A large part of the iron ore in Great Britain can not now be worked profitably, and much of the ore that was merchantable a few years ago could not now be worked, on account of increased cost of transportation, labor, and particularly of fuel. The actual reserves of ore of present merchantable grade are estimated at 1,300 million tons; the total reserves have been estimated by H. Louis at 39,500 million tons.[35] [35] LOUIS, H.: “Iron-Ore Resources of the World,” Stockholm, 1910. In 1915 the United Kingdom produced 14,000,000 tons of iron ore. In the same year nearly 7,000,000 tons were imported, of which 4,000,000 came from Spain and between one-half and one million from Algeria and Norway each, making a total of over 20,000,000 tons smelted in the United Kingdom. The total production of pig iron was nearly 9,000,000 tons, of which nearly 7,000,000 tons were produced in England, 1,000,000 tons in Scotland, and nearly 1,000,000 tons in Wales. Ireland produces no pig iron. The iron and steel industry of Great Britain, so far as information is available, is in the hands of British subjects. Eckel[36] reviews the British iron-ore situation as follows: The position of Great Britain as regards iron-ore resources is peculiar--perhaps more curious than satisfactory. The matter may be summarized by saying that England has still several hundred million tons of high-grade ore which would be salable anywhere; that she has in addition perhaps double that quantity of low-grade ore, workable because of its nearness to coal and markets; and that England, Scotland, and Wales have thousands of millions of tons of ore now unworkable, but which may be serviceable in the future provided that at that future date there is still any other good reason for making steel in Great Britain. This last limitation may not be palatable, but it is really the crux of the whole question, and it seems to have been overlooked by the British geologists who have discussed the subject. People do not make iron out of low-grade ores simply to use up the ores; and with an increasing coke cost and a narrowing export market it is a very serious question whether the bulk of these British carbonates will ever be used. The duration of the British steel industry will be fixed by its coal supply, and not by its supply of local ores; for so long as coke and markets justify it, ore can be imported to good advantage. If other conditions do not justify the importation of ore, they will certainly not justify the use of these hypothetical reserve tonnages. [36] ECKEL, E. C.: “Iron Ores, Their Occurrence, Valuation and Control,” p. 320, 1914.