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 Bulletin No, 58 “a oM. oT EIGHTON ‘October 31, 1922, 
 
 sit 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
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 DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL APPAIRS 
 James F, Woodward, Secretary 
 
 BUREAU OF TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 George H. Ashley, State Geologist 
 
 POTASH FIASCO IN TIOGA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 
 By R, W. Stone 
 and 
 
 Simple Tests for Potash, by W, B. Hicks 
 
 Mountain of Potash reported, The discovery of a mountain of potash 
 near Davis Station; Tioga County, was reported in the newspapers in 
 the summer of 1919, but efforts of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey 
 to obtain any evidence of the occurrence of potash in more than the 
 most meager quantity have proved fruitless, 
 
 
 
 Professor William Frear of State College investigated the matter, 
 ascribed the source of the potash to’‘cave guano‘and his findings were 
 published in:The American Fertilizer, August 30, 1919. As seemingly 
 undiminished interest in the reported deposit continued, Professor 
 Benjamin L, Miller of Lehigh University examined the locality in 
 August 1920 and submitted a report to ithe State Geologist which was 
 used in answering correspondence, but was not published. The present 
 writer went to Davis in August 1922 shortly after the publication of 
 & newspaper item purporting that a mill was to be built for treating 
 the ore. 
 
 What_is potash? The form of potash found near Davis Station was 
 niter, or saltpeter (stone salt, so called because it exudes from 
 rocks).: It is a colorless or white crystalline substance with a 
 cooling, saline taste, known chemically as potassium nitrate (KNOz), 
 Potassium nitrate contains 39 per cent potassium (K) equivalent to 
 
 47 per cent "potash" (Ko0). It is’ formed by the action of microbes 
 on nitrogen-bearing organic bodies, taken in solution by surface water 
 and crystallized out where the water evaporates, usually in caves or 
 on rock surfaces protected from the weather. Saltpeter derived from 
 bat guano formed in caves in the southern States was utilized during 
 the Givil War for making gun powder,-.. It'is now prepared artificially 
 and used in making explosives, fireworks, and matches, and also as a, 
 
 food preservative, flux, and in medicine, 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Incrustations of potassium nitrate on the surface of rock ledges 
 protected from the weather are not uncommon, having been formed in 
 many places throughout the country, From the nature of their origin 
 the quantity of material is usually small and lacks commercial value. 
 
 Location. Tioga County is near the middle of the north boundary of 
 Pennsylvania. Davis Station is near the west border of the county in 
 Clymer township on the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad and on Long 
 Run, five miles north of Gaines. This place was formerly known as 
 Lansing (a postoffice which has been discontinued). The supposed 
 potash-bearing rocks and the mining development are on the hillside 
 northeast of and about 400 yards from the railroad station, 
 
 Discovery. The original discovery of potash at this place was not 
 recent. According to Prof. Miller, many years ago farmers in the 
 reighborhood obtained saltpeter here for curing meat, The salt’ 
 occurred as thin’layers of white coating on the rocks, In 1918, 
 James McCullough, whose father was one of the early users of salt- ’ 
 peter from this locality, recalled the occurrence, and with his son, 
 Simon McCullough, made an investigation to determine if the deposit 
 had commercial value. Samples were taken and reports on the analyses 
 were so favorable that the two McCulloughs took an option on the land 
 and interested other men in purchasing the property. A company was 
 formed and stock sold to get money for building a mill to refine 
 potassium nitrate. The company however soon learned that the 
 proposition was impracticable, refunded the money paid for stock, and 
 disorganized, 
 
 Development, © The owners of the land thereupon investigated in their 
 own interests, arranged for two diamond drill test holes, and formed 
 anew company. One diamond drill hole was sunk near the ledge of 
 
 rock bearing saltpeter, and the other about one quarter mile south- 
 east. Both of them are reported to have been 300 feet deep, and drill 
 cores carefully preserved and analyzed. According to Mr. McCullough 
 and current newspapers, the cores of the first hundred feet from the 
 surface contained about 1 per cent of potassium nitrate. It was 
 claimed also that there was a considerable loss of nitrate by solution 
 during drilling. 
 
 The new company, known as the Pennsylvania Potash and Fertilizer 
 Company, Westfield, Pa., was incorporated with a capitalization of 
 $350,000. Having acquired 640 acres plans were made to erect a mill 
 on the-hillside below the mine. This mill was to reduce the rock to 
 a powder, which was to be bagged and sold as a fertilizer, Sufficient 
 profit was expected from the sale of crushed rock for fertilizer to 
 build -eventually a large mill for extracting and refining potassium 
 nitrate, 
 
 _ A tunnel (adit) was driven in the hillside about 250 feet above 
 the railroad in 1920, It is in nearly horizontal sandstone, 
 penetrates the hill about 100 feet, and at the inner end turns to the 
 left 15 feet to a raise, the height of which was not determined. A 
 second tunnel was driven about 100 feet higher on the hill in the 
 spring of 1921. ‘Twenty feet of open cut through hillwash, 100 feet 
 of tunnel in thin-bedded sandstone, and a raise at the inner end, 
 
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Said to reach the surface, constitute the latest development work. 
 Timber was used only at the entries of these openings because the 
 Sandstone roof was solid. <A cabin and blacksmith shop at the mouth 
 of the lower tunnel were the only buildings, Drills were operated 
 with compressed air. 
 
 No mining development has been done on this property since the 
 Spring of 1921; in August 1922 the entries of underground workings 
 were caving, and the project presumably is abandoned. 
 
 source of the potash, Geologically the region is one of the flat- 
 lying sedimentary rocks. The upper part of the valley and the 
 neighboring hilltovs are underlain by greenish-gray sandstones of the 
 Oswago (Pocono) formation. The bottom of the valley at Davis is cut 
 in reddish shales and sandstones of the Cattaraugus (Catskill) 
 formation of Devonian age, 
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 Professor William Prear of Pennsylvania State College says: ~~ 
 "The deposit reported was one of niter or saltpveter, the nitrate at 
 potassium. This compound is formed in every soil by the action of 
 certain bacteria upon nitrogen-containing organic matter. We are not 
 certain that, in nature, it is formed in considerable quantity in any ~ 
 other way, It appears in encrustations upon the soils of arid regions, 
 and, in humid regions, in locations protected from the rain, such as 
 covered barnyards, stable floors, bat caves, etc. 
 
 "As the material is very soluble in water, large accumulations do 
 not occur in the soils of humid regions; the drainage waters carry it 
 away, Deep artesian wells often contain a very little nitrate, It 
 is probably present in the moisture contained in many rocks, so far 
 as that moisture is derived from soil drainage. No large accumulations 
 are known in the humid regions of the world in any subsurface rock. 
 These facts make improbable the existence in Pennsylvania of any 
 great rock-contained deposit of saltpeter, 
 
 "The rock in question is a weathered mass‘of small‘size project- 
 ing from the hillslope. It'is much stratified, that is, made up of 
 numerous thin layers with considerable crevices protected from the 
 action of rain. \hite to brownish white encrustations appear on the 
 surfaces of these crevices in the middle and lower parts of the 
 exposeé. front of this jutting rock. This encrustation, a sample of 
 which I took, contains niter. 
 
 "However, several facts of possible importance give rise to a 
 question as to the immediate source of this niter and as to the 
 extent to which the encrustation extends through the great body of 
 rock of which this jutting point forms a very small part. I was told 
 that this outcrop had long been known locally as "the saltpeter rocx," 
 but that other outcrops at the same elevation on the same hill had no 
 such repute, The "saltpeter rock" contains a large cave, the floor 
 of which is covered with the dung of wild animals, This dung may be 
 
 
 
 Seana 
 
 
 
 “hc Potash in Pennsylvania: The American Fertilizer, p. 58, Aug. 30, 
 1919, : 
 
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the source of the saltpeter. whether the niter encrustations appear 
 also in the great mass of the rock back under the hill is now being 
 '@etermined. If they do not, the deposit is scientifically interesting 
 but not commercially important." 
 
 Professor B, Ll. Miller of Lehigh University reported as follows 
 regarding the same occurrence:=- "The deposit where first discovered 
 lies about 400 or 500 feet above the level of the stream. The slope 
 of the hill is’covered with angular blocks and slabs of the greenish-~ 
 gray sandstone, but with few exposures of the rock in place. The 
 exception is a cliff about 15 feet in height and extending longitudi- 
 nally about 30 or 40 feet. This exposure consists of thin bedded 
 greenish~gray micaceous sandstones in which marked cross bedding is 
 observable. Few of the layers are more than one inch thick and many 
 of them are so thin that they appear somewhat shaly, The slope of the 
 hill being‘very steep, large blocks of this rock have been slightly 
 dislocated, opening up numerous cracks and furnishing a favorable 
 place for the woodchucks to live in. It seems that they must be very 
 numerous, as heaps of their droppings can be found all through these 
 Openings. It is thought that the potassium nitrate in part, at least, 
 comes from this source. Along the bedding planes and many of the 
 joint planes as well, there is a deposit of white ‘material that 
 effervesces vigorously and is apparently composed, in the main, of 
 calcium carbonate. This material is claimed to contain the potassium 
 nitrate in its purest form, although rocks in which no surficial 
 coating occurs are said to yield potassium nitrate on analysis. This 
 statement has not been verified to our knowledge." 
 
 "Soil along the hillside and also in the floodplain of the small 
 stream below is reported as carrying several per cent of potassium 
 nitrate, and yielding unusual crops. Nothing of this was apparent in 
 August. The soil of the hillside seemed to be no more fertile than 
 any other soil of the county. In fact, the vegetation did not appear 
 SO vigorous as in many other places," 
 
 "The conclusion reached is that, in all probability, potassium 
 nitrate is present in the region, contained in the white incrustation 
 which is mainly calcium carbonate. This occurrence could be accounted 
 for by leaching of the woodchuck manure that is abundant in the 
 crevices of the rock. No opinion can be expressed in regard to the 
 claim that potassium nitrate was found in the rocks themselves or in 
 the crevices in the strata penetrated by the diamond drill, If these 
 cores contained potassium nitrate, there must be an additional source 
 for the material, “The presence of a small amount of potassium nitrate 
 in the rock could be exvlained as coming from the mica:‘which is’ 
 fairly abundant in certain layers. That could account, however, for 
 a very small amount.” 
 
 Professor Miller collected samples of the rock bearing a white 
 efflorescent coating which was claimed to contain potassium nitrate 
 in its purest form, Several months after Professor Miller had written 
 the foregoing statement, the following analyses of his sampics were 
 ‘received from the Bureau of Chemistry, Pennsylvania Department of 
 Agriculture: 
 
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Potash (Ke0) in rock from Davis Station, Tioga County. 
 
 
 
 Sample number 95-2268 S=2269 S-2270 
 (per cent) (per cent) (per cent) 
 
 Rock 9,14 a7 Cea 
 
 Incrustation Oe Le O4k4 0.19 
 
 As these samples contained less than one-quarter of one per cent 
 water soluble potash, the Geological Survey concludes that the 
 reported recent discovery was a farce, and that the development work 
 was a fiasco. 
 
 Simple Tests for Potash.” 
 By We Be Hicks 
 
 Principles, Potassium is generally found in nature in’‘solution, as 
 Soluble salts or saline residues, in organic substances, in alunite, 
 and in silicate rocks and minerals. Simple methods for detecting and 
 determining it are here described for the benefit of those who may be 
 interested in making rough field tests. These tests have been used 
 with good results by members‘of the United States Geological Survey 
 and may be used successfully, it is believed, by any one with little 
 Or no experience in chemical manipulation, They depend on the fact 
 that when a volatile potassium compound is heated in a flame it 
 imparts a characteristic violet color to the flame, Though usually 
 masked by the colors produced by other elements, especially sodium | 
 and calcium, the coloration due to potassium is readily secn and 
 idcntificd by observing the flame through a Merwin color screen, 
 
 Equipment, The equipment necessary for malting the tests herein 
 described consists of - 
 
 1. Lamp for volatilizing the potash compound. F#or this purpose 
 an ordinary alcohol lamp with an-‘asbestos wick will often suffice, but 
 a gasoline or alcohol biast lamp, which requires no wick and which 
 burns with a hot, nonluminous flame, gives far better results, 
 
 2s Platinum wire about 4 inches long. One end Qf the wire 
 should:be sealed in to the end of a short glass rod tg serve as a 
 handle, and the opposite end should be bent into the form of a small 
 loop. 
 
 3. Merwin color screen. 
 
 4, Smali beaker. 
 aan nnn agen teeny eet antennae ne nine botnare nen onan new caesesrrenntn-ep-tnaternsnneetesnn mean atin en NRE SNS AT, 
 
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 A947. 
 
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De Hydrochloric acid, 
 6. Gypsum or calcium sulphate, 
 
 Procedure for water and brines. First clean the loop of platinum 
 wire by dipping it in hydrochloric acid and igniting it until the 
 flame is no longer colored, By means of the clean platinum loop 
 remove a drop of the solution to be tested, carefully evaporate it to 
 dryness by holding over the flame, finally ignite, and observe the 
 color'of the flame through the Merwin color screen. The best results 
 are obtained by using a black background, holding the Merwin screen — 
 Close up against the eyes, and looking through the central section of 
 the screen. If potassium’salts are »resent, the flame will appear 
 reddish to reddish violet, and the intensity and duration of the color 
 Wili give some idea as to the amount of potassium, 
 
 Procedure for soluble salts. For detecting potassium in saline 
 residues and soluble salts in general, as well as for‘detecting 
 Soluble potassium compounds in muds, clays, and ashes, proceed as 
 follows: Dissolve a portion of the sample in a small quantity of 
 water, allow the undissolved material to settle out, remove a drop of 
 the clear solution by means of tho loop of platinum wire, and test in 
 the flame as just described for waters and brines. 
 
 in tests for alum and other sulphatcs the clear solution should 
 be poured off from the insoluble residue and some hydrochloric acid 
 added before making the test. 
 
 The water used in all such tests should be examined to see 
 whether it contains potassium, 
 
 Procedure for organic substances. The substance to be tested is 
 first ignited or burned at as low a temperature as possible until 
 only the ash remains. The ash is then tested for potassium according 
 to the procedure just described for soluble salts, 
 
 Procedure for alunite, Powder the sample to be tested and moisten 
 it with hvdrochloric acid. By means of the loop of platinum wire 
 transfer a portion of the moistened powder to the flame, ignitc, and 
 observe the color of‘the flame through the Merwin color sereen. If 
 potassium is present, the flame will appear decp reddish violet, 
 
 Emphasis should be placed on the fact that this procedure i6).a 
 test for potassium and not neccessarily for alunitc. ‘Other potash- 
 bearing materials, especially leucite and glauconite, will give 
 Similar results with such treatment. 
 
 Procedure for silicate rocks and minerals. In order to detect f 
 potassium in Silicate rocks and minerals, such as feldspar, granite, 
 leucite, rhyolite, glauconite, and sericite, powder the material 
 finely, mix with an equal duantity of pure gypsum, and moisten the 
 mixture with dilute hydrochloric acid. By means of the loop of 
 platinum wire, transfer a portion of the moist mixture to the flame, 
 
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