| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | nonferrous metals |
| Predecessor | Metallgesellschaft AG |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Defunct | 1957 |
| Fate | Merged with Climax Molybdenum Company |
| Successor | Cyprus Amax Minerals |
| Headquarters | , United States  |
Key people | Berthold Hochschild, Carl M. Loeb, Ludwig Vogelstein, Harold K. Hochschild, Walter Hochschild |
American Metal Company was an American nonferrous metal trading and production company.
The origin of the American Metal Company (AMCO) begins with Metallgesellschaft AG of Germany, one of whose founders, Wilhelm Ralph Merton, tasked one of his cousins, Berthold Hochschild, to supervise its metal-trading business in the United States. [1]
Hochschild moved to the U.S. in 1884, and the firm was incorporated in New York in 1887. [1] AMCO started out as an agent for Metallgesellschaft AG of Germany, the Henry R. Merton & Co. (founded by the brother of Wilhelm Ralph Merton) of the United Kingdom, and the Société Le Nickel of France (founded by the Rothschild family). [1] Also in 1887, Jacob Langeloth, an executive of Metallgesellschaft in Germany moved to New York to assist Hochschild. [1] The company experienced rapid growth because of a surge in demand for copper, especially in Germany, which then consumed one third of US exports. [1] Under Langeloth, AMCO expanded into production, opening refining plants for lead and copper. [1]
Prior to World War I, AMCO made a minority investment in Climax Molybdenum Company, the world's largest producer of molybdenum. Named after the Climax mine, the investment paid off because of the increased demand from the war. [2]
In 1914, after the sudden death of Langeloth, Carl M. Loeb, previously a branch manager, became president of AMCO. [1] Loeb vertically integrated the company by expanding into the ownership of smelting and refining facilities while he secured his supply of raw materials by signing exclusive contracts with large mines to purchase their entire output, and he then processed them at AMCO-owned facilities. [1] He also expanded AMCO's activities into Mexico with investments in lead, silver, and zinc mining first as an agent for its parent Metallgesellschaft and later as a direct owner during World War I. [1] In 1917, AMCO refined 250 million pounds of copper, 547 million pounds of zinc, and 168 million pounds of lead. [1] Before the United States entered World War I in October 1917, Metallgesellschaft (then led by de:Richard Merton, the son of Wilhelm Ralph Merton), transferred its 51% ownership in AMCO to several American citizens, who were also AMCO managers. [1] Once the US entered the war, the country passed the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, which required German-owned business assets to be held by the Office of Alien Property Custodian. [1] Despite Merton's efforts to hide Metallgesellschaft's ownership, Loeb reported to the agency that the assets were in reality still owned by their German parent, and the stock was then transferred into a trust supervised by Henry Morgenthau Sr., Berthold Hochschild, and Joseph F. Guffey. [1]
In 1918, the Alien Property Custodian sold the 51% stake that it had confiscated at a public auction for $5.75 million, with many of the shares being purchased by a syndicate of investors including Ludwig Vogelstein (who had 20%), Berthold Hochschild, and Loeb. [1] In 1920, Berthold Hochschild was appointed chairman of the board with Loeb as president with and various investors as vice presidents including Otto Sussman, Henry Bruère, Harold K. Hochschild, Carl's brother Julius Loeb, and Vogelstein. [1] Later, Andrew Mellon joined the board to represent the government's interest. [1] In 1921, Richard Merton filed a claim with the government asserting that the confiscation of AMCO shares was unlawful, as the shares had been transferred to a Swiss subsidiary before the U.S. joined World War I. He also bribed some government officials to assist in his recovery. [1] Unfortunately for Merton, the bribes were exposed, and the claim rejected (and President Harding's Attorney General Harry Daugherty was tried twice and acquitted twice for his alleged involvement while Alien Property Custodian Thomas W. Miller was convicted). [1]
In 1929, Loeb resigned as AMCO's president over a disagreement in AMCO's taking on debt to fund the purchase of copper mining interests in Africa (AMCO had minimized its ownership in mines and instead relied on exclusive supply contracts). [1] The board purchased Loeb's 80,000 shares for eighty-five dollars apiece which was fortuitous for Loeb, as the Wall Street Crash of 1929 followed later in the year. [1] In 1930, AMCO purchased a major interest in two of the world's largest copper mines in Africa, [2] including the Roan Antelope Copper Mine in Luanshya (in the Copperbelt Province) and the Rhodesian Selection Trust (formed in 1928 by Irish-American mining magnate Alfred Chester Beatty). [3] In 1934, Harold K. Hochschild was elected president of AMCO, [4] and Otto Sussman succeeded the late Ludwig Vogelstein as chairman of the board. [5]
During World War II, the business boomed from the demand brought about by the war. [4] Under Harold Hochschild's tenure, AMCO expanded into petroleum, potash, and silver. [2] In 1947, Harold was elected as board chairman. In 1950, he was replaced as president by his brother, Walter Hochschild. [4]
In 1957, Hans Vogelstein, nephew of Ludwig Vogelstein, was named President. [6] The same year, Hans Vogelstein orchestrated the merger of the American Metal Company with the Climax Molybdenum Company. [2] [4] The new entity was renamed AMAX Inc., and Harold Hochschild retired as director. [2] [4] In 1959, Hans Vogelstein resigned and was replaced by Franklin Coolbaugh. [6] In 1993, AMAX merged with the Cyprus Mines Corporation to form Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, the world's leading producer of molybdenum and lithium and a leading producer of copper and coal. In 1999, Cyprus Amax Minerals was acquired by Phelps Dodge Corporation which in turn was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) in 2007 to form the world's largest copper producer. [7] [8]
The Cyprus Mines Corporation was an early twentieth century American mining company based in Cyprus. In 1914, Charles G. Gunther began prospecting in the Skouriotissa area after reading in ancient books that the island was rich in copper and noticing promising ancient Roman slag heaps in the area. The company was established in 1916 by Colonel Seeley W. Mudd, his son, Harvey Seeley Mudd, and mining engineer/business partner, Philip Wiseman, whose family, along with the Mudds, were the primary owners of Cyprus Mines until the early 1970s when it was sold to Amoco.
Metallgesellschaft AG was formerly one of Germany's largest industrial conglomerates based in Frankfurt. It had over 20,000 employees and revenues in excess of 10 billion US dollars. It had over 250 subsidiaries specializing in mining, specialty chemicals (Chemetall), commodity trading, financial services, and engineering (Lurgi). Henry Merton & Company, Ltd was previously a branch of the Metallgesellschaft.
Moritz (Mauricio) Hochschild was a leading mining industry businessman in the first half of the twentieth century. Along with Simón Iturri Patiño and Carlos Víctor Aramayo, he was one of the three so-called Bolivian tin barons. Additionally, he saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust by facilitating their legal admission to Bolivia.
Centerra Gold Inc. is a Canadian mining company that owns and operates the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Öksüt gold mine in Turkey. Through its Thompson Creek Metals subsidiary company, it also owns the Endako and Thompson Creek molybdenum mines in British Columbia and Idaho, respectively, though they have been inactive since Centerra's acquisition. The company formerly owned and operated the Kumtor Gold Mine in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Boroo Gold Mine in Mongolia. Headquartered in Toronto, Centerra Gold is a public company with shares traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
Wilhelm Ralph Merton was a prominent and influential German entrepreneur, social democrat, and philanthropist. Among his most notable accomplishments, he was a founder of the University of Frankfurt and Metallgesellschaft AG, which became the largest non-ferrous mining company in the world and the second largest company in Germany.
The Climax mine, located in Climax, Colorado, United States, is a major molybdenum mine in Lake and Summit counties, Colorado. Shipments from the mine began in 1915. At its highest output, the Climax mine was the largest molybdenum mine in the world, and for many years it supplied three quarters of the world's supply of molybdenum.
Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. was a full cycle mining company with acquisition, exploration, development, and operation in North America. The corporate office was located in Denver, Colorado. The company primarily produced copper, gold, and molybdenum. Over its history, the Company evolved from being a major primary molybdenum producer to becoming a copper and gold mining company with the construction and development of the Mount Milligan mine and concentrator in British Columbia, Canada. Mount Milligan was Thompson Creek Metals principal operation and the company owned 100% of this property. The company also owned 100% of its Thompson Creek Mine in Idaho. Thompson Creek Metals owned 75% joint venture interest in two other properties, including its Endako Mine in British Columbia, and its Langeloth Metallurgical Facility (roaster) in Pennsylvania. Thompson Creek Metals had additional development projects, including the Berg property in British Columbia.
The Mineral Park mine is a large open pit copper mine located in the Cerbat Mountains 14 miles northwest of Kingman, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. A 2013 report said that Mineral Park has an estimated reserves of 389 million tonnes of ore grading 0.14% copper and 31 million oz of silver.
The Cerro Verde mine is a very large copper mine located about 20 miles southwest of Arequipa, in southwestern Peru. Cerro Verde represents one of the largest copper reserves in Peru and in the world, having estimated reserves of 4.63 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.4% copper and 113.2 million oz of silver.
The Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST) was a mining Corporation which produced copper from the Copperbelt region of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.
Berthold Hochschild was a mining magnate, a founder of the American Metal Company, and a philanthropist.
Harold K. Hochschild was the president of the American Metal Company, a conservationist, a philanthropist, and the founder of the Adirondack Museum.
Walter Hochschild was an American industrialist, having spent 63 years as an executive with the American Metal Company, founded by his father, Berthold Hochschild. He became president of the company in 1950 and chairman and chief executive officer in 1957. He served as a trustee of the Museum of the City of New York for thirty years, and as a lifelong senior trustee of the United States Council of the International Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1947.
Molybdenum mining in the United States produced 65,500 metric tons of molybdenum in 2014, worth US$1.8 billion. The US was the world's second-largest molybdenum producer, after China, and provided 25% of the world's supply of molybdenum.
John Langeloth Loeb Sr. was an American investor and executive who served as president of Loeb, Rhoades & Company.
Carl Morris Loeb was a German-born American businessman who served as the president of the American Metal Company and the founder of Carl M. Loeb & Co, which became Loeb, Rhoades & Co. in 1938.
Zachary Hochschild was a German businessman, metal trader, and co-founder of Metallgesellschaft AG.
Cyprus Amax Minerals was a major US-based mining company formed in 1993 through the merger of AMAX with the Cyprus Minerals Company. It was one of the world's largest producers of Molybdenum and Lithium and a leading producer of copper and coal. It also produced iron ore and gold. It was acquired by the Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1999.
Sali Hochschild was a German-born Chilean businessman, the founder of Compania Minera y Comercial Sali Hochschild S.A., once one of the largest mining and mineral processing companies in Chile.
Hans Vogelstein resigned earlier this year as president of American Metals, - which merged with Climax Molybdenum in 1957. He remains as director of the firm.