico and the United States and from Australia. During the war Germa