DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR-U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director THE PRODUCTION OF FLUORSPAR AND CRYOLITE IN 1909 By ERNEST F. BTJRCHARD ADVANCE CHAPTER FROM MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES CALENDAR YEAR 1909 WASHINGTON GQVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1911 CONTENTS. Fluorspar Production Increased uses New developments. Kentucky Illinois Colorado New Mexico... Imports Cryolite Imports and prices. Literature 2 Page. » * \^(£. (4 FLUORSPAR AND CRYOLITE. By Ernest F. Burchard. FLUORSPAR. PRODUCTION. The total quantity of domestic fluorspar reported to the Survey as marketed in the United States in 1909 was 50,742 short tons, valued at $291,747, as compared with 38,785 short tons, valued at $225,998, produced in 1908. Three States, Colorado, Illinois, and Kentucky, and the Territories, Arizona and New Mexico, produced fluorspar in the year 1909, New Mexico having reported a production for the first time. The pro- duction in Colorado decreased; that of Illinois and Kentucky showed an increase. Colorado produced gravel spar, New Mexico lump andgravel, and Arizona marketed lump spar. The total quantity produced in these States was 1,090 short tons, valued at $6,263, an average price of $5.75 per ton. With reference to the Colorado and New Mexico product, it should be stated that the value reported to the Survey represents the value on board cars at the railroad shipping points and includes the cost of a long wagon haul — $1.50 to $3 per ton. In 1909 Illinois pro- duced 29,880 short tons of gravel spar, valued at $135,366, or $4.53 per short ton on board cars. In this connection it should be remarked that the largest producing fluorspar mines in this State are near ^railroad or river transportation, therefore the cost of long wagon hauls tT" has not entered into the reported value of this product. The sales of lump spar in Illinois were 4,667 short tons, valued at $23,625, or $5.06 per ton. The ground spar sold in this State amounted to 7,305 short tons, valued at $73,260, or $10.03 per ton. Kentuckv reported total sales of 7,800 short tons of spar, valued at $53,233, distributed asfollows: Four thousand eight hundred and thirty-five short tons of gravel spar, valued at $25,253, or $5.22 per ton; 336 short tons of lump spar, valued at $2,083, or $6.20 per ton, and 2,629 short tons of ground spar, valued at $25,897, or $9.85 per ton. The stocks of fluorspar reported on hand December 31, 1909, were asfollows: Colorado, 10 tons; Illinois, 1,504 tons; and Kentucky, 10,116 tons, a total of 11,630 tons. Although the fluorspar industry recovered to some extent from the business depression that affected mining and manufactures so greatly in 1908 it does not appear, upon comparison of the total quantities sold in each of the last three years, that the business of the year 1909 quite ful- filled the expectations of the majority of fluorspar producers. Therela- 77767—11 3 36440 4 MINERAL RESOURCES. tive curtailment in production is more striking when viewed in relation • to the production of open-hearth steel. It is estimated that fully 80 per cent of American fluorspar, mainly in the gravel form, is consumed in the manufacture of basic open-hearth steel. The decrease in the pro- duction of basic open-hearth steel in 1908 as compared with 1907 was over 30 per cent, and the decrease in the quantity of fluorspar marketed was nearly 22 per cent, but with an increase in production of basic open-hearth steel in 1909 of more than 86 per cent over that of 1908 the increase in the total quantity of fluorspar marketed amounted to only 30.8 per cent, although the increase in gravel spar amounted to nearly 44 per cent. In 1909 there were 3,138,157 tons more of basic open-hearth steel produced than in 1907, an increase of 30.4 per cent, yet in 1909 there were only 1,256 tons more spar marketed, or an increase of 2 \ per cent. From these figures it may be inferred that the domestic production of fluorspar had not, up to the close of 1909, been materially affected by the duty of $3 per ton imposed by the Payne-Aldrich bill on imported fluorspar. Probably the industry in 1910 will more accurately reflect the influence of the tariff, since unusually large quantities of spar are believed to have been shipped to the United States just before the tariff went into effect. It has been estimated that the cost of gravel fluorspar imported into this country from the English waste dumps of Derbyshire lead mines, including the import duty of $3, is $7.38 to $7.74 per ton laid down at Pittsburg. Prior to the passage of the tariff act of 1909 it sold, at Pittsburg at $5.85 per ton. Domestic unwashed gravel spar can be sold at Pittsburg for about $7, but at Philadelphia it can not be sold under $8 or $9 per ton, whereas the English spar, inclusive of tariff, costs $6.04 to $6.40 per ton laid down at that city. Thus the American fluorspar producers have an advantage at most of the open-hearth steel furnaces, since few furnaces are sufficiently near Atlantic ports to take advantage of English importations. The effect of English competition will be felt, however, until the large stock imported prior to the enactment of the tariff is exhausted and American producers are able to meet the demand. The following table shows the fluctuations in the production of open-hearth steel in 1907, 1908, and 1909. These fluctuations have an important bearing upon the market for fluorspar. Production of open-hearth steel in 1907-1909, in long tons. a - Basic. Acid. Total. 1907 ' 10,279,315 7, 140, 425 13,417,472 1,270,421 696,304 . 1,076,464 11,549,736 7,836,729 14,493,936 1908 1909 a Ann. Statist. Rept. Am. Iron and Steel Association, Philadelphia, Pa.. July 25, 1910. The following table gives the quantities and values of the different grades of fluorspar marketed in the United States in 1908 and 1909: FLUORSPAR AND CRYOLITE. 5 Fluorspar marketed in 1908 and 1909, in short tons. States. Gravel. Lump. Ground. Total quan- tity. Total value. Quan- tity. Value. Quan- tity. Value. Quan- tity. Value. 1908. Colorado a 735 21,332 2,840 84, 518 96,315 14, 226 735 31,727 6,323 84,518 172,838 48, 642 Illinois Kentucky Total 1909. Colorado 6,189 307 833,267 1,828 4,206 3, 176 843,256 32, 588 24, 907 115,059 6,496 35, 095 7,382 75,844 38,785 225,998 6 1,090 29, 880 4, 835 6,263 135,366 25, 253 1,090 41,852 7, 800 6,263 232, 251 53,233 Illinois Kentucky Total 4, 667 336 23,625 2,083 7,305 2,629 73,260 25, 897 35, 805 166,882 5,003 25, 708 9,934 99,157 50,742 291,747 a Includes a small production of lump spar from Arizona. b Includes a small production of gravel spar from New Mexico and of lump spar from Arizona. The annual production of fluorspar in the United States since 1883 is given in the following table : Production of fluorspar in the United States, 1883-1909, in short tons. Years. 1883. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. Quantity. Value. Years. Quantity. Value. 4,000 820,000 1897 5,062 837, 159 4,000 20,000 1898 7,675 63,050 5,000 22,500 1899 15,900 96,650 5,000 22, 000 1900 18, 450 94, 500 5,000 20, 000 1901 19,586 113,803 6,000 30,000 1902 48,018 271,832 9,500 45,835 1903 42,523 213, 617 8,250 55,328 1904 36, 452 234, 755 10,044 78,330 1905 57, 385 362,488 12,250 89,000 1906 40, 796 244, 025 12, 400 84,000 1907 49, 486 287, 342 7,500 47, 500 1908 38, 785 225,998 4.000 6,500 24.000 52. 000 1909 50, 742 291,747 INCREASED USES. According to Fohs the use of fluorspar is on the increase in the manufacture of glass, enameled and sanitary ware, electrolytic refining of antimony and lead, the production of aluminum, and especially in the iron and steel industries, where the value of fluorspar added in small quantities to limestone flux is becoming more and more appreciated. The increase in the number of open-hearth furnaces, and hence the increased production of basic open-hearth steel is encourag- ing, but in the manufacture of hydrofluoric acid there was an apparent falling off in demand for fluorspar in 1909. NEW DEVELOPMENTS. Kentucky : a — With the prospects of a broader market and the possibility of better prices there was during 1909 renewed activity among Kentucky mining companies. The Nancy Hanks shaft w T as sunk to 340 feet, finding the spar vein 6 feet wide at that depth, with a Fohs, F. Julius, Fluorspar: The Mineral Industry during 1909, p. 262. 6 MINERAL RESOURCES. a 9-foot shoot at the 330-foot level. The Kentucky Fluorspar Com- pany, the Indiana and Kentucky Fluorspar and Lead Mining Com- pany, the Franklin Mining Company, and other firms and individuals reported the discovery and development of several promising veins of spar, ranging from 6 to 20 feet wide. Illinois .“ — The Rosiclaire mine in Illinois was developed extensively underground and the mill was remodeled, with the addition of two new Foust jigs, and was prepared for a largely increased output in 1910. The Fairview Fluorspar and Lead Company sunk its main incline to a depth of 520 feet, and reports that at the 460-foot level a 20-foot shoot of fluorspar was opened, and that the old No. 1 shaft was reopened and a 20-foot shoot was mined. Colorado . — Very little new development was done in Colorado beyond that necessary for the assessment work on claims. Only a comparatively small quantity of fluorspar was produced in this State, the entire production coming from the Jamestown district. The moderate prices paid for spar at present, in conjunction with the long and expensive haul to railroads, make it almost impossible for miners to earn current wages mining fluorspar. The opening of deposits in southern New Mexico, more accessible to railroad and enjoying a favorable freight rate to the market at Pueblo, Colo., has been the chief factor in holding down the price for fluorspar in the Rocky Mountain area this year. New Mexico . — Fluorspar has long been known to occur in the vicinity of Silver City and Deming, N. Mex., but only recently has it been found in sufficient quantities for exploitation. The American Fireman’s Mining Company, of Kansas City, Mo., in prospecting for gold on properties situated 9| miles northnortheast of Deming, N. Mex., in the foothills of Cooks Range, has opened a number of fluorspar veins that give promise of yielding nearly if not quite suffi- cient spar to supply the western market for several years. The fluorspar occurs in fissure veins cutting altered diorite porphyry in close proximity to a mass of Ordovician limestone and sandstone that is intruded by and folded into the porphyry. The veins range from less than 1 foot to more than 12 feet in thick- ness, but generally from 2 to 4 or 5 feet. The veins strike a little north of east, and ten to twelve distinct veins have been opened, some of which have been worked for distances as great as 100 feet, and to depths of 10 to 80 feet. The spar is hauled by wagons 6 miles to Mirage, a station on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and is shipped to Pueblo, Colo. The fluorspar obtainable here is of high grade. It is not subjected to any mechanical concentration, and the hand cobbed and sorted S roduct shipped in 1909 carried between 90 and 95 per cent calcium uoride (CaF 2 ). The spar brings $5.25 per short ton f. o. b. cars at Mirage, based on at least 90 per cent CaF 2 . According to contract a penalty of 20 cents per ton is deducted for each per cent of CaF 2 that the spar carries below T 90 per cent, but no premium is paid unless the spar contains more than 95 per cent CaF 2 . a Fohs, F. Julius, op. cit. FLUORSPAR AND CRYOLITE. 7 IMPORTS. Heretofore fluorspar has been imported into the United States duty free, and it has therefore been impossible to obtain the statistics of the importations. Large quantities of gravel spar produced at a low cost from the tailings of lead mines and from the gob in abandoned mines in England have been shipped to this country as ballast at a very low freight rate. The material thus produced is high in silica, and is almost entirely consumed by open-hearth steel makers. Before 1909 spar from England has competed with American fluorspar as far west as Pittsburg and practically fixed the market price at that point. As explained on a preceding page, conditions are now reversed, and a decided decrease in the imports of foreign fluorspar is probable. The imports of fluorspar entered for consumption into the United States in 1909 were 6,971 short tons, valued at $26,377, as compared with an estimated quantity of about 20,000 tons imported from Great Britain and all other countries in 1908. CRYOLITE. /- IMPORTS AND PRICES. No cryolite was reported to have been produced in the United States in 1909. Cryolite is aluminum-sodium fluoride and is used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, of opal and alabaster glass, of porcelain and enameled ware, and as a flux in the electrolytic alu- minum process. The mineral is quarried in Greenland, and 1,278 long tons, valued at $18,427, were imported into the United States in 1909, as compared with 1,124 long tons, valued at $16,445, in 1908. LITERATURE ON FLUORSPAR AND CRYOLITE. For details as to occurrence, geologic relations, mining develop- ments, and notes on the technology of the preparation and uses of fluorspar the reader is referred to the following papers : Bain, H. F. The fluorspar deposits of southern Illinois: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey- No. 255, 1905.® 15c. Principal American fluorspar deposits: Min. Mag., August, 1905, pp. 115-119. Betts, Anson G. The manufacture of hydrofluoric acid: Mineral Industry, 1906, pp. 330-332. Burchard, E. F. Production of fluorspar and cryolite in 1908: Mineral Resources U. S. for 1908, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1909, pt. 2, pp. 607-620.® Fluorspar in Colorado: Min. and Sci. Press, August 21, 1909, pp. 258-260. Canby, H. S. The cryolite of Greenland: Nineteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 6 (continued), 1898, pp. 615-617. Egglestone, William Morley. The occurrence and commercial uses of fluor- spar: Trans. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 35, pt. 2, London, England, May, 1908, pp. 236-268. The Engineer (London). Fluorspar: Issue of August 21, 1908, pp. 185, 187. Fohs, F. Julius. Fluorspar deposits of Kentucky, with notes on production, mining, and technology of the mineral: Bull. Kentucky Geol. Survey No. 9, 1907. Kentucky fluorspar and its value to the iron and steel industries: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., April, 1909, pp. 411-423. (For abstracts see also Mining World June 26, 1909, pp. 1217-1220, Iron Age, May 27, 1909, pp. 1692-1693, and Mining and Scientific Press, June 26, 1909, pp. 888-890.) Fluorspar grades and markets: Min. and Sci. Press, Nov. 27, 1909, pp. 720-721. « Out of stock, but usually accessible in libraries of cities, technical schools, and universities, and for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 8 MINERAL RESOURCES. Fohs, F. Julius. The fluorspar, lead, and zinc deposits of western Kentucky: Econ. Geology, June, 1910. pp. 377-386. Miller, Arthur M. The lead and zinc bearing rocks of central Kentucky: Bull. Kentucky Geol. Survey No. 2, 1905. Priehausser. M. Die Flusspatgange der Oberpfalz: Zeitschr. prakt. Geologie, July, 1908, pp. 265-269. Ulrich. E. O., and Smith. W. S. T. The lead, zinc, and fluorspar deposits of western Kentucky: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 36, 1905. Watson, Thomas L. Lead and zinc deposits of Virginia: Bull. Virginia Geol. Survey No. 1, 1905, p. 42. , * >> ' tfV- >.;■> I ' o t. y ff 1 j.‘ -/ ■ -i-..-V v a? -V ' - • . 1 ■ . V • 4 :Av* .-•■■■ ; '• . ' r y%&? V V/‘- ’• •■• ■ • :J -:;- " ■ r. ' ■