Output of gold, silver up, base metals fare less well

Canadian production of gold,

silver, potash and iron increased between August 1996 and August 1997.

However, output of copper, nickel, lead, zinc and asbestos decreased over the same period.

The statistics shown below were compiled by Natural Resources Canada (NRC).

They are included in the August 1997 issue of Production of Canada’s Leading Minerals. To order a copy, con-tact Jaqueline Paquette of NRC at (613) 992-9005. NRC’s ad-

dress on the World Wide Web is http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/efab/mmsd

NON-FERROUS	August 1997	August 1996
Refined copper	45,108 tonnes	49,590 tonnes
Primary copper	47,903 tonnes	53,460 tonnes
Primary nickel	12,967 tonnes	16,157 tonnes
Gold	14.3 million gms	14 million grams
Silver	111,228 kg	104,996 kg
Primary lead	9,467 tonnes	19,019 tonnes
Refined lead	13,878 tonnes	17,199 tonnes
Primary zinc	109,362 tonnes	140,652 tonnes
Refined zinc	58,958 tonnes	59,661 tonnes

FERROUSAugust 1997August 1996

Iron ore3.7 million tonnes3 million tonnes

NON-METALLICSAugust 1997August 1996

Asbestos38,315 tonnes39,538 tonnes

Potash667,528 tonnes620,651 tonnes