U6 UC-NRLF 4fi SDE UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION, WASHINGTON INFORMATION CONCERNIN GRAPHITE PRINTED FOR USE OF COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION, WASHINGTON INFORMATION CONCERNING GRAPHITE PRINTED FOR USE OF COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MUANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. JOSEPH W. FORDNEY, Michigan, Chairman. J. HAMPTON MOORE, Pennsylvania. CHARLES B. TIMBERLAKE, Colorado. WILLIAM R. GREEN, Iowa. GEORGE M. BOWERS, West Virginia. NICHOLAS LONGWORTH, Ohio. CLAUDE KITCHIN, North Carolina. WILLIS C. HA WLEY, Oregon. HENRY T. RAINEY, Illinois. ALLEN T. TREADWAY, Massachusetts. CORDELL HULL, Tennessee. IRA C. COPLEY, Illinois. JOHN M. GARNER, Texas. LUTHER W. MOTT, New York. JAMES W. COLLIER, Mississippi. GEORGE M. YOUNG, North Dakota. CLEMENT C. DICKINSON, Missouri. JAMES A. FREAR, Wisconsin. WILLIAM A. OLDFIELD, Arkansas. JOHN Q. TILSON, Connecticut. CHARLES R. CRISP, Georgia. ISAAC BACHARACH, New Jersey. JOHN F. CAREW, New York. LINDLEY H. HADLEY, Washington. WHITMELL P. MARTIN, Louisiana. ERNEST W. CAMP, Clerk. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION, Washington, September 26, 1919. The COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, House of Representatives: I have the honor to transmit herewith, in accordance with your request, information compiled by the United States Tariff Commis- sion on graphite. Very respectfully, THOMAS WALKER PAGE, Acting Chairman. 478681 CONTENTS. Page Introductory statement 7 General information 9 Description and uses 9 General 9 Special uses 9 Domestic versus foreign grades 10 Substitutes 11 Occurrence 11 Production 11 Domestic production 12 Quantity 12 Milling methods and processes 13 Resources 14 Equipment 14 Localities of production 14 Alabama 15 New York 15 Other States 15 Production versus consumption 16 Domestic exports 16 Artificial graphite 17 Costs 17 Foreign production 18 Ceylon 18 Madagascar 18 Austna 18 Germany 19 Other countries 19 Imports 21 Prices 22 Competitive conditions 24 Tariff history 26 Court and Treasury decisions 26 Bibliography 27 Graphite producers by States (1917) 27 5 GRAPHITE. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. In the graphite industry interest centers in the material capable of being made into crucibles the crystalline variety of the mineral. Its most important use is in the manufacture of crucibles for the melting of steel, brass and other metals and alloys, and it thus- became a mineral of vital importance during the war. In addition to its use in crucibles, it has a wide variety of industrial applications, for which a lower grade the amorphous variety is adapted. An artificial graphite made in the electric furnace is suitable for many of the minor uses. The crystalline graphite for the American crucible trade has in the past been almost entirely imported, coming from Ceylon, the world's main source of supply prior to the heavy demands of the war period. Recently Madagascar graphite has been replacing Ceylon material in the European mar- kets, and American crucible makers have had considerable success, both in mixing up to 40 per cent of the domestic flake with Ceylon material and in utilizing 100 per cent Alabama flake. Although experiencing a great, stimulation of its graphite industry during the curtailment of imports from overseas in 1917-18, the United States is not yet independent in the matter of crucible graphite 15,000 tons of which are required per year. We produce, from deposits in Montana, Alabama, Pennsylvania, New York, Alaska, and Texas some 3,500 tons of flake (or crystalline) annually, of a grade inferior to Ceylon but similar to Madagascar flake. There are large undeveloped reserves of flake graphite in the United States carrying 5 per cent of the mineral. The Ceylon and Madagascar deposits contain 50 per cent or more. The flake graphite supply in normal times may come from Madagascar, but we can be fairly independent in case of necessity through the stimulation of graphite mining in this country. Low grade amorphous graphite is abundant in the United States. An excellent grade of amorphous material is available from Mexican deposits owned by a United States graphite company. An extensive domestic development of amorphous mineral has never been profit- able on account of this cheap Mexican material. The growth of the industry in this country has been greatest in Alabama, which State produced 59 per cent of the quantity and 66 per cent of the value of the total domestic output in 1917. The production doubled in 1916, and there was a further increase of 50 per cent in 1917. Notwithstanding shipping difficulties, imports also increased. About one-sixth of the American consumption in 1916 was of domestic origin. In 1917 the proportion had increased to about one-fourth, and in 1918 to about two-fifths. Since the signing of the armistice, something of a collapse in domestic produc- tion of crystalline graphite has occurred. 8 GRAPHITE. The total requirements of the country for 1919 have been estimated at not over 30,000 tons, of which 50 per cent will be crystalline and 50 per cent amorphous. Of the crystalline only about 15 per cent is expected from domestic deposits; of the amorphous about 45 per cent. With the rumor of prospective tariff legislation and the resumption of more normal shipping conditions, the pressure of foreign material has increased. Consumers are accumulating im- ported stocks and domestic producers are being correspondingly restricted. Summary table. 1 Calendar year. Domestic produc- tion, in short tons. Imports for con- sumption, in short tons. Do- mestic exports, hi short tons. Ratio to production (percent). Value.' Amount of duty. Value short ton. Equiva- lent ad valorem rate. Im- ports. Ex- ports. 1910 4,202 3,618 3,835 4,775 4,335 4,718 8,088 13, 593 12,991 25,235 20, 702 25,643 28, 879 21,990 23,075 42, 930 42. 577 19,498 ( 2 ) $30 2,692 1,960 529 798 2,573 954 600.5 572.2 668.5 604.7 507.2 489.0 530.9 312.5 150.0 $1,872,592 1,495,729 1,709,337 2, 109, 791 1,398,209 2,241,163 7, 279, 884 8,961,988 3, 092, 475 Free ...do.... ...do.... ...do.... ...do.... do. $74. 20 72.28 66.64 73.07 63.59 97.09 169. 50 210.50 158.51 Free. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. 1911 "58." is" 56.37 45.22 11.21 9.87 18.92 7.32 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916.. ...do.... ...do.... ...do.... 1917 1918 1 Includes both crystalline and amorphous grades, but not artificial graphite. 2 Included in "All other" prior to 1912. 3 Imports for consumption. The prices of imported graphite doubled in the early years of the war. The price of domestic flake increased correspondingly. At the war level (10 to 15 cents per pound) domestic mines were able to operate at a small profit, but the average cost of the best flake is close to 10 cents, as compared with about 4 to 8 cents per pound for the Madagascar product at New York. x i Shelley, J. W., Graphite in Madagascar: Mining Magazine, vol. 14, p. 327, 1916. Prewar cost, Alabama flake, reported by Joseph Dixon Crucible Co., as 3 to 4 cents per pound. GENERAL INFORMATION. DESCRIPTION AND USES. GENERAL. Graphite is a soft, black, greasy form of carbon. It occurs in nature in two forms, crystalline and amorphous, each having its own peculiar uses. Artificial graphite, made from coal or other car- bonaceous material in an electric furnace, is to a certain extent a competitor of the natural amorphous product. It is even better suited for certain purposes, notably in the manufacture of graphite electrodes, the demand for which has greatly increased on account of the rapid growth of electrochemical industries. 1 Graphite also goes by the names ''plumbago' and ^ black lead." Crystalline graphite is commonly understood to mean graphite in crystals large enough to be seen with the naked eye. ]t is used in the manufacture of crucibles, as a lubricant, in paints, foundry facings, batteries, and stove polish. Amorphous graphite, while frequently showing a crystalline struc- ture under the microscope, is a trade name applied to amorphous or very fine-grained graphite of varying degrees of purity. It is used for foundry facings, as a lubricant, in pencils (black lead), paints, high explosives, boiler compounds, electrodes, dry batteries, and shoe and stove polishes. Flake graphite is crystalline graphite produced in flakes or scales, while vein graphite is crystalline graphite in other forms, such as lump, chip, and dust. The chief supply of high-grade crystalline graphite comes from Ceylon, and this is the standard grade of crystal- line product. SPECIAL USES. (a) Crucibles, retorts, stoppers. Demand for graphite crucibles comes from the makers of crucible steel and of various nonferrous metal and alloy castings. Crucible makers are the largest consumers of graphite. The material must be of high grade, either lump or chip, flake or vein, containing at least 85 per cent graphitic carbon and free from easily fused impurities. (6) Lubricants. Both crystalline and amorphous are used. Should be free from silica (sand). (c) Foundry facings. Chiefly amorphous. High-grade material is not required. Artificial graphite is also used to a considerable extent. (d) Pencils. For better grades, mixtures of crystalline and amor- phous are needed. For poorer grades, amorphous is used alone. Artificial graphite may be, but rarely is, used for this purpose. (e) Polish for smokeless powder. Amorphous ; relatively small con- sumption. (Used to make the grains flow better and permit moro accurate filling of shells.) 1 Artificial graphite, if imported, would doubtless be dutiable under par. 81, act of 1913, as carbon. 9 10 ' 'GRAPHITE. (/) Electrodes. Artificial is considered most suitable. Products are usually formed from powdered amorphous carbon (e. g., anthracite coal) and "graphitized in an electric furnace. (g) Boiler compounds. Pure material not essential. Either amorphous or artificial. Used for preventing hard scale. (h) Paints. Amorphous, artificial, or crystalline. High-grade material not necessary. (i) Stove and shoe polish. Chiefly amorphous. (j) Dry-lattery fillers. Either amorphous, artificial, or crystalline. Pure material required, but size of grain not a factor (fc) Fertilizer filler. Low-grade amorphous. Used only as an adulterant and to give the required dark color. DOMESTIC VERSUS FOREIGN GRADES. Since crucible making is by far the most important use of graphite, the adaptability of the different grades for making crucibles is the determining factor in quality. Most makers of crucibles have here- tofore preferred Ceylon flake mixed with from 10 to 25 per cent of American flake. The principal reason assigned for preferring the Ceylon flake is that the flat flake of the domestic graphite has a far greater surface area in proportion to its volume than the more nearly cubical Ceylon flake, and hence requires a greater amount of clay as a binder. 1 Improved finishing methods may permit the use of a larger proportion of American graphite, and during the war period crucible manufacturers were required to use at least 20 per cent of domestic flake in all crucibles. For most purposes, other than crucible manufacture, amorphous graphite can be used and the American product, when properly cleaned, is as good as the im- ported. Crystalline varieties, however, with flakes large enough to add to the binding power of clay are essential to the making of good crucibles and for high-temperature work the proportion of clay should be very low. For such purposes the domestic product here- tofore has not been considered as satisfactory as the Ceylon. How- ever it has recently come into greater favor. 2 Foreign crucible makers, are using 100 per cent Madagascar flake, which differs little in quality from the domestic flake. Estimated percentage (by quantity) of the world's graphite consumption used for various purposes* Per cent of total. Crucibles 55 Stove polish 15 Foundry facings 10 Lead pencils 5 Paint 5 Lubricants 5 All other uses 5 Total 100 1 Somedi ificulty was experienced after the outbreak of the war in finding a domestic clay to take the place of the Bavarian clay formerly used, but domestic clays have been found and satisfactory crucibles ha veoeen made from domestic clay and 100 per cent domestic graphite. 2 As high as 100 per cent has been successfully used. (Dr. Stull, Jour. Am. Cer. Society, Michigan, 1919.) 3 E. S. Bastin, Mineral Resources, 1913. If value rather than quantity is considered, about 75 per cent of the world's consumption should be credited to crucibles. CRAPHITE. 11 SUBSTITUTES. Artificial graphite can be used for certain purposes in place of amorphous graphite and crystalline dust. There is no present sub- stitute for flake graphite in the making of crucibles, although experi- ments along the line of artificial graphite may evolve a satisfactory product. In this connection should be considered the possibility of substituting electric or open-flame furnaces for crucibles for the purposes for which the latter are now used. There has been some progress in this direction but not enough to keep pace with the growth in the production of alloy steel, brass, and other products. Mica is used to some extent in lubricants, but is much inferior. The same may be said of talc. The latter, however, is a partial substitute for graphite in foundry work. Blast-furnace "kish" (graphite that separates from pig iron when it solidifies) offers undeveloped possibilities as a substitute for flake as a lubricant. There are numerous satisfactory boiler compounds that contain no graphite. Lampblack is used instead of graphite in paints and polishes. OCCURRENCE. Amorphous graphite may occur wherever coal or other carbona- ceous beds have been folded and altered by geological agencies. Crystalline graphite is found in two principal types of deposits (1) as flakes in schist and (2) as larger crystals in veins. The second is of rather rare occurrence, but since it yields the most valuable kind of flake for crucible manufacture it is important. Vein deposits, however, almost invariably are found only in association with graphitic sediments containing the ordinary flake variety. PRODUCTION. Any general statement^ in regard to production are complicated by the difference in the quality of the different supplies. Data based solely on either quantity of production or on value give little indication of the relative importance of the various sources of supnly. In normal times Austria is the leading graphite producing country as regards quantity, producing in 1913 nearly twice as much graphite as Ceylon, the second largest producer. The value of the Ceylon product, however, was nearly seven times as great, and this British-owned island is the largest producer of high-grade crucible graphite in the world. Kecently, the French island of Madagascar has come forward as a rival producer of crystalline material. The quality of the product is a little different from that of Ceylon. It is not satisfactory to domestic crucible makers, but is preferred abroad because of its low price. Less satisfactory supplies are available in many countries, notably Bavaria, Canada, and Japan. Amorphous graphite is much more widely distributed than the crystalline variety, being produced in about 20 countries. The largest producers are Austria, Italy, Chosen, and Mexico. Certain deposits have been found better suited for special uses, but most countries are satisfied with near-by supplies, and this raw material is relatively unimportant compared with the high-grade flake product. 12 GRAPHITE. The following estimate of probable annual production was pre- pared by the United States Shipping Board (1918) : l 1. PRODUCTION OF CRYSTALLINE GRAPHITE. 2 Madagascar 35,000 tons, increasing. Bavaria 12,000 tons, poorer grade. United States 10,000 tons! Ceylon 30,000 tons, likely to decrease. Norway 1,000 tons. Sweden 200 tons. Japan 1,000 tons. Transvaal 200 tons. Canada 4,000 tons. Brazn land ; :::::::::;;:: : : : Imported iar ge deposits. German Southwest Africa None likely to develop largely. Baffin Island Small amount produced recently. Indian Island. Once abandoned, small production. England Worlred out. Rumania Recent important discoveries reported. Spain Deposits being developed. 2. PRODUCTION OF AMORPHOUS GRAPHITE. Austria 50,000 tons. Italy 13,000 tons. France 1,000 tons. Spain .1,500 tons. Chosen (Korea) 20,000 tons. Siberia Large uncertain amount available. United States 6,000-8,000 tons manufactured. Mexico 8,000 tons. Rhodesia Local supply only. Brazil ..) Queensland } Some ' DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. QUANTITY. The actual mine production of domestic crystalline graphite in 1917 was the largest in the history of the industry, amounting to approximately 14,000,000 pounds. (Only 10,584,080 pounds, how- ever, were marketed in that year.) This production compares with an output of about 10,900,000 pounds in 1916 and a normal prewar production (average of six years) of only a trifle more than 5,000,000 pounds and reflects the great stimulation in demand for crucibles resulting from the war. Production in the first nine months of 1918 actually exceeded that for the entire year 1917. At the end of the year, however, after the signing of the armistice, production was on a much reduced scale. In New York State, and intermittently in Pennsylvania, graphite has been mined for many years, and in 1913 Alabama became an important factor in the domestic output. But the domestic produc- tion was comparatively small in quantity and much smaller compara- tively in value, as chiefly lower grades were produced. The growth in 1916 was over 100 per cent and in 1918 the output was more than treble the prewar average. 1 Ferguson and Grout, Political and Commercial Control Series No. 2. * "Only Madagascar flake, Ceylon grades, and Alabama or domestic flake No. 1 (which last is not more GRAPHITE. 13 Estimates furnished the Geological Survey by producers indicate that about 64 per cent by weight and 90 per cent by value of the total crystalline graphite marketed in 1917 was flake graphite, con- taining from 80 to 90 per cent graphitic carbon and in large part suitable for crucible making. This is a much higher percentage of flake than has been produced in any previous year. The increase may in large measure be attributed to improvements in processes of "ore" treatment. The production of amorphous graphite during 1917 was 8,301 tons, valued at $73,481, as compared with 2,622 tons, valued at $30,723, in 1916, and a normal prewar output (average of five years) of only about 1,700 tons. As amorphous graphite is not suitable for making crucibles, there was not so marked an increase in the demand for it and the production had to meet the competition of both crystalline dust (a by-product in the preparation of crucible flake) and artificial graphite. Production in the United States. 1 Year. Natural. Artificial. Crystalline. Amorphous. Total. Short tons. Value. Short tons. Value. Short tons. Value. Short tons. Value. 1909 3,147 2,795 2,395 1,772 2,532 2,610 3,537 5,466 5,292 6,431 $313,271 295,733 256,050 187,689 254,328 285,368 417, 273 914,748 1,094,398 1,454,799 25,096 1,407 1,223 2,063 2,243 1,725 1,181 2,622 8,301 6,560 $32,238 39, 710 32,415 32, 894 39, 428 38,750 12,538 20, 723 73, 481 69,455 2 8, 243 4,202 3,618 3,835 4,775 4,335 4,718 8,088 13,593 12,991 $345, 509 335, 443 288, 465 220,583 293,756 324, 118 429, 811 3 935, 471 31,167,879 31,524,254 3,435 6,575 5,072 6,448 6,817 5,228 2,790 4,461 5,237 4,591 $467, 196 945,000 664,000 830, 193 973,397 698,800 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1 Marketed production as reported to United States Geological Survey. * Includes Georgia graphitic slate. 3 Powdered graphite only; does not include electrode material after 1914. MILLING METHODS AND PROCESSES. There is no established method of recovering graphite from the containing rock. There are almost as many processes as there are mills. Most methods of treatment, however, take advantage of the tendency of the light, greasy flaKes to float on a surface of water sometimes, though more often otherwise, according to oil flotation methods similar to those employed for treatment of metallic ores. The degree of fineness to which the ore must be crushed depends upon the character of the flake. Huff electrostatic treatment Has been very successful as a finishing process and is sometimes used as a primary method of treatment. A detailed study of the various proc- esses (a copy of which is available in the auxiliary file of the Tariff Commission) has been made by the Bureau of Mines. Marked im- provements are now (1918-19) being made in processes of treatment, out, since the greatest development of the industry has come only in the last two years, there are few plants where operating difficulties are not experienced. GRAPHITE. RESOURCES. Domestic supplies of graphite are large and capable of further development, but heretofore for the most part the flaxe has not been considered of as desirable quality as the imported material for crucible manufacture. The domestic deposits are mostly schists which contain the graphite in small flakes disseminated through the rocK. The separation of the valuable material from the accompany- ing minerals, notably mica, is more difficult and expensi/e than is the case in some other countries. Tne grade of domestic deposits that have been successfully operated varies from 3 to 10 per cent and averages about 5 per cent of recoverable flake graphite. Amor- phous graphite deposits must generally be of higher grade because of the lower value of the separated product. EQUIPMENT. A plant in the Alabama field capable of treating 10 tons of rock per hour costs from $35,000 to $60,000; a refining or finisning plant costing from $5,000 to $10,000 may also be needed. On the other hand, there are simple log-washing ^plants containing, in addition to ordinary crushing machinery, only home-made devices whose cost is very small. On certain classes of material, the cheap plants do ex- ceptionally good work, but their field is limited. LOCALITIES OF PRODUCTION. The greater portion of the domestic output of crystalline graphite conies irom Alabama. The remainder comes largely from New York and Pennsylvania, although small quantities were produced in Cali- fornia, Montana, and Texas in 1918. The productions of crystalline graphite in 1916 and 1917 are shown in the following table: Crystalline graphite sold in the United States, 1916 and /9/7. 1 1916 1917 Quantity (pounds). Value. No. 1 and No. 2 flake (pounds). Other grades (pounds). Total. Quantity (pounds). Value. Alabama. 5,226.940 ( 2 ) 1. 095, 716 4,609,333 $492, 407 $ 103,377 318,964 4,295,233 1,656,897 549,783 315,000 1,927,862 1,284,143 255, 162 300,000 6,223,095 2,941,040 804,945 615,000 $719,575 261,548 77, 475 35,800 New York Pennsylvania Other 'States 3 10,931,989 914, 748 6,816,913 3,767,167 10,584,080 1,094,398 1 Mineral Resources, U. S. Geological Survey. 2 Included in " Other States." 1916: California, Montana, New York, and Texas; 1917: Alaska, California, Montana, and Texas. Amorphous graphite was produced by six mines in 1917, as against five mines in 1916. The producing States were Colorado, Michigan,' Nevada, and Rhode Island, On account of the small number of. plants, productions by States may not be published, although they are recorded in the confidential files of the Geological Survey. GRAPHITE. 15 Alabama is credited with 59 per cent of the quantity and 66 per cent of the value of the domestic crystalline graphite sold in the United Spates in 1917. The output was worth three times that of 1913. In December, 1918, 30 plants were operating and the produc- tion for the year promised to greatly exceed that of 1917. The num- ber of idle and abandoned mines was even greater. Only six of the plants were actually operating full time. Alabama ores do not contain amorphous graphite. All of the operating companies operate open pits. Only the upper 30 to 60 feet of the material is being mined. This consists of the decomposed (weathered) horizon and is normally rather soft and easily broken. The underlying unaltered "blue rock" is hard and since it is expensive to mine it is not worked. The average Alabama ore is very low grade, containing only about 2^ per cent of graphitic carbon, but the accessibility and compara- tively even grade of the deposits make them the most important in the United States. The aim in concentrating is to produce as much No. 1 flake as possible (analyzing 85 per cent graphitic carbon and remaining on a No. 8 silk cloth of 86 mesh). No. 2 flake (analyzing 75 to 80 per cent graphitic carbon and finer than No. 1 flake) is a by-product grade that is difficult to dispose of, while "dust" (containing 30 per cent or more graphitic carbon) is a drug on the market. The production in Alabama plants varies from 4^ to 8 pounds of No. 1 flake per man per hour. The average is esti- mated at about 6 pounds per man-hour, figured on the total num- ber of men and officials employed. Proportional amounts (about 2 pounds) of No. 2 and dust are made in addition. New York is the oldest producing State, graphite mining having started about 60 years ago. The ore is much higher grade than that of Alabama, averaging 4 to 6 per cent graphitic carbon and yields a cleaner, brighter flake. As a rule it is harder and more resembles the undecomposed AJabama "blue rock." Most of the ore comes from underground mines, power drills being used. In thickness the deposits average about 15 feet and seldom exceed 25 feet. There were three active producers in 1917-18. One or two other companies were prospecting. Pennsylvania has five operators. The ore, with one exception, is a soft weathered schist, and contains from 3^ to 4^ per cent graphitic carbon. Several of the producers make an unrefined con- centrate analyzing 60 to 70 per cent graphitic carbon. It is sold to an eastern refiner. The number of operators in other States for 1917-18 were as follows: Alaska, 1; California, 1; Montana, 4; and Texas, 1. The deposits in these States have been described in detail in various publications of the United States Geological Survey. Most of these deposits are higher grade than those in Alabama but more difficult to mine. The recovery of flake is generally low since amorphous graphite is also present. The flake is small, and the rock hard, so that a large amount of the flake is destroyed in crushing. One Montana vein deposit warrants special mention. This product although somewhat softer, most nearly resembles the Ceylon variety. So far the output has been small. 16 GRAPHITE. PRODUCTION VERSUS CONSUMPTION. The United States has heretofore not been considered independent in the matter of crucible graphite. Crucible makers have insisted on having Ceylon graphite, using some 15,000 tons a year. 1 The domestic output of flake has never exceeded the 1918 output of 6,431 tons. The request of the War Industries Board that, as a war measure for ship saving, the makers of crucibles should use 20 per cent of domestic flake graphite during the second half of 1918, estab- lished a market for domestic flake. During the last two years of the war, imports of graphite were eight times the domestic production. In the last few months of the war domestic production had increased to a point at which it was supplying over one-third the demand for graphite of all grades. There has been a larger degree of independence in the matter of amorphous graphite of which the consumption is in the neighborhood of 15,000 tons annually. Practically all of this can be furnished from domestic sources, including both natural and artificial, but American- owned mines in Mexico and Canada were drawn upon to some extent. DOMESTIC EXPORTS. In spite of the large importations of graphite, both unmanufactured graphite and manufactures of graphite have been consistently ex- ported from the United States. Previous to the war, the amount of unmanufactured exported ranged from 3,000,000 to 6, 000, 000 pounds annually, averaging (for the five years preceding the war) 4,221,000 pounds. From 1914 to 1916 there was a considerable increase in the exports of manufactured articles and a marked falling off in the exports of the crude material. But in 1917 the situation was reversed and the export of crude graphite returned to the prewar level while the amount of graphite manufactures decreased about one- third. In 1918 graphite in any form was on the export con- servation list and exports were not permitted except by special license from the War Trade Board. Domestic exports. GRAPHITE (UNMANUFACTURED). [Fiscal years.] 18 10 19 11 19 12 Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. Belgium 629. 478 $41,542 675, 129 $56, 848 910, 526 $66, 277 France 409 234 26 846 482 500 32,286 385 412 26,083 Germany 1,127,178 82, 851 1,252,802 96,376 1,265,456 98,370 Netherlands .. 8.627 613 335,383 27, 443 271,422 20,754 United Kingdom 613 588 38 298 729 371 37 852 473, 110 32,261 Cinada.... 131,357 4,382 46,796 2,327 176,050 8,230 All other 346 270 24,955 499,147 37,783 453,908 33,622 Total 3,265,732 219, 487 4,021,128 290,915 3, 935, 884 285,597 1 There is, however, one deposit in Montana which has lately been producing graphite that is being accepted by crucible makers as equal to the Ceylon material. The quantity ultimately available has not been proved, but is believed by the operators (letters in auxiliary files, U. S. Tariff Commission) to be sufficient to supply domestic demands for many years to come. Alabama flake is also accepted by certain companies as satisfactory crucible material, and has shown even superior results in crucible tests reported by Dr. Stull in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, March, 1919. GRAPHITE. 17 Domestic exports Continued. GRAPHITE (UNMANUFACTURED) Continued. 19 13 19 14 19 15 , Exported to Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. Belgium .... 699,046 $52,997 930,977 $65,853 221,088 $16,783 692 457 48,522 285, 870 17,903 394,002 31,487 Germany 1,057,799 82,144 2,082,464 164,648 376 30 Netherlands 241,696 20, 518 485,406 38,129 769,914 49,888 United Kingdom 992,375 64,346 1,064,050 69,808 486,409 30,436 Canada ... 250,704 10,630 346,147 16,939 171,367 8,698 All other 569,492 42, 522 181,966 13, 795 280,925 15, 124 Total 4,503,569 321,679 5,376,880 387,075 2,324,081 152, 446 19 16 19 17 19 18 Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. Pounds. Value. France 133,014 $6,540 418,954 $28,969 1,059,712 $70, 037 Netherlands 20 863 1 090 United Kingdom 308,420 15,989 1,003,903 69,628 2,187,535 147,591 Canada 220, 141 9,539 607, 176 26,742 566, 492 29,833 Allother 254,431 13,749 470,024 37,994 1,098,991 83,908 Total 936 869 46 907 2 500 057 163 333 4 912 730 331 369 ARTIFICIAL GRAPHITE. Artificial graphite is made by a large company at Niagara Falls, N. Y. The output has increased greatly in recent years and now forms an important element in the country's supply. Bulk graphite is made either from anthracite coal or from petroleum coke. This product, utilized mainly for foundry facings, lubricants, paints, boiler compounds, and battery fillers, enters into direct com- petition with the amorphous or "dust" grades of natural graphite. The most important use of artificial graphite, however, is in elec- trodes for electric furnaces, and to the extent that the latter are dis- placing crucibles this source of graphite may be said to add to the domestic resources. Graphite electrodes are generally made without admixture of natural graphite and are employed in most electric steel furnaces, for the production of aluminum, and in various electrochemical industries. Many of the larger consumers manufac- ture their own electrodes. COSTS. The Tariff Commission has, as yet, made no independent investi- gation of costs. However, it is known that operating costs in all the domestic mining districts are high. At present (1918-19) they are said to range from 6 to 14 cents per pound, with an average of 10 cents per pound of No. 1 flake. 1 In ascertaining costs, the No. 1 flake is charged with the whole operating expense and credited with the income received from the sale of by-product No. 2 flake and dust. 1 George D. Dub, Preparation of Crucible Graphite. Bureau of Mines, War Minerals Investigation Series, p. 22. 14002519 2 1 8 GRAPHITE. In these costs no allowance has been made for depletion and de- preciation. Making these allowances would perhaps add 1 or 2 cents per pound. The wide range between the upper and lower limits of domestic costs as estimated above reflects differences in efficiency at the various plants more than it does varying grades of the ore; although the latter is, of course, a factor. Transportation difficulties, especially in the Alabama field, are also an important feature and serve to raise the costs in that State in spite of the comparative cheapness of mining and crushing the crude material. FOREIGN PRODUCTION. Ceylon. Since 1901 the United States has been the largest con- sumer of Ceylon graphite. In 1917 this country took 81 per cent of the total output. In normal times about two-thirds of it is allowed by the British Government to go to American crucible manu- facturers who, because of its peculiar quality of flake, have been willing to pay a much higher price than for any other raw graphite. The Ceylon deposits are believed, however, to be approaching exhaustion. Most of the mines are operated by native Singhalese. About 50,000 persons men, women, and children are employed in graphite pro- duction, which, next to tea, is the most important industry of the island. The work is done almost exclusively by hand. The care there given each tiny fragment of material is possible in a country where native labor is exceptionally cheap and abundant. 1 Madagascar. This African island probably has the world's best future supplies of flake graphite. The deposits are large, conveniently situated, remarkably rich containing 50 per cent or more of graph- ite and are capable of greatly increased production. From 1914 to 1917 the output trebled. Anticipating the decline in production from Ceylon, British crucible makers as well as the French now ob- tain their graphite supplies from Madagascar. Madagascar plumbago is of increasing importance in the United States, but the Madagascar flake is more like the domestic flake than is the Ceylon lump. 2 Austria. In normal times Austria has been the largest producer of graphite, as regards quantity. The producing districts in order of importance are Bohemia, Styria, Moravia, and lower Austria. The 1 The Ceylonese graphite industry has been described at length by Bastin. (Econ. Geology, vol. 7.) The following notes are based on his work: The mining is both by open pit and through vertical shafts, the latter being rarely over 100 feet deep, although a few extend to depths of 400 to 500 feet. Hoisting from even the deeper shafts is done almost wholly by hand, using windlasses. The important deposits are veins consisting almost wholly of graphite- Quartz and pyrite are the only accessory minerals at all com- mon, and they are present in generally minor amounts. The mineral, as it comes to the surface, however, may contain as much as 50 per cent of impurities, due to admixture of wall rock. The impurities are reduced to 5 or 10 per cent by hand picking at the mines and then the crude product is shipped to the coast. At the ports the material is further treated or "cured." This seems to be a strange process, varying in detail at the different "compounds" (yards), but it consists essentially of screening and hand sorting. Women chop up the larger lumps with little hatchets, pick out the coarser impurities by hand , and then polish the pure material with wet burlap. The last operation is the blending of the various grades from severalfoines in order to meet the requirements of purchasers a process demand- ing skill and long experience. roorer material is beaten to a powder and sorted. In some places it is washed by hand (the graphite floating off into the tub or pit of water, leaving the heavy impurities in the saucerlike basket used for "panning"). Another process, used for very fine material, is to throw it up in the air. The heavier par- ticles are caught in a basket (shaped like a dustpan), while the graphite is blown forward and falls on the floor. * Madagascar deposits and methods of mining are described in detail by Bastin (Mineral Resources, 1913. Vol. II) and in other publications that are available in the auxiliary files of the United Stales Tariff Commission. GRAPHITE. 19 product, however, is almost exclusively of the amorphous variety. Before the war a large part of the output was exported chiefly for making pencils. Overproduction has made it possible at times to buy the Austrian product in the United States below cost. Germany (Bavaria}. The German supply of graphite comes from Passau near the Austrian frontier, is of the flake variety, and found in decomposed schist. It was formerly used largely in the manu- facture of crucibles, but before the war German crucible manufac- turers used a large amount of Ceylon graphite. Other countries. Since the exclusion of Austria from outside markets, Mexico, Chosen, and Italy have been the principal sources of amorphous graphite. The Mexican product is of excellent grade and is available in large amounts. The largest productive deposit is owned by a graphite company in Saginaw, Mich, (who ship the crude ore from Mexico to Michigan for separation). Ameri- can capital is interested in most of the other Mexican producing properties and also in Canada and Chosen (Korea). The product of the latter country, however (consisting largely of amorphous but with some flake), has been largely shipped to England during the war period. The Canadian flake is similar to the American, but most of the properties produce only one-half as much flake as dust. About 25 per cent of the product is large flake, and a large part of the remainder must be sold at a reduced price as ' 'foundry plumbago/' Italy has become a less important producer of amorphous graphite since the war. The American market has been lost, so the product is largely exported to England and France. Aside from the above-mentioned countries, though graphite deposits have been opened in various parts of the world, none has become of more than local importance. Roumania and Japan appear to have promising deposits of flake material that may enter the world market. Production in principal foreign countries. 1 [Short tons.] Countries. 19 07 19 08 19 09 Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Austria 53 013 $387, 930 48 970 $349. 118 44,875 $320, 289 Canada 579 16 000 251 5 565 863 45 999 Ceylon 36 406 2,889,596 28, 916 2, 593, 160 36,056 3,237,751 France 138 1 206 Germany. . , 4,409 47. 671 5,340 60,264 7,467 64,724 India.... 2 725 35 949 3 218 69 814 3 508 60,972 Italy 12. 125 61,374 14, 235 71,758 12,768 71,148 Japan 115 5 222 195 8 592 136 5 290 Mexico 3,530 54,339 1,742 28, 426 1,878 25,301 Norway. . 1 543 14 974 1 192 13 005 Sweden 36 946 73 2,046 29 779 Queensland . . 34 965 22 292 Total 114, 653 3, 516, 172 104, 154 3, 202, 040 107,580 3.832.253 Mines and Quarries: General Report and Statistics for 1909, pt. 4, London. 20 GRAPHITE. Production in principal foreign countries Continued. 1< 110 1< 11 1< 12 Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Austria 36,520 $281,220 46,855 $332, 489 50 017 $378 867 Canada 1^392 74,083 1,269 69,576 2,059 117,117 Ceylon 1 35,310 2,577,600 30,183 2,159,529 36 660 2 707 973 China 22 1 728 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) Chosen 56,719 1 65, 727 82, 108 France 606 5,353 408 3 601 661 1 635 Germany 8,174 76,404 12,454 72,754 13,814 81,514 India ' 4,761 99,661 4,533 45, 867 () (j) Italy 13,790 74,808 13,912 74,701 14,517 77,236 japan 162 5,202 126 8,911 163 10 935 Madagascar 601 21,218 1,373 48 534 3 Oil 239 291 Mexico 2,571 36,207 3,050 36,353 3,158 96 668 Norway * 882 8,575 285 1 898 Sweden 1 526 1 844 72 2 097 87 2 535 South Africa.. 40 6,755 44 6,365 42 5*621 Russia t ( 2 ) ( 2 ) () (8) (2) ( 2 ) Total 106,335 3 325 649 114 301 2 928 232 124 474 3 803 398 19 13 19 14 19 15 Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Austria 54 501 $412 745 (2) (2) (2) (2) Canada 2,162 90,282 1,647 $107, 203 2,635 $124 233 Ceylon 1 28 540 2 935 529 15 929 1 142 000 24 436 2 568 434 1 10 264 ( 3 ) i 12 000 (3) 7 767 101 141 France 1,194 3,441 (2) (2) (*) (2)' Germany ... 13 263 63 308 (*) (2) (2) (2) India 78 769 1,476 7 304 Italy 12 282 65 790 9 441 4 50 000 6 793 4 33 000 773 8 116 389 632 a 156 000 (S) (2) Madagascar 6,958 4 423, 000 8,540 4 536, 000 13 060 4 686 000 Mexico 1 4 435 198 000 4 259 190 075 1 680 75 000 Sweden 97 2,831 62 1,813 87 (2) South Africa 39 6 117 (2) (2) 46 5 856 Australia 38 4,718 77 144 33 4 2 000 Total 134, 508 4, 317, 432 52, 626 2,188,578 58,090 3,504,112 * 19 16 19 17 19 18 Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Austria (j) CO (2) (2) Canada 3,971 $285,362 3,714 $402,892 3,114 $248,970 Ceylon l 37.420 7 298 128 ( 2 ) (2) 17,307 2,685 000 Chosen 1 18 704 4 243 000 () ! 2 ) France (2) (3) (*) ) (2) (I) (2) 2) India . . . 1,476 7,304 (2) (*) Italy 9,017 (*) (') () Japan 1 261 25,903 (*) (2) 28,080 42,213,000 38, 500 <) 4 18, 000 1,800,000 Mexico J ... 5,331 238, 000 7,570 285,568 5,600 134, 183 214 (2) (2) ( South Africa,. 67 8,657 (') h Australia (*) (2) (2 Spain . 1,364 ,000 (') < Total 108,905 10,398,354 49,784 688,460 44,021 4,868,153 1 Export figures, practically equal to marketed production Statistics not available. 8 Value of Japan and Chosen production not separated in 1913-14. Estimated. GRAPHITE. 21 IMPORTS. Both amorphous and flake graphite are imported. In the last two years of the war imports of graphite totaled eight times the domestic production. The principal source of imported graphite is the island of Ceylon. Approximately 90 per cent of this Ceylon material has been used in the manufacture of crucibles. Amorphous graphite, formerly imported in large amounts from Korea (partly via Japan) has been replaced by similar material obtained from Mexico. Before the war the Mexican product was imported chiefly for making pencils. The import statistics show the effects of war conditions and the rearrangement of trade routes. The later increase of imports from France are wholly of Madagascar origin, while the graphite attributed to Great Britain had its origin in Ceylon. Since the imports credited to Canada in 1914 and 1915 were in excess of the Canadian production in those years, it is probable l that they include a certain amount of Ceylon graphite. Imports by countries. PLUMBAGO OR GRAPHITE. [Fiscal years.] 1< )10 1 )11 1< )12 Tons. Value. Tons. Value. Tons. Value. United Kingdom 214 $9 795 97 $9 543 Q $743 Germany 98 3 048 25 1 409 33 2 541 Italy 848 12 562 578 7*758 430 6 674 Austria-Hungary 400 9*513 329 6 544 200 3*996 Canada 1 614 82 410 1 972 85*724 2 481 95*355 Mexico 2*620 28* 826 3*005 238 399 1*988 115*818 Ceylon. .. 15 454 1 737 094 18 112 1 307*980 12* 787 1 192* 521 Japan 447 ' 10*938 1*015 ' 20* 159 *661 ' 10* 4^2 France 1 ' 53 Belgium 2 128 5 ISfi Allother 1 80 20 928 Total 21 696 1 894 266 20 156 1 778 625 18 591 1 428 386 19 13 19 14 IS 15 Tons. Value. Tons. Value. Tons. Value. United Kingdom 182 593 605 598 $74 724 2 038 $266 821 Germany . 115 3 766 60 3 015 1 i *149 Italv.... 323 5 846 166 3 380 109 1 279 Austria-Hungary 525 10 332 408 6 896 8 'l37 Canada 1 874 120 656 1 535 97 198 1 721 85 9*>2 Mexico 3 520 174 474 4 283 214 075 2* ?40 112 000 A sia Ceylon 16 137 1 591 756 10* 957 1 321 764 6 402 759 009 Japan ... 2 528 41 322 6 668 113 319 3*190 4S 393 British India 113 9 815 France 16 365 ?8 6 141 451 51 340 Afa'la^ascar 18 fe 716 152 18 541 Belgium 1 25 20 1*462 22 2 281 Allother 1 30 117 1 436 21 2*156 Total 25 222 1 972 177 24 868 1 846 126 17 068 1 387 873 t Ferguson, Mineral Resources (1917), U. S. Geological Survey. 22 GRAPHITE. Imports ly countries Continued. PLUMBAGO OR GRAPHITE Continued. 1916 1917 1918 Tons. Value. Tons. Value. Tons. Value. United Kingdom.. 504 139 3,650 3.980 16,981 3,245 151 2,232 165 $166,902 4,774 210, 783 199,000 3, 235, 045 59,579 45, 327 354,663 22, 457 3 40 3,509 6.759 24,577 2,901 1,211 2,929 310 $749 706 357, 261 293,568 7, 812, 246 79,884 400,342 720,440 12,964 6 98 2,959 3,507 15,360 1.091 611 1,848 345 SI, 783 3,367 318, 042 106, 779 4,800,004 59, 432 204,407 592, 184 41,889 Italy Canada.... Mexico Ceylon Japan British India France All other Total 31, 047 4, 298, 530 42, 239 9, 678, 160 25, 825 6,127,887 The Ceylon product is imported largely for its special qualities. Its lump form, purity, and the unusual care given to its grading and blending make it especially suitable for making crucibles. Much of the Madagascar product needs to be refined after arriving in this country. Madagascar flake is not as satisfactory as the Ceylon material. It competes with domestic flake chiefly because of its lower price. Among amorphous graphite imports, the Mexican graphite is preferred, for pencil making, to similar grades produced in the United States. Imports from Korea and certain European countries are strictly competitive with the home product. Austrian and other European graphite imports are reported to have been sold in this country below cost because of overproduction, but normally they can not be sold here in competition with the cheap Korean (Chosen) and Mexican supplies and, even before the war, had prac- tically disappeared from the American market. Imports for consumption. Fiscal years. Rates of duty. Quantities. Value. Duties collected. Value per ton. Actual and computed ad valorem rate. 1907... Free . . . Tons. 20, 553. 73 $1,626,730 $79. 14 Per cent. 1908. .do .. 13,361.61 1,206.016 90.26 1909.... ...do... 15, 985. 79 ' 1,463,717 91.56 1910 .do 21,596.93 1,894,266 87.71 1911. do . 20 152.56 1,677 963 83.26 1912 do 18 589 85 428 386 76 84 1913 ...do... 25, 232. 85 ,972,177 78.16 1914. .do 24.865.70 ,846 074 74.24 1915 ...do... 17,057.00 ,387,873 81.37 1916 .do 30, 938. 00 4, 298, 530 138.9$ 1917 do 42.270 00 9 678 160 228.96 1918 ...do 25, 440. 00 6,018,662 236. 58 PRICES. On account of its qualities and reputation, Ceylon graphite has always commanded the highest price of all grades, and since the difficulty of shipment due to war conditions, its prices have been relatively higher in comparison with other kinds of flake. The average price before the war was 10 cents per pound for lump, 6 cents for chip, GRAPHITE. 23 and 4 cents for dust. There was a sharp increase in 1913 (about 30 per cent), due chiefly to severe floods on the island and to increased mining cost, but in 1914 prices returned to about the normal level. In 1915 prices of Ceylon flake rose very rapidly. On account of the submarine menace in the Mediterranean, shipments could no longer go by way of the Suez Canal and had to round the Cape of Good Hope. The freight increased first to three times and later to nearly six times its former level. The highest prices of Ceylon flake reached during the war were 30 cents a pound for lump, 22 cents for chip, and 14 cents for dust. In spite of the embargoes placed upon the material there was at no time any great shortage of the Ceylon material, and the policy of the War Industries Board in ordering the substitution of a certain amount of domestic flake for overseas product in making crucibles resulted in a conservation of stocks. In January, 1919, lump was quoted at 18 cents, chip 14 cents, and dust 11 cents Eer pound. (All these prices are f. o. b. New York and include excess -eight charges and war risk insurance.) But in June (1919) the best grades of Ceylon were quoted at 12J to 12f cents per pound; other grades are nominal. There has been practically no market for Madagascar or domestic grades for three months. 05 There are no regular quotations for other grades of graphite. Madagascar, domestic, and other material are sold on the basis of supply and demand for the individual product, although the general market exhibits the same tendencies as the Ceylon market. Average annual prices for several grades are tabulated above. These are for the domestic market chiefly New York. Since June, 1917, weekly quotations have been published by the Mining Journal (London). These showed an average cost of about 10 cents per pound for Mada- gascar flake 6 at Marseille, which can be compared with current American prices in the neighborhood of 13 cents for the same period. Prices of natural domestic graphite. [Cents per pound f. o. b. mines. 1 ] Years. No. 1 flake. No. 2 flake. Inferior flake. Dust. Amor- phous. Miscellaneous. 1 1910... 6-8i 4-6 li 2 24 3i 1911 5-7 4-6 24-4 2-2* 1912... 6-7 phous), 1.3-1.275 (Chosen). 1 25 (Chosen) 1913.... 6-8 1-1 1 (Chosen) 1914 6-8 4-6 (Mexican), a few 1915. 7-10 grades 8, 5-7.5 (Mada- gascar), 11 (Chosen). 6 to 11 12 Madagascar 1916. 10-16 4-4.5 (Mexican), 1.25- 2.5 (Chosen). 1917. . . . 17-19 1918.... 16 17 10 (3) 1 Largely from data collected by U. S. Geological Survey. 2 At New York. 3 25 to 30 per cent, 1 cent per pound; 85 to 90 per cent, 12 cents per pound. o It is stated that Madagascar was offered in large quantities in April at 7 cents with but few sales. & Based on 80 to 85 per cent graphitic carbon with allowance of 15 francs per metric ton per unit of variation. 24 GRAPHITE. IMPORTED CEYLON FOR CRUCIBLE MANUFACTURE. [Average prices in cents per pound paid by crucible makers.] Kinds or grades. 1911 1912 1913 1914 19151 19162 19173 1918' Ordinary lump (ap- proximately 90 per cent graphitic car- bon): Best 8J-9 8J-10 9*-ll 8*-10* 9 -22 26 -28 28-30 18 Medium 7 -8 7^8 ji- 9 7-9 7*-15 Poor . . . 6 -7 5- 7 6J- 8 6-8 6-12 Chip (approximately 80 per cent graph- itic carbon): Best 51-52 5J- 7 7*-10 7-9 7 -15 19 -20 19-21 14 Medium 4 -5 4J- 6 6i- 8* 6-8 6 -13 Poor 3i-4 3J- 4*, 4-7 4-7 5 -10 Dust (approximately 70 per cent graph- itic carbon): Best 4 - 5i 4-5* 5-7* 10H2 11-12 11 Medium . . 2! 3i 2*/- 2\ 3-4 3-4 4-6 Poor 2-2* 1J- 2 2-3 2-3 3-6 Flying dust: Best 3i-3i 2-2* 2*- 3* 21- 3* 3-5 (5) (5) (5) Medium If- 2* 2-3 2-3 2*- 4 Poor i? 1J- 1 I*/- 2 I*/- 2 2-3 1 In general, the lower figure is the price in January and the higher that for December. Prices rose quite steadily throughout the year. 2 From Mineral Industry. Prices fairly steady. 3 March quotation, ex-dock New York. Similar quotations with few sales continued into 1918. 4 Quotations at end of year. 5 No longer on market. ALL GRADES. [Import valuations and average values at mines, in cents per pound.] Year. Ceylon. 1 Mada- gascar. 1 Chosen. 1 Mexico. 1 Canada. 1 Domes- tic. Artifi- cial.t 1910 4.90 7.19 1911 4.30 0.74 3.80 1.70 5.30 6.54 1912 4.10 .70 2.30 2.30 5.30 6.44 1913 4 90 .70 2 20 3 00 5 00 7.14 1914... 5.50 5.50 .76 2.20 2.60 5.50 6.68 1915 6.30 6.30 .74 2.20 1.90 5.90 *i.0B 1916 s 12. 00 7.40 .96 2.20 3.80 8.40 1917.. 14.60 12.30 1.70 1.90 5.00 10.30 1918 13 20 13.60 4 2. 15 1.20 3.80 11.30 12-30. 00 po 2 From Mineral Industry. Prices previous to 1915 include electrodes; for 1915 and later, powdered graphite only. 3 Increase due partly to larger percentage of better grades. 4 Japan. COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS. CRYSTALLINE GRAPHITE. In normal times the domestic graphite-mining industry is not in a position to compete successfully with unrestricted imports from Madagascar and Ceylon. The domestic product costs more and must be sold at a lower price. In both Ceylon and Madagascar the deposits are of large extent and so free from impurities that com- paratively little treatment or refining is necessary. Most of the domestic flake as found disseminated in low-grade deposits requires comparatively complicated machinery and processes to prepare it for market. It has the further disadvantage of being thinner. The Ceylon flake especially has had some technical and much popular reputation as being more desirable for making crucibles. At present Alabama flake producers claim, and are seeking to establish, that war GBAPHITB. 25 experiments have shown that such a reputation and its resulting dif- ferential in prices are unwarranted, so far as their product is concerned. Labor in the Far East is much cheaper than in the United States and, partly by virtue of the natural advantages of the deposits, has no difficulty in producing in quantity. In spite of the great distance from the American market, graphite from these islands used to be sold continually in the United States at prices that allowed no profit to domestic producers. Before the war the highest grade of Ceylon graphite was sold in New York at less than 10 cents a pound, as against a maximum of about 8 cents for domestic flake. The gradual exhaustion of the deposits and increas- ing cost df production in Ceylon are more than offset by the rapid development of Madagascar deposits. Canada is the only other country from which flake graphite is imported, but the amount is too small to exert any marked influence on the domestic market and its quality is similar to that of the American product. Many of the Alabama plants are situated 6 to 9 miles from railroads and in a region where wagon roads (clay) are difficult to maintain. For certain companies, therefore, the transportation problem is serious. But the gravest handicap is the universally low grade of the deposits. Even if a price of 10 cents per pound can be obtained for No. 1 flake nearly 50 per cent higher than before the war only the most efficient plants will be able to survive. Improvements in treatment of ore and refining of the product are strengthening the position of the producers, and the possible establishment of plants for the manufacture of graphite finished products close to the mines and the consequent ready sale of Jby-products (No. 2 flake and dust) would be of even more assistance ; but it is an open question whether the industry, which has so lately been established, can maintain itself against the competition of foreign producers having better natural resources. Costs to New York and Pennsylvania producers are reported to be practically the same as to those of Alabama, chiefly because most plants have just begun producing; but for the future the industry in these States has a distinct advantage over the Alabama production because of the better grade of the deposits and greater ease of access. The slight disadvantage of underground -mining as compared with the southeastern section is a minor factor. The Texas industry is favored by nature to an even greater degree. Its main handicap is the lack of outlet for by-product grades of flake. The following statements made by Dub 1 reflect the status of the flake mining industry in this country : For domestic flake graphite the supply exists and can be obtained. If the demand can be created and extended by scientific rather than by artificial means, the supply will be forthcoming whenever the price is high enough to justify production. With the resumption of peace-time activities the demand for crucibles and other graphite products will probably slacken. This will, of course, react upon the do- mestic graphite mining industry. Until business in the United States has resumed its normal peace-time trend some method of control or regulation will be necessary to prevent the collapse of certain industries, which the lessons of the present war have taught should not be permitted to die. To be independent of foreign graphite, the use of 100 per cent domestic flake in crucibles will have to be developed if the graphite crucible continues as a medium for melting alloys of all kinds. It is possible, of course, that the use of some refractory other than graphite, or the extended use of melting furnaces requiring no crucibles may develop to such a point as to make present practice obsolete. iDub, Geo. D., Preparation of Crucible Graphite. Bureau of Mines, War Minerals Investigation. 26 GRAPHITE. AMORPHOUS GRAPHITE. The production of natural amorphous graphite has never been an important industry in the United States. It has to meet the com- petition not only from foreign producers but also from the by- products of flake mining, as well as the more serious production of artificial graphite. There was little stimulus given this production during the war, and its after-war problems are no more complicated than were the prewar conditions. Both Chosen and Mexico have larger and higher grade deposits, but are handicapped by their greater distance from the market. In the case of this relatively cheap commodity transportation charges are a more important factor than in the case of the more costly crystalline grades. ARTIFICIAL GRAPHITE. Artificial graphite and grapjhitized carbon manufactures require mention, since they are competitive with natural grades. The Ameri- can industry is large, important, and highly integrated. In view of the comparatively low value of the product, the acquired skill required hi the manufacture, and the enterprise of its management, it is appar- ently proof against foreign competition in the American market and is reaching but into the export field. TARIFF HISTORY. Graphite has been on the free list under the name of plumbago since 1872. From 1846 to 1872 there was a duty ranging from 20 per cent to $10 per ton on the article as " plumbago or black lead." COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS. An article of earth, slate, and shale, together with plumbago or black lead was held dutiable as a " mineral and bituminous sub- stance in a crude state, n. s. p. f." at 20 per cent ad valorem under section 20 of the act of March 2, 1861, unless " approximating in value to plumbago," in which case it was classified as plumbago at $10 per ton under section. 8 of the act of July 14, 1862, by virtue of section 20 of the act of August 30, 1842. (Dept. Order (1870), T. D. 691.) Powdered plumbago, although having undergone a process of refinement for removal of iron, lime, or other foreign substances E resent in the crude article as taken from the mines, was held to e plumbago within section 5 of the act of June 6, 1872, and accord- ingly exempt from duty. (Dept. Order (1873), T. D. 1627.) But blocks of plumbago with other ingredients were held dutiable at 20 per cent as an unenumerated manufacture and not exempt from duty as plumbago. (Dept. Order (1874), T. D. 1947.) So-called old broken crucible shells, parts of crucibles, com- posed chiefly of plumbago and imported for the purpose of recovering the plumbago, were held not exempt from duty as plumbago under paragraph 579 of the act of 1913, but dutiable as waste, n. s. p. f., under paragraph 384. (Dec. Treas. Dept., Apr. 18, 1918.) GRAPHITE. 27 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Ferguson, H. S. and Grout, F. F.; Graphite: Political and Commercial Control Seriew. No 2. (Available in auxiliary file.) (Contains a general review of the industry in this and foreign countries and a short bibliography.) Dub., George D. ; Preparation of Crucible Graphite; War Minerals Investigation Series. No. 3. (Largely devoted to treatment processes. Available in auxiliary file.) Mineral Industry. Annual report. e Mineral Resources. U. S. Geological Survey. Annual report. Bibliography in 1917. Engineering and Mining Journal. Commerce and Navigation. GRAPHITE PRODUCERS BY STATES (1917). ALASKA. Alaska Graphite Mining Co. Uncle Sam Alaska Mining Syndicate. (Both near Graphite Bay.) MONTANA. Crystal Graphite Co. (16 miles from Dillon^ NEW YORK. Graphite Products Corp. (3 miles north of Saratoga Springs). Hooper Bros. (4 miles west of Whitehall). American Graphite Co. (Operated by Joseph Dixon Crucible Co. 4 miles west of Hague.) PENNSYLVANIA. Graphite Products Co., Uwchland ? Pa., with mines at Byers. T. D. Just & Co., Philadelphia; with mines at Byers and Chester Springs. Harry Schmehl, Chester Springs. Standard Carbon Co., Philadelphia, with mines at Pikeland. Tonkin Graphite Co., Byers. ALABAMA. Chilton County : Location of plant. Flake town Graphite Co., Mountain Creek Mountain Creek. Clay County: Acme Graphite Co., Ashland Ashland. Alabama Graphite Co., Ashland Do. C. B. Allen Graphite Co., Ashland Do. American Graphite Co., Gadsden Do. Ashland Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Atlas Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Axton Noe Graphite Co. , Ashland Do. Clay County Graphite Co. (Inc. ), Ashland Do. Crystalline Flake Graphite Co., Birmingham Do. Empire Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Griesemer Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Hood Graves Graphite Co. , Alexander City Do. Jefferson Graphite Co., Birmingham Do. May Bros. Graphite Co., Ashland Do. National Flake Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Republic Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Southern Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Superior Flake Graphite Co., Ashland Do. Crucible Flake Graphite Co. , 50 Broad Street, New York. . . Do. Carbon Mountain Graphite Co. , Lineville Graphite. Liberty Graphite Co. , Birmingham Lineville. Jennings Graphite Co., Lineville Do. Morris Graphite Co., Lineville Do. King Graphite Co., Lineville Do. Lineville Graphite Co., Lineville Do. Peerless Flake Graphite Co. , Lineville Do. Eagle Graphite Co., Ashland Quenelda. Norway Graphite Milling Co., Clairmont Springs Do. Quenelda Graphite Co. , Quenelda Do. 28 GRAPHITE. Coosa County : Location of pjant . Ceylon Co., Birmingham Hollins. Duro Graphite Co., Sylacauga Sylacauga. Graphite Co. of America, Good Water Good Water. Parkdale Graphite Products Co., Talladega Parkdale. Good Water Graphite Co., Good Water Good Water. OTHER STATES. Woodruff & Woodruff made shipments in 1917 from mine near Pitkin, Colo. L. M. Nance opened an adjoining mine. The Federal Graphite Co. mined amorphous graphite at Turret. Several companies in Llano and Burnet Counties, Tex. Production reported by Dixie Graphite Co., Llano. California Graphite Co. reported output (1917) from Saugus. Other deposits pros- pected. Detroit Graphite Co. mined graphite for its own use from mine at L'Anse, Mich. Amorphous graphite for paint was also mined by Carson Black Lead Co. , near Carson, Nev. Material for foundry facings was also mined in Rhode Island. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO *> 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ^ A " ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS RENEYMLG AND RECHARGES MAY BE MADE 4 DAYS PRIOR TO DUE DATE. LOAN PERIODS ARE 1-MOf'TH. 3-WONTHS, AND 1-YEAR. RENEWALS. CALL (415) 642-3405 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW OCT23198J UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 1/83 BERKELEY, CA 94720 $ A78681 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 003 tt/tftyg,