umed within the United States
goes into tin-plate, a third into solder and babbitt metal, and a third
into miscellaneous uses.

The ores of tin in general contain only small quantities of the metal.
Tin has sufficient value to warrant the working of certain placers
containing only a half-pound to the cubic yard, although the usual run
is somewhat higher. The tin content of the vein deposits ranges from
about 1 per cent to 40 per cent, and the average grade is much closer to
the lower figure.

Great Britain has long controlled the world's tin ores, producing about
half of the total and controlling additional supplies in other
countries. The production is in small part in Cornwall, but largely in
several British colonies--the Malay States, central and south Africa,
Australia, and others. The Malay States furnish about a third of the
world's total. Another third is produced in immediately adjacent
districts of the Dutch East Indies, Siam (British control), and China,
and some of the concentrates of these countries are handled by British
smelters, especially at Singapore.

Tin is easily reduced from its ores and most of the tin is smelted close
to the sources of production. Considerable quantities, however, have
gone to England for treatment. London has been the chief tin market of
the world, and before the war the larger portion of the tin entering
international trade went through this port. During the war a good deal
of the export tin from Straits Settlements was shipped direct to
consumers rather than via London, but it is not certain how future
shipments may be made.

Significant features of the tin situation in recent years have been a
decline of production in the Malay States, and a large and growing
production in Bolivia. Malayan output has decreased because of the
exhaustion of some of the richer and more accessible deposits; certain
governmental measures have also had a restrictive effect. Bolivian
production now amounts to over a fifth of the world's total and bids
fair to increase. About half the output is controlled by Chilean, and
small amounts by American, French, and German interests. A large portion
of the Bolivian concentrates formerly went to Germany for smelting, but
during the war American smelters were developed to handle part of this
material; large quantities are also smelted in England.

The United States produces a small fraction of 1 per cent of the world's
tin, and consumes a third to a half