FLUORSPAR INDUSTRY, BY STATES

Colorado. The fluorspar shipped from mines in Colorado in 1923 increased 162 per cent. The mineral was obtained from Wagon Wheel Gap, Mineral County; in the Jamestown district, Boulder County; near Cowdrey, Jackson County; and at a newly opened deposit near Cotopaxi, Custer County. The greater part of the fluorspar produced in Colorado was used at the steel works at Pueblo. It is reported that the fluorspar properties at Wagon Wheel Gap have been purchased by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. to insure an ample supply of fluorspar for its steel works at Pueblo. At the deposit near Cowdrey, from which the initial shipment was made in 1922, development work underground was continued. A new steam plant was installed, and two houses with accommodations for 50 men were built. A milling plant consisting of grizzlies, dry trommel, washer, picking belt, and crusher was completed and put into operation.

Illinois. The productive deposits of fluorspar in Illinois are in Hardin and Pope counties, in the extreme southern portion of the State. The principal mines are near Rosiclare, Elizabethtown, and Cave in Rock, small towns on Ohio River, in Hardin County. The largest deposit yet discovered, known as the Rosiclare-Fairview vein, situated in Hardin County, occurs in a fault fissure. The country rock is limestone and sandstone. The fluorspar occurs in lenticular masses in the vein, which pinches laterally and vertically. At Cave in Rock fluorspar occurs in flat-lying tabular masses, locally called "blanket" formations. A detailed report on the southern Illinois district has been published by the Illinois Geological Survey.1 This report describes the principal mines and prospects, discusses the mining and milling methods employed, and offers suggestions for prospecting. It is illustrated by topographic and geologic maps, which show the location of the fluorspar mines.

There was a slack demand for Illinois fluorspar in 1923, and as a result the shipments showed a decrease of 22 per cent from 1922. Except for those in 1921, the shipments were the lowest since 1910. There was an increase in production, however, and the stocks at the mines were much larger at the end of the year.

The Hillside Fluor Spar Mines has leased the property formerly operated by the Indiana Fluor Spar & Lead Co., consisting of 40 acres near Elizabethtown, Ill. At this property, now known as Hillside No. 2 mine, two shafts have been sunk to depths of 65 and 100 feet on a new vein with ore of good grade. This mine is producing ore at a rate of 25 tons daily, which it is hoped to increase to 100 tons. Development work at Hillside No. 1 mine, on the eastern extension of the Rosiclare vein, was kept well ahead of hoisting requirements, and a large quantity of ore is broken in the stopes.

The output of the Fairview Fluorspar & Lead Co. was obtained from the Argo and Extension mines. At the Argo mine, on the Golconda or Daisy vein, the shaft has been sunk to a depth of 320 feet and the vein crosscut at 50, 220 and 320 feet. The vein is reported to be 17 feet wide in the widest point so far noted, and about half of this width was good fluorspar.

1 Weller, Stuart, and others, The geology of Hardin County: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 41, 1920.

The Spar Mountain mine, near Cave in Rock, was operated during the first half of 1923 but except for some exploratory work was inactive the remainder of the year.

The output of the Rosiclare and Daisy mines of the Rosiclare Lead & Fluorspar Mining Co. was less throughout the year than in

1922.

The Patrick mine of the Webber-Wood Spar Mining Co., near Rosiclare, at which prospecting and sinking of a shaft have been in progress, made its initial shipment in 1923.

A small quantity of high-grade fluorspar was shipped from the newly opened Douglas mine, in Pope County.

Kentucky. The fluorspar deposits thus far developed in western Kentucky are in Crittenden, Livingston, and Caldwell counties, but the mines of Crittenden County include not only the largest producers but the largest number of productive veins. Commercial

deposits of fluorspar also occur in central Kentucky, and during recent years a small and irregular production has been reported from Mercer and Woodford counties. A study of the fluorspar deposits of the western and central Kentucky districts has been made by Currier.2

The fluorspar shipped from Kentucky in 1923, all of it from the western district, the mines in the central district being inactive, showed a decrease of 13 per cent.

A feature of the year was the entry of the Lafayette Fluorspar Co., a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, as a producer in the western Kentucky district. The fluorspar-bearing properties acquired by this company extend for about 3 miles in a southwesterly direction from Mexico, a station on the Illinois Central Railroad, and include the Mathews, Asbridge, Tabor, Tabb, Wheatcroft, Yandell, and Pogue mines. Owing generally to lack of capital, fluorspar mining in this district has been done in a crude manner, but the advent of the Steel Corporation will undoubtedly lead to the building of a modern mill, sinking of suitable shafts, improvement in transportation facilities, building of surface plants, and employment of the most approved mining practice.

A small output was reported by the Ohio-Kentucky Fluorspar & Lead Corporation from its Klondyke mine, near Smithland, at which development work has been in progress and the building of a mill is reported to be nearing completion.

Development work was done at a property about 7 miles southwest of Marion by W. P. Michell, who reports a shaft sunk to a depth of 75 feet, from which, at the 70-foot level, a crosscut of 20 feet was made to the vein.

The Roberts Fluorspar Co., which operates a mill at Marion for the preparation of fluorspar, has added a grinding plant consisting of a dryer, conveyors, and elevators and having a daily capacity of 30 tons of 200-mesh fluorspar.

A small quantity of fluorspar was produced in the course of development work from a newly opened deposit near Princeton, Caldwell County.

New Hampshire.-A small output was reported from the Stoddard and Pierce mines, near Westmoreland, Cheshire County. During

* Currier, L. W., Fluorspar deposits of Kentucky: Kentucky Geol. Survey, 6th ser., vol. 13, 1923.

the last few years these mines and the Wheeler and Springer mines have been leased to the American Steel & Wire Co., but all leases were surrendered December 1, 1923.

New Mexico.-An increase of 99 per cent in the shipments of fluorspar from New Mexico was recorded in 1923. The greater part of the output was shipped to the steel works at Pueblo, Colo., and some went to steel plants in the East. The Tortugas mine, near Mesilla Park, in Dona Ana County; a newly opened deposit 6 miles north of Cliff, in Grant County; and the Nakaye mine, in Sierra County, supplied practically all the fluorspar produced in New Mexico in 1923. Development work was reported and some fluorspar mined from a deposit near Hot Springs, Sierra County.

Utah. No fluorspar was mined in 1923 at the Silver Queen mine, near Clive, Tooele County, Utah, but some shipments to Pacific coast steel plants were made from the stock pile at the mine.

STOCKS OF FLUORSPAR

According to the reports of producers the total quantity of fluor spar in stock at the mines or at shipping points at the end of 1923 amounted to 64,365 short tons, an increase of 93 per cent over the stock at the end of 1922. As the quantity of fluorspar in stock piles is of necessity partly estimated, there are variations in the mine reports from year to year that prevent an absolute balance between the quantity mined and the quantity shipped and in stock. The stocks at the end of 1923 are the largest ever accumulated by producers and will probably result in considerable curtailment in output during 1924. Data on consumers' stocks are noted under "Consumption and uses" (pp. 34-36).

Stocks of fluorspar at mines or shipping points in the United States in 1922 and 1923, by States, in short tons

The imports of fluorspar into the United States in 1923 amounted to 42,226 short tons and were the largest since 1910, when 42,488 tons was imported. They showed an increase of nearly 28 per cent in quantity and 44 per cent in value over the imports in 1922. The value at the foreign mines averaged $10.24 a ton.

The imports were equivalent to about 35 per cent of the domestic shipments of fluorspar, as compared with about 23 per cent in 1922.

3 The statistics of imports were compiled by J. A. Dorsey, of the United States Geological Survey, from records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce; those of exports were furnished by the producers. No exports of fluorspar are recorded by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

England continues to be the principal source of the imported fluorspar, supplying 54 per cent of the total in 1923. The value declared for English fluorspar at the mines is $8.86 a short ton. The cost to the consumers in the United States includes in addition the duty of $5 a ton, the ocean freight charges, reliably reported to be about $3 a ton, the cost of transporting the fluorspar from the mines to the docks, loading charges at the docks, and other small charges. The imports of German fluorspar again increased in 1923 and probably would have been larger had not considerable difficulty been encountered in obtaining the mineral. It is reported that some sales of German fluorspar were made at $20 a ton, duty paid, delivered at tidewater, for washed gravel containing 85 per cent of calcium fluoride and 5 per cent of silica.

Nearly one-fourth of the imports in 1923 (10,380 tons) came from British South Africa. Practically all the fluorspar from this source was of "acid" grade and was used in the manufacture of hydrofluoric acid at East St. Louis, Ill., Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N. Y., and Grasselli, Ind. The ocean freight from Cape Town, the port of shipment, is said to average about 25 shillings a ton. Some notes on one of the South African deposits are given on page 37.

Imports from Italy, China, and Netherlands are recorded for the first time. The quantities were small, but the imports from Italy will probably increase, as the price at which this material was sold indicates low cost of production and low ocean freight rates. Notes on the Italian deposit are given on pages 37-38.

Canada, which in recent years has been shipping considerable fluorspar to the United States, was not a competitor in 1923, as the Rock Candy mine, in British Columbia, whence most of the mineral came, was inactive during practically the entire year.

By the tariff act of 1922 the import duty on fluorspar was increased from $1.50 a long ton ($1.34 a short ton) to $5.60 a long ton ($5 a short ton).

The distances that domestic fluorspar must be transported by rail from mines to steel plants in the Lehigh and Susquehanna valleys of Pennsylvania are generally much greater than the distances that foreign fluorspar must be moved from the ports of entry to these plants; moreover, a large part of the imported material is carried as ballast, making possible a lower market price than would have to be charged if it were carried as a primary cargo. Except when ocean freight rates are moderate, however, foreign fluorspar is not in a position to enjoy much advantage in American markets, for the reason that it is not generally of so high grade as the mechanically treated domestic product, and as fluorspar is of value chiefly according to its purity, purchasers should find that the purer American fluorspar is more efficient and consequently cheaper in the end.

The producers of fluorspar reported exports in 1923 amounting to 1,144 short tons, valued at $25,312, or $22.13 a ton, as compared with 2,296 tons, valued at $40,966, or $17.84 a ton, in 1922. All the exported fluorspar went to Canada.

Fluorspar imported into the United States in 1922 and 1923, by countries

Fluorspar imported into the United States in 1922 and 1923, by districts of entry

The market for the bulk of fluorspar sold in the United States depends on the condition of the steel industry, and the demand fluctuates with the rise and fall in the production of basic openhearth steel. From 80 to 85 per cent of the fluorspar produced in the United States is used as a flux in the production of steel by the basic open-hearth process. For this purpose steel makers require that the fluorspar be in pieces not larger than three-quarters of an inch and show on analysis at least 80 per cent of calcium fluoride and not more than 6 per cent of silica. This flux is used principally for giving fluidity to slags that are otherwise too viscous, but at the same time it facilitates the passage of impurities such as sulphur and phosphorus into the slag.

Fluorspar is also used extensively in the manufacture of ceramic products, such as enameled and sanitary ware, opalescent glass, facing for bricks, and vitriolite, and in the manufacture of hydro