reported that many improvements were installed in both the mining and the calcining departments, but production during the summer was continued at about 50 per cent of capacity and later at 15 per cent of capacity, as the company reported that it could not compete in price with imported Austrian dead-burned magnesite in the large consuming centers the pig-iron districts of Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In December it was announced that the Northwest Magnesite Co. had purchased the Red Marble, Allen, Moss, and Woodbury magnesite mines, at Valley, formerly owned and operated by the American Mineral Products Co., which sold both deadburned and caustic calcined magnesite in 1923. A small amount of magnesite was mined at the Double Eagle, near Valley, and used for plastic products. FOREIGN INDUSTRY Considerable information on the magnesite industry in foreign countries is given in Trade Information Bulletin 184 of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, issued February 4, 1924. Bain has described the magnesite deposits of Grenville, Quebec, as occurring near the crest of a plunging anticline near serpentine veins in limestone, which has been recrystallized and in part dolomitized. It is reported that the Krupp Co., of Germany, has made a 10-year contract with the Styrian Magnesite Co. to supply 75 per cent of the requirements of the Krupp Co., which will take practically the whole output of this Austrian concern. Apparently the American-owned deposits of magnesite on the island of Margarita, off Venezuela, were not worked in 1923, for no magnesite was sent from them to the United States. DOLOMITE DOLOMITE PRODUCTS Dolomite sold for uses that are or have been also supplied by magnesite increased 14 per cent in quantity in 1923, but was 22 per cent below the record quantity of 1920. The approximate quantity of crude dolomite used in the manufacture of these products is as follows: Crude dolomite sold in the United States for certain uses, 1918-1923, in short tons [Uses include dead-burned dolomite, basic magnesium carbonate, sulphite process of paper manufacture, and making of carbon dioxide] The principal dolomite product included in the category of deadburned dolomite is that for refractory use. Some manufacturers of this product buy their stone, the sales of which are reported to the United States Geological Survey by the quarry companies in terms Bain, G. W., Magnesite deposits of Grenville, Quebec: Am. Inst. Min. and Met. Eng. Trans., No. 1244 M, May, 1923. 13 Min. Jour. (London), vol. 140, p. 114, Feb. 10, 1923. of crude stone; others quarry their own stone and report only in terms of dead-burned material. The two kinds of material are represented in the accompanying table, as well as the estimated total output in terms of dead-burned dolomite. The substantial increase in output in 1923, when the domestic output and imports of dead-burned magnesite also increased, is noteworthy, as industrial conditions were then more nearly normal than in any other year since dead-burned dolomite has been of commercial importance. Dead-burned dolomite sold or used in the United States, 1918-1923 Basic magnesium carbonate, or "technical carbonate," used in "85 per cent magnesia" pipe and boiler coverings also increased substantially in output in 1923. Most manufacturers of this product buy their stone and do not report their output to the United States Geological Survey; but the crude stone sold for this purpose has been reported as follows: Dolomite sold in the United States to magnesia works for manufacture of basic magnesium carbonate, 1918-1923 HIGH-MAGNESIUM LIME FOR SULPHITE PAPER MILLS An estimate of the high-magnesium lime sold to sulphite paper mills is given below. Exact figures are impossible to obtain, as many lime producers who sell burned lime to paper mills do not specify the kind of paper mill. The quantity sold is expressed as burned lime. High-magnesium lime sold in the United States to sulphite paper mills, 1918-1923 CARBON DIOXIDE Sales of crude dolomite for the manufacture of carbon dioxide, chiefly in California and also in North Carolina, are as follows: Dolomite sold in the United States for the manufacture of carbon dioxide, 1918-1923 Magnesium chloride from bittern waters of salt works was produced and sold by four companies in 1923-three in California and one in Michigan. There were no shipments from Utah. Not all these companies reported their sales to the United States Geological Survey, but the total quantity sold is roughly estimated at 28,000,000 pounds. Most of this material was sold as "commercial" crystallized chloride, 97 per cent or more pure; but several thousand gallons of solution was also sold. Imports of magnesium chloride more than doubled in 1923. Of the total recorded in the table below 56,110 pounds was anhydrous chloride, valued at $2,703, and the remainder was "not specially provided for." The large increase in imports over those of 1922 reffects the continued growth in the manufacture of magnesium oxychloride or Sorel cement. Magnesium chloride imported for consumption in the United States, 1918–1923 Natural magnesium sulphate was produced in 1923 from a dry lake deposit near Oroville, Wash., and from bittern waters of salt works in California and Michigan. Three of the four producers reported sales in 1923, and the total quantity sold is estimated at 14,300,000 pounds, valued at $231,000. There were no exports of magnesium sulphate in 1923. Imports of magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) in 1918 to 1923 are shown in the following table: Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) imported for consumption in the United States, MANUFACTURED MAGNESIUM SALTS Statistics of manufactured magnesium salts are collected biennially by the Bureau of the Census and represent parts of the crude materials considered on the foregoing pages. The latest available statistics were quoted in the magnesium report for 1922. The data on imports are as follows: Magnesium compounds imported for consumption in the United States, 1919–1923 As usual, the American Magnesium Corporation, of Niagara Falls, N. Y., was the only company that reported production and sales of metallic magnesium to the Geological Survey; but one other producer was active. An estimate of the quantity and value of the sales in 1923 is included in the following table: Domestic metallic magnesium sold or used in the United States, 1918-1923 The new magnesium produced was made mostly from California magnesite, and the remainder presumably from magnesium chloride. The total sales of domestic magnesium more than doubled in 1923 but were less than half as great as in 1918, when consumption for war purposes was at its height and imports were comparatively insignificant. In addition to domestic magnesium a considerable quantity of foreign magnesium imported before the tariff became effective was sold, and it would not be surprising if the total sales of domestic and foreign magnesium in 1923 aggregated 175,000 pounds in the form of ingots and manufactured forms. Sales of ingot metal amounted to about 80,000 pounds, at an average price of $1.25 a pound. Very little foreign ingot metal was sold, and its price probably averaged a little lower than that of the domestic ingots. Sales of magnesium powder, mostly of foreign origin, may have amounted to as much as 40,000 pounds, mainly for flash-light powders and flare shells. It is estimated that the manufacture of flashlight powder consumes about 25,000 pounds annually. No domestic magnesium powder was produced in 1923, and less than 4,000 pounds was sold, at an average price of about $1 a pound, in competition with foreign magnesium powder. Sales of castings, rods, sheets, tubing, and wire increased materially. These sales were made largely in connection with experimental work, and the prospects favor larger sales in 1924. IMPORTS Imports of magnesium, which had been rushed into the country in 1922 to anticipate the imposition of the new tariff, declined in 1923 nearly to the level of 1919. Magnesium imported for consumption in the United States, 1919–1923 Magnesium imported for consumption in the United States in 1923 |