22  MINERALS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY—1991 As this study goes to press,
there still ~ remains the threat of the loss of separate ~ trade reporting
for the 12 countries of the EC. It appears that plans call for a fairly prompt
reporting of EC trade with extraEC countries but a delayed reporting of intra-EC
country trade. This would appear to be undesirable from the viewpoint of
any single member country in the EC, for it would eliminate key statistics
in assessing the effects of membership in the EC on any single member state.
On the other hand, it must be recognized that a considerable cost accrues
as a result of maintaining reliable intra-EC trade data, and there will be
no tariffs or other charges being paid that could be regarded as offsetting
income. Hence, it becomes questionable as to whether the need for information
of this type justifies the cost of obtaining it to those countries that must
pay the bill. Clearly, if we are to continue to treat the EC countries as
12 separate entities, we will be unable to assess the minerals industry importance
of each country's minerals industry unless we can measure the trade between
them. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND 
SOURCES 
 
 For a study such as this, which summarizes and amalgamates much information
collected, compiled, and utilized by the numerous U.S. Bureau of Mines country
specialists and branch chiefs for inclusion in the country and regional reports
that comprise the five other sections of 1991 Minerals Yearbook-International
Review, it is clearly impossible to cite all sources of information used
in its presentation, but some recognition is due. 
 Generally speaking, this study and its related detailed studies on countries
and areas would be much more difficult, if not impossible, without the efforts
of the personnel of national mining and geological agencies throughout the
world. Information that they collect, compile, and then publish, either in
their own volumes or those of central statistical agencies in their countries,
are the 
foundations on which this work rests. Thus, appreciation is expressed to
the multitude of persons employed by these agencies. 
 At this point, it is appropriate to recognize some of the employees of the
Department of State Regional Resource Officers, and others who have ensured
that publications and other informational materials from the countries for
which they are responsible flow into the U.S. Bureau of Mines. 
 Next, acknowledgment must be given to Bureau country- and commodityspecialist
colleagues in the Division of International Minerals and the Division of
Mineral Commodities, respectively, who regularly process vast volumes of
material to glean from it the information aggregated herein. Special recognition
must also be given to the personnel of the International Data Section of
the Division of Statistics and Information Services who have painstakingly
compiled foreign trade information and coordinated the assembly of world
production data on the various commodities developed by the country specialists
in consultation with the Bureau's commodity specialists. 
 The work of the staffs of the Statistical Office of the UN as well as similar
offices in the OECD and the EC is acknowledged. These organizations provide
certain statistical aggregates that are beyond the financial and staff capabilities
of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. 
 Particular appreciation is due to the mineral statistics personnel of the
International Lead and Zinc Study Group; the International Nickel Study Group;
the French-based firm Metaleurop S.A. ; the German-based firm Metallgesellschaft
AG; the Italian-based firm Nuova Samim; and the World Bureau of Metal Statistics
in the United Kingdom. 
 Similarly, for their cooperative consultations relating to many mineral
commodities not only in their own countries but in other world areas as well,
special individual acknowledgement must be given to the internationally oriented
personnel of the British Geological Survey and to Canada's Ministry of Energy,
Mines, and Resources Canada. 
 The cooperative (collegial) sharing of information by the Metal Mining Agency
of Japan, the Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources of Germany,
and the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research of France is also gratefully
acknowledged.