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ita

ilure.

Ain'HKTISKMKNT,

The Thosphate Fields of Florida,

A PAMPHLET

C. C. HOYER MILLAR.

Published January, i8gi,

BY EDEN FISHER & CO., LOMBARD STREET, LONDON.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Fj«(i««'rf; CW/«V.—" Under the above title Mr. C. C. Hover Millar
gives a well compiled account of his recent travels and explorations
in Florida, which should be most interesting reading to those interested in
phosphates."

Agricultiml Gazette.—" The pamphlet gives an account of Mr.
Millar's recent travels and explorations in Florida, and has all the
merits of first-hand information on a topic of growing importance."

Finaiicial Times.—" The author of this pamphlet describes the immense
phosphate fields that were discovered in South Florida by Mr. Li: Baron
a few years back. Comparing these with the deposits of Northern France,
Belgium and Germany, Mr. Millar arrives at the conclusion that the
Florida fields are unrivalled both in extent and value, although they vary
more than any others in thickness and quality."

Capitalist.—" Mr. C. C. Hover Millar has visited the district of
the Peace River in South Florida, and Marion County, and made
-explorations over I'olk and De Soto Counties. . . . and proceeds to

Al)\KUTISKMKNT,

describe the character of the deposits, the methods of raising the same,
the yield per acre and the cost. . . . and discusses the application
of capital in this direction. Mr. Millar's pamphlet is full of information."

Financial News. — "From a pamphlet on the subject by
Mr. C. C. HoYEK MiLLAK ... it seems unquestionable that this
portion of the United States is very rich in phosphates, but, a.s in every
other kind of business, success depends upon the price paid for the property
and in the cost involved in getting the product to market."

Financial IVorld. — "Mr. Hover Millar's biochuie is a valuable
contribution to the very limited stock of knowledge possessed by the
majority of Englishmen on the subject of the Florida Phosphate Fields.
Not many are aware that comparatively recently Americans went mad over
' phosphates,' and that a ' boom ' set in with regard to Florida, only
paralleled by the gold boom of California. Naturally the thing was over-
done, and while there are the makings of a most lucrative industry in the
phosphate fields, many lost their money in wild speculation. Worthless
estates were bought at fabulous prices, and sold afterwards for ne.xt to
nothing, and the reaction, of course, damaged the prospects of legitimate
enterprise incalculably. To the geologist the State of Florida is intensely
interesting, and Mr. Hover Millar deals with the origin and cause of the
vast deposits of phosphate of lime which exist in certain parts of the estate
in a very intelligent manner. 13uc that which is of the greatest moment is
the commercial value of the deposits, and the facility for working them.
Mr. Hover Millar speaks from personal knowledge on these subjects, and
those who are curious on the subject cannot do better than read his little
book."

Courier-Informant, liartow, Polk County, Florida. — " It is most ably
and intelligently written ; the style is easy, graceful and entertaining, and the
substantial array of figures and facts, told in a frank and candid way, will
arrest the attention and command the confidence of the business man.
. . . The book is the production of one who is thoroughly competent
to perform the task, and will result in great good to our country. Its moral
influence (if we may be allowed such an expression) will be immense, telling
the story, as it does, of our wonderful wealth as a ' plain, unvarnished tale
delivered.' "

(i«2. O

FLORIDA, SOUTH CAROLINA,

AND

CANADIAN PHOSPHATES:

C.IVING A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THEIR OCCURRENCE,

METHODS AND COST OF PRODUCTION, QUANTITIES

RAISED, AND COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE.

C. C. HOYER MILLAR.

LONDON:
EDEN FISHER & CO., 50, LO.MBARD STREET, E.G.

MDCCCXCII.

THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING COMPAUY,
PUBLISHERS & BCOESE: ^ SRS,

27 PAUK PLACE, NKVV YORKc

T5»

■H

(

fN<^l4.M6

LONDON:
Printed uy Eben Fisher & Co., 96.97, Fenchurch Street,

AND

50, LoMiiARO Street, e.c.

1892.

PREFACE.

A LTHOUGH there is an abundance of literature upon the
subject of the geological formation and chemical analysis
of the various phosphates which have hitherto been discovered,
yet it appears to me that the practical, though possibly sordid,
side of the question has been rather neglected. Since, however,
the phosphate mining industry is being carried on with the
primary intention and hope of obtaining satisfactory returns
from a pecuniary rather than a scientific point of view, I have
ventured to give in the following pages an account, from a
practical standpoint, of my personal investigations during
the past few years in the phosphate fields of Florida, South
Carolina and Canada. This book is therefore addressed to
those who are commercially interested in phosphates, and should
it be the means of giving them fuller information than they
would be likely to gather elsewhere, then my efforts will be
amply rewarded.

C. C. HOYER MILLAR.

I, Fenchurch Avenue, London, E.C.
February 28///, 1892.

1 27598

INDEX.

Chaptkr I.— introductory.

■.

Introduction

Importance of Phosphoric Acid
Sources of Supply of Phosphoric Acid
The Phosphate Mining Industry
Classification ok Mineral Phosphates

Chaptkk II.— FLORIDA PHOSPHATES.

Their Discovery

Description of Florida

The Pebble Deposits

Description of the Phosphate Pebbles ..

Analysis of the Land Pebbles

, „ River Pebbles

Formation of the Various Pebble Deposits

PEACE RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING

Names of Companies in Operation on Peace River ..

Alafia River Phosphate Mining

Manatee, Mvakka and Caloosahatchie Rivers..

Black River Phosphate

Shipments of River Phosphate

Price of River Lands

Duty on River Phosphate Mining

Cost of Mining River Pebble and Comparison of the
Phosfhate Industries of the Florida Rivers
AND the South Carolina Rivers

LAND PEBBLE MINING

Area Available for Successful Land Pebble Mining

Cost of Production of Land Pebble Phosphate

List of Land Pebble Companies

The Future of the Pebble Mining Industry ..

THE ROCK DEPOSITS

Description of the Rock Phosphate

Pagc
II

14
15
16
21

23
26

28
32
35
36
37
39
47
49
50
50
51
51
52

58
59
68

69
69
70
72
73

VIII

Index.

Ciiai-ti:r 11— FLDKIDA VHO^VHXrES-fCoHliiiiied)

KOCK MINING

Analysis op Rock I'iiosphatb

Analysis of Cargo from Dunnkllon District

„ ,, ok Rock Fhosi'hate

Cost of Production of Rock Phosphate

GRAVEL KOCK MINING

Analysis of Gravel Rock

Influence of Florida Phosphates on the Market
Market Prick of Florida Hioh-Grade Rock in 1891 ..
Shipments of Hard Rock Phosphate

The Lahouk Question in Florida

Florida Phosphate Mining as an Investment ..

Origin of Florida Phosphates

Fertiliser Manufacturing in Florida

Effects ok the Phosphate Industry on Florida

Chaitkk III— south CAROLINA PHOSPHATES.

The Makl Beds . .

Discovery ok the Phosphate Rocks

Commencement of Mining Operations and First
Shipments

Description ok the Phosphate Rocks or Nodules

Analysis

Origin of the Phosphate Rocks

Location and Extent ok the Deposits

Land Phosphate : Description ok Stratum and Yield
PER Acre

METHOD OF RAISING AND PREPARING THE
LAND PHOSI'HATE

Progress of the Land Rock Mining Industry ..

Cost of Production of Land Rock . .

Prices obtained for Land Rock

Quantities of Land Rock still Available

RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING

Cost of MiNiN<i River Rock

t'AOK.

7«
88

«9
go

91
93
96
9«
I of)
107
109
no

118
119

'23

'25

130

'32

'34
136

'43
146

148
'5'
154

'54
136

156
170

Index.

Chaptkm III.— south CAROLINA PH()S1'HATF:S-^C<'«//h«<'</>

Prices Outained fok Rivkk Rock

SHii>i>iN(i Facimties fdk Loading Rivkr Rock
QuANTiTiKa Raised of Land and Kiver I'mosfhate
The South Carolina Fertiliser Manukacturinci In-
dustry .. .. . . ,.

Profits of the South Carolina Phosfhate Industry . .
Future of the South Carolina Phosphate Industry..

l'A(iK.

'7'
171

'73
176

'77

Chaptkr IV.— CANADIAN PHOSPHATES.

Geological Formation

Description of the Mining Operations
Analysis of Canadian Apatite
Preparation of the Ore

Transport

List of Companies Operating m iHqi
Cost of Produ^ tion
Shipments of Ca.adian Phosphate ..
Prices of Phosphate I **s ..
Present Position and Fuiuifil ojf

Phosphate Industry

••

179

184

• •

'99

• •

201

••

205

. .

208

% •

*♦ . .

208

• •

<',

213

• •

THE

Canadian

»»

219

Appendix.- ANALYSIS OF VAI^JOTts PHOSPHATES.

English Phosphates

Spanish Phosphates

Algerian Phosphates . .

French Phosphates

SoMME (French) Phosphates . .

Belgian Phosphates

German Phosphates and Norwegian Apatite

West Indian Islands

Guano

.¥

If'

219

220
220
"il
22''
222
122
22^

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

INTRODUCTION.

The tissues of -ivery kind of vegetation are composed of a
number of elements derived from the air, from water and from
the soil. Those elements, therefore, of which the earth is
deprived by agriculture, and which are not replaced by tlie
action of air and water, have to be restored artificially if the
life-supporting powers of the soil are to be kept in operation.
Chief among these elements are nitrogen, potassium and phos-
phorus, the last-named being the most indispensable for the
development of all plant and vegetable life.

Phosphorus is one of the most universally distributed of
all elements ; it is found in every kind of animal and vegetable
matter, as well as in most sedimentary and eruptive rocks, and
existed previously to the dawn of life.

Introductory.

The necessity of re-stimulating an exhausted soil was
discovered in very ancient times, but it is only during the
present century that any real knowledge of cause and eflfect
was acquired.

History shows that the excrement of birds was in use
among the Romans, and that in the 1 2th century the Arabians
and Peruvians used the guanos of their respective countries for
fertilising purposes.

The waste clippings of bone and ivory from the button and
knife facLoriwS of Sheffield (England) were utilised as a manure
by the neighbouring farmers about the middle of last century,
and this was probably the first occasion when any non-nitrogenous
phosphatic material was thus employed. Towards the end of the
century greensand was used in considerable quantities in the
counties of Essex and Kent, and in the early part of the present
century bones were so greatly in demand for application to the
soil in a crushed form, that large imports were made from
foreign countries in addition to the home collections.

About this same period the marl beds of New Jersey, U.S.A.,
were beginning to be exploited, and their contents used for
enriching the agricultural lands of that State.

In France spent animal charcoal (bone black) began to be
used as a manure in 1822, and the results were so satisfactory
that its employment for agricultural purposes soon made rapid
strides.

Introductory.

All this time the real cause of the stimulating effect of
these various materials seems to have remained unknown,
although the results were thoroughly recognised and
appreciated.

It was apparently the French agricultural scientists who
were the first to attribute to the phosphoric acid contained in
the spent animal charcoal the beneficial effects resulting from
the application of this material to the soil, and suggestions were
made that the phosphates, discovered by Monsieur Berthier and
others about the year 1 820, should be mixed with the animal
charcoal and crushed bones, and in 1841 a patent was taken out
for the application of phosphates for agricultural purnoses.

In the year 1840 Dr. Justus von Liebig, of Germany, who
based his experiments on the researches of his predecessors,
suggested the addition of sulphuric acid to crushed bones in
order to render soluble the phosphate they contained. The
phosphate of lime in bones had hitherto been considered useless
owing to its being insoluble, and the fertilising element was
thought to be in the gelatine matter ; in fact it was not until
the Duke of Richmond proved by his experiments in the year
1843, that bones deprived of their grease and gelatinous matter
were equally as efficacious as fresh bones, that the phosphoric
acid w?s recognised as being the valuable fertilising element.

iMeanwhile iMr. J. B. Lawes (now Sir J. B. Lawes) put
Dr. Liebig's suggestions into practical effect, and began the
manufacture of artificial manures at Deptford, London, by

Introductory.

mixing sulphuric acid with the crushed bones. Soon afterwards
(1845) Professor Henslow recommended Cambridge coprolites*
(the analysis of which had been published by Monsieur
Berthier, about the year 1820) as being a material rich enough
in phosphate of lime to be a suitable substitute for bones, and
the various bone-crushing factories were quickly converted into
chemical fertiliser and superphosphate manufactories.

IMPORTANCE OF PHOSPHORIC ACID.

In order to show the great importance of phosphoric acid
in relation to agriculture it may be mentioned that one year's
crop in France — according to Monsieur (Jrandeau's recent
estimation — removes from the soil about 300,000 tons of
phosphoric acid, of which about one-half only is restored in the
shape of stable manure.

In like manner it is estimated that the crop of wheat,
maize, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, hay and straw in the
United States means an annual loss to the soil of nearly one
and a-half million tons of phosphoric acid.

Further it has been shown that for every cow kept on
pasture lands throughout the summer, there are carried off not
less than 50 pounds of phosphate of lime in the shape of veal,
cheese and butter.

*NoTE. — Professor Henslow named these nodules "coprolites,"
thinking that they were of coprolitic origin, like the nodules found in the
Lias formation. He soon discovered his error, but the name (which is
most misleading, since real coprolites are of very rare occurrence) has
never been altered.

Introductory,

These ifew instances are sufficiently striking to show the
enormous annual loss of phosphoric acid that is going on in all
agricultural districts, and to prove the necessity for restoring
to the soil what is being thus carried off.

SOURCES OF SUPPLY OF PHOSPHORIC

ACID.

By a curious coincidence the discoveries of Dr. Liebig were
published in the same year that the first few barrels of Peruvian
guano were imported into England. This new fertiliser, which
contained nitrogen in addition to phosphate, became at
once so popular with the farmers that in the year 1845 the
imports amounted to 283,000 tons, and by the year 1861 no less
than 3,200,000 tons had been imported into the United Kingdom.
The success of this guano resulted in the discovery of other
guano deposits in the Pacific, on the east coast of South America,
in the West Indies, in South Africa and in the Arabian Gulf.
Of these only the Ichabce, Patagonian and Falkland guanos
were nitrogenous, the other deposits being purely phosphatic.
Of the many guano deposits discovered nearly all have been
exhausted, and at the present date the supply of this material is
but small. '

Bones, bone ash and bone meal continue to be a source of
supply of phosphoric acid, but the quantities available form but
a small proportion of the amount of phosphoric acid required
annually.

Introductory,

The use of mineral phosphates* on the other hand has
shown an enormous expansion since the early days when its
manufacture was first begun, and deposits have been worked
from time to time in the following countries : — Norway, Russia,
Germany, England, Belgium, France, Spain, Algeria, Canada,
United States (South Carolina and Florida), and many of the
West Indian Islands, and also in Mexico and Brazil.

In addition to the above a fresh source of supply of phos-
phoric acid in the shape of ground basic slag was introduced
into the European market about six years ago, and this mp.terial
i.as given such satisfactory results that the annual consumption
exceeds six hundied thousand tons.

These are the most important sources whence phosphoric
acid is obtained, but there are also various waste and other
products which supply smaller quantities.

THE PHOSPHATE MINING INDUSTRY.

Although Cambridge coprolites began to be worked as
early as the year 1845, and used for the manufacture of
chemical fertilisers, yet it was not till about the year 1870
that the phosphate mining industry began to assume any
regularity or importance.

•Note. — The term "mineral phosphates " is used in the commercial
sense, as contrasted with organic phosphates, such as bones, bone ash and
soluble guanos.

Introductory.

This was doubtless owing to the immense supplies of
guanos which were shipped in large quantities up to the
year 1870,* soon after which date the best deposits became
exhausted.

In the meantime the supplies of Cambridge coprolites had
been supplemented by the working of similar beds in Suffolk
and Bedfordshire.

In France the phosphates at Grandpre, in the Ardennes,
began to be exploited in 1856, and applied to the soil in a
ground state. Further discoveries were made at Quercy, in
the department of Lot, in 1865, followed by the working in
1870 of the deposits of Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne and
Aveyron, known commercially as Bordeaux phosphates. A
few years later the Boulogne coprolite deposits began to be
exploited and shipments made to the United Kingdom.

In Spain, phosphate uiining commenced on a small scale
at Logrosan, in the province of Estramadura, about the year
1855, followed by mining near Caceres in i860, where an
output averaging 10,000 tons per annum was made up to 1875
from one mine alone.

In Norway, phosphates were discovered at Krageroe in
1854, and mining carried on for five years, during which time
13,000 tons were extracted and shipped. The Oedegarden
deposits were not worked until after 1874.

♦Note.— 10,000,000 tons had been exported from the Chincha Islands alone.

Introductory.

ifil!"

In Germany, the Nassau phosphate deposits were dis-
covered in 1864 ; mining was at once commenced, and the
phosphate exported, and also manufactured locally. Owing
to the competition from other countries in recent years, and
the high percentage of iron and alumina contained in these
Lahn phosphates, their export ceased some years ago, and the
whole production is now manufactured locally. From 20,000
to 30,000 tons are raised annually.

Phosphate deposits had also been opened in these years on
some of the West Indian Islands, the most important sources
being Navassa and Sombrero''' Islands, from which places
considerable quantities were shipped both to the United
States and the United Kingdom.

In 1867 the South Carolina deposits began to be worked,
and in four years' time the annual production of land and river
rock had reached 65,000 tons.

The next ten years showed a great advance in the
production of phosphates. Belgium entered the arena in 1873
with phosphates from the neighbourhood of Mons, and France
began to supply larger quantities, 20,000 tons per annum being
exported from the Bordeaux district alone. In 1875 the
Ardennes and Meuse productions reached the figures of 25,000
and 41,000 tons respectively. In 1877, France produced
a total quantity of 1 1 5,000 tons.

•Note. — The island of Sombrero has been worked for over 30 years,
and has produced a total quantity of 500,000 tons of uniformly high-grade
phosphate.

Introductory.

In the West Indies the Islands of Curasao and Aruba
were now supplementing the output of high-testing phosphates,
and the shipments from these sources in 1880 amounted to
over 10,000 tons.

Spain was now producing and exporting larger quantities,
33,000 ton- being shipped to the United Kingdom in 1874,
11,000 tons in 1879 and 23,000 tons in 1880.

The world's production of phosphates in i88o appears to
have been about as follows : —

Tons.

England (Cambridge, Bedford and Suffolk-

coprolites) 30,000

France (Ardennes, Meuse,

Lot,

Tarn-(

Jt-Garonnt

Aveyron, Boulogne, &c.)

• .

• • •

125,000

Belgium (Mons District)

15,000

Spain (Estramadura)

. .

40,000

Germany (Lahn District) . .

. .

25,000

Norway

, .

5,000

Canada

7.500

South Carolina (Land Rock)

• . .

125,000

Do. (River Rock)

. .

62,000

Curasao, Aruba, and Sombrero Islands . .

10,000

Other West Indian Islands, Navassa,

&c.

25,000

Other Countries

■

* *

30,000

500,000

In the next ten years the sources of supply altered \'ery
considerably. Spain, which in the years 1882 and 1883 shipped
a quantity of 100,000 tons to the United Kingdom alone, has
now practically ceased to export.

In France the old sources of supply for export have been
replaced by the newer fields in the Somme and other northern
departments.

Introductory.

Belgium has assumed an important place in the market,
about 1 50,000 tons per annum being raised in the neighbourhood
of Mons. while fresh deposits of large extent have recently
been discovered and worked near Liege.

The South Carolina deposits have been developed to an
enormous extent, consequent on the expansion of the chemical
fertiliser manufacturing industry in the United States, and a
new field has begun to be exploited in Florida.

In 1890 the production of phosphates had reached the
following figures : —

Tons.

England (Coprolites)

. about

20,000

France (Somme Deposits)

170,000

Do. (Other Deposits)

200,000

Belgium (Mons District)

150,000

Do. (Liege District)

50,000

Germany

30,000

Norway

10,000

Canada

26,000

South Carolina (Land Deposits) . .

300,000

Do. (River Deposits) . .

237,000

Florida

40,000

West Indian Islands

50,000

Other Sources

20,000

1,303,000

This rapid development is most remarkable, and clearly
shovva a great future for the phosphate mining industry.
Agriculture and the demand for phosphoric acid are indissolubly
connected, and with the gradual though certain exhaustion of
the earth's soil there must be an ever increasing demand for
phosphoric acid to be replaced therein. It has been stated on good

Introductory.

authority that the United States are only using one quarter of
the quantity of fertilisers which should be employed to keep
pace with the annual extraction of the fertilising elements from
the soil. In Europe the manufacture and use of fertilisers in
countries, which a few years ago were content to do without
them, is making rapid strides. In fact the recognition of the
importance of phosphoric acid is apparent on all sides.

It seems safe therefore to assert that the phosphate mining
industry is still in its infancy, and that its future growth and
development are an absolute certainty.

CLASSIFICATION OF MINERAL
PHOSPHATES.

No exact geological classification of the various deposits of
phosphate has yet been made owing to the great difficulty of
deciding definitely to which formation certain deposits really
belong, for not only does the phosphate itself assume a great
variety of forms, but the sundry varieties also blend into one
another in a most perplexing manner.

The ordinary classification is a non-geological one, and
divides phosphates into mineral phosphates, whose origin
cannot be traced to animal life, and rock phosphates (more m
less mineralised) of organic origin.

Introductory.

Thu only puru niiticral pliosphatus uru thu upatitu deposits
of Norway and Canada, and thu apatites of Spain found in
liniitud quantities at Jumilla, Zar/a la Mayor and Ceclavin.
All these phosphates arc crystalline in form.

The deposits of Nassau (Germany), Lot-et -Garonne, Tarn-
et -Garonne and Aveyron (south-west of France), Logrosan and
Caccri'x (Spain) are usually placed under the division of mineral
phosphates, and termed " phosphorite," an arbitrary name
which has no practical significance. There is much dispute as
to the origin of these phosphates, but most of the sci' iitists
attribute to them an organic origin.

The term " rock phosphates " covers the rest of the field,
and includes in its different varieties phosphatic limestones,
coprolites, nodular phosphates, concretionary, arenaceous or
sheet rock phosphates and bone beds.

Having thus described the manner in which the phosphate
mining industry came into existence, and given a rough outline
of its development, we will now proceed to a fuller account of
the phosphate deposits of Florida, South Carolina and Canada.

CHAPTER II.

FLORIDA PHOSPHATES.

THEIR DISCOVERY.

The existence of phosphate deposits in Florida has been
known for many years, but owing to a general belief that the
quantity was limited and the quality not commercially valuable,
no regular examination was commenced until the close of the
year 1889.

The first to discover and appreciate the true value and
extent of the phosphates in South Florida was Mr. J. Francis
Le Baron, of Jacksonville, who, while making a survey on
behalf of the Government in the early months of the year
1 881, came across the bars and beds of phosphate in Peace
River. He at once recognised the fact that the numerous
bones and teeth, hitherto considered merely interesting
curiosities, were phosphatic, and that the deposit was one of
enormous value. His work at that time prevented him from
taking steps towards reaping any advantage from his discovery,
and it was not until December, 1886, that he was able to

Florida Phosphates.

visit the locality again. He then communicated with sou^e
northern capitalists, for whom he made a full report, dated
January, 1887, advising the purchase of about 10,000 acres.

His negotiations for acquiring the lands seem to have
been protracted and finally to have proved unsuccessful, and
his golden opportunity was lost, for Colonel G. W. Scott, of
the G. W. Scott Manufacturing Company, Atlanta, Georgia,
had in the meantime heard of the deposits, and after a careful
survey, made very extensive purchases on the Peace River.

In the summer of the same year Mr. T. S. Moorehead, of
Pennsylvania, who had learnt from Mr. Le Baron that there
was phosphate in Florida, though the secret of its location
had not been mentioned to him, came south to look for the
deposit, and was fortunate enough to discover and purchase
the now famous bars at Arcadia. Supported by Colonel Scott,
who agreed to purchase all his output, Mr. Moorehead
started actual operations on a very small scale, under the
name of the Arcadia Phosphat'j Company, and in Maj', 1888,
the first shipment of Florida phosphate was made, ten car-loads
being dispatched to Colonel Scott's feraliser works in Atlanta,
Georgia.

Shipments of phosphate were now made regularly to
Colonel Scott's works, and though the railroad tars were
actually labelled " Florida Peace River Phosphate for the G. W.
Scott Manufacturing Company," more than twelve months
elapsed before the outside world appears to nave taken notice
of this new industrv.

Florida Phosphates.

Following upon the steps uf these developments in
Southern Florida came the news in 1889 of the existence of
phosphates in Marion County. It was in May of that year
that Mr. Albertus Voght, while sinking a well near Dunnellon,
noticed some rock which aroused his curiosity, and which
upon analysis proved to be high-grade phosphate. This fact
transpired in the autumn of that year, and led to an epidemic
of prospecting, the results of which were so surprising that in
a very short space of time an excitement and fever set in, which
have not been parallelled since the Pacific Coast gold craze
of some forty years ago. Every train was crowded with
prospecting parties armed with spades and with shovels, with
chemicals and with camping-out apparatus. The backwoods
were dolced with numerous camps ; diggers were hired at fancy
prices, and the lucky owners of vehicles and animals of any
kind found their exorbitant demands readily agreed to. Men
who had been trying in vain to get rid of their lands at any
price suddenly found themselves independent for life ; where
single dollars had been eagerly sought, fifties were now refused,
and hundreds readily oflFered and paid. Speculators invaded
every town : lands were bought up right and left regardless
of prices, resold again at still higher prices, until the newspapers
seriously stated that Florida was richer than the whole of the
rest of the United States put together. A few head-lines from
leading newspapers may be mentioned to show the state of
the public pulse, " the entire gulf a rich phosphate bed " ;
"millions on millions in it"; "an acre worth from $30,000
to $12,000,000"; "a gigantic bonanza"; "wastelands will

Florida Phosphates.

blossom as the rose"; "millions of money in South Florida
lands''; "Marion, Citrus, and Hernando Counties to become a
veritable El Dorado."

DESCRIPTION OF FLORIDA.

The popular idea that Florida was a flat country composed
of alternate areas of deep sand-banks and impassable swamps
seems to have prevailed even in Washington, for the Geological
Survey of the U.S.A., which has done such thorough and
valuable work in other States, omitted Florida entirely from
the scope of their investigations. Consequently there is a
great void of scientific data upon the geology of the State, and
the only available information to be found is contained in the
short treatises of Le Conte and Agassiz, a nummary of which
with additional liotes appeared in an article by Professor
Eugene A. Smith, published in 1881, in \''ol. XXI. of the
Amcrictiu Journal uf. Science. The unexpected discovery of
phosphates has led to the commtnicement of a topographical
survey by the Government, to be followed by a geological
survey, but the work before that department is so arduous and
extensive that no results or official reports can be expected for
many months to come.

Speaking topographically, Florida may be described as an
undulating low-lying peninsula, the highest point being

Florida Phosphates.

260 feet, and the average elevation about 80 feet above the
level of the sea. The whole country is a succession of gently
sloping ridges, connected in some places by extensive plateaux,
in others by low-lying swamps. The ridges and plateaux are
for the most part composed of sand and covered by a growth
of pine trees, which in some places are excellent timber forests,
in others merely thin saplings. The low-lying lands, which
are called "hommocks," are covered with a rich soil, and where
not too swampy are selected for cultivation. In the swamps
every variety of tropical vegetation, more or less dense, is to
be found in luxuriant abundance.

The altitudes of diflFerent places in the peninsula being
of interest, the following may be mentioned. Starting from
Fernandina on the north-east, and travelling in a south-
westerly direction to the port of Cedar Keys, the following
elevations are to be remarked : Maxwell (56 miles), 57 feet above
mean low water ; Trail Ridge (61 miles), 210 feet ; Gainesville,
128 feet ; Waldo, 150 feet ; Ocala, 100 feet (with a ridge one
mile below the town of 160 feet). Going south from Ocala :
Pemberton Ferry, 54 feet ; Lakeland, 244 feet ; Plant City
<west of Lakeland), 132 feet; Bartow (south-east of Lakeland),
114 feet.

Some of these altitudes are railway levels only, but the
figures are sufficiently accurate to give the general impression
required. Polk County has a considerable ridge running north
and south, a few miles to the west of Peace River and of the
Florida Southern Railroad. This ridge forms the backbone of

Florida Phosphates.

thesouthhalf of the peninsula, and gradually flattens out beloAV
Bowling Green, south of which the county is almost level. It
is in this southern part that the immense grass prairies and
impassable everglades are situated.

The phosphate deposits occur on the western side of the
peninsula, and to use very wide and general terms, may be said
to be found in every county from Talahassee to Charlotte
Harbour.

I! !

In order to describe the deposits in greater detail, it is
necessary to divide the subject into two main branches, viz.,
the pebble deposits of South Florida, and the rock ^^ciposits.
of Northern Florida.

THE PEBBLE DEPOSITS.

It is absolutely impossible at the present date to define
the area containing the pebble deposits, but for the purposes
of this description, the counties of Polk, Hillsborough, Manatee
and De Soto, embracing about 2,000 square miles, may be
stated to be underlaid, more or less, at varying depths, with
pebble phosphate. Polk and De Soto Counties contain the
more important deposits, and the main fields which are being
exploited at the present time are in the lands drained by the

Florida Phosphates.

29>

Peace and Alafia Rivers and their numerous tributaries, and in
the beds of these same rivers and streams. What appears ta
be the main deposit is situated on the high lands (maximum
165 feet above mean Lide level), which form the watershed of
the head waters of the Alafia River and of the creeks which flow
into Peace River between Bartow and Bowling Green. The
rough boundaries of this area would be Lakeland on the north,
Bartow and Bowling Green on the east and south, and Chicora
on the west. The phosphate-bearing stratum varies in thick-
ness from a few inches to more than 30 feet, and is covered
by an overburden differing in composition and thickness
according to locality. Near the edges of the numerous streams,
or " branches," the overburden is not heavy, but in the higher
lands, dotted with shallow ponds and lakes, the phosphate is not
generally reached until some 10 to 15 feet of overlying earth,,
sand, &c., have been removed.

The composition of the overburden is as follows : —

(i.) Soil and subsoil : a few inches to 6 feet.

(ii.) A light-coloured sand : a few inches to 10 feet.

(iii.) A variously -coloured stiff clay. This clay, after the
first few inches, contains phosphate pebbles, which
grow more and more frequent till the regular stratum
is reached.

Some deposits are covered with a rock capping of sandstone,
either in the form of conglomerates or of loose rounded pieces.
Occasionally it is solid rock, and crops out on the surface,.

3©

Florida Phosphates.

and is completely honeycombed. The colour runs from rusty
brown to pure white. The thickness of this sandstone capping,
which is generally local in its occurrence, is rarely more than
two or three feet, but it is hard to remove when conglomerated,
or in rock form.

It!

The matrix of the stratum, in which the pebbles are found,
is generally argillaceous and plastic, and the proportion of sand
contained therein varies in each locality. In order to ascertani
the exact composition of this matrix we sent a sample, taken
from the location known as Phosphoria, to Dr. Wyatt's
laboratory, for complete analysis, and received the following
results : —

Matrix dkikd at 212'

li'

Organic Matter

* Phosphoric Acid

tCarbonic Acid . .
Lime

Iron and Alumina
Fluoride and Magnesia
Insoluble Silicates and Sand

. . 2.40

.. 1529

. . 6.70

. . 20.00

. . 13.06

. .60

.. 41.95

100.00

♦Equivalent to Tribasic Phosphate of Lime
t ,, ,, Carbonate of Lime .. ..

^2.33
. .20

;-|

An analysis by Dr. Maynwald of a sample taken from the I'harr
deposit gave Phosphoric Acid 13.93, equivalent to Tribasic Phosphate of
Lime 30.37, Iron and Alumina 9.90.

I III

Florida Phosphates.

The east side of the main deposit, i.c., from about two miles
below Bartow, as far as Fort Meade, is quite different to the
centre, for the phosphate in that region is found embedded in
a hard matrix. At times it is hardly possible to distinguish
between the pebbles and the matrix, both being pure white ;
in other places the matrix is brown in colour. The composition
of this matrix does not differ from that of the phosphate
pebbles it contains as much as would naturally be expected.
The percentage of sand is small, and though the iron and
alumina run high, there is a large percentage of phosphate of
lime, so much so that at Homeland the pebble and matrix are
dried and ground together, to a lOO-mesh size, and sold as a
fertiliser for direct application, a small quantity of the sand
being blown off during the grinding. The name of the
Company carrying on this business is the Whitaker Phosphate
and Fertiliser Company. The analysis of the rock as taken
from the ground is as follows : —

Phosphoric Acid.. .. .. .. .. 29.13

Equivalent to Tribasic Phosphate of Lime.. C3.50
Iron and Alumina .. .. .. .. 13-41

It appears, therefore, that the larger part of the matrix has
been formed by small particles of whitish phosphate, which
have acted as a binder between the pebbles.

There is yet another form of deposit, which is found about
one mile south of Bartow, underlying a very small area. This
appears to be a hard rock deposit, and the samples exhibited

Florida Phosphates.

therefrom show no sign whatever of pebble formation. The
analysis runs over 70 per cent, of phosphate, with about 2^ per
cent, of iron and alumina. The rock has a close resemblance
to some specimens found in Marion County,

DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOSPHATE

PEBBLES.

The phosphate pebbles vary in size from the tiniest specks
imaginable up to potato size, the average may be said to run
between one and a-half inches and one thirty-second part of
an inch. They have no regular shape or appearance, some-
times their surface is smooth and polished, at other times it is
much indurated and rough. The colour also var'es very
materially, even in the same piece of stratum. We have
selected the following varieties as being representative of the
different kinds of pebble : —

(i.) A pure white to cream-coloured variety, smooth and
lozenge shaped, with a hard enamel surface and
white interior.

(ii.) A white chalky variety, soft in composition and easily
crushed by the teeth ; lozenge shaped.

(iii.) A brown variety, partially covered with a cream to
blue-coloured enamel, polished surface, and very hard.

i'l'

Florida Phosphates.

(iv.) A light brown amber-coloured, changing at times to
a dark chestnut brown variety, with hard smooth and
polished surface, interior is brown but lighter in
shade ; lozenge shaped.

(v.) A mud-coloured brown variety, with rough surface
and jagged edges, very hard. These pebbles are
usually found in the small creeks, and also in the
upper part of the Peace River.

(vi.) A bright slatey-blue and white variety, very hard.
In the larger pebbles the surface is much indurated,
the smaller pieces being smooth and lozenge shaped.

(vii.) A purple-blue , or plum-coloured variety. The
pebbles of this colour are larger than the average size,
and are to be found in Bone Valley. Their surface is
hard and indurated.

(viii.) A white porous variety. These are mostly found in
the neighbourhood of Little Pain's Creek, and are
high in iron and alumina ; lozenge shaped.

(ix.) A small hard jagged variety, with broken edges and
hard surface; found everywhere; white to cream-
colour.

(x.) A broken variety, light in specific gravity, and easily
broken by the fingers; very porous. Found mostly
north of Bartow, high in phosphate and also in iron
and alumina.

All of the above varieties may be met with in any of the
land pebble deposits, and seem to be intermixed generally.

r i' :!

■ I'

t <

Florida Phosphates,

(xi.) A hard jet black or blue black variety, with bright
enamel surface. These are the pebbles found in all
the Peace and Alafia River deposits.

(xii.) A black kidney-shaped variety: hard, but with no
surface polish ; also found in Peace River.

(.xiii.) A light slate-coloured variety ; much indurated.
Found in the older river beds, above present water
level of the Peace River.

(xiv.) A dark brown variety, very highly polished, with
enamel surface : smooth and hard. These are founil
in the Manatee River and on its banks, and also at
Sarasota.

(xv.) A light brown sandy-coloured variety : lighter in the
centre than at the outside. Generally more or less
rounded : surface rough. Manatee River. This
variety is really a semi-phosph .tised sandstone rock.

(xvi.) A chalky-coloured variety. Found in the Caloosa-
hatchie and underlying its banks. Light in specific
gravity and of medium hardness. Low in analysis.

It is to be noticed that most of the pebbles, which are
more than about an inch in length, are really conglomerated
from smaller pebbles, even though their surface is hard and
polished. The interior is composed of small hard pebbles and of
a whitish powder, which has almost the same chemical analysis
as the pebble, though the proportion of iron and alumina is in
excess of the general average.

Florida Phosphates.

ANALYSIS OF THE LAND PEBBLES.

Thu phosphate pebbles underlying the land vary in test
between 60 and 75 per cent, phosphate of lime, occasionally small
samples have analysed as high as 84 per cent. The general
average of land pebbles may be said to be between 65 and 70
per cent. The following is a complete analysis made by
Dr. Francis Wyatt, of New York, of land pebble dried
to 212°: —

Organic Matter

2.73

•Phosphoric Acid

.. 3219

Carbonic Acid . .

3 95

Lime

.. 42.86

Iron and Alumina

4.20

Fluoride and Magnesia

2.25

Insoluble Siliceous

11.80

100.00

* Equivalent to Tribasic Phosphate of Lime ., 70.21

Part of the same sample was analysed by Dr. C. Kirberger,
of Hamburg, whose results gave : —

Tribasic Phoi^hate of Lime . .
Oxide of Iron and Alumina . .
Insoluble Siliceous Matter . .

67.12
2.s8
8.50
B '2

i !

Nil

1 i !

y < :]

Florida Phosphates.

The average results of 36 analyses made by Dr. C. Kirberger,
Hamburg, of bulk samples (half-ton each), taken from various
parts of the deposit at Phosphoria gave phosphate 67,35, 'ron
and alumina 2.27 ; while the following full analyses were made
in London from large average samples fairly representing the
land pebble deposit of Polk County.

Moisture

Organic Matter and Water of Combination
* Phosphoric Acid

Lime

Oxide of Iron

Alumina ..

^[agnesia, Ac. . .
t Carbonic Acid . .

Insoluble Siliceous Matter . .

' Equal to Tribasic Phosphate of Lime
+ ,, Carbonate of Lime . .

A, Voolckcr
& Sons,

Cuiinoii
and Newton.

Urlcd at

•45

212"

n 155

—

33 07

.33 '26

45-82

43,86

i.iy
1.63

1 1.80

5'37

—

1,64

2.00

9.28

10.21

Undetcriiiinud

8.87

100.00

72.19

72.61

372

4-54

If
itl,

ANALYSIS OF THE RIVER PEBBLES.

The land and river pebbles art;, of the same origin beyond
any possible doubt, but their composition has been changed
since the time when they lay in their original bed. The river
pebbles analyse from 60 to 65 per cent, phosphate of lime, with

Florida Pltos/y/intis.

an average of about 2 per cent, of iron and alumina. The
following analyses may be taken as representing the average
cargo : —

PEACE RIVER PHOSPHATE.

Cakgi) ok j.ooo Tons.

Caroo ok

I,(X)" TjNS.

Phosphoric Acid (dry basis)

equivalent to
Tribasic Phosphate of I-ime

Lime

Oxide of Iron

Alumina

Voelckur. Dyer. Sliipanl. Dyer. iiiui^lior.

2S.0J 27.91 28.00 2H.62 2^-75

61.^0 <io.93 61.12 02,48 62.76

40.95 41.52 41.21 42.56 43.90

.84 i.oi ) „ ( 0.81 ]

I o.so ,- 2.25

.93 IS'' ' ^ i.5«) '

The pebbles of the Alafia River have the same chemical
composition, but the analysis of shipments varies in accordance
with the proportion of silicates left mi,\ed with the phosphate.

FORMATION OF THE VARIOUS PEBBLE

DEPOSITS.

At the present time no definite theory has been formulated
as to the exact origin of the phosphate pebbles and the forma-
tion of the deposits in which tliey are found ; in fact, the
industry is not yet sufficiently ilcvcloped to afford the data
upon which to argue the question on a true scientific basis.

The only known geological fact with reference to Florida
is that the whole peninsula is underlaid with white limestone
of Vicksburg age (lower Upper Eocene according to Sir Charles

' i

III-

till!:! 1

Florida Phosphates.

'! i

Lyell ; upper Middle Eocene according to American geologists),
which is the oldest rock in Florida. It is therefore natural to
suppose that Florida remained submerged until near the end
of the Eocene period, after which the first elevation above the
sea took place. Then came the Miocene submergence, followed
by a second elevation. The next geological change would be
during the Champlain period, when the land once more
disappeared from sight and was covered with a mantle of sands
and clays before it finally rose to its present elevation above the
sea.

The phosphate jiebbles had been formed before this last
submergence, probably in one great deposit, and it seems not
unnatural to account for the minor deposits as being composed
of the washings or overflow of this main deposit, the
encroaching seas having washed out from their original bed
huge quantities of phosphate pebbles, mixing them with clay
and sand and spreading them with tolerable evenness over the
surrounding areas, with a tendency to roll them in larger
quantities near or in the more depressed portions of the
limestone rock.

The present rivers would subsequently cut through these
layers of phosphate, washing out thv^ sands and clays and deposit-
ing the pebble in the bottom. No doubt the rivers were wider
in those days, as their channels had not yet been cut, and as time
passed the channels would deepen and narrow, and the rivers
would change their courses, always leaving in their older beds the
pebbles they had washed from the strata now above the

Florida Phosphates.

ordinary level of the water. An examination of the Peace
River at Arcadia shows the smaller and smoother pebble in the
sand bars in the river's bed, while some feet above the water is
to be found an even layer of larger and rougher pebble in
the bank, covered with an overburden of sand. This feature
is also observable at many other points.

PEACE RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING.

Peace River rises near Bartow in the high lake lands of
Polk County, and flowing southward to Charlotte Harbour
empties its waters into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the fastest
flowing river in Florida, and the most irregular, and its channel
changes like that of the Mississippi. The whole river is a
constant succession of shallows and deep basins, and its
meanderings have formed the numerous bars and beds ot
phosphate and sand. At many points where the bed has
become clogged up with sand and phosphate, washed from
adjoining lands and elsewhere, new channels have been made,
and the old bed remains to-day a mixture of sand and phos-
phate awaiting the advent of the miner.

The principal tributaries of the Peace River are Charlie
Apopka, Bowlegs, Chillocohatchee, Thompson, Pains and
Whidden Creeks, which between them drain a very large area
of country. The Leavy deluges of rain which fall during the

si ■ I

5 I »

Florida Phosphates.

If til

summer months cause the small rivulet of the morning to be a
swollen stream in the evening ; the stream in like manner
becomes a torrent, and the raging, whirling, fast-flowing
streams, torrents and rivers lash and wash out the banks in
their rapid course, undermining and detaching the nodules of
phosphate from their strata and driving them ever along the
river bed. Imagine the continuance of th's process for tens of
thousands of years, and it is not difficult to find the rai'son
(fctrc of the drift deposits of phosphate in the Peace and other
Rivers. In the dry season a great proportion of these bars of
phosphate with sand intermixed is above the water's surface,
and the original work was carried on by spade and wheel-
barrow, as much as 5,600 tons having been taken in this
manner from the famous bar at Arcadia. In examining closely
this river phosphate one is surprised to find how large a
quantity there is of actual teeth, ribs, vertebrcc, scales and bones,
once the component parts of beasts and birds, of fishes and
reptiles, of manatee, of elephant, of glyptodon, of mastodon, of
crocodile, and of shark.

The method of raising the phospl u; at the present date
is by a 6 to lo-inch centrifugal suction pump driven by steam
power and operated upon a barge. The suction pipe extends
from the upper deck into the water ahead of the barge, and is
adjustable by ropes and pulleys. The phosphate is discharged
from the pipe into a revolving screen (with openings one-
sixteenth of an inch wide and a half-inch long), which shakes
and washes out a considerable quantity of the sand which falls

Florida Phosphates.

with the water again into the river, while the phosphate is
discharged alongside through a shoot on to the scow which
conveys the phosphate down the river to the \Vorks. There
it is hoisted from the barge, passes through the drier, and
after one more screening is ready for market.

It would probably be of service to make use of a double
screen at those places on the river where the pebble is
mixed with marl clay and wood drift, the centre and coarser
screen separating this waste admixture and discharging it back
into the river. At the present time this separation is being
carried on at the works, necessitating an extra process and
handling of the waste. A double screen would also be of use
where no such separation is required, the coarser screen retaining
the larger pebble, thus enabling the finer one to clean the smaller
pebbles more efficiently than where all sizes are mixed together.
This would also prevent the slots of the screens being worn
out and enlarged by the constant friction of the larger pebbles.
Both screens would deliver their final contents into the same
shoot.

At the different works various methods of drying are in
use. The favourite system seems to be the rotary iron drier. At
one end of this a brick furnace is built, the phosphate is
fed into the machine at the opposite end, and as the inside has
flanges of iron in screw form, the phosphate is driven towards
the furnace (the flames of which pass through the entire length
of the drier), and drops into a feed just before reaching the fire ;
thence it is elevated into a screen which separates the

Florida Phosphates.

i I

remaining sand from the phosphate. Another form of drier is
the brick chimney with ledges inside. The phosphate is fed
into the top, and as it falls from ledge to ledge the flames of the
furnace evaporate the moisture. A third drier is a long, steep
brick flue, down which the phosphate slides, being subjected all
the time to the flames from the fires below. The objection to
this method is the tendency to "avalanche;" in other words,
the phosphate does not always move down the flue with
regularity, but sometimes falls with a big rush, in which case
the result is a mixture of red-hot and absolutely wet pebbles.
It must be remembered that tr.o pebble after washing has from
lo to 20 per cent, of moisture adhering to it.

The initial difficulties of this river-mining enterprise can
only be fully understood by those who are acquainted with the
natural obstacles to be confronted in an undeveloped country
like Florida. The distance from which the machinery had to
be brought, in most instances from Ohio, a journey of 1,200
miles, was a mere bagatelle compared to the troubles which
commenced when the machinery arrived at the nearest railway
station. Roads had to be cut to the river's bank, and the
haulage of machinery and lumber from the railway to the
location for the works often cost more and occupied as much
time as the long railway transport. Next came the scarcity
of any labour, with the still greater trouble of securing skilled
mechanics. The initial screens, &c., had often to be thrown
away and new ones designed and brought to the spot. The
breakage of a small part would entail long delays, for machine-

Florida Phosphates.

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shops are few and far between in Florida. Finally, these
initial trials and difficulties were overcome, and the pioneers
of the river phosphate mining succeeded in producing a
marketable and valuable product at less cost than phosphate
has hitherto been produced in any part of the world.

It was one thing, however, to have phosphate ready for
market at the works, and another to get it afloat at the sea-
board. The earlier companies were not situated near
navigable water, and branch spurs had to be made to the main
railroad, and the phosphate transported to Punta Gorda.
Here the trouble commenced afresh, for Pui.ti Gorda is not a
deep seaport, and steamers can only load to 1 1 feet at the pier ;
the remainder of the cargo had tb refore to be put into
lighters and towed a distance of 20 miles to deep water before
the loading could be completed. This necessitated the
building of lighters and steam tugs.

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Some of the later companies lower down the river have
their works on water of sufficient depth to allow the phosphate
to be lightered from the works to alongside the steamers at
their loading stations in Charlotte Harbour, which reduces
their cost of shipping by about 75 cents per ton.

The dredging operations, too, are not so simple as might
be imagined, for Peace River is but a small stream during eight
months of the year, and the barges often get stuck in the
shallow places, and have to pump out the sanu before they can
move from place to place. It seems a strange oversight

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Florida Phosphates.

that the barges arc not fitted with steam winches which could
pull them through the lighter sand-banks, whereas now hand-
labour has to be depended upon, causing frequent delays. In
the summer months the river is about 17 feet higher
than during the winter, and the stream is so deep and rapid
that pumping has from time to time to be absolutely suspended.
The river's banks are overflowed, and the water invades
even the actual works. The drifts t)r bars of phosphate
vary much in their composition : sometimes there is but little
phosphate ; at others, as much as 60 or 70 per cent, of the mass.
At Liverpool and Cleveland, where the tide is felt, there seems
to be an immeasurably large quantity of phosphate, for the
incoming tides have prevented the pebbles from being rolled
further than this point. On the other hand, the same causes
have retained mud and clay, which constitute a drawback
and prevent the mining operations being carried on here as
easily as elsewhere.

Going up stream it is apparent that tb '-ock bed of the
river has depressions or basins of extended area. It is here
that the bars have been formed, and enormous quantities of
pebble have been taken from very small areas, the thickness
of phosphate-bearing bars or drifts being in some places as
much as 17 feet. Sometimes, after one of these drifts has
been exhausted, a second trial has yielded as much pebble as
the first, the freshets having in the meantime refilled the
exhausted basin with sand and phosphate. In some places there
is an absence of sand and phosphate for miles and miles, where

Florida Phosphates.

tlu; river's bed is composed of smooth rock. Just above
Zolfo there is one mile and a-half of rock bottom, then a
basin of sand and phosphate extending about half a-mile ;
then rock bottom for another mile leading to a large basin
at Wauchula, about three-quarters of a-mile in length.
Occasionally the sand has formed a stratum of hard-pan,
below which further drifts of phosphate and sand are frequently
discovered.

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There seems to be an impression prevailing pretty widely
in Florida, that the drift deposits in the river will be exhausted
in a few years. This, however, is not likely to prove correct,
at all events near the mouth of the river, for the Peace River
has, in the lapse of bygone ages, covered an area varying from
half a-mile to two miles in its meandering changes. The
present bed of the river is but a trifle compared to this, so that
even supposing the bottom of to-day's river bed to be exhausted,
there is still many times the same quantity left in the adjoining
sand-banks, once the bed of the river. The natural way to
work these drifts would be to divert the river's course by
building dams in the dry season, and cause the river
to wash out the sand from its older beds. Between Fort Meade
and Big Pain's Creek the old river bed has not only become
tilled up with sand, but in many cases is indistinguishable
from the mainland, until pits are sunk which reveal the work
of earlier ages and show the drifts of washed river pebble
beneath the present level surface of sand and earth. Some-
times these drifts are found super-imposed upon the even layers

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Florida Phosphates.

of phosphate deposit with clay matrix. Some of the newer
companies working north of Bowling Green, whose river
area is limited, intend working the adjoining land deposits
when they have exhausted the present and old river beds,
and will then employ steam excavators for removing the
overburden. The river drifts in this neighbourhood are
rarely more than seven feet in thickness, and a tolerably
accurate estimate can be made of the contents of a given area
of river deposit.

An erroneous idea is sometimes cited that the rivers
are redepositing pebbles as fast as they are being extracted.
This idea has apparently come from the fact that freshets
occasionally uncover drifts which had been unnoticed before,
and also that the drifts break up from time to time only
to form afresh lower down the river, for it is quite certain
that the quantity of new pebble actually washed into the
river's bed is infinitesimally small. It is most interesting
to notice the change in the colour of the pebbles, which
are found to be a lightish brown colour near Bartow, a
darker brown south of Fort Meade, and an absolute blue-black
at Zolfo and further south. There are, of course, black
pebbles all along the river's bed, but the above changes
are worth noticing.

South of Zolfo the pebble is fairly free from impuri-
ties, but the further north that examinations are made will be
found increasing quantities of wood drift, clay balls, and
carbonate rock mixed up with pebbles.

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Florida Phosphates.

NAMES OF COMPANIES IN OPERATION
ON PEACE RIVER.

At the close of 1890, the following Companies were in
operation : —

Name. Works at.

Arcadia Phosphate Co Arcadia

De Soto Phosphate Mining Co. . . Zolfo
Peace River Phosphate Co. . . Arc-.dia

Acres
Capital. Owned.

. $300,000 .. l.oco

250,000 .. 4,100

300,000 . . 9,800

With a daily output of about 200 tons.

Since that date the following Companies have commenced
operations* : —

Name.

Jacksonville Peace River Phos-
phate Co.

Charlotte Harbour Phosphate
Co.

Gulf Phosphate Mining and
Manufacturing Co.

South Florida Phosphate Co. .

National Peace River Co.

United States Phosphate Co, ,

Works at.

Apopka

Fort Ogden . .

Cleveland . .
Liverpool
Langford's Bridge

Acres
Capital. Owned.

ftl,00O,OOO . . 1,480

350,000 .. 7,500

240,000 . . 5,200

480,000 . . 1,500

100,000 . . 700

. . 680

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The average daily yield of an 8-inch pump is from
thirty-five to forty-five tons of pebble, though from time to

*NoTE. — There are some smaller companies in addition to these, but
as far as we could ascertain, no regular output has been made, nor will the
quantities be likely to affect the market. There are also other Companies
organised, but not at work.

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Florida Phosphates.

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time when an exceptionally fine drift has been found, one
pump has produced as much as seventy-five tons. There
are at present twelve pumps in operation and three more
will be added very shortly, so that when all the plants are
working, the extreme limit to the weekly capacity is
4,000 tons. Allowing for the usual contingencies a total
quantity of ioo,oc"> to 125,000 tons for 1892 is not likely to
be exceeded.

A great many wild reports have been circulated and even
printed about the colossal output to be made months and
months ago by the Peace River Companies. As a matter
of fact their present output is a marvel, considering the huge
difficulties which have been successfully contended with, and
the record of shipments made speaks a volume of praise on
behalf of the pluck, perseverance and energy of those who
have used their brains, time and money in producing these
results.

It is an easy matter to speak glibly of a daily output
of 100 tons, but it takes a long time to arrive at this figure,
and many alterations both small and great have generally
to be effected in the machinery before any regular daily
output, however small, can be made. Much experience has
now been gained, and the new comers are able to profit thereby.
The output of the various companies can of course be
increased by putting in extra plant, but this is likely to be
done in proportion only to the growth of the demand for the
pebble.

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Florida Phosphates.

ALAFIA RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING.

The Alafia River and its tributaries contain similar
deposits to those in the Peace River. This river rises in Polk
County, a few miles west of Bartow, and flows westward into
Hillsborough Bay at a point about eight miles south of Tampa.
There are at present three companies, />., The Peruvian
Phosphate Co., The Tampa Phosphate Co. and The Alafia River
Phosphate Co, at work dredging in the river near Peru, a
distance of about five miles from the mouth of the river. The
total monthly output varies from two to three thousand tons.
One company has its works on the river bank nt;ai Peru the
other two companies have built their works at Tampa.

Just above Peru the banks of the river are steep, and there
is no phosphate for a distance of four miles, the bottom of the
river being hard rock with scarcely any sand. Above this point
the beds of phosphate occur again, but the river is very shallow
and most of the pebble is mi.xed with clay. Two companies are
going to operate near or in Turkey Creek, and will cut into the
deposits underlying the banks of this stnjam with dipper
dredges.

It is said that the whole of the actual river deposit will be
exhausted in about five years' time, as the river is a small one,
and its bed near the mouth has not varied much. The
phosphate is identical with that of Peace River, but there
appears to be more silica and small loose limestone rock in
the Alafia River.

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Florida P/tosp/iates.

MANATEE, MYAKKA AND CALOO-
SAHATCHIE RIVERS.

The Manatee Kivur has a parallel course with the Alafia
River, about 24 miles further south, and its tributaries have bars
of pebble. Gamble Creek is very rich in phosphate, but the
percentage of iron and alumina is said to run as high as 18 per
cent., making the phosphate worthless. No mining is going on
in this river, which may be said to be practically unexplored.
There is an immense phosphate bed at the river's mouth, and
its shores arc strewn with phosphate and sandstone, amongst
which there is a large proportion of bone. The phosphate is
mostly black in colour, though ^me of the nodules are brown.

The Myakka River rises . ..c eight miles south of the head
waters of the Manatee, and flowing southwards empties its
waters into Charlotte Harbour. There is plenty of phosphate
all along its bed, but there is so great an admixture of silicate
pebbles and shell that no mining has hitherto been attempted.

The Caloosahatchie River rises a few miles west of Lake
Okechobee, and flows westward into San Carlos Bay. Mining-
operations were conducted in Twelve-Mile Creek, but the
admixture of shell with the phosphate pro\-ed too great a
difficulty, and work has been suspended in the meantime.

BLACK RIVER PHOSPHATE.

In addition to the deposits of phosphate found in the rivers
of South Florida, there is also a deposit in Black Creek, a

Florida Phosphates.

tributary of the St. John's River. The pebble is rougher and
more jagged than the phosphate of Peace River, and there is
a greater admixture of siUcate pebbles. The analysis runs frotn
4^ to 53 per cent, of phosphate. There is one Company only,
the Black River Phosphate Company, operating this deposit,
and present daily output is said to be about 60 toi's. The
bulk of this material will be used in the United States, as the
grade is too low to make European prices remunerative.

SHIPMENTS OF RIVER PHOSPHATE.

My Water
to Ihiited

Vcar.

River.

IJy Rail.
Tons.

Statts.
Tons.

ForoiRn.
Tons.

Tnl.al.
Tons.

1888

l^eace River

911

—

911

i88g

. . 4,2oG

—

.. 4,206

1890

.. 15.24G .

. 8,130 .

• 5.750

.. 29,126

Black Creek

.. —

2,000*

. S30

.. 2,850

Alalia River

2,000*

—

.. 2,000

1891

Peace Kiver

.. 18,000

. 14,500

. 37,000

• • 69,500

Alafia Kiver

.. —

—

.. '8,000

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Black Creek

. . 3,000*
* Estimates

1,200
only.

. . 4,200

PRICE OF RIVER LANDS.

The early purchases of river lands, before the existence of
the phosphate was known, were made at prices varying from a
dollar and a-quarter to five dollars per acre. Even as late as
the autumn of 1889 large areas changed hands at prices under
$20 per acre. In the spring of i8gi many small tracts were
secured at prices varying from .i^so to .$50 per acre. Well

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Florida Phosphates.

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selected sections have fetched as much as i^2>^^ per acre,
and at the present time when only a few small and isolated
patches remain at disposal, |ioo to $200 per acre according to
location is being asked. There seems to have been less specula-
tion and excitement over the river deposits than over the land
pebble deposits, as is shown by the smaller number of companies
formed for mining the rivers.

The total purchases of lands made by the River Companies
at present in operation have amounted to cli se upon one million
dollars in cash, and the purchase of plant, &c., has cost a little
over half a-million dollars, making a total cash investment in
the river mining of about $1 ,500,000. To-day's value, however,
would be represented by very different figures, since most of
the lands were bought before their real value was appreciated.

DUTY ON RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING.

The following is a copy of the Florida Phosphate Law,
enacted by the last Legislature ?.nd now in cff^^-C, under which
the State of Florida collects a royalty on all phosphates taken
from her navigable waters : —

" Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida :

" Spxtion I. That the Governor, Comptroller and the
Attorney-General of the State of Florida be, and they are
hereby constit'ited a Board of Phosphate Commissioners ;

Florida Phosphates.

which Board shall have the control and management of the
phosphate interests of the State of Florida, in the beds of her
navigable waters and of all the phosphate rock and phos-
phatic deposits therein, and which may be dug, mined and
removed therefrom to the extent of the State's interests
therein. The said Board is authorised for and in behalf of
the State of Florida, to enter into contracts with all persons
desiring to avail themselves of the provisions of this Act in
conformity therewith, and to take such means as may be
necessary to collect all such sum or sums, which are or may
become due to the State of Florida on account of the phos-
phate rock and phosphatic deposits dug, mined or removed
from the beds of such navigable waters of the State.

" Skc. 2. The State of Florida hereby grants the right to
persons, natural or corporate, to dig, mine and remove from the
beds of navigable waters of the State, any and all phosphate rock
and phosphatic deposits therein, upon the terms and conditions
as follows, to wit : That there shall be paid to the State of
Florida the sum of fifty cents per ton for every ton of phos-
phate rock or phosphatic deposit analysing fifty per cent, or
less, and not exceeding fifty-five per cent, bone phosphate of
lime, so mir.d, dug and removed; seventy-five cents per ton
for every tor* of phosphate rock or phosphatic deposit analysing
over fifty-five per cent, nnd not exceeding sixty per cent,
phosphate of lime, so mined, dug or removed ; one dollar per
ton on every ton of phosphate rock or phosphatic deposit
analysing in exce-js of sixty per cent, bone phosphate of lime,

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Florida Phosphates.

jjiiiii

so mined, dug and removed, an account of which shall be
rendered quarterly to the Board of Phosphate Commissioners,
and payment shall be made quarterly to the Treasurer of the
State of Florida for all phosphate rock and phosphatic deposits
so mined, dug and removed during the quarter. Provided,
That no person or persons shall be permitted to dig, mine or
remove any phosphate rock or phosphatic deposit from the bed
of any navigable waters of the State of Florida, until he or
they shall have first entered into a contract with the Board of
Phosphate Commissioners, in conformity with the provisions of
this Act, and shall file with such Board a bond with good and
sufficient sureties, either personal or by a guaranty company
to be approved by the Board, in such sum as the Board shall
deem proper ; conditions to comply with the terms of such
contract and the provisions of this Act.

" Skc, 3. The Board of Phosphate Commissioners are
authorised to give or contract for the exclusive right to dig,
mine and remove phosphate rock or phosphatic deposits from
the beds of the navigable waters of the State within certain
well defined limits and for a period not to exceed five years.
In granting such rights, the Board of Phosphate Commissioners
shall require that the person or persons, company or companies
shall begin mining within six months from the date of the
contract, and that such mining shall be continued the full
term of the contract, unless the phosphate or phosphatic
deposit be exhausted. The Board shall give preference to
riparian owners, also to those who may have commenced
mining or preparing to mine prior to the passage of this Act

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Florida Phosphates.

but riparian owners and persons having conmienced mining
or preparing, in good faith, to mine and remove such phos-
phates shall make application for a contract and file his
or their bond, as herein provided, within sixt}- days from the
date of notice that any application has been made in good faith
by others for such contract, which notice shall be given by the
Board of Phosphate Commissioners. Provided^ That such
contracts shall in no case exceed ten miles by the course of said
stream. Provided also, That the provisions of this Act shall
not be construed as applying in cases of navigable streams or
any part thereof that is not meandered, and the ownership of
the lands embracing which is vested in a legal purchaser.

" Skc. 4. That the Board of Phosphate Commissioners are
authorised to appoint an Inspector of Phosphate at a salary not
to exceed $1,500 per annum, whose duty it shall be under the
direction of said Board, to visit and inspect the works and
operations of all persons mining or removing phosphate rock or
phosphatic deposits from the bed of navigable waters of the State,
to analyse or cause to be analysed, when deemed necessary or
required by the Board of Phosphate Commissioners, said
phosphate rock or phosphatic deposits so mined, dug or removed,
and to inspect the books and accounts of persons so mining, in
the interests of the State and the furtherance of the collection
of the moneys due or which shall become due to the State on
account of phosphates mined, as aforesaid ; that such Inspector
of Phosphates shall in all respects be and act as the executive
officer of the said Board of Phosphate Commissioners.

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Florida Phosphates,

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" Sec. 5. That any person or persons who shall dig, mine
or remove any phosphate rock or phosphatic deposit from the
bed of any of the navigable waters of this State without comply-
ing with the terms of this Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour,
and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not to
exceed .ti,ooo or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed
twelve months, or by both fine and imprisonment. Provided^
hozvever, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to
persons mining under a bond fide claim of ownership of said
phosphate deposits.

" Sec. 6. That the Board of Phosphate Commissioners are
authorised to institute all suits and legal proceedings in the
name of the State which may be necessary to protect the rights
and interests of the State, and to enforce the collections of all
moneys due, or which may become due to the State on account
of phosphate rock or phosphatic deposits dug, mined or removed
from the bed of her navigable waters ; and for such purpose they
are authorised to employ counsel at such reasonable compensa-
tion as, in their opinion, is right and proper, which, together
with the salary of the Inspector of Phosphates, and all other
costs and expenses which are incurred in carrying out the
provisions of this Act, and in collecting the moneys due or to
become due to the State for all phosphate rock and phosphatic
deposits mined or removed from the bed of navigable waters of
the State, including attorney's fees and other costs of suits now
pending for that purpose, shall be paid out of the funds which
shall be realised from the royalty paid to the State for the
phosphate rock or phosphatic deposits so mined and removed.

Florida Phosphates.

" Shc. 7. All laws in conflict with the provisions of this
Act be, and the same are hereby repealed.

" Sf.c. 8. This Act shall go into effect upon its approval by
the Governor."

The State has made a claim on the above lines upon all
the companies who have mined river pebble. Some of the
companies have paid the royalty claimed, others have refused
to do so. In the cases where companies or individuals have
refused to pay the royalty, the State demands the whole value
of the phosphate extracted, claiming ownership not only of the
actual part of the bed covered by the \vater, but the whole
width of the river's basin. The term navigable is held to apply
to water down which planks could be floated, or which could
be in any way used for the conveyance of the produce of the
surrounding country.

It seems problematical that the State, which has itself sold
lands by the acre without deducting the area covered by the
river, can thus re-claim what it has itself sold. Further than
this, many companies have been obliged to clean up the bed of
the river even where the water is deep, by taking out the
fallen trees, sunken logs, &c., which would have rendered the
floating of even a plauk for any continuous distance an absolute
impossibility.

Should the State ultimately be successful in making good
its present claims, Peace River phosphate will be subjected to a
royalty of §1.00 per ton, since it is sold on a guaranteed
minimum of 60 per cent.

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Florida Phosphates.

COST OF MINING RIVER PEBBLE

AND COMPARISON OF

THE PHOSPHATE INDUSTRIES

OF THE FLORIDA RIVERS AND THE

SOUTH CAROLINA RIVERS.

In the part of this work which refers to river niining in
South Carohna, it wih be found that the total cost there, f.o.b.
steamer, is estimated at 84.00 per ton.

The cost of jireparing Florida river phosphate has been
given at figures varying from 75 cents to $2 "2 5 per ton. One
of the pioneers states that his total cost to date has not
exceeded $r4o per ton, exclusive of depr- elation of plant. The
general cost of production f.o.b. cais at works, may be taken
as about $1.75 including depreciation and wear and tear of
plant. To this has to be added the royalty of $1 per
ton, and about 75 cents for lighterage, where the works and
operations are on navigable water, making a total of $3.50 f.o.b.
Punta Gorda. Taking those works not on navigable water,
and supposing the State to be unable to enforce the royalty
claimed, we have the following figures, i.e., estimated cost, f.o.b.
cars, $1.75 per ton, railroad freight to Punta Gorda 7ocents, and
lighterage, &c., 75 cents, making $3.20 per ton, or $4.20 if the
royalty has to be paid. If shipments are made via Port Tampa,
railroad freight and loading cost about )?i.40 per ton, so that
cost f.o.b. Port Tampa is the same as f.o.b. Punta Gorda.

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Florida Phosphates.

Freights from South Carolina being cheaper by about 50
cents to 75 cents per ton than from Punta Gorda, it will be seen
that there is no advantage to be gained by competition between
the two industries, and it is to be hoped that when the
production from Peace River becomes larger, steps will be
taken to regulate the output in conjunction with the output of
South Carolina, and thus avoid a senseless competition, which
can do no good but very materially injure both industries.

LAND PEBBLE MINING.

Leaving now the subject of the river phosphate, which has
been and is still to-day being washed out of the lands (though in
imperceptible quantities) into the beds of the creeks and rivers,
• let us examine the method of working the land deposits,
whence these supplies have been taken. Innumerable borings
have been made, and pits sunk in all quarters, with a surprising
similarity of results as regards test of the phosphate and yield
of pebble to the mass. An average cubic yard of good stratum
weighs about 3,600 lbs. in its natural state (which includes
about 20 to 25 per cent, of moisture), and may be safely
estimated to yield from 600 to 1,200 lbs. of dry pebble.
Sometimes the result will be as high as 2,200 lbs., but this is
exceptional, and an average of about 900 lbs. to the cubic yard
(or 25 per cent, of pebble to the mass) will be about the general

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Florida Phosphates.

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yield of a good deposit. This would be equivalent to 300 lbs.
per square yard one foot thick, or say 600 to 650 tons per acre for
each foot of phosphate deposit.

It is absolutely impossible at the present date to state the
maximum thickness of the deposit, though mention may be
made of the fact that it has been proved by one company to be
25 feet thick where they are operating.

The colour of the matrix varies from pure white to all
shades of red, yellow, blue and green ; sometimes these various
colours are encountered in succession. Occasionally layers of sand
or clay, from an inch to several feet in depth, are found in the
phosphate stratum. The upper part of the stratum has generally
more clay in the matrix, and as greater depth is reached the
proportion of sand increases. The size of the pebbles is always
varying : in one place at a depth of 10 feet the pebbles became
very small, and it looked as if the deposit was giving out ; a
few feet lower the pebbles increased in size and in quantity.
Thus it will be seen that no law can be laid down for their
occurrence.

Testing by auger and by wells is liable to be most mis-
leading, and pitting is therefore the only accurate method of
determining the contents of a given area. In certain places
where borings have been made the limestone rock has been
encountered at depths varying from 25 to 35 feet, in others
pebble was pumped all the way from the surface to a depth of
2.2, feet. In sinking artesian wells pebbles are said to have been

Florida Phosphates.

pumped at 250 feet from the surface ; the layer does not seem
to have been continuous, and the pebbles may possibly have
been washed in from above.

The methods of raising and preparing the phosphate seem
to be as numerous as the companies. One of the most efficient
and cheapest methods is in operation at Phosphoria (owned by
the Florida Phosphate Company, Limited, of London, England),
where a dipper dredge is being used. The employment of this
machine for the purpose in question was most severely criticised,
and failure was generally predicted, as the deposit to be
operated is situated on high lands away from any stream, and
v.'hen the barges were being built there was no water near at
hand. A pit was dug to the depth of a few feet, and the water
brought by ditches from ponds in the neighbourhood, and when
sufficient supply had come in, the barges were launched.
Contrary to the general prophecy, the water did not fall upon
the dredge beginning to work, and it seems that the water
springs about as fast as the deposit is taken out. The second
barge, containing the washing and drying machinery, is placed
alongside the one carrying the dredge machinery. The dipper
bucket drops the phosphate into a hopper (into which a stream
of water plays), at the bottom of which there are two iron rolls —
with steel teeth — running at different speeds. Below the rolls
are two long iron troughs with revolving shafts carrying
teeth fixed in screw-form, which separate the phosphate from
the matrix and carry it along. The water is fed from above, all
along the length of the washers, and escapes through sluices,

Florida Phosphates.

I lit

cut in the sides, a few inches above the top of the teeth,
taking with it the matrix now dissolved in the water. The
pump supplying the water thrr ws 10,000 gallons per minute.
At the further end of the washers perforated elevator buckets
convey the phosphate into steam-jacketed driers, through which
a hot air blast is driven by fan from the boiler's furnace to
increase the capacity of the drier. After being dried the
phosphate passes through a rotary screen which takes out
the remaining sand and dust, ai d the phosphate is conveyed
automatically on to a scow, which is floated to the storage
house, where the pebble is discharged by elevators into
the bins. In case absolutely clean water may be required, the
Company is sinking an artesian well ; it has also in contem-
plation the building of a brick drier on the land, should
the capacity of the jacketed drier prove insufficient to
keep pace with the dredge, which has a capacity of 800 to
1 ,000 cubic yards per day. The dredge commenced operations
in November, and the washing machinery began to run in
February.

The first shipment of land pebble was made by the Pharr
Phosphate Company, in May, 1891. This Company owns
about 700 acres of land two miles south of Bartow, and their
works are situated alongside the track of the Florida Southern
Railroad, and on the bank of Six-Mile Creek. The deposit is
identical in character to that at Phosphoria, where Six-Mile
Creek rises, and underlies the whole of the Company's property.
It is covered with a sand-rock capping which is from a few
niches to two feet in thickness. The digging is carried on by

Florida P/iosphntcs.

(k\

hand, and a snuiU locomotive draws the loaded cars to the
works, where the phosphate is discharged into a washer
similar in design to the one just described. P'rom the washer
the phosphate passes into a rotary sieve with a serpent flange
inside. Fresh water is fed from a pipe running through the
centre of the sieve. On discharge from the screen the phos-
phate is dried in a steam-jacketed drier and elevated into a
storage room, ready for shipment. The total production up to
December, 1891, was under 1,000 tons, the numerous
breakdowns and alterations incidental to an entirely new
industry having caused frequent long delays.

At the works of the Rartow Phosphate Company, about
one mile north of Bartow, the deposit is rather different to
the general character of the neighbourhood, the phosphate
being apparently broken pieces, light in specific gravity,
very porous and brittle. The phosphate is being raised by a
land excavator of the orange peel type, fitted with four lips
and capable of excavating about 200 cubic yards in lu hours.
The washer at these works is made in three separate sections
inclining upwards, through each of which the pebbles are
forced upwards in succession, the water being discharged at the
lower ends. The pebble is dried in the ordinary rotary iron
drier. These works commenced running last October, and
about 200 tons were dispatched to northern points by railroad
before the end of the year.

A few miles further north is Lake Hancoclc, where the
Peace River rises, which is underlaid with a bed of phosphate

♦

i4 .

Florida Phosphates.

about 8 to 1 2 feet thick ; the matrix is clay, and over the
phosphate are several feet of black sedimentary mud. The
Mastodon Company has been organised to mine this deposit,
and has a charter from the State under which it has to pay
the same royalty as the River Companies. A dipper dredge
will be employed. The pebble here runs a little over 70 per
cent., with between ij and 2i per cent, of iron and alumina.
This Company e.xpects to be in operation by the spring of
this year.

About nine miles west of Bartow are situated the lands
of the Bone Valley Phosphate Company, through which runs
a small creek, a tributary of the north fork of the Alafia
River. This creek has meandered to an extent which is
stirp'-ising, and though the channel is only about three feet
wide, the whole bed is about 100 yards across. This area is
und^:lai(l with largish pclibles mixed in sand, constituting
ir-< reality a drift deposit, and will be mined by a centrifugal
pump hum a barge, the stream being dammed up to hold
the water. The deposits underlying the land will be excavated
by a dredge at a future date, when the bed of the creek has
been exhausted.

Two miles north of Fort Meade, on Hendry Branch, the
Virginia-Florida Phospha'.e Company owns about 300 acres of
laud, which slopes sharply on both i-ides down to the stream.
The present digging, vhich is done by hand, is being carried on
near the bed of the tr^iek, where there is a bed of drift phosphate
in sand about thri.c feet thick. The works are situated on the

■,H

iWW!lii"ir?-V*?W--^fi iffi^*"'

Florida Phosphates.

high ground, where the main deposit, which is said to be very
thick, is overlaid by a few feet of cap rock. The water for
washing is pumped from a well sunk to a depth of about 250 feet
The drying is done by a brick chimney. It is under contempla-
tion to mine by dredge or land excavator. About 1,500 tons
were shipped last year, the result of some 100 days' work,
extensive alterations in the plant having consumed much time.

At Fort Meade a company is mining pebble embedded in
a hard white rock, which is broken up by crusher. The pebbles
are then screened from the sand and matrix. Iron and alumina
runs between 6 and 7 per cent.

Several other undertakings have been organised, and are
getting in their plant, but the work is not forward enough to
enable any description to be made.

There is a very fine deposit of pebble on Little Pain's
Creek, overlaid with a white rock capping well mixed with
pebbles, but no operations have been started in this neighbour-
hood. Big Pain's Creek also contains large deposits in its bed
and under the surrounding banks, but the iron and alumina is
said to run high.

It is not known at the present date how far north and east
the pebble deposit extends. Lake Hancock is the present
northern boundary, and the Peace River is practically the
eastern boundary. Bowlegs Creek, just south of Fort Meade
and east of Peace River, flows through a fine deposit, with a
very stiff clay matrix ; and C. Apopka River, further south, is a

, I

:; I :i

Florida Phosphates.

museum for the palcEontologist. Kissimmee Island is said to
have a deposit of black pebble, but no thorough examination
has been made of this district. At Tampa, when boring wells
for water, a phosphate stratum was found at six feet from
the surface, 12 to 16 feet in thickness. Below this a
sandstone rock, 12 feet thick, was encountered; then a
stratum of about 16 to 20 feet of clay; and then three feet
of flint, under which was the limestone rock. The Bays of
Hillsborough and Tampa are said to be underlaid with black
pebble, but the superincumbent sand is too thick for operations
to be undertaken.

The islands near the mouth of Manatee River are under-
laid with a stratum of brown phosphate about one foot
thick, but the average test is low, many of the nodules
being partially phosphatised sandstone. The shores of these
islands are covered with fossil bones, which test about
74 per cent, in phosphates and i per cent, in iron and
alumina, but the sand rock is again present. The marl crops
out along this neighbourhood, and pieces are intermixed
with the phosphate.

Travelling south, the Sarasota region is encountered.
The phosphate deposit occurs a few feet from the surface, the
pebbles being embedded in clay. Pebble is also found in
abundance in all the small creeks. There appears to be a great
deal of semi-phosphatised sand rock in all tiis part of the
country, and though undoubtedly there are good deposits, yet
the average stratum in this neighbourhood is unfit for mining

Florida Phosphates.

purposes. In some pHces a quantity of small bright amber-
coloured smooth pebbles are found, which run high in analysis,
but the silicate pebbles which are mixed throughout more
than counteract this advantage. The shores of Sarasota Bay
are literally strewn with bones, mostly the ribs of the manatee,
and also with the sand rock. Should a deposit be found
without sand rock or silicate pebbles, mining and shipping
can be carried on very cheaply. It needs a ca. =:ful and long
investigation to determine what tracts are suitable for mining,
and while any cheap and rich phosphate deposits remain
unsold in Polk County, that section is likely to have the
preference.

Major E. Willis, of Charleston, South Carolina, gives the
following analyses, made by Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jun., of
samples taken by him when making an examination of the
Sarasota tract for the proprietors : —

Oxide
Trib. Do. of Iron
Mois- Phos. Phos.of Dry and Silic. Condition of
ture. Acid. Lime. Basis. Almna. Insol Material.

Land Pock : Large
size from Bay .. i.io 25.97 56.72 57.35 2.50 18.60 Full of Sand.

Phillipi Creek : Small
Rock and Gravel.. 1.05 24.05 52.53 53.09 1.63 21.60 Full of Sand.

Phillipi Creek: Free
of Gravel 95 29.04 — 64.03 3.25 8.60 Free from Sand.

Nnrth Creek- Rock) ^ . ^ ^ (Full of Sand

Shell Gravel .} ''^ ''■''' '»7." 4775 t 5° 16.16 -^ ^^^ g^^u

Land Rock : Small
Rock and Gravel.. .90 26.35 5756 58.08 2.13 17.03 Full of Sand

Land Rock: Free of
Sand 70 29.19 — 64.15 3.87 8.53 FreeofGravel.

Bone from Bowlees
Creek .. .. 2.80 33.26 72.64 74.73 .50 .13 JustasMmed.

f k

C 2

W .1

Florida Phosphates.

t ■

AREA AVAILABLE FOR SUCCESSFUL

LAND PEBBLE MINING.

Although such an enormous area of country is underlaid
by the phosphate deposit, it must not be thought that it is
all suitable for mining operations. As a matter of fact, the
further that practical investigations are pursued, so much
smaller do those tracts appear which are suitable for economic
working. Too great a thickness of overburden, and too thin
a phosphate stratum, immediately eliminate about 1,500 square
miles of the phosphate area. Taen comes the important
question of iron and alumina which is found to be excessive
in many tracts otherwise suitable for exploitation. Heavy
sandstone capping cuts out a large acreage ; want of water
interferes in other places.

To sum up, we find that the total area likely to be mined
is probably less in extent than the Charleston phosphate fields,
though, on the other hand, those deposits which are available
in Florida are capable of producing twenty to forty times
more phosphate per acre than is raised in the South Carolina
phosphate region. The Carolina fields are within measurable
exhaustion, from an economic mining point of view, whereas
the examinations already made in Florida show an
inexhaustible mine of wealth for generations whose forefathers
are still unborn.

Florida Phosphates.

;

COST OF PRODUCTION OF LAND
PEBBLE PHOSPHATE.

The cost of raising and preparing land pebble for market
varies very considerably in accordance with the methods
employed. The industry is too young at the present date for
any actual figures to be given. Where no hand labour is
employed the total cost delivered on board cars at works should
not exceed $1.50 to $2.00 per ton. Freight to Port Tampa
varies from $1.00 to ife 1.50 according to location of mines, and
includes delivery to steamer alongside the pier. Thus the
estimated cost f.o.b. steamer at Port Tampa would be about
$2.50 to $3.50 per ton, where the best appliances are in use.
Where the deposit is being worked by hand, cost will be at
least $1.00 per ton higher.

LIST OF LAND PEBBLE COMPANIES

ACTUALLY LN OPKKATION* OK EXFIiCTING TO
COMMEN'CK \ KUV SHORTLY.

Name,

Alafia Mineral Lands Co.
* Bartow Phosphate Co. ..

Bone Valley I'hosphate Co.
♦Florida Phosphate Co., Ltd. . .
*Fort Meade Phosphate Co.

Land Pebble Co

Mastodon Phosphate Co.
*Pharr Phosphate Co

Terraceia Phosphate Co.
•Virginia-Florida Phosphate Co.

Adiiicss.

I'lant City
Hartow
Lakeland
Pliosphoria
Fort Meade

Bartow

Wilnioit

Capital.

^250,000

1,000,000
50,000

560,000

1 ,000,000

120,000

.\cios
Owneii.

400

9,000

700

5,600

300

\ i I

■ it] :

Florida Phosphates.

It is not possible to name all of the numerous companies
which have been formed for the purpose of mining land pebble,
but the above appear to be the most important at the present
time. Several companies which have been organised are waiting
till practical results are obtained by the above companies, so that
they may be able to decide which is the best method of
operating.

THE FUTURE OF THE PEBBLE
MINING INDUSTRY.

It is as yet rather premature to predict the future of the
land pebble industry, but it may not be out of place to mention
one or two points which seem to foreshadow an important
position for the land pebble mining among the various
phosphate industries of the world.

There has as yet been no discovery made of any phos-
phate deposit of such gigantic dimensions as to area. The
regularity of the deposit is unparalleled, and the thickness of the
stratum, taking lo feet only as the average, is beyond anything
hitherto known to exist elsewhere. There are in France a few
cases where the Somme phosphate has been found 30 feet in
thickness, and one instance where 40,000 tons have been taken
from 2^ acres ; but the whole area of the Somme phosphate
deposits owned by the companies in operation does not exceed
1, 000 acres. Who then can state the limit of the capacity of
pebble lands, when it is known that the stratum has been dug
into for 25 feet without going through it, such a stratum being able

Florida Phosphates.

to produce 16,000 tons per acre? In Cliarleston 15 inches is
the average stratum, with 6 to 10 feet of overburden ; in Florida
the average stratum is thicker than the average overburden,
and the test of the phosphate in Florida is ten units higher
than that near Charleston. The test of the phosphate and
the yield of pebble per cubic yard being practically invariable
to any appreciable extent, this industry is based on known
conditions which do not change from day to day as in other
kinds of mining.

Taking these points into consideration, and with the
history of Charleston mining as a guiding line, it is not wide of
the mark to predict that an industry which can produce a
medium testing phosphate at a figure never yet touched by
other producers of the same quality, will soon take a high and
important place. The increasing demand for phosphates of
medium grade, together with an extending market for all
phosphates, leaves no room for doubting the probable rapid
growth of land pebble mining.

That there will be great competition among the companies,
iind the likelihood of extremely low prices for some time, is only
to be expected, but in view of the expensive plant required it
is probable that producers of land pebble will combine in some
way rather than enter a war of competition. The necessity for
heavy initial outlay will tend to keep the field from being over-
crowded, and the similarity of interest should help to establish
a more reasonable method of marketing the phosphate than has
.been the case in other phosphate centres.

Florida Phosphates.

River pebble had a very easy introduction into the phosphate
market, for the supplies came forward at a time when such a
material was actually required. The difficulties of the Coosaw
Mining Company in South Carolina, and the consequent
falling off of available supplies from that district, enabled
large quantities to be consumed last year without weakening
prices. Since river pebble is almost identical with, if not
superior to South Carolina river rock, it will always be one of
the phosphates most in demand.

f *

!■ H

THE ROCK DEPOSITS.

The extensive prospecting that followed the discovery of
rock phosphate at Dunnellon, in Marion County, led to similar
finds in all the western counties, from Talahassee to a few miles
north of Port Tampa. These discoveries gave rise to the idea
that millions and millions of acres contained solid beds of high-
testing phosphate, needing only the pick and shovel to turn
them into gold. The careful and conscientious investigations
that were made as soon as mining operations were entered into,
quickly proved the fallacy of this delusive theory, and it was
found that even the best deposits were extremely capricious in-
their formation, and that the phosphate could not be extracted'
as easily as was originally anticipated.

The phosphate occurs in a series of pockets, and also in-
drifts, and is covered by an overburden of sand and clay of a
thickness varying from a few inches to many feet. Sometimes
the rock crops out on the surface, and in certain localities these

Florida Phosphates.

1 ! I-

outcrops comprise an area of about a quarter of an acre of
nearly solid rock. The contents of these pockets are sand, clay,
flints and sandstone, rough and jagged pieces of phosphate
rock, soft phosphate, and phosphate bowlders. The bowlders,
instead of being smooth, as the name would naturally imply,
are irregular masses of rock, with a rough surface, weighing
from a few pounds up to many hundreds of tons. In the larger
bowlders there are jagged interstices, filled with sand and clay.

The question as to whether a pocket or deposit is worth
exploiting depends upon the jToportion of its various
ingredients, and the ordinary method of examination by the
sinking of a few pits is apt to be most misleading. In order to
get a real knowledge of the value or contents of a property it is
advisable to cut long ditches and cross trenches, for pitting does
not sufficiently reveal the nature of a deposit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ROCK
PHOSPHATE.

The phosphate rock itself is found in a variety of types,
which have been grouped and classified as follows by
Dr. N. A. Pratt, who kindly placed his classification at our
disposal.

1st. The Laminatrd Typic. Hard bowlders or fragments
thereof, more or less distinctly compacted in layers, sometimes
with interstices between the laminations, filled with sand or
clt.y, or else empty, sometimes compact and solid, but in all cases
the laminations can be distinctly traced on the fractv.^d edges.

: ii ■

\\ i

jilt

Plorida Phosphates.

and are curved concentrically or spirally around a central point,
like the leaves of a head of lettuce, except that the lamination*
are continuous. In a small bowlder the curvature is distinctly
traced on the fractured edges. On a large one the curvature
may scarcely be detected, and the laminations appear as plates
or slabs.

The colour is brown, amber, grey or white, but generally
of one colour from the same locality; they all have a coarse,
harsh, hackly fracture.

The average composition of this type, whatever the colour
or ^^ ' re found is practically the same ; an average of eighteen
samples of this grade analj'sed, yields (excluding sand) : —

Lime Carbonate

Combined Water and Organic Matter

Alumina and Oxide In Ml

Lime Phosphate

Sand and Insohible

Avcr.'iM''-

I'lircst

7.53

7.46

32J

2.50

3.21

.f)0

80.HH

• «4-95

_—

.10

2nd. Thk Conchoidai. Tn i'K. Hard bowlder, generally
smooth, sometimes polished exterior, solid and massive within.
The fracture is smooth and conchoidai, like the interior of a
conch shell, colour cream, white or light, sometimes intricately
banded with irregular or broken streaks of darker colour. Its
average composition computed from sixteen analyses is, when
sand free: —

Lime Carbonate
Combined Water
Alumina and Oxide Iron
I'hosphate of Lime . .
Silicic Acid combined

Average.

Purest

Saiiiplc

0.25

5-75

4.10

215

1.28

S3- 53

8C.J2

1.60

1.75

Florida Phosphates.

3rd. Thk Wkdokwoi)!) Tvi'K i> bowlder-like, has a scini-
coiichoidal fracture that looks like Wedgewood or semi-porcelain
ware — it lis dry and rough to the touch, brittle, and rings
under the hammer. White and cream colour generally, some-
times stained and spotted. The tough, white, rainpitted
rock, type 5, may be included here (see type 5). Its average
composition computed from twenty analyses is, freed from
sand : —

Average.

Best
Sample

Lime Carbonate

6.43 .

Not
• OHtimatot

Combined Water

385 .

385

Alumina and Oxide Iron..

2.25

344

Lime Phosphate . .

83,71

. 86.44

Silicic Acid

. . —

2.10

4th. Thk Orkolk Tvpk. — This is a soft mass occurring
in layers, irregular strata or masses, sometimes of several feet
thickness and considerable area. It is perhaps the widest
disseminated and most abundant of all the types. Pure, it is
chalk white in colour, soft and satin-like in feeling. It is very
porous anil light when dry, and smooth and fine as pearl
powder ; when mixcil or wetted it ln)lds from 30 to 40 per cent,
of water, works uniler the fingers to a pasty mass, easily shaped
or moulded ami dries into a hard cake, friable but of consider-
able tenacity. When subjected to heat in either its natural or
moulded state it becomes tough, resists abrasion and loses more
or less of its smooth feeling ; it does not shrink in bulk nor
crack, nor is it restored to its former condition by soaking in
water.

Florida Phosphates.

It is almost free from sand and grit, but contains alumina.
It invariably occurs under and around the bowlders and extend?*
laterally beyond them, and underlies tracts of land where no
bowlders are found. Sometimes it is harder and heavier than
described, but having similar composition both kinds are
classed together. In its pure state it is unfortunately closely
associated with intervening beds, or layers, or pockets of pure-
white sand and clay, or both, which is difficult to separate, and
the grade is reduced thereby.

Analysis of a pure sample yields : —

From t-'roni

AiiKostu Mines. Jordan's.

Combined Water 5,60 .. 2.01

Lime Carbonate .. .. ., .. z.O.s .. 4.55

Alumina and Oxide Iron .. .. .. 2.30 .. 12.60

Lime Phosphate .. .. .. .. 87.64 .. 78.10

Insoluble Silica .. .. .. .. .75 .. 2.75

5th. Another type is as white as Oreolc, but is in ledges
or bowlders, is very tough, resists fracture, though sometimes
soft and smooth to the touch. It is compact and heavy. On
exposed surfaces it appears deeply pitted as if by rain drops, but
probably due to growth of a species of lichen. Along with it
occurs rock of the Wedgewood type, and as their compositions
are so nearly the same, I think best to class it under that head
or type, and call it " Wedgewood " too, for the present, at least.

6th. The Fossil Tvpk, so called from the fossil impressions
contained, and from the cavities of I to J of an inch. This
fossil, called Orbitoides, accompanies the nummuUite in all
its nummullitic limestone, and in this state is a characteristic

Florida I'hosp/iaies,

• I

fossil of a sand rock that overlies the prevailing lime rock,
and which is ttot a sponf;e flint rock. It is of good quality,
hard bowlder, '..rown in colour, breaks in all directions easily,
exposing the cavities just mentioned. The fractured parts,
very harsh and sandy in one piece, more smooth in another ;
in any case the cavities will identify the type. It resembles
sand rock :o closely thai it might be rejected in mining.
Analysis of the roughest and most unpromising piece yields : —

Sand and Insoluble

Alumina and F"erric Oxide

I.ime Carbonate. .

Phosphoric Acid

Hone I'hosphate Lime . .

I.ime

3.95
3.65
4,40

36.32
7943
48.7a

7th. RrvKR Rock Tvi'K consists of either or all of the
above types, except the Oreolc, all darkened even to blackness
by the staining action of the water and mud, and exclusion of
air. It is sometimes blue, sometimes pink and even green on
the surface. They seem more massive and heavy than any of
the other types. The percentage of lime phosphate, in samples
from Blue Springs Run, was above 82 per cent. All these
forms or types run more or less into each other, yielding
mixtures of more or less uniformity, dependent also on the
quantity of clay and sand that may adhere to them.

» 1 ,'

8th. To these types we venture to add another found in
the phosphate deposits of the basin of the Ochlawaha River,
which had not begun to be worked at the time when the
above classification was made.

Florida Phosphates.

I ,

;■ j

Thk Pebblk Tvfk is found in the drift deposits in the
Anthony and Sparrs district, 12 to 20 miles north of Ocala.
These pebbles are indistinguishable in appearance from some
of the pebbles found in Polk County. They are smooth and
hard, and vary in colour from cream to brown. Analysis runs
from 58 to 62 per cent, of phosphate.

:5i I ■

ROCK MINING.

The first company to commence actual mining operations
was the Marion Phosphate Company, which broke ground near
Dunnellon, in December, 1889, and shipped their first cargo,
700 tons, per bark "Gler," from Savannah, in April, 1890, to
Liverpool. The Dunnellon Phosphate Company took the field
in February, 1890, and in May shipped 1,500 tons, per
s.s. " Hallamshire," from Fernandina to London and Hamburg.

The general method of mining is as follows : — A considerable
area is first cleared of the superincumbent sand and clay, which
are removed to some distance from the edges of the pit — or mine,
as these openings are generally ilesignated. The phosphate is
then attacked with pick and shovel, the smaller bowlders are
separated from the sand and clay in which they are usually
embedded, the larger ones being broken up with blasting
powder. The pieces of broken phosphate, which occur both in
the soft phosphate and also mixed with the sand and clay, are
raked out during the process of excavation. Originally the
phosphate was wheeled out of the mines in barrows, and during

Florida Phosphates.

work hours the mines had the appearance of a beehive, being
densely crowded with men and planks and wheelbarrows. In
some mines an incline has been cut into the deposit, and the
material is brought to the surface in cars running on the sloping
track, and hauled up by a stationary engine. A third system
and apparently the most practical, is to make a deep cut, using
a cable hoist to extract from the pit, and then remove the
overburden for the next cut, drill the rock phosphate and
fire the holes. This method keeps the production in progress
with the uncovering, and seems to us to be more in accordance
with the usages of mining.

In most of the mines where active operations are being
carried on, cable hoisting machinery is employed. The buckets
in use hold about a quarter or a half of a ton, and on an average
about 300 buckets of material are raised per day. The contents
of the buckets are emptied into cars, which run along an
elevated platform round the mines, which are generally about
100 to 400 feet square, and drop the phosphate into the drying
sheds which are built round the sides of the mine. These
sheds consist of wooden roofs, supported by wooden uprights.
On the ground a flooring of cord wood is arranged, and the
phosphate is piled on the top to the height of 8 or 10 feet.

When the pile is complete the cord wood is ignited and
allowed to burn out, by which time all the organic matter
and moisture in the phosphate is eliminated. During the
prevalence of heavy rains the sides of the drying sheds are
boarded up loosely with scantling. The size of the kilns (or

i <

111

f I

Florida Phosphates.

phosphate piles) varies from 200 to 700 tons, the usual quantity
in one pile being about 300 tons. It takes about five cords of
wood to burn 100 tons, 10 cords for 200 tons, and 15 to 20 cords
for 700 tons. The phosphate is ready for handling and
shipment about three to four days after firing.

It was with great diflSculty that the rock for the early
shipments was selected, as n<^th";ig was known of the various
qualities, and the work in the laboratory was very heavy.
Similar looking pieces of rock were found to vary largely in
their percentage of phosphate and of iron and alumina, and
pieces of white sand rock were often mistaken for phosphate ;
in fact the whole business of selection was a puzzle to even
the longest heads.

The question of main importance in rock mining is the pro-
portion of first quality phosphate {i.e., rock testing 75 per cent, of
phosphate and upwards, with less than 4 per cent, of iron and
alumina) to the total quantity of cubic yards to be removed.
Careful calculation shows that about 1 5 per cent, is the ma.ximum
proportion of bowlder phosphate produced from the whole mass
excavated, including overburden. The a\erage of prime rock
mined, exclusive of overburden, may be taken to be about
25 per cent., the remainder being soft phosphate, clay, sand
and sandstone and flints. Sometimes in a good pit an average
of 40 per cert, has been reached, but taking the good with the
bad, the usual percentage will not exceed 25 per cent.

In some mines there is as much as 50 per cent, of soft
phosphate, in others this material does not appear. This soft

Florida Phosphates.

phosphate is evidently the detritus of the bowlders, probably
worn off before the bowlders had reached their present degree of
hardness, and though it has very little sand mixed with it, yet
as it is usually surrounded by both sand and clay, it is not
possible to extract it in its pure condition. There are two
qualities of this, according to the admixture of deleterious
elements, the first running from 70 to 78 per cent., the second
65 per cent, and upwards, but the percentage of iron and
alumina is excessive. It appears, however, that there is a
market for this material, and small shipments have been made
both to Europe and the United States.

Mixed up with this soft phosphate, or mixed with the sand
and clay in those deposits which arc fice from soft phosphate,
there is a good proportion of small pieces of hard rock phos-
phate. In the earlier days little attention was paid to this, but
since the reduction in the prices obtained for phosphate, miners
are increasing their production by at least 50 to 100 per cent,
by saving this material, the test of which is about 76 per cent.,
with 3 to 4 per cent, of ire and alumina. There are places
where this broken phosphate occurs, together with small
bowlders, in the form of a sandy drift along the banks of
the Withlacoochee River, where the deposit seems to have been
formed by the river in the same way as the drift deposits in the
beds of the rivers of South Florida. Phosphate is also found
in the bed of the Withlacoochee River, mostly in angular pieces,
and also in indurated black nodules, which are very similar to
the pebble of Peace River, though larger in size and heavier

Florida Phosphates.

in .specific gravity. These nodules are black throughout, and
run about 80 oer cent, phosphate with under 2 per cent, of
iron and alumina.

The Dunnellon Phosphate Company are by far the largest
operators in rock phosphate, and, at one time, had tweK^e mines
opened and running acti\ely, employing upwards of 400
hands. About 3,500,000 feet of lumber have been used in the
building of their houses, drying sheds, elevated platforms, &c.,
and the nines are furnished with cable-hoi.sting apparatus. In
addition to the work being carried on in their ordinary mines,
a barge fitted with a clam-shell dredge is working on the
deposit in the river's bed. The rock thus raised is washed on a
barred grating, fitted on a second barge, and the phosphate is
then conveyed to the rotary drier, built on the banks, and
finall)- prepared for market.

During last December a further enterprise was taken in
hand, viz., the mining of the drift deposit near the river's edge.
Here over a good many acrt-^; the phosphate crops out on the
surface, mostly in the form of small bowlders, and the deposit
is covered by about two feet only of overburden. Relow this,
small bowlders and rouwh ragged pieces of phosphate are
fo'uid packed closely together, and the yield in proportion to
quantities moved will be very high, probabl-- 40 per cent.
Sometimes there is a serious admixture of clay, but in most
places the rock is embedded in loose sand, and can be washed
with ease and economy. A small trial plant is now running
successfully on this material, the process being as follows :

Florida Phosphates.

'^.^

The cars containing the phosphate empty their contents on
to a screen over which water is thrown : the rcjjk passes thence
into a revolving washer, with teeth and angle iron affixed
to the sides. A perforated iron pipe supplies the water for
washing. A circular screen is fixed to the end of the washer to
enable the sand, &c., to pass out, and the phosphate falls into
elevated buckets which discharge it into a wet bin, whence a
spiral takes it into the rotary drier. After passing through I he
drier, the rock is elevated into the storage bin, undergoing a
final screening as it passes along. This plant is both neat and
efficient, and will doubtless be enlarged to enable this drift
deposit to be worked on the large scale which it obviously
merits. The cost of producing this phosphate is about 40 to 50
per cent, cheaper than mining the bowlder rock.

Several of the mines working this gravel phosphate, as it
is termed locally, have been unfortunate in their selection of
plant, the general mistake being too great a complication of
mechanical devices and too light machiner}-. but a short course
of experience will soon remedy present defects.

Many of the rock miners have been very careless in their
method of preparing the phosphate for market, and shipments
have been made running high in iron and aknnina, simply
because the rock was coated with clay. In order to avoid the
.shipment of improperly cleaned ore, we are in favour ci using
a crusher to reduce all rock to a maximum of a few inches only,
and screen out the sand and clay, after passing the phosphate
through washing and drying apparatus. This is now being done

■1

gAgmM«^-'MM<Si«OM»**V »BW <l» .»imUWW II ^

Florida Phosphates.

V^\

i iX

at some of the mines, and will doubtless be the general practice
before long.

By carrying out some such process as Indicated above, there
will be an end to the important discrepai.'cies which have
occurred in the results of analyses made from samples taken in
Florida, and samples taken on discharge of cargoes in London.
It is a very difficult matter indeed to sample a shipment
composed of pieces of rock of such different sizes as have been
shipped, and the lower tests arrived at in Europe may perhaps
be accounted for by the rolling of the larger and heavier pieces
to the bottom of the ships during loading, whereas all the fines
remain at the top ; discrepancies also arise from too small a
proportion of samples being taken in Florida. In addition to this
advantage, which is of considerable it not of vital importance,
the washing and drying of all the phosphate would eliminate
the sand and clay which not only adheres to the phosphate, but
is also fitted tightly into the numerous interstices and cracks.

It is not possible to give any estimate of the quantity of
hard rock likely to be produced from a given area, since the
mines differ so e.xceedingly in thel • formation, nor is it possible
to say what the maximum thickness of a deposit can be, though
the fact that up to date no rock has been found higher than loo
feet nor lower than 30 feet above sea level, would seem to
imply that no bed is likely to be more than 70 feet thick.

In one instance pliosphate has been found and mined more
or less continuously for 50 feet, and in many openings where a

Florida Phosphates.

d "pth of 40 feet from the surface has been arrived at, there are
no signs of exhaustion. Where the larger and richer pockets
do occur, enormous quantities of high-grade phosphate will be
produced from an exceedingly small area, but the average
pocket is extremely capricious and deceptive. One single
bowlder has yielded as much as 1,500 tons of phosphate. Nor
has the limestone rock in solid form been yet encountered in
the workings as far as we can ascertain, though loose pieces
have been found from time to time at the bottom of some of
the mines. Occasionally strata or leads of large flint rocks,
weighing up to several tons each, are found running through a
deposit ; also large misses of sandstone, and in some cases pits
have been abandoned ior these causes.

Prospecting has been carried on b}- some of the companies
on a very large scale, a.id the results show that outside of the
pocket formation the deposits are either cut ofl" b}- flints or
sandstone, or else end either abruptly or run into unimportant
beds of phosphate so mixed with sandstone and clay that profit-
able mining is out of all question. The companies organised
at the beginning of the phosphate boom have very extensive
properties, but the proportion of paying deposits is ridiculously
small to the total area bought.

In- order to illustrate this more fully we will quote what
Dr. Wyatt says of one of his own examinations* : —

" An excellent example of this superficiality is afforded by
one of our recent examinations, in which the geological con-

■

h: !

. I i

• Viiie New Yofk Mining and Enginening Journal, August 23, i8go.

ii '. >

Florida Phosphates.

ditions were of the usual order. The area investigated may be
thus represented : —

5»

120 ACRES OF LAND.

C D

G ! H

Each division representing 640 acres.

Very fine phosphate indications were scattered more or less
all over this tract, sometimes in the form of big bowlders
out-cropping at the surface, sometimes in the form of small
debris, brought up from below by the mole or the gopher.
A local expert had intimated that it contained millions of
tons, and our own first impressions of it were of the highly
sanguine order. A systematic exploration was, however, at
once instituted and carried out, first by boring all over the
tract with a twenty-foot auger, and then by sinking con-
firmatory pits at short intervals to a depth of 15 to 20 feet.
The result oi" our work was extremely disappointing, and
may be briefly summarised thus : —

(rt). No phosphate in workable quantities.

(3). A small basin or pocket of good phosphate, covering
an area of about 15 acres.

{c&d). No phosphate in workable quantities.

Florida Phosphates.

(e). Large quantities on surface leading to a very large
pocket, covering about 35 acres. Very much mixed
up material, principally low grade.

{f^j^). No phosphate in workable quantities.

(//). The highest point in the tract very densely grown,
big bowlders of phosphate, sandy conglomerate on
surface. Fifteen small pockets of phosphate, ending
in limestone at a depth of 13 feet."

! ■ i

The total acreage covered by these widel>- scattereil
phosphate deposits was set down at 83 acres, and the character,
quantity and composition of the phosphate itself as shown by
the pits dug, and the material extracted from them, were
estimated after experiment to be as follows : —

Bowlder material, large and small,

after screening 13 per cent, of the mass.

Debris and whitish phosphate, soft

and plastic -9 •■ »

Sand, clay, flints and waste . . 5^ >• ••

.11

The principal mines now being worked are situateil ui
Alachua, Levy, Marion, Citrus, and Hernando Counties, and
though the proportion of good deposits to the total area ni
which phosphate is found, is merely fractional, yet there is
beyond doubt an enormous quantity of available phosphate

''!

Florida Phosphates.

which can be cheaply and profitably mined, and the iikely
demands of the market cannot make any appreciable diflference
in the sources of supply.

ANALYSIS OF ROCK PHOSPHATE.

Turning now to the question of the analysis of Florida rock
phosphate, and taking samples right and left without any
selection, it is difficult to imagine a greater incongruity and
apparent contradiction of results. Samples which closely
resemble each other give results as divergent as the poles, and
the collector can range his samples from tests of pure carbonate
of lime up to 90 per cent, of phosphate. The percentage of
phosphoric acid though in itself of vital primary importance,
must only be considered in conjunction with the question of
the proportion of iron and alumina. A few months after the
commencement of the development of P'lorida phosphate, vague
rumours were floated about that the phosphates of Florida were
phosphates of alumina, and though there seemed to be adequate
reason for certain apprehensiveness on this score, there can now
be no doubt whatever that the rock phosphate is a genuinely
good marketable and workable phosphate when properly pre-
pared. There are of course places where the iron and alumina
runs excessively high, and in one instance 23 samples taken
from a property, the purchase of which was being seriously enter-
tained, gave 19 per cent, of phosphate of iron and alumina.

^-'i

Floridu Phosphates.

There is a point, liowcvcr, that seems to us to have been
overlooked by most of the companies mining, and that is the
distinction between phosphates of iron and akunina and
siUcates of iron and alumina ; in other words it is advisable to
ascertain the form in which the iron and alumina is combined.
Experiments prove that if the average piece of phosphate is
broken up into small fragments, and then carefuUj washed and
screened, the analysis of the washed sample will show a much
smaller percentage of iron and alumina than the unwashed ore.
This proves the benefit to be derived by crushing, washing and
drying and screening all phosphate as recommended previously.

^ ,

ANALYSIS OF CARGO FROM
DUNNELLON DISTRICT.

The following analyses may be taken as fairly representing
a good average shipment : —

Am'.

B. Dyer.

36 73

50.06

.70

0.46-

A. Sibsoii.

Aii«.
Voulcktr & Sons.

Phosphoric Acid .

36.80

.S6G3

Lime

51.20

49.08

Oxide of Iron

.52

•74

Alumina

1.73

1.60

Insoluble . .

3.90

3-39

Undetermined

585 •• •

7-93

OrKanic matter »n<l ) fi • OrRBiiic iimttpi- UHil '. , ,_

water of combination 1' -^ water of combination , ' ■ J''

100.00

Equivalent toTribasic) „
Phosphate of Lime i '^^

79-97

100.00

80.18.

!■ J

ill

I 11

11 i

.^/€>

>^^]^_^^\.^.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

- 4

t/.

1.0

I.I

1.25

1^ 1^ |2.2

2.0

1.8

U ill 1.6

III

.v^ #/

^^/

^j>*

fliotograjiiic

Sdences

Corporation

^, ^. ^

4^."^

^^4^

'<^^^

23 WBT MAIN STMIT

WIBSTIR.N.Y. 14SS0

(716) •72-4503

>5'

Florida Phosphates.

ilF"

ANALYSIS OF CARGO OF ROCK
PHOSPHATE.

From Pemberton Ferry District,
Hernando County.

Augustu

s Voelckei

& Sons.

Bernaid Dyer,

Moisture in fine sample

dried at 212" Fah.

00.00

0.00

00.00

Organic Matter and Water

of Combination . .

1-39

.90

1.36

.98

•Phosphoric Acid ..

35-11

35-39

35-40

35-57

35-79

Lime

47.07

47-54

47.27

47.09

47.46

Oxide of Iron

•65

•75

.81

Alumina

1.49

1.29

1.71

1-97

Magnesia . .
Carbonic Acid, &c.

.26 1
5-54 i

536

5.65

3-57

ti.48

7-33

Insoluble Siliceous Matter

8.49

8.77

8.32

8.15

S.44

100.00

* Equivalent to Tribasic

I'hosphate of Lime ,.

76.O5

77.26

77.28

7765

78-13

The Rough Saniple con-

tained Moisture . . . .

2 04

I-5I

1.50

2.06

1-45

And accordingly Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime

75-09

76.09

76.12

75-58

77.00

tEquivalent to Carbonate

of Lime . . . . . .

—

3-36

—

The above analyses fairly represent what the average
results of well selected and prepared cargoes should test, but
many badly prepared shipments have given very different
results from the above.

Florida Phosphates.

The following table shows the results of a number of
samples taken on the field* : —

Averages from Results of Several Hundreds cv Complete
Analyses of Samples (Sun-dried) taken on the Spot »v
Dr. Francis Wvatt, of New York, and Analysed hy Him-
self OR his Assistants.

SAMPLES CLASSIFIED AS FOLLOWS :-

Bowlder Phosphate meaning Clean high-grade rock.

Unselected phosphatic material.

Soft white phosphate in which no bowlders
are found.

Everything that was thrown up from the
pits (phosphates and inert and waste
matter).

Oxides

of Iron Inso-
Phos- and luble Car-
phoric Alu- Sili- bonic Flu-
Acid. Lime. mina. ceous. Acid, oride.

..34.15 42.10 6.32 5.20 1.80 1.70

Bowlders very carefully selected (86
analyses) 36.10 45.90 4.80 4.95 1.70 1.57

Bowlders and Debris (160 analyses) .. 29.70 38.20 9.42 13.25 2.10 1.49

Soft White (97 ana^ses) .. ..32.50 41-70 8.70 5.20 4.80 1-15

Unselected, total outcome (76 analyses) 13.80 27.40 18.65 31.00 3.16 0.37

Bowlders and Debris
Soft White . .

Unselected . .

Bowlders (137 analyses)

COST OF PRODUCTION OF ROCK
PHOSPHATE.

Numerous inquiries from the various companies have
elicited widely divergent figures for the cost of mining and
preparing rock for the market. Some place the cost as low as
$1.50 per ton delivered free on rails, others as high as $10.00.
No doubt when mining was first undertaken the cost of produc-

• Vide New York Mining and Engineering Journal, August 23, 1890.

i\'

1 ■|!i

Florida Phosphates.

tion was very materially higher than it is to-day, owing to the
crude and expensive manner in which the earlier mining
operations were conducted, but the fall in prices necessitated
economy on all sides, and the average cost to-day is less by
several dollars than it was a year ago.

In order to arrive at a fair basis of cost, it is necessary to
estimate the quantities of material likely to be moved, and the
proportion of phosphate to be won, allowing an average depth of
say 40 feet. Many miners who give a low cost of production
are working on a calculation derived from the raising of a few
hundred or a few thousand tons extracted from their initial
opening, which naturally would be where the rock is found
nearest the surface. The fact that when larger quantities have
to be raised a greater depth will be reached is lost sight of, and
cost of repairs and wear and tear of plant is entirely overlooked.

After inspecting a large number of mines, and studying
closely the methods of raising and preparing the phosphate, we
have formed the following conclusions, viz. : —

(i.) That the cost of putting the rock phosphate in clean
condition f.o.b. cars in those mines which have the soft
phosphate intermixed with the gravel and large bowl-
ders will average $5.00 per ton.

(ii.) That the cost of raising, washing and preparing the
phosphate in the mines where gravel and bowlders
occur without the soft phosphate should not exceed
$4.00 per ton.

'' I '^

• il

Florida Phosphates.

(iii.) That the cost of raising, washing and preparing the
phosphate in the gravel deposits along the Withlacoo-
chee River should not exceed $3 per ton.

(iv.) That dredging and preparing the phosphate found in
the Withlacoochee River should not exceed )ji2.5o
per ton.

The above estimates are based upon a minimum production
of 1,000 tons per month, under good practical management.

It is, of course, possible to produce small quantities at very
low figures, where an owner of the lands containing the deposit
employs a small gang of men under his own supervision, but
when considering the subject as a serious mining undertaking,
where a steady output of considerable size is expected and
required, the matter assumes a different complexion.

GRAVEL ROCK MINING.

In addition to the rock mines described above, there is
another form of deposit known in Florida as the gravel or
plate-rock deposit, which has not yet been referred to. These
deposits occur in Alachua, Levy and Marion Counties. Although
the Peninsular Company commenced operations in the autumn
of 1890, on a small scale near Anthony, in Marion County,
and shipped a cargo the following spring, yet it is only during
the last few months that any attention appears to have beei)

* ] I

i '

1 'ij:'^

Florida Phosphates.

paid to this locality. This is rather surprising, seeing that the
distance from Ocala, the headquarters of the rock mining
industry, is only a few miles, and that the occurrence of the
phosphate is more regular than that in the ordinary rock mines.
The formation of the rock mines closely resembles the
phosphate deposits in the south-west of France, where the
same uncertainty and want of continuity exists, and it is a
remarkable fact that the deposits in the Anthony district lie
in a formation very similar to that of the Somme deposits
in north-east France. The overburden of earth is very light,
a few feet only, and below this is found a drift deposit of
jagged phosphate, mixed with sand and clay. The phosphate
sev,ms to be much the same as the gravel in the rock mines ;
but, whereas in the latter the gravel is found together with
bowlders by the edge of the Withlacoochee River, or mixed
up in the ordinary mines with the large bowlders and soft
phosphate, it exists at Anthony and Sparrs entirely by
itself, and the presence of bowlders weighing over forty
or fifty pounds has not yet been discovered. In addition
to this, the gravel phosphate of Anthony is found overlying
the lime rock, which latter occurs in the same form as the
grey phosphatic chalk underlying the Somme deposits : in
other words after extracting the phosphate, the limestone
appears in angular pyramids of various sizes. In some places
the layer of phosphate follows exactly the steep undulations of
the limestone, in others the whole of the intervening space is
filled up with the phosphate. The thickness of this stratum
appears to vary from three to eight feet, when following down the

Florida Phosphates.

inclined surface of the lime rock : in some of the cavities
which have been completely filled up with the phosphate, the
thickness of the deposit from the point where it commences to
the bottom of the conical hole is about 30 feet as a maximum.
The tops or shoulders of the pyramid lime rock comes close to
the surface of the ground, and in some instances break through
the deposit.

The lands round the Anthony and Sparrs district have
now been very thoroughly prospected, and this region will
undoubtedly become an important phosphate mining centre,
owing to the uniformity of the occurrence of the phosphate,
and the ease and economy with which it can be raised and
prepared for market. It has been stated that an average cubic
yard of this deposit will yield about Hoo lbs. of phosphate ; and
by making a systtjmatic examination it is possible to arrive at an
approxiniately close estimate of the contents of any given
area.

The Peninsular Phosphate Company have sold iheir
undertaking to a French Syndicate, and there are eight other
companies in the field, all busy in the erection of their works,
which are expected to be in operation by the spring of the
year.

The phosphate, being mixed with clay and sand, has to be
washed during preparation for shipment, and two different
processes are being adopted. One consists of a compound log
washer, or hollow cylinder, revolving in water and fitted with a

I i

iiil

Florida Phosphates.

wooden shaft to which strong iron paddles are attached in
screw-form. After passing through the log-washer, the rock
enters a second cylinder or screen, and fresh water is poured on
it from a perforated pipe traversing the centre. The second
system is a circular iron washer with internal flanges, fixed in
screw-form, and with a perforated pipe supplying water all the
length of the washer and of the circular screen fixed at the end
of the washer.

None of the plants are as yet in operation, so it is not
possible to speak of results, but we think that in some instances
larger and stronger screens will have to be adopted before good
work is obtained.

Judging by the general outlook, and comparing these
deposits with the rock mines, it seems likely that the cost of
production in this district will not exceed about $3.00 to $3.50
per ton for phosphate washed and dried f.o.b. cars. This
estimate is based on a minimum production of 10,000 tons per
annum, under efficient and practical management.

ANALYSIS OF GRAVEL ROCK.

Local reports differ very widely as to the proportion of
iron and alumina contained by the gravel phosphate, but most
of the analyses submitted to our notice show a quantity which

I i

Florida Phosphates.

averages between 2 and 3 per cent. In order to produce
phosphate which can be sold with a guaranteed maximum
of 3 per cent, of oxide and alumina, it will be necessary to
give the material a very thorough washing and cleaning
so as to get rid entirely of any clay or other impurity.
The following analysis is the mean result of the tests of a
number of samples taken in the Anthony and Sparrs region
and analysed locally, viz. : —

Phosphoric Acid

. . 36.08

Carbonate of Lime . .

.. 2.17

Oxide of Iron and Alumina..

1.94

Silica

. . 450

Moisture.. .. .• ••

2.50

•Equivalent to Tribasic Phosphate of Lime 78.76,

The following are the analyses of the European chemists;

Voelckcr.

Organic Matter and Water of
Combination 0.59

•Phosphoric Acid .. .. zC.'G

Lime 5208

Oxide of Iron 1.36

Alumina.. 1.39

Magnesia, &c., Carbonic Acid 7.17

Insoluble Siliceous Matter . . 0.85

Gilbert.

36.33

1. 12
1. 14

Mareta

36.84

1. 12
0.29

H \

100.00

•Equivalent to

Tribasic Phosphate of Lime 79.81

79.31

80.43

iih

lit

Florida P/iosphates.

'Mj

W'l ^i'

INFLUENCE OF FLORIDA PHOSPHATES
ON THE MARKET.

The discovery of phosphate rock in so many places, and the
wild excitement and speculation that ensued, naturally resulted
in the formation of a number of companies. Some of these
were Aoiid fide business undertakings, controlled by men
connected with the phosphate industry; but by far the larger
number were purely speculative, and it is the operations of these
companies that have had the effect of reducing the price of phos-
phate at such a rapid rate. No sooner was a company formed
than flourishing reports were published in the newspapers as
to the gigantic richness of the deposit acquired, with a view of
selling stock to the unwary traveller bitten with the phosphate
mania. Ocala lost its head completely under the influence of
the red-hot excitement which was prevalent. The hotels were
swarming with speculators who were selling and buying lands
with surprising rapidity. The porticoes resounded with the
tales of the fabulo ■, wealth to be acquired almost in a few days.
Sellers of stock were narrating the tempting offers they had
refused for tens of thousands of tons of rock, while those who
had not yet bought their picks and shovels were talking glibly
of raising fifty, seventy-five, and even a hundred thousand tons
of phosphate within 12 months, and every ounce to test over
80 per cent.

The greater number of people who were investing in lands
or forming companies had absolutely no knowledge of mining,

Florida Phosphates.

and still less of the phosphate market and its requirements.
Directly a company was organised its sponsors wanted to
sell thousands and thousands of tons before a single labourer
had been engaged, imagining vainly that merchants and
manufacturers were even more anxious to buy than they were
themselves to sell. Other companies had no working capital,
and were endeavouring to make large sales in order to borrow
money on the security of the contract and of the buyers' names.
Each company had so many officers with their special friends
and agents, and a dozen diflFerent people were oflFering the same
phosphate for sale. Besides this there were plenty of speculative
operators making large offers, hoping to secure the material at
a lOiVer figure after making sure of a buyer.

It so happened that at the particular time when these
offers were coming forward {i.e., the summer months of
1890) the European market was prepared to receive large
additional quantities of phosphate without prices being
materially lowered.

In order to understand the feeling of the market at that
time it is necessary to look back a few years in the history of
the prices and consumption of phosphate in Europe.

In the summer of 1887 South Carolina phosphates (the
barometer of the phosphate market) reached the lowest price
they have ever touched, falling as low as 6^d. per unit ; freights
were of course very cheap, but phosphate was being shipped
from South Carolina at prices below the actual cost of produc-

D 2

1 i

hi
'< •;¥

,1 '

100

Florida Phosphates.

tion. That year the Sommc (France) phosphate fields (dis-
covered the previous summer) began tf) produce, and though at
first no large quantities were supposed to exist, yet before the
end of the year it was known that this was one of the most
important jjiiosphate deposits ever discovered, close at hand
and with easy facilities of production. Added to this came the
introduction of ground basic slag as a fertiliser, and the general
outlook appeared very gloomy, for these two new sources of
supply meant an addition of 200,000 tons of phosphate and
300,000 tons of basic slag on the lop f)f a weak market with
abnormally low prices. Trade, however, was beginning to
expand, and a wonderful increase in the consumption of
phosphatic manures was being developed in Southern Germany
and in France, and by the summer of 1890 there was an
increase in the yearly consumption of phosphatic manures in
Europe of over 1,000,000 tons. No fresh sources of supply
(excepting the deposits of low-testing phosphate at Liege) had
been heard of. Rumours were current that the Somme produc-
tion was to decrease very rapidly : large quantities of Carolina
river rock previously shipped to Europe were being retained
for manufacture in the United States, thereby diminishing
proportionally, if not actually, the supplies available for
Europe ; increasing difficulties in raising both land and river
rock were known to exist, and manufacturers who had been
eagerly buying all the phosphate they could secure were openly
acknowledging their belief that prices would go still higher,
and some of them were themselves becoming raisers and
miners of phosphate.

Florida Phosphates.

10 1

The discovery of phosphates in Florida was therefore most
opportune, and good prices were paid for the shipments to
be made up to the spring of 1S91. When, however, these
hjrge and incessant offers kept on pouring into the market,
tlie reaction was violent, large buying ceased and manufacturers
were afraid to operate beyond their innnediate requirements.
Most of them had bought considerably ahead, looking for a
good trade in fertilisers in the spring of 1H91. The winter,
however, of 1H90-91 proved unusually severe and protracted,
and when at last the frost broke up, the expected heavy demand
was not forthcoming. Offers continued to pour in by every
mail from the United States, every broker was offering
several cargoes, until at last it was said in Hamburg that
cargoes were being hawked round '^crywhere, in liiii '' the
same manner as matches were lor sale t all the street cornem,
Consequently, alth(jugh the first shipiin: ii»'^ realised ifd. per
unit, netting about $17 to ."jiiH at the mines, prices have (Jr'>py>ei1
to 9d. per unit. This leaves <i\tly .t^nut )?5"5o at the mines,
counting on a 20s. frei^ '""t ; whereas as much hi ^K)s was paid
in the autumn of last year.

Ili

Most of the smaller companies had very limited w >rking
capital to start with, and consequently were obliged to ^ell
and ship immediately they had sufficient phosphate ready.
Other companies had borrowed money at rates even as high
as 2 per cent, per month, and were bei:ig pressed to refund the
loans. Others again, frightened by the fall in prices, were
willing t: iccept any offer. Consequently, within 18 months

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Florida Phosphates,

from the first shipment, the market price dropped 40 per cent.,.
viz., from izd. to gd. per unit.

The Florida sellers have themselves to blame for the great
fall in price and depression in the markec, for it is quite certain
that no such abnormally rapid fall could have been produced
b}' the actual quantities shipped. Florida rock has up to date
met with no competition from other phosphates : this trouble
has still to come.

The raisers of Somme (France) phosphate being incredulous
of the extent of the deposits in Florida, kept almost entirely
off the market, expecting prices to rise again before long. Last
April the price for 70 per cent, ground (Somme), delivered free
on rails in the Somme, was 1.25 francs per unit, in December
it was 98 centimes, with a stock on hand of over 100,000 tons of
all qualities.

Aruba phosphate, testing about 74-77 per cent, was also
kept off the market. The usual yearly shipments are about
30,000 tons ; and, as this material has in past years been sold
at 8|d. per unit, there is apparently no reason why the same
price should not be accepted again.

In other words, though about seventy thousand tons of
high-testing Florida phosphate were shipped to Europe last year,
yet owing to the non-shipment of the usual quantities from the
Somme and Aruba deposits, the available supplies were actually
not perceptibly larger than usual. Buyers, however, were

Florida Phosphates.

103

scarcer than usual, that is to say, that small quantities only were
being contracted for as required, every one waiting for the
situation to develop more fully.

During the end of the summer prices in Europe for the
various phosphates seemed topsy turvy ; the following were the
quotations c.i.f. London: —

South Carolina River Ptiosphate
Peace River Phosphate . .
Somme Phosphate (ground) . .
t% i> „

„ (ground and washed) . .
Florida Phosphate
Liege Phosphate (ground)

»> i» It

Belgian „
Canadian Phosphate

In point of fact, prices were entirely nominal; every one was
anxious to sell, and no one wanted to buy.

The fall in prices made things the reverse of cheerful in the
neighbourhood of Ocala, and a meeting was called in November
to consider the best method of remedying the situation. The
result of the meeting, which many of the important companies
did not attend, was a resolution that a syndicate with a suitable
capital should be formed and establish a bureau of information
regulate the output and have exclusive control of the handling
and selling of rock, and all matters pertaining thereto. Wh;it
the issue of this resolution will ultimately be, still remains to
be seen. It is absolutely impossible at the present moment to
make any complete combination owing to the refusal of many

Minimum.
Per Cent.

Per Uni

lod.

. loid.

. 13d.

12d.

. lo.id.

. 9id.

8d.

7d.

6id.

12d.

• 7id.

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Florida Phosphates.

companies to join, and the difference of ideas among those who
are willing to combine. Granting for the moment that all
the companies were to enter into some agreement, we fail to
see how this will help matters other than in a negative
manner by keeping the sale in ttwer hands.

There is a firm conviction in the minds of many people in
Florida that the European buyers have combined to put down
prices, and it has even been stated in influential New Yr>rk
journals that the English manufacturers are trying to " bully "
the Florida hard rock miners. We quote the following para-
graphs, written from Florida, and published in New York, as
an example of the foolish ideas that are prevalent : —

" If the Britishers can depress prices of raw materials in
this State for a year or two, securing to themselves sufficient
rock for their home trade, at prices which mean enormous
incomes (stc) to fertiliser manufacturers, at the same time plant-
ing themselves here as miners and shippers of high-grade, it
will certainly prove them to be sharper traders than ourselves.''

*' Why should we admit for one year longer the necessity
of accepting such prices for raw high-grade phosphates as may
be tendered by our worthy but sharp-dealing brothers from
England?"

The answer to this, a very simple one, is that there is only
a limited market in Europe for high-testing phosphates, and
that Europe can supply her wants without buying any Florida

Florida Phosphates.

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hard rock. If therefore Florida high-grade rock is shipped
into the European market at all, it must be in competition
with other high-grade phosphates already in use, and the
natural result of over production and too heavy shipments
is a weak market and low prices. The idea that English
manufacturers have benefited by the fall in prices is hardly
correct, for last year's business was far from being prosperous,
and the statement that they want to mine in Florida for
themselves is really grotesque. The facts are exactly the
contrary, for London has been overrun with speculators and
promoters from Florida and from New York, each offering "the
best mine in the world " to every manufacturer and phosphate
broker whose name they could discover.

Over one hundred rock companies have been organised
in the United States of America, and at one time 41 companies
were in actual operation ; in December last only 17 companies
were at work.

It was stated at the Ocala Convention that there were
47,000 tons of phosphate ready for shipment which had not
been sold, so it does not seem probable that any reaction in
the prices to be obtained in Europe is likely to take place
for a long time to come.

River rock stands on a totally different footing to hard
rock, for it is a class of phosphate which has been the back-
bone of the European medium-testing fertiliser trade for many
years past. Price has been well maintained, and there has
never been any accumulation of stock ; in fact there has

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Florida Phosphates.

nearly always been a difficulty in filling steamers as they
arrived, and the large amounts paid last year for demurrage
by the various companies u'ould show an unpleasantly imposing
total if put together.

1^1 I

MARKET PRICE OF FLORIDA HIGH-
GRADE ROCK IN 1891.

In January, 1891, the price in Europe for 75 per cent, was
nominal at i4^d. per unit. Pressing offers were made by one
company in particular, which has since become involved and
ceased mining, and sales were made from 13d. downwards
to lo^d. per unit c.i.f. Continent. During the spring and early
summer price dropped to lod., and in the autumn fell as low as
9id. c.i.f. Continent. In December quotations were nominal at
9d. per unit without finding buyers, and there is every appear-
ance of a further decline, which will probably close down some
more of the mines.

Local prices in April were from $12 to si^i; fo.b. Fernan-
dina, equivalent to .to. 50 to .^12.50. free on cars at mines. By
August there were offers at !^G to $7 at mines, and in November
6,000 tons were sold at .^4.50 free on cars at mines, which is the
lowest figure touched. The average market price in December
was from $•■ to #5.50 per ton at mines, and it was a curious
feature that several companies who had sold ahead were unable
to complete their cargoes without buying from their neighbours,
who were thus able to get a little advantage above market
pr>ce.

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Florida Phosphates.

107

SHIPMENTS OF HARD ROCK
PHOSPHATE.

Year.

Shipping Port.

1890

Fernandina

it •

Port Tampa

1891

Fernandina

Port Tampa

»y Water
to U.S.
Tons.

1.330
2,180

Foreign.
Tons.

9.155

700

55.084

12,949

In addition to the above quantities, several shipments have
been made from Savannah and Brunswick, Georgia, amounting
to about 8,000 tons. Most of the rock phosphate has been
carried by the Florida, Central and Peninsular Railroad to the
eastern ports, the shipments from the Pemberton Ferry district
are made over the South Florida Railroad to Port Tampa. A
i.ew extension of this latter railroad is now being built to
Dunnellon. Railroad freights from most rock centres to
Fernandina and shipping expenses at the port average about
$2.50 per ton, from Pemberton Ferry to Port Tampa about
;|i.25 per ton.

At the loading docks at Fernandina, where two large or
three small steamers can load at one lime, there are 18 to 26
feet of water. The loading costs 25 cents per ton, and no
hoisting by the steamer is required. Pilotage varies from ISo
for 16 feet draft to .tq2.5o for a draft of 18^ feet. Depth of
water on the bar ut low tide is iif feet, and tide rises 7^ to
8 feet. The Florida, Central and Peninsular Railroad have
built a loading elevator which is at present in an experimental
stage only, but quick dispatch ib given by manual labour.
There are no port dues.

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Florida Phosphates.

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At Jacksonville there are 1 8 to 20 feet of water alongside the
wharves. Average depth of water at the bar at low tide is
13J feet, with I7i feet at high tide. Pilotage is charged at $«3
per foot. There are no harbour dues.

At Port Tampa there is a depth of 30 feet uf water at the
pier and 21 feet at the bar at low water. Pilotage costs $2.50
per foot, trimming 20 cents per ton, wharfage and loading 50
cents per ton. Great alterations are going to be made at this
porf., and ultimately eight steamers at least will be able to
receive the cargoes simultaneously. There are no port dues.

The followiiig is a list ' of the Companies which shipped
one or more cargoes during 1891 to Europe : —

Name of Company.

Mines at

County.

Capital.

Dunnellon Phosphate Co.

Dunnellon

Marion

. . $1,200,000

Marion Phosphate Co.

i»

»»

■ 5,000,000

Sterling Phosphate Co.

Pemberton
Ferry

Hernando

. 3,000,000

Netherlands Phosphate Co. . .

Ocala and Blue River

Phosphate C-

Pemberton
Ferry

Dunnellon

1)
Marion

. 3,000,oco

Withlacoochee Phosphate Co.

Cove Bend

Citrus

400,000

Standard Phosphate Co

Archer

Alachua

. 2,000,000

Albion Phosphate Co

Gainesville

> t

300,000

International Phosphate Co. . .

Dunnellon

Marion

—

Peninsular Phosphate Co.

Anthony

200,000

Florida Phosphate Co.

—

Citrus

210,000

Stonewall Phosphate Co.

—

500,000

Glenn Alice Phosphate Co. . .

Bay Hill

Sumter

—

Jacksonville and Santa Fe
Phosphate Co.

500,000

Itcheetucknee Phosphate Co.

—

30,000

High Springs Phosphate Co. . .

—

Cove Bend Land Phosphate Co.

Tompkinsville

—

*NoTE.— Ttiis list Is as complete as our investigations could make il,

Florida Phosphates.

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THE LABOUR QUESTION IN FLORIDA.

One of the chief initial difficulties which faced the mine
manager directly he arrived on the spot was the scarcity of
labour of any description.

Outside of the sparsely settled negroes, there was only the
native or " cracker " labour on hand. Trials made with the
" cracker " element have shown the futility of relying on this
class of hands for steady work. Though naturally intelligent, the
" crackers " have grown accustomed through their indolent life
to taking things easily ; they are most independent in their views,
and as most of them own a homestead and cattle of their own, they
like a holiday after about a v/eek's work. The consequence is that
they are now rarely employed for anything but cutting cord
wood by contract. Florida was ransacked in vain for any class
of labour, and importations of coloured gangs from Georgia and
Alabama had to be resorted to. When night fell, gambling,
drinking and shooting commenced, and there were wild times
and much actual danger to the overseers, who frequently had to
go out with their "Winchesters'' and quiet matters down. Firm
determination and prompt action soon ended these troubles,
which were mostly confined to the small villages or towns
adjacent to the mining camps, and now the coloured labourer is
well under control.

5 ■

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The absence of any skilled labour was a serious drawback
to the pioneers, but when the extent of the industry became

Florida Phosphates,

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circulated through the Northern States, there was a rapid
immigration of engineers and surveyors, mechanics and
blacksmiths.

The trouble now is the itinerant character of all labour, and
the carelessness with which one company employs the hands
discharged by neighbouring works. All this, however, is
merely a matter of time, and the labour problem — the
difficulty of which only those who have confronted it can fully
appreciate — will settle into normal conditions.

Some mines employ convict gangs, for which they pay
40 cents only per man per diem, as against the usual charge of
$i.cx) per day with board supplied, paid for ordinary labour.
Mechanics receive from $50 per month upwards ; surveyors
$5 per day, and dredge engineers from $75 to ^150 per month,
according to their work. Ordinary engineers, for running
engines, hoisting machinery, &c., are paid about $75.00 per
month.

FLORIDA PHOSPHATE MINING AS AN
INVESTMENT.

A great number of enquiries have been put into circulation
in Europe, as to the advisability of making investments in the
phosphate mining industry of Florida.

Naturally, the first question asked is as to the price and
value of phosphate lands. The answer as to the real value

Florida Phosphates,

III

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must always remain an open question until results are achieved.
The price to give rests upon a number of conditions.

In order to discuss this matter fully, we will give our own
views of the most desirable class of investment to make.
Taking all things into consideration, we regard the land
pebble mining ^ the soundest investment, for the following
r^jasons : —

(i.) The minimum contents of a given area can be closely
estimated.

(ii.) The quality can be ascertained precisely.

(iii.) All the conditions of mining can be calculated, and
do not vary materially.

In selecting a land-pebble deposit, the following points
have to be closely considered.

(a). Location as to available water for washing, and as
regards economic use of machinery.

(b). Location as to transport.

(c). Average thickness of overburden.

{(i). Thickness of stratum.

{c). Whether there is a capping of sand or phosphate
rock which has to be removed by hand.

(/). Admixture of foreign matter, such as silicate pebbles,
sandstone or shells.

{g). Supply of timber available for cord wood.
{Ii). Price to be paid for the lands.

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Florida Phosphates.

It will thus be seen that the question of price is not
so materia! as would be considered at the first glance ; for
given a deposit of say i,cco acres in extent, with a stratum
10 feet in thickness, there is a supply of at least 6,000,000 tons
contained therein, and the greediest speculator could not want
more, although ot course the whole area of such a tract would
not be suitable for profitable mining. As a general rule it has
been found advantageous to start the o])erations at or near the
bed of a creek, the existence of which should be a sine qua
noil of a purchase. On the other hand it is advisable, and
indeed necessary, to control the water course, in order to make
sure of a supply of clean water for washing purpos«is.

A point in favour of this branch of the industiy is the
extensive market for the product. On the other hand, land
pebble mining requires at least twice as heavy an outlay for
machinery as do the other kinds of mining, takes longer to get
into operation, and is hedged round with serious difficulties in
separating the phosphate from the matrix. In fact, so difficult
was this separation considered by many northerners, and even
miners from South Carolina, who came at the outset prepared
to invest their mone}, that the would-be buyers returned home
saying the deposits were worthless, since no separation could be
effiicted.

As regards price, the first purchases were made at from
$2 to $5 per acre. When several tracts had changed hands and
companies had been formed, the price rose rapidly to $25 an
acre ; and to-day the quotation for well-selected lands in good

Florida Phosphates,

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location, with heavy deposits and slight overburden (six to eight
feet), varies from .^75 to ."^150 per acre.

Second in order comes river mining. The available lands
are now very small in area, and the drifts light ; in fact, there is
no land available which contains enough phosphate to last more
than a few years. When the river in these places has been
exhausted the adjoining lands containing the usual clayey-
matrix deposit will have to be worked. Consequently this
branch is practically the tsame as the land pebble -is regards
investment.

We now come to rock-mining, and though all through
this question of investment we are likely to have ou views
severely criticised, we will be bold enough to follow out our
argument to its limit.

Our selection here is the gravel deposits at Anthony and
Sparrs, and any similar deposits which may be found elsewhere,
such as in the basin of the Suwanhee River, in Alachua County,
and the drift deposits along the banks of the Withlacoochee
River, for the following reasons : —

(i.) The area under consideration can be sufficiently
prospected to enable definite conclusions to be arrived
at as regards quantities.

(ii.) The test can be accurately ascertained.

(iii.) Overburden is light.

(iv.) Deposits are near the railroads.

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114

Florida Phosphates.

(v.) The separation o\ the phosphate is not a diffitult
matter. . ,

(vi.) The (.'itlay for plant is light in comparison with
quantities to be treated.

We now come to the question of rock mining. Th-; chief
advantage in this is the high percentage of phosphate, and
the small outlay requireii to commence operations. On the
other hand there is the great difficulty in determining any
approximation as to contents, and the limited market available
for the product. (This latter applies also to gravel mining).
The variation of the proportions of rock, soft phosphate, clay,
sand, &c., from day to day, and the capricious nature of the
deposits are all in disfavour with those who look for a steady
investment.

The price of gravel deposits in the Anthony district is
now from $200 to Jjijoo per acre ; of rock deposits, from $2^
to $100, according to area and outcropping of rock.

To sum up, we are of opinion that any carefully selected
deposit, whether rock or pebble, drift or bowlder, which has
been thoroughly prospected, can be made a good paying
investment by practical business men. The Somme Phosphate
Fields have given universally good results to the companies
and individuals mining them, and Florida can be made to do
the same. But to the butcher and baker, the clergyman and
professor acting as manager, such investments are likely to
prove most disastrous.

It may be of interest to mention the prices paid for
phosphate lands in other countries.

Florida Phosphates.

lis

In the Somnie, as much as J^^o.ooo was given for 2^ acrts of
land, which produced 40,000 tons of phosphate, netting the
raisers at least #200,000 of profit. Lands there are usually sold
at a price per cubic metre of phosphate (about one and a-half
tons) extracted, for which as much as 40 francs (.*7.50 or a
royalty of !ji5.oo per ton) has been paid. A recent purchase of a
few acres, very rich, was made for the sum of $240,000.

The Liege deposits, containing about 1,300 to 1,800 tons of
phosphate per acre, testing between 50 and 60 per cent., have
brought latterly about 10,000 francs ()jS2.ooo) per acre, though
in the beginning (two years ago) the price was only about
^i,o per acre.

Canadian phosphate lands, with all the risks incidental to
this most varying class of mining, have brought from $50 per
acre upwards. A recent sale of 121 acres was made at about
$70,000, another of 800 acres at $150,000.

South Carolina lands are offered at from $10 to $30 per
acre, according to location, depth of overburden and thickness
of stnitum.

ORIGIN OF FLORIDA PHOSPHATES.

While it is admitted on all sides that the pebble phosphates
of Florida are entirely organic in their origin (as can be readily
observed by the use of the microscope), there are very
divergent theories as to the origin of the rock phosphates.

:iii

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Florida Phosphates.

Mr. N. H. Darton, of the United States Geological Survey
is, among others, of opinion that guano was probably the
original source of the phosphate deposits; and this theory seems
to cover the conditions of the problem more completely than
most of the hypotheses advanced. Others again consider that
the underlying limestone rock originally contained a certain
percentage of phosphate of lime, and that by the action of
water the carbonate got leached out, leaving behind a crust of
phosphate of lime. The objection to this theory is the
tremendous leaching out of carbonate of lime which would
have to have taken place in order to leave behind so thick a
bed of phosphate. For, supposing even that the limestone
actually did contain 5 per cent, of phosphate of lime, this
would mean a leaching of a thickness of 1,000 feet of limestone
to produce 50 feet of phosphate.

A third theory is that the upper surface of the limestone
rock, bein^ continually washed with phosphate in solution,
derived from the decomposition of animal remains, gradually
lost its carbonic acid and became phosphatised. In this <jase
one would expect to find phosphatised shells, which, up to date,
have not been forthcoming.

Dr. Francis Wyatt, considers that the phosphate formation
was due to the evaporation of the Miocene waters *: —

" During the Miocene submergence there was deposited
upon the Upper Eocene limestones, more especially in the cracks
or fissures resulting from their drying up, a soft finely dis-
integrated calcareous sediment or mud.

* Vide New York Mining and Engineering Journal, August 23, 1890.

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Florida Phosphates.

117

ill

" The gradual evaporation of these Miocene waters brought
about the formation, principally in the neighlourhoocl of the
rock cavities and fissures, of large and small estuaries. These
estuaries were replete, swarming with life and vegetable matter
—fish, moUusks, reptiles, and marine plants. They were,
besides, heavily charged with gases and acids, and their con-
tinuous concentration ultimately induced a multiplicity of
readily conceivable processes of decomposition and final meta-
morphism."

Dr. N. A. Pratt, on the other hand, is of opinion that the
rock or bowlder phosphate had its immediate origin in animal
life, and that the phosphate bowlder is a true fossil. He does
not see any objection to the possibility of a species existing
which secreted a skeleton of phosphate of lime, in the same
way that the coral animal secretes carbonate of lime. He thinks,
in fact, that such a species did exist, and that the fossil bowlder
is the fossil remains of a huge foraminifer, which had identical
composition in its skeleton with true bone deprived of all
organic matter.

These are the principal theories as to the origin of the
phosphates, and there are as many or more hypotheses accounting
for the formation in which the phosphate is found to-day.
Without discussing these in detail, it seems to be agreed that
the deposits owe their present position and form to the agency
of water, in other words the phosphate is not found to-day in
the position and shape in which it originally received its origin,
but the beds or crusts or layers have been broken up, washed

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Florida Phosphates.

together, detrited, Avater-worn and rolled by the action both
of salt and fresh water until their present form and position was
arrived at.

FERTILISER MANUFACTURING IN
FLORIDA.

It is in the natural order of events that the discovery of
phosphates in Florida should lead to the building up of a
fertiliser manufacturing industry, and there are already two
companies in active operation : r.c, The Goulding Fertiliser
Company at Pensacola, with an annual capacity of 15,000 tons
of fertiliser, and Messrs. Little Bros., at Jacksonville, with a
capacity of 20,000 tons per annum. Florida consumes annually
over 60,000 tons of fertilisers (principally in connection with
the orange-growing industry), which are brought in from other
States, and the demand is steadily increasing year by year.

Apart from the local busini^ss to be done in the State,
it appears likely that the day is not far distant when Florida
will be able to supply other States with her home-produced
fertilisers. Port Tampa, situated as it is within 60 miles from
the hard rock, land pebble and river pebble mines, seems to offer
special attractions for the building up of a shipping trade. The
demand for fertilisers along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico
and in the Mississippi River Valley is growing annually. Freights
to these points from Port Tampa are cheaper by nearly $2 per
ton than from Charleston, whereas the cost of bringing pyrites

Florida Phosphates.

119

or sulphur to Port Tampa would be only a trifle over cost at
Charleston. The question of establishing such works has
already been considerably ventilated in Florida, and ten years
or ev 'u five years' time may show Port Tampa as an important
fertiliser manufacturing and shipping point.

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EFPECTS OF THE PHOSPHATE
INDUSTRY ON FLORIDA.

Early in the last decade the northern promoter had taken
Florida under his protection. Land and orange - growing
schemes had been projected and put into being. New towns
were located, ami town lots advertised and sold in surprising
quantities. All this was helped on by the extension of the
railroads to Tampa and Punta Gorda, and a real boom was set
in motion. Huge hotels were built by New York millionaires,
and Florida was going to be the Ciarden of Eden of the whole
earth. On the top of all this came "a frost, a killing frost,"
which immediately put an end t(j the whole of this speculation
by ruining the orange crop ; then came the yellow fever ; hopes
ran low or died out ; the population of the newly-built and
boomed towns fell away, and Florida became, comparatively
speaking, depopulated for the time being. The small towns
lapsed into a chronic state of extreme penury. Energy
seemed exhausted, and hope of a prosperous future was

m ''■ 1

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Florida Phosphates.

considered a visionary madness. People who could afford to
go north were abandoning their old homesteads ; railway
travelling was very limited, and the streets of all the towns were
practically deserted. With the influx of capital and labour,
imported from the Northern States upon the discovery of the
phosphate, a welcome revival was at once noticeable. In
the hard rock regions there was more wild speculation, but
in the pebble districts the growth of enterprise was solid
though slower. The town of Ocala, in Marion County, is
practically the headquarters of the rock mining industry, and a
great change has taken place in it. New buildings are constantly
growing up on every side, and each train brings many travellers
to the town. All banking, commercial and real estate business
has expanded rapidly, and the growth is real and likely
to be lasting.

Bartow, the capital of Polk County, which had been
suffering from the collapse of the land boom, started on the
building of the Punta Gorda division of the Florida Southern
Railroad, soon picked up her decrease of inhabitants, and the
town, being the distributing point for the pebble industry (both
land and river), is once more active and growing rapidly.

The establishment of thf two river works at Arcadia, some
50 miles further south, necessitated the building of houses for
the numerous employes of the companies, and two years has
witnessed the change from a sleepy hamlet to a thriving town
of 1,500 inhabitants. In May last forty new houses and two
churches were in course of erection at the same time.

Florida Phosphates.

121

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Jacksonville, the chief commercial centre of Florida, has
benefited very considerably by the revival of trade, and by
the development of the numerous phosphate enterprises, which
ha\'e brought large orders for machinery and stores, clothing
and fodder, while the bankers and lawyers have found fresh
channels for their respective professions. Bonds have recently
been issued for the improvement of the harbour and shipping
facilities, with a view of securing a portion of the phosphate
shipping business.

The towns of Jacksonville, Ocala and Tampa, wh'ie
sharing in the increased trade due tt) the phosphate business,
have also invested very considerably in this new enterprise,
and quite a number of companies have been formed with the
capital supplied by the leading merchants, bankers and
others.

In addition to the rapid development of those particular
towns which are directly benefited, the whole of Florida
has felt the effects of the investment of so n.uch capital
within her borders and the distribution of which has been
most extensive. Taxes all over the various parts of the
State are now collected with ease and punctuality, and the
lists of lands sold for arrears of taxes has dwindled down
amazingly. Lands, the ownership of which had been long
unknown, have again been claimed, and the arrears and fines
promptly paid over.

In fact, Florida seems now to be going ahead slowly and
surely ; there are no signs of violf^nt booming, and the

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Florida Phosphates.

spcculati\c tcvcr sccins to liavc died a natural death. The
discovery of phosphates has led to the finding of other
vahiable resources hitherto overlooked, and the general
attention which has lately been given to the State has
undoubtedly resulted in a wider recognition of the field which
is open for the legitimate investment of capital.

Various new railroad connections are being projected
and built, thus largely increasing the area of land available
tor agricultural purposes. Fresh enterprises of various kinds
are being put into operation ; in fact, the whole machinery
of active business has been thoroughly started on a firm
commercial basis.

CHAPTER III.

SOUTH CAROLINA PHOSPHATES.

THE MARL BEDS.

In the early part of the present century the marl beds of
New Jersey began to be actively worked, and their contents
applied to enrich the poor soil of that State.

The discovery of similar deposits in South Carolina was
predicted by Mr. Lardner Vanuxeni, who made the first
geological survey of the State, publishing his report in 1826;
but no further investigations seem to have taken place till the
year 1842, when Mr. Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, who was
commissioned to make an agricultural and geological survey,
reported the actual finding of the calcareous marl beds.

' i,:

Analyses of these marls showed the existence therein of a
very high percentage of carbonate of lime (varying from 60 to
95 per cent.), and the marling of lands was most energetically
recommended by Mr. Ruffin, and also by Professor Tuomey,
who succeeded him in the following year, and published a
complete report on the geology of South Carolina in 1846,

124

South Carolina Phosphates.

In the meantime Dr. C. U. Shepard and Professor J.
Lawrence Smith made the important discovery that the marls
in the neighbourhood of Charleston contained 2 to 9.20 per cent,
of phosphate of lime, which ingredient appears to have been
overlooked by Mr Ruffin, whose analyses related exclusively to
the percentage of carbonate of lime. Professor Tuomey refers
to this discovery as "interesting," and adds* — "Though the
amount (jf phosphate discovered by these analyses brings the
marls up to the best in the State from an agricultural point
of view, still I apprehend that the carbonate of lime will always
prove the constituent of greatest importance."

On the other hand, Dr. C. U. Shepard in addressing the
Medical Association of South Carolina in 1859 spoke as
follows : —

*'In April, 1H45, my attention was directed to the cause of
the fertility of the marl found in the immediate vicinity of
this City (Charleston), and I was led to ascribe it to the
extraordinary proportion of phosphate of lime which I found it
to contain. The percentage of this invaluable ingredient was
so great (viz., up to 9.20 per cent.) that for a time I could
hardly credit the accuracy of my analysis ... I ventured to
say that I could not subscribe to Mr. Ruffin's reference to the
good effects of marling with this material so much to the
carbonate of lime as to the phosphate of lime . . . You will
appreciate the usefulness of a careful examination of all the

• Vide p. 235, Tuomey's " Geology of South Carolina."

South Carolina Phosphates.

125

marl beds with a view to determine which have the most of
the precious phosphatic ingredient . . . for I sincerely enter-
tain the opinion that as the supply of guanos from abroad fail
we shall be looked to to fill the vacuum their disappearance
will occasion, and it would not be strange if a few years
hence Charleston should ship more casks of phosphatic stone
to the north than she now receives of ordinary lime from
that region."

This prediction was a most remarkable one, and has
been fully realised, although in a way never anticipated by
Dr. Shepard.

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DISCOVERY OF THE PHOSPHATE

ROCKS.

It was as early as 1795 that bones and teeth were discovered
in the Biggin Swamp, Cooper River, but no mention is made of
the nodules or rocks (subsequently proved to be phosphate)
till 1837, when Professor F. S. Holmes found a number of
rolled or water-worn nodules scattered over the surface of an
old rice field, on the west shore of the Ashley River. These
rocks attracted considerable interest, as they were filled with
the impression or casts of marine shells, and many specimens
were carefully preserved, and called marl rocks. These were
subsequently shown to Mr. Ruflfin, but pronounced to be useless
as a fertilising substance, owing to the small percentage of

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SotUh Carolina Phosphates.

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carbonate of lime, which was at that time tlie ingredient
actively sought after. It appears that his successor, Professor
Tuomey, maile a crude analysis, and though he found about
15 to 16 per cent, of phosphate of lime, he considered that
percentage too small, and the proportion of carbonate of lime,
iron and sand too large, to admit of the material being employed
advantageously-''. Dr. Edmund Ravenel also had noticed these
marl rocks in 1H37, on his own plantation near the Cooper
River ; but, though he called the attention of Messrs. Lyell,
Lieber and other geologists and chemists to the actual deposit
(which lay b. low the surface and was separated from the marl
beneath by a thin layer of coarse sand), he could never obtain
from any of them any satisfactory opinion with regard to their
history or composition.

Six years later, in December, 1843, Professor Holmes and
some others, when boring for marl with an auger, encountered
a hard substance, about two feet below the soil. The pick and
shovel had to be used, and on removing the earth, a regular
stratum of rocks, imbedded in clay, and about one foot in
thickness, was revealed ; but again no examination was made
of the rocks, as they were identical with those scattered on the
surface of the adjoining field.

• Professor Tuomey refers to these as follows (Geology of South
Carolina, p. 164), when describing the marl beds of the Ashley River: —
"The marl is exceedingly uniform with the exception of about two or
three feet of the surface, which is composed of irregular and water-worn
fragments of marl-stone. These are so scattered over the surface in some
places as to offer obstruction to the cultivation of the land. At Drayton
Hall they are gathered and thrown into heaps."

South Carolina Phosphates.

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The next appearance of the deposit was during the w.ir,
when in sinking a pit for the manufacture of saltpetre at
Ashley Ferry, on the west bank of the river, a number of oddly-
shapcid nodules were ''iscovered in a large pocket or cavern in
the marl bed. These nixlules were supposed by Professor F. S.
Holmes to be coprolites, or the fossilised excrements (not
necessarily phosphatic) of some of those large aquatic mammalia
whose bones are found in the marl and also mixed with the
phosphate rocks. Analysis by Dr. N. A. Pratt showed only
I 5 per cent, of phosphate, which was accounted for at a later
date by Professor Holmes by the supposition that the surround-
ing marl must have extracted a large porticjn of their phosphoric
esseuvC.

It vvas at this time (/.<■., during the war) that Dr. Pratt
determined to establish chemical works in the South, and
endeavoured in 1866 to organise a company for the manufacture
of acids and fertilisers. The spring of the following year found
him engaged in locating a site for the proposed works and in
searching for home material suitable for manufacture. In
August, 1X67, while Dr. Pratt was examining samples of
imported phosphatic guanos ni the laboratory of Dr. St. Julien
Kavenel, who also was making preparations for the manufacture
of fertilisers in Charleston, the latter handed him a rock, saying
it was from Goose Creek, and contained about 10 to 15 per cent,
of phosphate, and suggested that Dr. Pratt should analyse it.

The result of this conversation had best be told in the
words (if Dr. Pratt, who sajs : *

] }

• Vide Dr. Pratt's " Native Bone I'hosphates of So».th Carolina, 1868."

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South Carolina Phosphates.

" Knowing from Tuoiiicy's geology of South Carolina, and
from the analyses made by Professor Shepard, that ') to lo per
cent, of phosphate was not uncommon in the marls ot Ashley
River, I was not surprised, but took u small sample for analysis.

"Two days afterwards the result was known and com-
municated to Dr. Ravenel, who was then in my laboratory, with
the remark to him that it was well worth looking after. The
result was : —

" Phosphate of Lime . .

" Sand aiul Insoluble Matter . .

34-40
29.32

" The same day, recalling to my mind the nodules or
conglomerates imbedded in the ' Fish Bed ' of the Ashley, I
applied to my friend. Professor F. S. Holmes, who among all
my acquaintances was best informed as to the geology of this
section of the country and of its rocky beds, for samples of these
or similar rocks ; and being shown a quantity somewhat similar
in his cabinet (taken 12 years previously from his own plantation
on the Ashley River), which he said were the same as the
specimens above mentioned", I was pleased to analyse and
discover on August loth, 1867 :—
"No. i: i'hosphate of Lime ..

55-92
5552

* In referring to this interview Professor Holmes states that he showed
some 50 or Co specimens of these rocks to Dr. Pratt, who on seeing them
exclaimed, " I think you are mistaken ; these are not the same kind of rock
as I have in my hand." On being reassured by Professor Holmes on this
point, Dr. Pratt took a sample of several pounds in 'veight, which he
ground up finely, in order to get a fair sample for analysis. — Vide p, 68,
" Holmes' Phosphate Rocks of South Carolina," 1870.

South Carolina Phosphates.

IS9

" Thu3 I found these phosphates to be identical with the
marl stones, nodules, or conglomerates of the ' Fish Red ' of the
Charleston Basin, all the physical characters of which bed had
been known and described for twenty years, but of the true
chemical composition of which nothing definite had ever been
known or published."

On obtaining the result mentioned above, Dr. Pratt visited
Professor Holmes again to enquire as to the locality from which
the rocks had been taken, and as to the e.xteiit of the deposit,
and was shown a map upon which the Ashley deposit
had been carefully marked out. The next day Dr. Pratt
went out to see the rocks in st'tii at Ashley Ferry, and
was most favourably impressed with the appearance of the
bed. On his return to Charleston he found Professor Holmes
very much interested in one of Dr. D. T. Ansted's
works, entitled, "Notes on Practical Geology," just received
from London, in which a description was given of the deposits
of coprolites in Cambridgeshire, which corresponded almost
exactly with that of the Ashley deposits. A remarkable feature
about Dr. Ansted's book was that it confirmed a statement made
many years previously by Professor Holmes that Charleston was
located geologically on the sanie formation as the City of
London.*

• Note. — The exact statement was as follows, and is to be found in
" Silliman's American Journal of Arts and Sciences" for March, 1849: —
" That Charleston (the capital of South Carolina) is built upon geological
formation identical in age, and in other respects similar to those upon
which he great cities of London and Paris are located, is a remarkable

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South Carolina Phosphates.

Dr. Pratt at once contiiiijed his investigations, and profiting
by the publications of Professor Tuomey and Professor Holmes
in former years, succeeded within a very few weeks in extending
the known limits of the bed far beyond the boundaries previously
marked out.

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COMMENCEMENT OF MINING
OPERATIONS AND FIRST SHIPMENTS.

The next point was to draw the attention of capitalists
to the importance of the discoveries made and to the chances
of turning the same into pecuniary profit. The Southerners,
however, did not seem inclined to believe in the value of the
phosphate beds, though the Hon. C. G. Memminger, who at
first was most incredulous, ultimately changed his ideas on
seeing Dr. Ansted's book, and advised Dr. Pratt and Professor
Holmes to take great care of it as a means of establishing
the worth of their discovery. After six weeks of unsuccessful
work in Charleston, money was furnished by Mr. James
S. Welsman of Charleston (one of the few men who at once

fact but lately ascertained. The basin-shaped depression of its under-
lying calcareous and other beds (as determined in the survey
just made by Professor Tuomey) occupies a considerable extent between
the Savannah and Pee Dee Ri-ers. This basin seeins destined to
become as famous in the eyes of the scientific world as thui of Paris, from
the number of new and interesting fossils with which it abounds, while
ihose cf them already exhumed claim for it a rank above that of the
London basin. . . The first ten feet of the underlying (Ajhley) marl
may be properly called the ' Zeuglodon or Basilosaurus bed of the Charles-
ton Basin.' Professor Agassiz pronounced it the richest cemetery of
animal remains he had ever seen."

South Carolina Phosphates.

131

appreciated the discovery at its true value), which enabled
Dr. Pratt and Professor Holmes to visit Philadelphia, and
lay their plans before more enterprising people. Messrs.
George T. Lewis and Frederick Klett, of Philadelphia,
immediately took the matter in hand, subscribing the money
necessary, and in a very few days the Charleston South Carolina
Mining and Manufacturing Company was organised, with
Professor F. S. Holmes as president, Dr. Pratt as chemist
and general superintendent, and Colonel "^""ates as engineer.
Some 10,000 acres of land were acquired and mininj; operations
were begun at Bee's Ferry; and sometime before the close
of the year Professor Holmes forwarded 16 barrels of rock
to Philadelphia and the first parcel of superphosphates was
manufactured by Messrs. Potts and Klett of that city. In the
meantime, a second undertaking called the Wando Fertiliser
Company, with Mr. John R. Dukes as president, which had
been organised locally by Dr. Ravenel and his associates,
started work, and on April 14th, 1868, the first cargo of
phosphates left Charleston, 100 tons being shipped from their
mines by the schooner "Renshaw" to Baltimore.

Four days later the Charleston Mining and Manufacturing
Company shipped 300 tons per schooner "Anna Barton " to
Philadelphia, and its reception there is described by Professor
Holmes in the following words* : —

" The arrival of the first cargo in Philadelphia caused no
little excitement in mercantile circles, especially among

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Vide p. 77 " Holmes' Phosphr.te Rocks of South Carolina."

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5oi///i Carolina Phosphates.

manufacturers of fashionable fertilisers, and in a very short
time after the chemists of that city, New York and Baltimore,
had pronounced it a true bone phosphate rock, the phosphate
fever became epidemic in those cities."

DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOSPHATE

ROCKS OR NODULES.

The nodules are very irregular in shape and vary in size
from tiny specks to pieces weighing several pounds. There are
also large masses weighing up to a ton, but these are composed,
as a rule, of smaller pieces conglomerated. The average nodule
varies from pea to potato size. The shape is generally egg or
kidney form, and the nodules are all more or less water-worn,
frequently contain the cast of shells, and are often perforated,
in fact honeycombed. They vary in hardness from 2 to 4, and
have (according to Dr. Shepard, Jun.) a specific gravity of 2.2 to
2.5. Generally speaking, the land nodules may be described as
light brown in colour, and very porous, while the river nodules,
which are a bluish black, are hard and smooth, and contain
little moisture.

Dr. R. A. F. Penrose, Jun., classifies the nodules into eleven
varieties, differing both in their physical character and chemical
composition. '■=

(i.) A jet black variety, with a bright, shining, glossy
enamel of the same colour. It is very rare, and generally

* Vide p. 62, Bulletin No. 46, United States Geological Survey, 1888.

ill

South Carolina Phosphates.

133

occurs in small patches. It contains numerous fossils and
shells. It is found in Parrott Creek.

(2.) A brown variety, with a bright enamel of the same
colour. It is very rich, and is found in considerable quantities
at the Bradley Mine and on the land of the Charleston Mining
and Manufacturing Company.

(3-) A light blown variety, with little or no enamel. It
bleaches white when exposed to the sun, and is found on the
land of the Bradley Company and in many other localities.

(4.) A light chalky variety, containing many shells, and
generally poorer in quality than the varieties mentioned above.
It is very widely distributed over the South Carolina phosphate
region, and is simply marl which has not been so highly
phosphatised as the harder and darker varieties.

(5.) A dark greyish-black variety with little or no enamel.
It is very siliceous and contains many shells. It is generally
found in rivers, and is especially characteristic of the Stone
River district.

(6.) A grey variety composed of a mass of shells and
transparent siliceous sand, cemented together by a phosphatic
cement. Sometimes sharks' teeth are included in the mass.
At times it is hard and compact, and at others it is loose, soft
and porous. Such varieties are found in large quantities in the
Beaufort River. They are often mixed with a much better
quality of nodule, which raises the average phosphatic contents.

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South Carolina Phosphates.

(7.) A dark grey phosphatic conglomerate, in which the
pebbles are quartz and feldspar, varying from the size of a
mustard seed to that of a buck-shot. The matrix is a dark grey
phosphatic marl. This variety is very rare in South Carolina,
but is found in small quantities in the Bull River district.

(8.) Nodules having a black enamel and a light or dark
grey interior. They contain many shell casts, and are found in
the Coosaw River, and on the Edisto River at Fishburne's Mine.

(9.) A variety consisting of a mass of concentrically
laminated nodules cemented together with c matrix of marl,
containing many shells. This variety is rare and was found
only in the Bull River. It is generally rich in phosphatic
matter.

(10.) A ferruginous rusty-brown variety, very siliceous
and of poor quality.

(11.) Brown or black masses having the general

appearance of fossil dung (coprolites), and probably of that

nature. They are hard, and very rich in phosphate of lime.
Real coprolites are of rare occurrence.

ANALYSIS.

Different specimens vary very much in the proportions
of their chemical composition, but from a commercial standpoint
the general average of whole shipments may be taken to be
between 56 and 62 per cent, tribasic phosphate of lime,
though cargoes of marsh rock run about 52 per cent. only.

South Carolina Phosphates.

13:

Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jun., gives the following as an average
result of many hundreds of analyses* : —

* Phosphoric Acid
t Carbonic Acid

Sulphuric Acid

Lime

Magnesia

Alumina

Sesqui-oxide of Iron

Fluoride

Sand and Silicia

Organic Matter and con-
bined Water ..

from 25.00 per cent, to 28 per cent.

.. 2.50 „ „ 5 ,,

" 0.50 „ ,, 2

.. 35-00 „ „ 42 „

traces 2 „

from I per cent, to 4 „

.. I „ ..2 „

•» 4 11 I. 12 „

•» 2 „ )i 6 ,,

* Equivalent to 55 to 61 per cent. Tribasic Phosphate of Lime,
t II 5 ,, II ,, Carbonate of Lime.

Dr. Shepard, Jun., adds : — " In addition to the ingredients
mentioned above, sodium, chlorine and occasionally other ele-
ments occur in small quantities. Iron pyrites rarely found beyond
one per cent., is included under the estimate of s- Iphuric acid
and sesqui-oxide of iron. The organic matter is nitrogenous,
containing occasionally as high as a quarter per cent, nitrogen."

TABLE OF ANALYSES ok Phosphate kro.m various

LOCALITIKS .MADK MV Dr. C. U. ShKPARD, Ju\.

Moisture

Organic Matter and

Combined Water
Carbonic Acid
Equal to Carbonate

of Lime . .
Phosphoric Acid . .
Equal to Tribasic

PhosphateofLime

Sand

on s
3-68

.2 2

§81

•a

.><o

as 3

5 ~

> S

2g.

Hi's

"S c S
(J n

aj'd
> a

(JB

o o
U a

1.50

o.io 0.84 0.79 0.57 0.66

478 .. 5-59 5-26 0.07 4.22 5.80 4.31 3.75

4.68 4.28 3.89 4.47 3.55 3.54 3,61 3.79 4.34

10.69 9-73 8-84 1004 8.06 8.04 8.19 8.61 9.84

25.61 26.6S 25,75 27.01 27.11 27.26 25.14 27.26 26.78

55.91 58.24 56.31 58.95 59.18 59.50 54.88 59.51 58.46

11.55 12.41 11-77 "37 15-39 yo6 13.30 9.06 T1.77

Vide p. 75, " .\nnual Report of Commissioner of Agriculture of South

Carolina," 1880.

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5o/^//f Carolina Phosphates.

ORIGIN OF THE PHOSPHATE ROCKS.

The origin of the nodules and the formation of the beds
in which they occur have been widely discussed, and various
theories, differing very materially, have been propounded. The
two most important authorities upon the subject, Professor
F. S. Holmes and Dr. N. A. Pratt, took diametrically opposite
views, the latter stating that the nodules were of true bone origin,
Avhile the former, in his pamphlet, published in 1870, wrote
as follows : — " And though there are numerous fossil teeth and
fossil bones intermingled with the phosphatic rocks, the rocks
themselves never were bones, but were originally calcareous
rocks, which were taken from the mother-bed and redeposited
in basins, where by a chemical change they were converted
from a carbonate of lime rock into a phosphate of lime rock,
containing very little carbonate."

His full account is as follows * : — " Though these basins in
Charleston were formed in the Post Pleiocene age, the rocks
deposited in them do not belong to that age, but, in fact, to the
Eocene, an older formation. It has been ascertained beyond
doubt that frequently rocks or fragments of rocks, of older
formations and therefore of greater age, are found in newer
deposits of a comparatively recent date. Quartz pebbles and
fragments of water-worn crystalline rocks are often seen
imbedded in modern clays and sands. The phosphate rocks"of
these basins, in like manner, have been derived from an older
formation of the Eocene marl, or the great Carolinian bed of

Vide p. 27 of " Holmes' Phosphate Rocks of South Carolina."

South Carolina Phosphates.

137

marl, which is the formation of the whole country of South
Carolina ; is 700 feet in thickness, and extends from North
Carolina into Georgia. The shallow water of the coast, with
its submarine formation of undulating sand-banks, was then,
as now, resting upon this surface of the great marl formation
of Eocene ; both were below the level of the ocean, exposed
to the degrading influence of its waves, and bored into by
mollusca and other marine animals. From the coarsely honey-
combed surface of this mother-bed fragments were being
continually broken off by the waves, rolled over the sand-beds,
which wore oflF their angular edges, and finally deposited them
1 extensive masses in the great hollows or basins below the
ocean level. The next great change was the upheaval of the
whole sea-coast country by some geological agency, and the
elevation of the coast above the level of the sea. Wlien the
sand-hills and the submarine lagoons were raised, the basins
contained sea or salt water, and must have been so many small
salt lakes along the sea coast, h5»^ving their bottoms covered
or paved with a thin layer of the nodular fragments of marl
rock. As the evaporation of the salt water progressed, what
was left became day by day a stronger brine, until, at last, a
deposit of salt ultimately formed as a crust upon the pavement
of marl rocks. And, here it must not be forgotten that these
nodules of Eocene rocks are composed (like the mother rock
from which they had been broken off) entirely of the dead shells
of marine animals, which, age after age, were deposited at the
bottom of the ocean or Eocene sea, and finally became an
immense bed or body of marl, enclosing throughout its great

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South Carolina Phosphates.

depth, not only the polythalanious shells, corals, and corallines,
but the teeth and bones of sharks and other fish, and of animals
like whales, and alligators, such alone as live in the sea, but
no remains of any land animal have yet been found in it.
All animal remains obtained are mingled with and not imbedded
in the nodules found in the phosphate basins, and this mingling
occurred in the Post Pleioccne age, after the ele\'ation of the
basins above the ocean level,

*' It was in this Post Pleioccne age that the American
elephant (or mammoth), the mastodon, rhinoceros, megatherium
and other gigantic quadrupeds roamed the Carolina forests and
repaired periodically to these salt lakes or lagoons, and during a
series of indefinite ages deposited their foecal remains and ulti-
mately their bones, teeth, in fact their dead bodies, in these
great open 'crawls' or pens, thus preparing a storehouse of rich
material for man's use by converting the rocks, prepared of old
at the bottom of the ocean, into the basis of a most woi.aerful
fertilising substance."

The above theory was accepted by Dr. Charles U. Shepard,
Jun., who, in a lecture delivered upon South Carolina phos-
phates in December, 1879, thus describes the process by which
the carbonate of lime rocks were converted into phosphate of
lime rocks* : —

*' The decomposition of a mass of animal remains super-
imposed upon the marl nodules, would cause the production of
carbonic acid and the solution of the phosphates originally

• This lecture was published in the first Annual Report of the Com-
missioner of Agriculture of South Carolina, 1880, and the account
referred to is to be found on p. 91.

South Carolina Phosphates.

139

contained in the animal matter in water percolating through the
layer. As this solution penetrated into the carbonate of lime
masses below, the phosphoric acid would be detained there, and
the carbonic acid, whether of the original solution or of the marl,
would be carried off. Under such circumstances we should expect
to find the greatest phosphatisation at the point of contact ; and
such is the case, it having been remarked that the top of the
stratum — especially when it formed a floor and has been but
slightly disturbed — is the richest in phosphoric acid, and where
the marl occurs in liodular masses the rind is rir.ier than the core.

"Again this theory explains the gradual transition from
hard phosphate rock through soft rock to the feebly phosphatised
marl, which is itself much richer in phosphates than the parent
Eocene marl occurring at greater depths below. This phospha-
tisation was accompanied by a hardening of the previous softer
marl masses which became denser in proportion to the complete-
ness of the change ; it cemented together contiguous masses
giving rise to the more or less continuous phosphatic floor
alluded to before, and penetrating below produced curious
projections in the rock bed, by the chemical conversion of
accumulations of marl which had filled up irregularities in the
top of the underlying stratum."

Note. — The marl proper contains but a very small percentage of
phosphate, and experiments carried out by Professor Shepard, Sen.,
show that these marls that are associated with, or covered by phosphate
rocks contain a higher percentage of phosphate than those not covered.
It seems, therefore, that any excess of phosphoric acid passed through the
beds of phosphate rocks into the intervening sands and clays, and was
absorbed by the upper layers of marl, the small percentage of phosphate
contained in the lower layers of marl being derived from the marine animals
imbedded in the Eocene formation.

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South Carolina Phosphates.

Dr. Pratt accounts for the origin of tliewe phosphate rocks
in a manner entirely different to the theory described above,
and is of the opinion that they were formed from the dead
carcasses, bones, &c., of the millions of living forms which
frequented the lagoons. 'I'he remains and excrementitious
deposits of these marine and terrestrial animals were in time
buried in the calcareous mud a; d sands which eventually
filled up the lagoons during the process of the formation of the
keys, which in turn became islands and ultimately mainland.
The action of rain and other waters gradually washed out the
soluble ingredients of these deposits, and the residue then
consisted of the insoluble phosphate of lime in the form of
bones, coprolites, conglomerates or semi-consolidated softer
masses. Dr. Pratt's chemical investigations show that the
phosphate nodules have practically the same analytical com-
position as bones deprived of all organic matter and water, and
he finds further confirmation of his views as to their bone origin
from the microscope, which instrument he claims re\'eals
phosphate rock which is distinguishable only from bone by its
colour, the existence of a few grains of sand, and some
undescribed forms probably derived from excrement.

This original formation was probably somewhere in the
middle of the State, the present position of the bed having been
brought about by the action of the fresh water rivers. The
first step was the process of the separation of these nodules or
rocks from the marls with which they were originally associated,
by the action of the rivers which gradually cut through the
various strata, subsequently super-imposed, down to the deposit

South Carolina Phosphates.

141

of phosphate rocks. The accompanying marls and sands were
washed out and carried off, whereas the rocks sank to the
bottom and were rolled along by the current till they ultimately
rested in some eddy or still water, in a bed of fine sand or mud
which had been previously deposited. The washing away of
the banks and the gradual changing of the beds of the rivers
would extend this layer of phosphate in its course, the previously
deposited rocks becoming covered with various deposits brought
down by the river, till what was once river bed became marsh
land. This gradual changing of river bed and washing out of
phosphate can be seen going on from day to day, and the
thickness of the bed of phosphate is a rough guide to the
number of changes undergone.

Professor C. U. Shepard published a short article in T/ie
American Journal of Science for May, 1869, on the phosphatic
formation, and ascribes its origin to the "deposition of bird
guano, as it is now going on upon the Musquito Coast of the
Caribbean Sea."

Early in 1870 Professor W. C. Kerr, State Geologist of
North Carolina, discovered along the shores of that State
immense numbers of a living shell — Lingida pyramidata —
which on examination proved to be a shell containing phosphate
of lime, similar in all respects to the composition of bone''';

si i5

• Note. — In 1854 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, of the Canadian Geological
Survey, discovered that the shell of a bivalve of the genus Lingida (existing
both fossil and alive) contained phosphate of lime, and about the
year 1871, Professor C. P. Williams wrote an article in the Journal of
the Franklin Institute on the composition of the shell of ths Lingula

rfp

142

South Carolina Phosphates.

and with much plausibility, in a paper read before the
American Association for the Advance of ScicJice, he ascribed
the origin of the South Carolina phosphate to this agency.

While considering the geological side of the subject, it
may not be out of place to mention that in 1844 several stone
arrow-heads and one stone hatchet were discovered by some
labourers who were engaged in the removal of the upper beds
covering the marl. Not long after this Professor Holmes,
while engaged in his usual visits to the Ashley marl bed, found
a human bone projecting from the bluff immediately in
contact with the surface of the stony stratum (the phosphate
rocks). This bone was condemned without he<sitation as an
" accidental occupant ;" but only a year afterwa lower jaw-

bone with teeth was taken from the same bed. ^Subsequently
events and discoveries showed conclusively that the first
described bone was " in place," and that the beds of the Post-

Pyramidata, found in Beaufort River, N.C. The following are the
analyses of the shell and of the Os innominatum, made by Professors
"Williams and Von Bibias respectively : —

Lingula by Bone by
Professor Williams. Professor von Bibias

Organic Matter

41336 .. 4003

Tricalcic Phosphate

50.340 .. 49.72

Trimagnesic Phosphate .

5.189 .. 1.57

Ferric Phosphate . .

trace .. —

Fluor of Calcium . .

.882 .. —

Carbonate of Lime. .

2.509 . . 8.08

Sulphate of Lime . .

.153 .. —

Chlorides

trace . . —

Insoluble in Acids . .

.091 Soluble Salts .60

100.441

100.00

i I

South Carolina Pliosphatcs.

J 43

Fleiocenc, not only on the Ashley but in France, Switzerland
and other European countries, contain bones associated with
the remains of extinct animals and relics of human workmanship.
The European discoveries, it may be remarked, were not made
until lo years later than those of Professor Holmes.

LOCATION AND EXTENT OF THE
DEPOSITS.

These deposits occur in a strip of country varying in
breadth from ten to twenty miles, commencing at Broad River
in the south-east, and running sixty miles along the coast in a
north-easterly direction as far as the head waters of the Wando
River. The general height of this area, which is about i,ooo
square miles in extent, is only about ten feet above high-water
level, and elevations of more than twenty feet are few and far
between. The whole coast Hue is cut up into islands and
peninsulas, separated from each other and from the mainland
by salt water creeks and inlets. The mainland is permeated by
a number of slow-flowing streams and rivers, in which the tide
rises and falls many miles from their mouths, since their beds,
which meander to an extraordinary extent, are almost of a
uniform level.

The lands bordering those rivers are mostly of a marshy
character, and the beds of older watercourses are easily
recognisable, being composed of rich soil, whereas the higher

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144

South Carolina Phosphates.

tracts, at a greater distance from the rivers, are generally sandy
and covered with pine trees.

The phosphate does not, as far as is known and generally
supposed, underlie the whole of this area, but is found in
patches, varying in extent from many square miles to a few
acres only. Sometimes the deposit is found cropping out at the
surface, but, as a rule, in the known and worked localities, the
overburden varies in thickness from a few inches to upwards of
twenty feet.

No systematic survey of the phosphate territory has ever
been made, and consequently not much more is known to-day
as to its extent than was published many years ago. Dr.
G. U. Shepard, Jun., prepared a map in 1880, on which he
marked the deposit as underlying 240,00c acres (about 375
square miles). He estimated, however, that of this only about
10,000 acres contained deposits which were near enough to the
surface to be profitable, basing these figures on the assumption
that no deposit more than six feet from the surface could be
worked at a profit. Since that time it has been shown that
deeper deposits can be worked to advantage, and in addition
fresh discoveries have been made on lands previously thought
not to be underlaid with phosphate ; hence the above-mentioned
area has been considerably enlarged.

The localities in which phosphate mining is being carried
on may be divided into three districts. The first of these lies
north and east of Charleston, and extends from the head waters
of the Wando River and the eastern branch of th^i Cooper

South Carolina Phosphates.

145

River on the north-east to Rantowles Creek and the Stono
River on the south-west. This area, covering some 200 square
miles, comprises the best known and largest of the land
deposits ; the rock is of good character and the deposit of
wonderfully uniform depth. The Wando River has yielded
very large quantities of small nodules, dark in colour and dense
in structure, mixed with a very large quantity of fossil bones.
Considerable quantities have also been shipped from the Stono
River, though the compactness of the deposit has made mining
there unprofitable when prices have been low.

The second district, due west of the first, extends from the
Edisto River on the east to Horseshoe Creek on the west, and
measures about 100 square miles. The land deposit here is
not so regular either in continuity of stratum or depth from
the surface as in the first-named district, and occurs for the
most part in pockets and patches. The deposits in the Edisto
River and Horseshoe Creek have been worked extensively.

The third district lies south-west of the other two, and
contains the deposits in the beds of the Bull, Coosaw, Beaufort,
Morgan and Broad Rivers, as well as Chisolm's and Williman's
Islands. This is par excellence the home of the river mining
industry, though Chisolm's and Williman's Islands are virtually
land deposits. A rough measurement of the area of this
region is about 75 square miles.

These deposits must be divided into two classes, ?.<?., the
deposits underlying the land and those found in the beds of the
rivers.

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146

South Carolina Phosphates.

LAND PHOSPHATE.

DESCRIPTION OF STRATUM, AND YIELD PER ACRE.

The formation in which the land deposits occur is described
by Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jun.,* as consisting of the following : —

( i.) Soil and subsoil : a few inches to a foot in depth,
(ii.) A light coloured siliceous clay, iron-stained in places
containing much fine transparent sand and minute
scales of silvery mica, with a little calcareous matter,
one foot or more in thickness.

(iii.) A blue clayey marl, probably altered marsh mud,
containing fragments of shells. Thickness, about two
feet. NoTK. — This is wanting in the beds nearer
the surface.

(iv.) A thin layer of coarse sand one to three inches in

thickness,
(v.) The phosphate nodules in either a loose siliceous or a
tenacious bluish or rich buff-ccloured argillaceous marl,
frequently accompanied with abundant fossil bones and
teeth. The upper nodules are often harder, the lower
softer, and at some land localities exhibit a gradual
transition by loss of cohesion and decrease of phosphatic
contents, into

(vi.) A marl highly phosphatic towards the rock bed, and
occasionally containing 20 to 30 per cent, of phos-
phates, but at a depth of a few inches containing only
10 to 20 per cent, of these constituents.

Vide p. 86, Report of Commissioner of Agriculture of South Carolina, 1880.

South Carolina Phosphates.

147

k.1
it

(vii.) Argillaceous (clayey) or Arenaceous (sandy) marls
containing 7 to 10 per cent, of phosphates.

The thickness of the phosphate-bearing stratum varies
from a few inches to a maximum of 5 feet 3 inches, which
latter, however, is quite exceptional. The ordinary deposit is
from 8 to 18 inches thick, and a rough calculation gives
100 tons of phosphate per acre to each 2 inches of thickness :
thus a 1 2 inch stratum would give about 600 tons.*

In some instances the yield has been as much as i ,200 tons
per acre, and in isolated patches still higher figures are said to
have been reached. According to particulars lately supplied
by several of the companies the yield up to date has averaged
from 600 to 800 tons per acre.

The phosphate-bearing stratum is found at different depths,
sometimes only a few inches from the surface, more often
several feet, tlie extreme depth known at present being under
the city of Charleston, where the overburden amounts to 60 feet.
The question of the limit at which the deposit can be worked
to a profit depends upon the market price obtained for the

•Note.— Though as a general rule the yield per acre may be based oa
the thickness of the stratum, yet the compactness of the deposit is also a
very important factor, for sometimes the nodules are packed together very
closely, while in ether places they are but loosely distributed through the
sand or clay matrix.

In certain districts a second phosphate-bearing stratum has been
discovered at a greater depth. Dr. Shepard, Jun., says this is to be
accounted for by the concentration through chemical agency of the
phosphate contained in the surrounding marls.

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148

South Carolina Phosphates.

|i I:

product, and when the prices are high the deeper deposits are
worked, those nearer the surface being reserved for times when
low prices prevail. It is usually calculated that two inches of
stratum for each foot to be dug is worth attention.

METHOD OF RAISING AND PREPARING
THE LAND PHOSPHATE.

The work of excavating is carried on by pick and shovel.
The area to be mined is first cleared and the trees cut down. A
long trench is then dug to a depth below the phosphate stratum ;
the overburden of earth, clay, &c., is thrown behinJ the diggers,
and the phosphate-bearing stratum in front upon the untouched
ground, whence it is carried in barrows to the railway track,
where the cars are loaded for conveyance to the washers.

The principal difficulties encountered arise from the stumps
of trees which have to be undermined, and then pulled over
towards the diggers, and also from the presence of water which
it is difficult to get rid ofowingtotheflat nature of the country.
Steam pumps have to be used in order to prevent the diggers
being flooded out, but even with this a really wet day diminishes
the output very considerably.

Coloured or Italian labour is employed on the digging,
which is almost entirely done by contract, white foremen
superintending the various pits. The price paid is 25 cents per
pit for each foot in depth excavated, the pit measuring

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South Carolina Phosphates.

149

6 feet by 15 feet, and 30 cents is paid per foot per pit for
raising the phosphate; so that each foot of overburden adds
nearly half-a-cent (about ^d.) per unit to the cost of the
phosphate.

The works are always situated on the banks of the adjoining
rivers, and the unwashed phosphate is conveyed there in small
cars, holding about two tons each, drawn by a locomotive. On
reaching the works the cars are drawn up an inclined track and
their contents dumped into a *' V "-shaped trough, on to which
a stream of water plays continually. At the bottom of this
trough there is a revolving shaft, with teeth fixed in screw form
which conveys the phosphate into the second washer,
disintegrating it at the same time. Very often this first process
is performed by a double set of rollers with teeth, in which case
the phosphate passes between them, and the larger lumps are
broken up.

The second washer plays the most important part in the
operation, and is usually a long semi-circular wooden trough
(lined with iron sheeting) inclining upwards. Running the
whole length of this there is a wooden shaft with steel teeth
attached fixed in spiral form. The phosphate is fed into
the lower end, while a strong stream of water flows
through from the higher extremity. The teeth keep the
phosphate rolling and force the pieces gradually upwards,
rubbing them together all the time, while the down flowing
water washes back the clay and sand, which are discharged
outside through wooden troughs. Occasionally the washing

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150

South Carolina Phosphates.

troughs are made square instead of semi -circular, the idea
being that the phosphate gets more friction in this shaped
washer.

At some works revolving iron cylinders are used with iron
flanges attached in spiral form on the inside, in which case the
water is distributed internally from a perforated pipe in the
axis.

After passing through the washers, the phosphate falls on
to a sloping screen, which separates the larger nodules from the
smaller ones, which are again screened to get rid of the still
smaller silicate pebbles and any sand which may have remained
attached : the smaller nodules are afterwards mixed again with
the large ont!s.

The citian phosphate, which, after washing, contains
considerable moisture varying from lo to 20 per cent., is now
wheeled away into the kilns or drying sheds, where it is
dumped on to cord wood, which is then ignited and burns till
it is consumed, by which time the phosphate is absolutely dry
and ready for shipment. In some works, instead of drying by
means of cord-wood, movable cast-iron pipes, with numerous
apertures, are built among the nodules while they are being
dumped, and a very powerful blast of hot air is blown through
them from a specially arranged furnace by large fans, which
produce an enormous heat. About 600 to 800 tons are dried at
one time.

Note. — It may be of interest to state tljat the first phosphate shipped
was washed by hand, the workmen being provided with stiff brushes.

. :

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South Carolina Phosphates.

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It is a point worthy of mention, that though the land
nodules are dried absolutely, they immediately absorb moisture
from the air, and on arrival in Europe the moisture is generally
found to be between 2 and 3 per cent, if shipment is made in
sailing vessels.

A considerable quantity of undried rock is shipped to
United States manufacturers, and there are also some buyers
for wet rock in the European market. The rock is sold in
Europe at a price per unit per ton, but all local sales are made
at a fixed price per ton, so that in the latter case higher test
does not bring a proportionately better price, as is the case in
Europe,

Ships carrying up to about 800 tons can be loaded along-
side most of the works near Charleston, but steamers only load
down to about 14 feet, the rest of the cargo being lightered to
Charleston harbour, where the steamers complete their loading
alongside the wharves.

PROGRESS OF THE LAND ROCK
MINING INDUSTRY.

The mining of land rock commenced, as mentioned before,
late in the year 1867, and by the close of 1870 there were five
companies at work. In 1884 there were 16 companies in
operation, giving employment to no less than 3,600 men, with
an estimated aggregate capital of $1,756,000. In 1891 there

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South Carolina Pho-^phates.

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were 22 companies, employing $3,000,000 of capital. The
complete list is as follows : —

Name.

Archdale Mines (Hertz aad Warren)
Bolton Mines . .

Bulow Mines (Bradley)

Campbell and Hertz

Charleston Mining & Manufacturing Co. . .

T. D. Dotterer

C. H. Drayton

Eureka Mining Co

F, C. Fishburne

Hannahan Mines

Horseshoe Mining Co. (Wm, Gregg)

Hughes Mines

Wm. Gregg

Magnolia Mines (C. C. Finkney, Jun.)

Meadville Mines

Mount Holley Mining & Manufacturing Co.

Pacific Guano Co.

Rose Mines (A. B. Rose)

St. Andrew's Mining Co

Wando Phosphate Co.
Wayne and Von Kolmitz
Williman's Island Co.

The early years of the land rock mining were attended by
numerous difficulties, involving the expenditure of large sums
of money. The industry was a new one, and much costly
experience had to be gained. The incomplete washing of the
r'h:;::pbate often caused heavy losses to shippers, and made
manufacturers very car*^ ful in their pirchases.

At the time of our first visit to the mines, a little over four
years ago, we were much surprised to find that no progress had

Works at

Capital.

Ashley River

^20,000

Stono River

50,000

Rantowles Crock

250,000

ti 11

50,000

Ashley River

1,000,000

II • •

25,000

II ' •

50,000

Jacksonboro

40,000

Pon Pen River . .

50,000

Cooper River

50,000

Ashepoo River

50,000

Ashley River

75,000

Ashley River

50,000

100,000

Cooper River

300,000

Mount Holley . .

50,000

Bull River

100,000

Ashley River

100,000

Stono River

200,000

Ashley River

200,000

It • •

50,000

Williman's Island

(Bull River) . .

200,000

been made in the system of excavation, which was being carried
on in the Ashley district entirely by hand digging.* In 1891
steam excavators were introduced into three of the mines, and
as this has proved successful it is more than probable that all
the companies will abandon their present laborious methods of
production : in point of fact they will be compelled to do so
when the competition of the land pebble mines of Fl )rida
comes into the market.

In order to give a better idea of the economy in working
effected by using a steam excavator, it may be mentioned that
it takes a man nearly two days to dig a pit 6 feet by 1 5 and
8 feet deep, whereas the machine in use at the Bolton Mines
can dig four pits in one hour. In other words the excavator,
run by three men, can do the work of eighty men. When the
overburden has been removed in this manner, the rock can be
dug and transported by any unskilled labour.

It is, however, stated by some that where there are only
six feet of overburden, hand labour is as cheap, as the earth can
be quickly shovelled back into the last pit, a great part of it
being first undermined and then " caved," but we do not feel
inclined to accept the correctness of this assertion.

Dr. Charles U. Shepard, Jun., has laid down the following
conditions as determining whether a given bed of phosphate
can be mined to advantage and profit : —

(i.) The location of the tract as to point of shipment or
consumption.

• Note.— The Pacific Guano Company, when in operation some years
ago, employed a land excavator on Chisolm's Island.

til

154

South Carolina Phosphates.

( ii.) The facilities for removing rock,
(iii.) The supply of water, wood and labour,
(iv.) The quality of the rock,
(v.) The extent, depth and yield of the stratum,
(vi.) The difficulties to be encountered in excavation, t.c.,

the character of the overlying earth, drainage,

trees. &c.

COST OF PRODUCTION OF LAND ROCK.

Very careful systematic enquiry into the cost of production
at the various mines enables us to place the figure at between
$3.50 and $4 per ton for rock not more than eight feet from the
surface. In exceptional cases the cost of production has been
considerably less, sometimes in like manner appreciably greater,
but the above figures may safely be taken as representing the
fair average cost. That this can and will be reduced by the
judicious application of machinery is beyond doubt, in which
case cost may fall as low as .fs.y; per ton of phosphate delivered
f.o.b. Charleston in clean and dry, in fact in merchantable
condition.

PRICES OBTAINED FOR LAND ROCK.

The first cargo was sold on a guarantee of 54 per cent,
phosphate at $14.50 per ton c.i.f. Philadelphia (equivalent
to about $11.50 f.o.b. Charleston), but on larger quantities coming

forward (the possibility of which was not seriously believed in),
the price soon fell away, and at one time touched I3.00 per
ton f.o.b. works. Tiie average price has been about $6.00 per
ton, though $9.00 per ton has occasionally been reached.
During the last of the " seventies " prices ranged between $5
and 18.

In 1879 Dr. Charles U. Shepard, Jun., wrote as follows with
regard to the industry "' : " Contrary to expectation, it has
been found that few engaged in raising ore rock have reaped
any profit, and it may be added that many have met only with
loss and failure." It appears that the depression which was
then severely felt in this industry had been caused by over-
production and slackness of demand in England, where a bad
harvest had caused stagnation in the fertiliser trade.

A few years later there seems to have been a panic prevalent
in England that the South Carolina land deposits were on the
eve of exhaustion, and large contracts were made running over
several years. Raisers in South Carolina, however, were afraid
to contract for all the quantities buyers wanted, fearing higher
freights, difficulties in mining, &c. From 1885 the price
declined again, and ultimately fell in England from I3id. per
unit, in 1882, to 6Jd., which was touched in the summer of 1887.
Freights also fell from 26s. to us., thus partially accounting
for the heavy diflFerence in price. The Charleston miners had
now fallen on evil days, and price was as low as 14.50 f.o.b.-
In the autumn prices rallied a little, and by January, 1888, a

!'^'

• Vide p. 83 of Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture of South

Carolina, 1880.

156

South Carolina Phosphates.

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convention had been made restricting output, and prices rose
once more, till in iSqi vf^^.^o was reached. In December last
the price fell to .f6.oo per ton, owing to the dulness in the
United States fertiliser trade caused by the low prices for cotton.

QUANTITIES OF LAND ROCK
STILL AVAILABLE.

In December, iHjq, Dr. C. U. Shepard wrote as follows: —
" I should say that the total yield of all the known phosphatic
deposits of South Carolina of merchantable quality and
accessible position (/".<•., not more than six feet of overburden),
would not exceed 5,000,000 tons." Since that date it has been
found profitable to mine at a greater depth, and in addition,
as before stated, iku deposits are being discovered from time
to tl'ne. It is really quite imp- ...ible to form any estimate as
to actual qua/.l'tics, hut there seems reasonable ground for
sup|A)sing that ih -re 's sjCkient land rock in South Carolina
to supply the market's demands for at least another 50 years.

RIVER PHOSPHATE MINING.

Phosphate is found in the beds of the various rivers ind
creeks in the same formation as the depc sit. underlying the land.
In some of the rivt "a the deposit is composed enti'^'ily of loose
nodules lying in a regular stratiun of varying extent and
thickness • in others the stratum is composed of conglomerated
nodules, while a third variety is \\\ the form of a hard sheet

South Carolina Phosphates.

•57

or plate rock from which the nodules, whose torin and outline
is distinctly traceable, cannot be separated. The nodular and
conglomerated phosphate is found mostly in patches, whereas
the sheet rock formation is regular and continuous.

The pick of the various deposits is undoubtedly found in
Coosaw River, where the stratum extends from shore to shore,
over an area about eight miles long and one and a-half miles
wide. The water is shallow and the phosphate nodular ; and the
stratum averages about 22 inches in thickness. The test of this
phosphate is high, and analyses run from 58 to 61 per cent.
Occasionally two strata have been found in this river, separated
by about 18 inches of blue clay, the upper stratum being about
12 inches and the lower 14 inches thick.

In Morgan River, also, the rock is of excellent quality, but
in most places lies very deep at about 48 feet below the le\el of
the water, and is covered with 8 to 20 feet of loose sand and
clay. The deep phosphate is found in hard sheet rock from about
1 5 inches thick, and is immediately superincumbent upon the
marl rock, from which it has to be broken off.

In Broad River the phosphate occurs in patches of hard
sheet and of conglomerated rock, and is lower in test than
Coosaw rock, averaging only 52 to 56 per cent., and the water
is deep.

In Stono River there is a heavy admixture of marl and
shell with the phosphate, and the marl being practically the
same colour as the phosphate, shipments from this river have
occasionally given most unsatisfactory results.

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South Carolina Phosphates.

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In Johnson and Beaufort Rivers the rock runs low in test,
averaging only 52 to 54 per cent. Parrott Creek rock is good
in quality, and the stratum is composed both of nodular and
plate phosphate. Wimbee Creek has produced very large
quantities of phosphate, and Combee River is still untouched.
Ashley and Wando Rivers and Edisto Rivers have been
successfully mined.

The relation of these river rock deposits to the underlying
strata is described as follows by Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jun.* : —
" Beneath the river deposits occur either

(i.) A grey marl, sometimes in nodules resembling
phosphate, with about 5 per cent, of phosphate
(Wando River), underlaid by
(ii.) A white hard marl, enclosing phosphatic grains and
containing 3 to 5 per cent, of phosphate ;
or {a) A green sand with some clay, and rich in black
phosphatic grains, occurring with and beneath the
phosphate rock, containing 15 per cent, of phosphate.

(3) Soft and hard marls, several feet in thickness, and con-
taining ic to 15 per cent, of phosphate (Stono River) ;
or (c) Hard marls, poor in phosphate (one-half to i percent.)
unless their tops be coated with phosphate rock
(Coosaw River)."
In 1870 the Legislature of the State claimed control <_f the
navigable rivers and exacted a royalty of $1.00 per ton on all
phosphate rock removed. A charter giving exclusive mining

• Vide p. 87, Annual Report of Commissioner of Agriculture of South

Carolina, 1880.

South Carolina Phosphates.

159

rights, for a period of 21 years, on all the rivers upon the filing
of a $50,000 bond was granted to the Marine and Riwr
Company, who in the same year leased part of their territory
to the Coosaw Mining Company, organised in May of that year.

After one year's work the Coosaw Company were in
financial straits, having exhausted all their working capital,
and many of the stockholders wanted to suspend operations
entirely, as the difficulties of separating the phosphate from
the accompanying impurities seemed a hopeless task. Eventually
the more hopeful element carried the day, fresh capital was
raised and the Company continued to work. In the meantime
the Marine Company had its charter cancelled owing to non-
compliance with the required stipulations, and retired temporarily
from the field. In 1876 the Coosaw Company entered into
direct relations with the State for the territory previously held
under lease from the Marine Company and continued its
operations (which were signally successful) until early last year,
when the State enjoined them from further mining, owii:^ to
the expiry of their charter.

By the close of 1878 there were ten River Companies
organised, eight of them being actually at work, and six more
companies were in process of organisation. The companies
at work were the Coosaw, the Oak Point, the Farmers', the
South Carolina, the Palmetto, the Colleton, the Columbia, the
Beaufort and Port Royal, while the Sea Island and Port Royal
Companies had not yet begun to work. The companies being
formed were the South Carolina and Phosphatic, the River and

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5oM//t Carolina Phosphates.

Marine (in process of reorganisation), the Boatman's, the Island,
the Friends' and the Hampton.

At the present time there are six companies at work : —

Name. Works at. Capital,

Beaufort Phosphate Co. .. Beaufort River . . .. $100,000

Coosaw Mining Co. . . Coosaw and Bull Rivers 600,000

•Carolina Mining Co . . . . Patterj' Creek . . . , 250,000

Farmers' Mining Co. .. .. Coosaw River .. .. 125,000

Oak Point Mines Co. . . . . Wimbee Creek . . . . 150,000

Sea Island Chemical Co. . . Beaufort River . . . . 250,000

* Registered in England as Tlie Pliospliate Mining Co., Limited.

In the earlier days of the industry a considerable area,
where the water was low, was exploited by hand, the rock
being first loosened by pick and crowbar. Rock was also
brought up by divers, even in water twenty feet deep ; and in
Wimbee Creek, early in the " seventies," it was not unusual to
see the water crowded with blacks, swimming and diving, and
vociferating lustily, as they waved their implements around
them. Another method of raising rock — which can still be
seen going on at the present day — is by the use of long tongs,
which are manipulated from flat scows, capable of holding
about four tons, tvvo men operating from each scow. A very
large force of men used to work in the above manner, and the
Coosaw Company were at the time getting as much as three to
four hundred tons per day in this fashion.

The general method, however, of mining the phosphate is
by the use of dredges, though in one instance a 22-inch
pump was unsuccessfully experimented with by the River and
Marine Company.

'^!f^

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South Carolina Phosphates.

i6i

There are 13 dredges at work at the present time in the
various rivers and creeks. Of these eight are of the *' dipper-
dredge " description. The machinery, which is fixed upon a
barge, held in position by strong wooden spuds, consists of the
usual boiler, hoisting engines with friction clutch, and engines
for swinging the boom. The boom, usually constructed of
steel, supports a long wooden handle, to which the bucket (with
massive steel teeth attached to the lower rim) is fastened.
When at work the dipper handle is run out till the bucket
reaches the bottom ; the bucket is then drawn forward and
upwards by a strong chain running over the end of the boom
and cuts its way into the stratum. When the bucket and dippe^
handle are raised to the necessary elevation, a small chain, con-
trolled by the man who regulates the swing of the boom, lets
loose the bottom of the bucket, which closes automatically after
dropping its contents into the hopper of the washing barge.

Four dredges are fitted with a " grab " apparatus which
takes the place of the bucket and dipper handle, and consists as
a rule of five strong claws suspended from a chain. These claws
are open when lowered and close together when raised.

The machines described above are not built or suitable for
working where the water is more than about 27 feet deep, and
are better fitted for raising nodular or conglomerated phosphate.
They do indeed work upon the plate or sheet phosphate, but
cannot do so successfully where the rock is very hard. The
capacity of the bucket on the dipper dredge is usually about
three-quarters of a yard. The grab dredge is a difficult

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South Carolina Phosphates.

machine to work in deep water, owing to the current (averaging
six knots per hour) being apt to swing the claws on one side and
prevent them from striking the stratum simultaneously. The
weight of the claw apparatus varies from 8 to 16 tons, and is
sufficient to break up conglomerated rock and also sheet rock,
where the stratum is not too hard or too thick.

The washing process is carried on in a second barge, and
the phosphate is then put on to lighters and towed ashore
to the drying sheds, alongside which the steamers load.

The work of mining river rock has been carried on in a most
unsystematic manner This is partially accounted for by the
irregularity of the deposit, and partially by the practice of
giving a bonus to the engineers for raising more than a certain
quantity per week. This bonus naturally makes them select
the richest spots and leave the poorer to some other time, so
that as a general rule no one place is thoroughly cleaned up,
and the dredges a^e constantly going over the same ground.
Huge quantities have sometimes been raised from a very small
area ; in one case 220 tons were secured without the stern spud
(on which the barges swing when the rock within reach has
been exhausted) having been moved. Occasionally a dredge
has raised as much as 300 tons in one day, but as a general
rule an a/erage of 900 tons for a week's full and regular work
is about a maximum. Much time is lost in shifting ground,
repairing machinery, &c., so that the yield per year falls
very short of the actual capacity, in fact is very little over
one-third of same.

South Carolina Phosphates.

163

The thirteenth dredge is of totally different construction to
those described above, and is of the ladder type, i.e., has a
series of buckets (j8 in number) fixed upon an endless chain.
This dredge has been in operation about five years, and was the
subject of very considerable comment, in fact of severe criticism
during its building in Charleston. The buckets weigh one ton
each and have four steel teeth attached ; two at the side and
two on the outside rim of the bucket, which latter has the
capacity of about one-third of a ton. This machine can dig to
a depth of 50 feet, and has engines of over 400-horso power.
At the present time it is working on the sheet rock in Morgan
River, and being the only dredge that can do so. has practically
the monopoly of that river. The dredge is held in position by
chains fixed ahead, and cleans up every particle of rock as it
works along. Sometimes immense pieces of rock weighing
over one ton are raised. The rock is dropped by the buckets
into a crusher, whence it passes through a washer on to the barge
which conveys it ashore. On the barge several hands are
stationed to pick out any impurities and to cut off" any marl that
may have been brought up with the phosphate. This huge
machme, the property of the Phosphate Mining Company,
Limited, produces over 30,000 tons of phosphate per annum.

At Williman's Island* the rock, which lies deep below the
surface, is raised by means of two dipper dredges, the first one
remov ing the overburden, the second excavating the phosphate.
The in'"Lial work here was to cut a canal in from the river's

• Note. — The mining on Chisolm's and Williman's Island is land mining,
and is only mentioned here owing to the geographical position of the islands.

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South Carolina Phosphates.

bank, and thus secure a continuous supply of water. On
Chisolm's Island, the Pacific Guano Company used a steam
excavator for some time in order to remove the heavy over-
burden. There is good phosphate underlying Morgan Island,
and the marshes bordering on the various rivers and creeks,
and in former years it was quite usual for the river companies
to bring up the grade of the low qualities by an admixture of
land rock from the adjoining islands. The Legislature, being
advised of this, immediately passed a statute prohibiting river
companies from mining land rock.

It is very difficult to form any approximate idea of the
quantity of river rock still available, but after making most
exhaustive inquiries upon this subject, we have come to the
conclusion that for those machines which cannot dredge below
28 feet, there remains an available quantity of between one
and a-half and two million tons of rock, testing 55 per cent, and
upwards. On the other hand, there are vast quantities of low-
testing rock, but by far the greater proportion of this would
never realise prices which would cover cost of production.

At the present day it still remains to be shown what is the
limit in depth at which profitable mining or dredging can be
carried on. Since it has been proved both possible and
profitable to mine a hard sheet rock lying 48 feet below water
level, and covered with 8 to 20 feet of sand and clay, we see no
valid reason for doubting the possibility of mining successfully
at 80 or even 100 feet in depth. This raises the question of
available quantities of river rock most enormously, for it has
been stated on most excellent authority that the river rock

South Carolina Phosphates.

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■P

extends out into the Sound as far as thi Gulf Stream. Sup-
posing this to be correct, it follows that there is practically an
inexhaustible supply of South Carolina river rock, and that it
only needs improved machinery and profitable prices to place
this upon the market.

The present position of the Coosaw Company is of vital
interest to the phosphate market, and any account of the South
Carolina phosphate industry would be incomplete without
reference to it. During the winter of 1890-91, in his message to
the Legislature, the Governor of South Carolina (Governor
Tillman) made the following statement : —

"In 1870 the Legislature granted privileges to a
Corporation known as the 'River and Marine Company 'to
mine rock in the navigable waters of the State for 21 years.
The State received nothing for this valuable franchise. The
Coosaw Mining Company obtained from the original grantors
exclusive right to mine in Coosaw River, and with a paid-up
capital of #275,000 commenced operations. In 1876, the
General Assembly passed an Act confirming the exclusive right
(jf the Coosaw Company to mine in that river for the term
of 21 years, at a fixed royalty of $1 per ton, and this lease has
now expired. The act of 1876 was drawn by the Attorney of
the Coosaw Company, and so adroitly worded as to give colour
to the claim that the grant of that river was perpetual * so long
as that Company shall make true returns,' &c., and under this
the Company claims that its tenure is not a lease expiring in
1 891, but a contract running for all time. This claim is

i66

South Carolina Phosphates.

preposterous, and this General Assembly must not hesitate to
move forward, and act promptly and decisively.

" The Coosaw River to which this Company lays claim, is
perhaps, the best phosphate field in the world, and the lease
under which it has been mined for 21 years has made every
stockholder wealthy. Their plant, which has been obtained
from the surplus profits, is valued at $750,000, or over; and in
the meantime, by fabulous dividends, the original capital of
$275,000 has been returned to the stockholaers, as I am informed,
over and over again. When you are told that the output of
this Company this year has been 107,000 tons, worth $7 per
ton, f.o.b., and lat the cost of mining this rock, including
royalty, (linnot exceed $4.25 per ton, and is believed by many
to be much less, you will see that the margin of profit exceeds
100 per cent, on the original investment. The total royalty
secured by the State from its phosphate has been over
.$2,000,000, and of this amount over half has been paid by the
Coosaw Company.

"The expiration of the Coosaw lease in March next makes
it possible to double the income of the State from the phosphate
royalty without injuring the industry, or interfering unduly
with any vested right. We, therefore, demand a survey of the
phosphate territory, and the sale of its lease at auction to the
highest bidder, after a minimum royalty has been fixed by the
Board of Control upon each district survexcd. Anything less
than a thorough and reliable survey would be a waste of time
and money, and this will take a good deal of both. But it will

South Carolina Phosphates.

167

ill

akes
late
duly
the
the
the
less
time
will

repay its cost, and until we have the data which alone can be
thus obtained, we cannot legislate intelligently, or derive the
benefits from this valuable property that we ought. This year
the royalty has been $237,000, and all of it, except $3,000,
was paid by six large mining corporations, whose field of
operations is confined to a territory within 20 miles of Beaufort.
You will be told by some that this indicates an exhaustion of
the deposits, but I am sure it only means that good rock is
more plentiful or more cheaply mined there than elsewhere.
A survey alone can demonstrate the truth or falsity of this
belief, which is based upon the assurance of experts, who them-
selves have mined in other waters of the State, and as the
reliance of capitalists upon an estimate of the value of any given
deposit of phosphates will depend largely upon the character of
the man making the survey, I have thought it best to obtain
the help of the United States Government, if possible, and ask
the detail of an officer of the Navy or Coast Survey to do the
work. I think an appropriation of ."5! 10,000 will be sufficient to
start with, and by the time the General Assembly meets, a vear
hence, it will have something definite to go upon, and can
continue the work or not as it may deem best. In the
meantime, by means of this survey and the opportunity for
further investigation, to which all my spare time shall be
devoted, a clearer understanding as to the best system of
management of this important industry can be obtained, and
the General Assembly can then act intelligently.

"When the Coosaw lease expires, March ist next, let us
open that river to all miners who choose to enter it ; allow the

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South Carolina Phosphates.

Board of Control to parcel out the territory among them so as
to prevent conflict ; raise the royalty to $2 per ton and place
one or more inspectors on the ground to supervise the work
and weigh the rock when shipped. All the river rock mined
in South Carolina is exported to Europe, and last year the
demand was so great as to necessitate the exportation of 40,000
tons of land rock, while the price has steadily increase ■ since
1887."

The consequence of this message was, that in February,
i8qi,an Act was passed providing for a Commission to take
charge of the River Phosphate Mining Industry, and on March
2nd this Commission took possession of the Coosaw River
territory and made preparations to lease it to all who applied
for a licence. The Coosaw Mining Company filed a protest, and
on March 6th was granted a temporary injunction by Judge
Simonton, of the United States Court, whereby the State
Commission was enjoined from entering upon or interfering
with that part of the Coosaw River previously occupied by the
Company.

In the meantime the Coosaw Mining Company ceased its
operations in the disputed territory, pending the decision of
the Courts, and the dredges were put to work in other rivers.

On September 18th, Judge Simonton issued the following
decree in the United States Circuit Court, adding a note that
the Chief Justice authorised him to say that he united and
concurred in the order and decree. The full text of the decree
is as follows :

South Carolina Phosp/tatt'S,

1 60

"That the ffraiit or piivilcf^c ut (lij^giug, mining; and
removing phosphate rocks and phosphatic deposits from the
navigable streams of South Carolina, given to the defendant
under the Act of Assembly of 1870, mentioned in the pleadings,
for the period of 21 years from the passage of the said Act, at
a royalty of $1.00 per ton became and was, under the provisions
of the Act of 1876, an exclusive grant or privilege of digging,
mining and removing such deposits from the bed of Coosaw
River, at the royalty aforesaid, upon the conditions and within
the limits mentioned in said last-named Act for the remainder
of the said period of twenty-one years and no longer.

"That such grant or privilege in s;iid defendants has now
ceased and determined.

"That the defendants, the Coosaw Mining Company, and
all persons claiming under them, and the servants, agents and
employes of them be, and each of them are for ever restrained
and enjoined from in any claiming or attempting to claim any
right, titlf* interest, estates, or grant under or by virtue of said
\ct ov A'^ ., in or to the phosphate rock or phosphatic deposits
:.:i tl.'t^ 1- fl of Coosaw River, in the State of South Carolina,
a'; 1 f'rf.i' gging, mining or removing or attempting to dig,
iiiiti.' o remove the same or any part thereof.

" That nothing in this decree contained shall be construed
to enjoin the said defendants, the Coosaw Mining Company,
from hereafter mining in the bed of the said Coosaw River,
when thereunto duly authorised under any law of the State
of South Carolina."

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The final decision of the Supreme Courts is expected in
March next, and in view of the decrees already passed it
seems probable that, eventually, the disputed territory will
be opened to all comers.

Should any further delay take place, three-quarters of this
year's production will test below 55 per cent., since outside of
the Coosaw territory and Morgan River there is but a small
area of high-testing rock (i.e., 55 per cent, and upwards)
available for the ordinary dredges.

COST OF MINING RIVER ROCK.

In the year 1886 the Legislature considered the advisability
of raising the royalty on river rock, and a Special Commission
was appointed to consider the cost of production. This was
stated under oath at figures varying from $3.25 to $5.00
per ton, the estimate given by the Coosaw Mining Company
being $4.25 per ton, including the royalty of $1.00 per ton. It
seems to be an established fact that the cost to-day is about
$4.00 for the ordinary dipper and grab dredges. It is unlikely
that this figure can be decreased, since the operations have now
reached the highest point of efficiency and cheapness, and the
available quantity of rock is harder to find, and the patches are
smaller in area and thickness than formerly. On the other
hand, by the employment of ladder dredges, it is possible to
work at greater depth, on a more uniform stratum, and with
greater completeness ; and should these machines — as seems
likely — take the place of those formerly in use, cost of produc-
tion would probably fall below $4.00.

South Carolina Phosphates.

171

PRICES OBTAINED FOR RIVER ROCK.

The prices at which river rock has been sold have varied
but little from the prices obtained for land rock. The general
terms of sale for river rock have been at a price per unit
c.i.f., Europe, whither almost the whole production has been
shipped up to the last few years. The price per unit in
Europe lias varied in accordance with the freight market,
and summer shipments have therefore, as a general rule,
realised a less price in Europe than winter shipments. Local
prices have been as low as $3, and as high as $9, f.o.b., and
$6 has been about the average. Last summer, when freights
were low and prices high in Europe, the miners had probably
the most lucrative returns ever realised, but prices have fallen
again, and present quotation (January, 1892) is about $5.50 to
$6.00 per ton, although some actual sales have been made
below these figures.

SHIPPING FACILITIES FOR LOADING
RIVER ROCK.

In the early days of the industry no steamers were able to
come up the rivers, but after dredging there was sufficient depth
of channel to enable the steamers to receive their cargoes in the
rivers instead of loading in the bay.

At the present day large steamers, say up to 2,200 tons
can load the phosphate alongside the works of the Sea Island
and the Phosphate Mining Companies. At the other works the

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South Carolina Phosphates.

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steamers can only be loaded down to fourteen feet, and the rest
of the cargo is lightered down to deep water in the Sound.
Freights vary from 10s. to 26s. per ton, being at their lowest in
the summer months, and rising when shipments of cotton and
grain are being made to Europe.

QUANTITIES RAISED OF LAND AND

RIVER PHOSPHATE.

The following are the official figures of the quantities of
phosphate raised since the commencement of operations : —

Land Rock.

River Rock.

Totals.

Year.

Tons.

1868/70

118,000

1,989

119,989

1871

33, coo

17.655

50.655

1872

38,000

22,502

60,502

1873

45,000

45.777

90,777

1874

43,000

57.716

100,716

1875

48,000

67,969

115.969

1876

54.000

81,912

135.912

1877

39,000

126,569

165.569

1878

113,000

97,700

210,700

1879

102,000

98,586

200,586

1880

125,000

65,162

190,162

1 881

141,000

124,541

265,541

1882

190,000

140,772

330.772

1883

226,000

129,318

355.318

1884

258,000

151.243

409,243

1885

224,000

171,671

395.671

1886

294,000

191,194

485,194

1887

230,000

202,757

432,757

1888

260,000

190,274

450.274

1889

250,000

212,101

462,101

1890

300,000

237,149

537.149

1891

375,000

197.949

572.949

South Carolina Phosphates,

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; !

The quantities of river rock used locally, and shipped by
rail or water to United States points during the last seven
years, have been as follows : —

Year,

Local.
Tons.

Shipments.
Tons.

Total.

1884/85

7.500

31,700

39,200

1885/86

11,000

27,288

38,288

1886/87

10,000

17.625

27,625

1887/88

12,000

29,000

41,000

1888/89

15,000

58,500

73.500

1889/90

16,000

49,870

65,870

1890/91

16,000

42,246

58,246

5 I i

THE SOUTH CAROLINA FERTILISER
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.

Concurrently with the development oi' the raising of
phosphates in South Carolina there has been built up an
important manufacturing business in chemical fertilisers. The
peculiar advantages offered by Charlesto-^ for the location of
mill sites have been a strong factor in the growth of this
industry. Situated between the Ashley and the Cooper Rivers,
with ample depth of water along both river points, it was only
natural that these facilities should lead to the establishment of
factories, since both the incoming and outgoing products
could be handled cheaply and with ease. In addition to this,
Charleston is a good distributing point, being well served by
several railroad companies. Savannah, Georgia, also has many

174

South Carolina Phosphates.

advantages for the same class of business, and it will be seen from
the figures given below that a large business is ^ui vied on there
in fertilisers. Port Royal followed the lead given by Charleston
and Savannah, and must be reckoned among the important
fertiliser manufacturing centres.

In 1870 there were in South Carolina seven companies
engaged in this industry, namely, the Wando (the pioneer
company), the Etiwan, the Carolina, the Atlantic, the Stono,
the Farmers', and the Pacific Guano Company. The six
companies first named had an aggregate capital of $2,000,000,
the last-named one of $1,000,000. This Company failed
some years ago but has now been reorganised, and started fresh
operations.

I !

At the close of 1891 there were twenty two fertiliser
manufacturing companies at work at South Carolina, and the
following are the names of the various undertakings : —

Ashepoo Phosphate Co.,

Works

at Charleston, South Carolina.

Ashley ,,

It II

Atlantic

*t ft

Baldwin Fertiliser

Port Royal

Berkeley I'hosphate .,

Charleston

Chicora Fertiliser

,, ,,

Columbia Phosphate ,,

»»

»• fi

Edisto ,,

>t II

Etrivan ,, ,,

, ,

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Georgia Chemical Works

' »

Jacksonboro „

Glebe

Columbia ,,

Greenville Fertiliser ,,

!♦

Greenville

Imperial ,, ,,

»>

Charleston

^rw

South Carolina Phosphates.

175

FERTILISER MAWVIKACTURING COMPANIES AT WORK IN

SOUTH CAROLINA — Continued.

Meade Phosphate Co., Works at Charleston, South Carolina

Port Royal Fertiliser ,, ,, Port Royal „

Pacific Company ,, ,, Charleston ,,

Piedmont ,, ., ,, ,,

Royal Fertiliser ,, ^ > >»

Stono Phosphate ,, ., ,. >i

Wando „ „ ,, .. „

Wappoo Mills ,, ,. ,, ,,

Willcox and Gibbs Fertiliser ,, ,, „

with an aggregate capital of about $4,500,000, and an estimated ,
yearly output of about 400,000 tons of manufactured fertiliser.
These companies use the land rock almost entirely, the bulk, of
the river-rock being shipped to Europe, where it is much
preferred to the land rock, which is higher in oxide of iron
and alumina, and gives a light-coloured superphosphate.
The river rock, v/hen manufactured, makes a superphosphate of
a slatey-grey hue, which is the standard medium testing
•' super " of the European market.

The following are the names of the fertiliser companies

in Savannah : —

Baldwin Fertiliser Company.
Commercial Guano Company.
Comer, Hull & Co.
Savannah Guano Company.
Willcox. Gibbs & Co.

The following tables show the actual increase in the
manufacturing industry, and give the shipments of fertilisers
from Charleston, Savannah and Port Royal up to the close
of 1 891 :

1 7b

South Carolina Phosphates.

shipm?:nts ok kkrtiusers.

Year.

From
Charleston.

From
Savannah.

From
Port Royal.

Total.

1871

20,487

• 27,447 ■

—

47.934

1872

•• 37.183

32,922

—

70.105

1873

. . 56,298

56,296

—

. 112,594

1874

46,263

. 30,895 .

—

77.158

1875

■ • 49.500

• 33.187 ■

4,000

86,687

1876

.. 47,381

33.000

12,000

92,381

1877

. . 45,766 .

• 45,591

26,000

"7.357

1878

52,000

61,500

15,000

128,500

1879

55,000

60,000

12,000

127,000

1880

80,000

75,000

26,000

181,000

1881

100,000

110,000

• 39.245 •

249.245

1882 .

95,000

100,000

28,279 .

223,279

1883 .

130,000

125,000

25,000

280,000

1884 .

• 143.790

70,000

23,094 ••

236,884

1885 .

. 158,136

. 76.874 ■ •

33,538 ..

268,548

1886 .

141,287

. 82,705

55.527 • •

279,519

1887

131,000

• 71.844 •

52,367 • •

255.2H

1888

183,000

80,461

59,659 . .

323,120

1889

181,990

. 85,550 . .

55,000

322,540

1890

. 261,650

75,000

50,000

386,650

1891

• 287975 .

. 112,000

51,000

450,975

The fertiliser industry has on the whole given steady and
profitable returns upon the money invested, and the last two
years have been exceptionally good ones.

PROFITS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA
PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY.

The discovery of phosphates in South Carolina was a boon
of which the advantages cannot be too highly appreciated, for
the operations began at a time when the whole South was
suffering from the terrible straits into which the war had
plunged them. The commencement 01 liiis new and important

South Carolina Phosphates.

177

industry planted fresh hopes, ambition and energy in the hearts
of the Southerners, and though aV. first the actual pecuniary
results were not as satisfactory as could have been desired, yet
the industry was employing hundreds, if not thousands, of men
who would otherwise have been idle. Many of the earlier
companies were wound up, but taking the industry as a whole
its results to date have been eminently profitable. The
Charleston South Carolina Mining and Manufacturing
Company has been the most successful of the land companies,
and for many years past has paid large dividends. The stock of
the company, $100 per share, has generally stood above $200
and been quoted even at $300. The Coosaw Mining Company
has earned and paid the largest dividends ever known in the
history of phosphate mining ; one year 300 per cent, was
actually divided, and the $100 stock touched $1,500. Taking
$4 as an average cost for the rock and $6 as the average sale,
it will be seen that the returns have been good, and last year
they were especially high, as rock averaged over $7.00 per ton.
River rock last year realised even as high as $9.00 per ton,
f.o.b., so that the late history of the undertaking as a whole
has proved most satisfactory to those interested.

FUTURE OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA
PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY.

The important dimensions which this industry has assumed
must be ascribed to the rapid increase in the demand for
fertilisers throughout the Southern States, principally in con-
nection with the cotton-growing plantations.

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South Carolina Phosphates.

The following figures are an estimate of the annual
consumption of fertilisers in some of the States, viz. : — Georgia,
230,000 tons; North Carolina, 150,000 tons; South Carolina,
200,000 tons; Alabama, [25,000 tons; Virginia, 150,000 tons;
Mississippi, 50,000 tons; Louisiana, 25,000 tons; Tennessee,
25,000 tons.

In the last few years a considerable number of new
fertiliser works have been built and the older ones enlarged,
and there seems no doubt as to the probable steady growth
of the fertiliser trade for many years to come.

The establishment of manufactories in the neighbourhood
of Charleston is the greatest safeguard for the continuance of
the mining industry, and though it is probable that the pebble
phosphate of Florida will in the future be a strong competitor
at northern sea points, yet the situation of Charleston, as
regards southern points to be reached by rail, will continue to
give her command of those markets. It may be, however,
that in a short time from now land rock will cease io be
shipped by water from Charleston, or, at all events, shipped
in comparatively small quantities, the whole production being
either used locally or sent by rail into Georgia, Alabama and
other neighbouring States.

River rock will continue to be shipped to Europe, though
the wants of Europe will probably be divided between Florida
and South Carolina in about equal quantities.

CANADIAN PHOSPHATES.

•

CHAPTER IV.

GEOLOGICAL FORMATION.

Canadian phosphate, Apatite, is found in the oldest known
rock formation of the earth's crust, entitled the Laurentian
system, which is the earlier sub-division of the Archoean period.

The rocks of this period are supposed by some geologists
to be a part of the primeval crust of the earth, solidified from
fusion. Others are of opinion that these rocks were formed in
the boiling ocean, which first condensed upon the hot surface
of the globe, being deposited as chemical precipitates or
mechanical sediments on the floor of the primeval ocean,
subsequent to which they became more or less crystallised and
disturbed. The most abundant rock of this formation (in the
region now to be considered) is granitoid gneiss, which is here
found interstratified with bands of pyroxene and other horn-
blendic rocks and crystallised limestone ; these bands or belts
being invariably mineralised and carrying quartzite, apatite,
pyrite, mica, steatite, feldspar, graphite, scapolite, calcite, &c., in
variable proportion, sometimuH aB distinct veins or beds, at
other times as segregated and pockety masses.

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Canadian Phosphates.

No unquestionable trace of organic existence has been met
with among these rocks, though certain geologists claim that a
structure known as the Enzoon Canadcnsc is really that of a
reef-building foraminifer. This structure is certainly a notice-
able one, but so greatly resembles other recognised mineral
arrangements, that its claim to be regarded as an organism
cannot be considered in any way to have been established.
Further, it is held by most of the scientists that there has
always been phosphoric acid in the earth's crust, long before it
was possible for any life to have existed upon the globe.

Professor A. R. C. Selwyn, head of the Canadian
Geological Survey, says : —

'' I hold that there is absolutely no evidence whatever of
the organic origin of the apatite, or that the deposits have
resulted from ordinary mechanical sedimentation processes.
They are clearly connected for the most part with the basic
eruptions of Archcean date."

On the other hand, Professor J. W. Dawson thinks that
Canadian apatite is of animal origin, basing his belief on the
presence of the Eozoon structure and of the fluoride of lime in
the apatite. His statement is as follows : — * "The probability of
the animal origin of the Laurentian apatite is, perhaps, further
strengthened by the prevalence of animals with phosphatic
crusts and skeletons in the primordial age, giving a presumption
that in the still earlier Laurentian, a similar preference for

* Quarterly Journal, Geol. Soc, London : vol. xxxii., 1S76, p. ago.

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Canadian Phosp lutes.

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phosphatic matter may have existed, and may perhaps have
extended to still lower forms of life, just as-in more modern
times-the appropriation of phosphate of lime by the higher
animals for their bones seems to have been accompanied by a
diminution of its use in animals of lower grade."

The general opinion seems to be that the deposits of
apatite are really irregular segregations from the phosphate-
bearing country rock. Dr. Sterry Hunt describes them as
♦'concretionary vein stones which have resulted from a hot
water solution.'" He finds confirmation of this theory in the
rounded form of many of the apatite crystals, which he
considers due to partial solution after deposition, and not to
fusion as suggested by others. He further supports his
argument by the occurrence of drusy cavities in the veins,
and of masses of calcite buried in the interior of apatite
crystals.

These Laurentian rocks form huge belts which can be
traced for many miles, and which swell out into thick zones in
some places, diminishing and actually disappearing in others.
The general trend of these belts is in N.E. and S.W. direction,
and the apatite is found bedded or interstratified with the
various rocks, the proportions of which are always varying.

The apatite, which is crystalline in form, varies in colour
from a light emerald green to shades of blue, pink, red,
yellow, dark green, and an almost absolute black, the usual
colour being a bluey-green of different shades.

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Canadian Phosphates,

Its occurrence takes almost every variety of form possible ;
at times it appears to occur in true fissure veins. Many of
these veins are of considerable length, and in Renfrew and
Fiontenac Counties, Province of Ontario, have been traced for
many miles. The vein matter is principally composed of
apatite, calcite and hornblende, the proportions of which to the
whole of the vein matter alter at intervals, and the vein itself
widens and contracts all along its course. The veins, as a rule,
are not sharply divided from the country rock, but blend
gradually into it. There are, on the other hand, places where
the ending of the vein matter is distinctly defined. The
general formation may be described as a series of pockets or
beds of various sizes, connected with small stringers or leads of
phosphate. Occasionally enormous pockets or bonanzas of
pure apatite are found with no admixture of the associated
minerals ; at other times there are huge bunches of apatite,
calcite, quartzite and pyroxene all intimately mixed together.
In some of the mines hexagonal crystals of apatite (which
are found in all the deposits) are disseminated in parallel bars
through the rocks, in other places the rocks are simply
honeycombed with small pieces of apatite about the size of
a pea.

There are two main districts in Canada, where apatite
occurs in workable quantities. The district where mining was
first carried on was in the province of Ontario, where the
apatite-bearing belts are found distributed over Addington,
Frontenac, Lanark, Leeds and Renfrew Counties. This district

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Canadian Phosphates.

183

is about 75 miles in breadth, and 100 miles in length, and runs
from the St. Lawrence River in a northerly direction towards the
Ottawa River.

The second district is in Ottawa County, Quebec Province.
The belt here varies in \vidth from fifteen to twenty-five miles,
beginning near the north bank of the Ottawa River, in the
neighbourhood of Ottawa, Templeton and Buckingham, and
running northwards through Hull, Templeton, Buckingham,
Portland, Wakefield, Denholm, Bowman and other townships.
In other words, the belt follows the lands on either side of the
Gatineau and du Licvre Rivers. The extent of the belt to the
north is unknown, since the part of the country more than a
few miles north of the High Falls on the du Lievre River is
practically unexplored as regards its mineral contents.

Although the districts mentioned above are those in which
apatite has been discovered in the largest quantities, there are
many other counties in which it is known to exist, notably in
Pontiac County, Quebec Province, and in Haliburton to the
north of Toronto.

In all these districts the apatite-bearing beds are more or
less completely metamorphosed, being sometimes indistinctly
stratified, and at other times massive and with no traces of
bedding.* In the Ottawa County district the country is wild
and rough, and consists of a series of rounded and rolling hills
rising up to about 700 feet above the river beds, in ranges with

* Vide R. A. F. Penrose's description in Bulletin No. 46, of United
States Geological Survey on the "Nature and Origin of Deposits of
Phosphate of Lime," p. 25.

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184

Canadian Phosphates.

a general N.E. and S.V/. trend. The apatite-bearing veins or
leads can be traced with ease over this part of the country, and
the richest section appears to be in the townships of Portland
West, and S. Bowman, commencing a few miles north of High
Falls on the west bank, and running to the south of the Ross
Mountain. Here it is that very large pockets or bonanzas have
been found, but their occurrence is most capricious.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MINING
OPERATIONS.

Although the original discovery of the apatite was made in
Ottawa County, it was in the township of Burgess, Lanark
County, Province of Ontario, that the first mining was com-
menced early in the " sixties." The Ottawa region began to be
exploited about 1871, and it is stated that the first shipment to
England was made in the following year.

In the earlier years most of the mining was done by
contract, the local farmers receiving so many dollars per ton of
apatite delivered at a certain place. This method was almost
universal in the Ontario district, and in fact has been continued
up to the present date. The results of such a system obviously
were and are, that the various properties were worked in a most
primitive and irregular manner. When a good surface-
showing or outcrop was found, a pit or open cutting was made
and the mineral extracted to such a depth as could be worked
without any regular hoisting apparatus. When the pit became
diflficult to work or was filled with surface water, it was

Canadian Phosphates.

18:

immediately abandoned and work commenced afresh elsewhere.
In one property alone we counted more than one hundred
opfmings within a range of one mile, not one of which was
over fifteen feet in depth, the majority being only sunk to about
ten feet.

This work was usually carried on during the winter months
by farmers and any unskilled labour which was idle during the
period of the heavy snows and frosts. Although such a method
of raising, any mineral is much to be deprecated, yet it is
probable that these early days and primitive methods resulted
in greater gains to the owners of properties than the more
recent and regular operations.

Owing no doubt to this abandoning of pits, when too
troublesome to work in consequence of their depth, the erroneous
idea used to be prevalent in Europe that the apatite in the Ontario
district was found in shallow pockets only. The results of our
own investigations in the Perth and Sydenham districts of
Ontario and in Ottawa County have led us to make the
following general description or comparison of the two
localities, viz. : That in the former regular stratified veins of
nearly perpendicular dip and persistent formation, occurring
mostly in parallel lines at close intervals, and varying in
thickness from a few inches to several feet, are to be found,
- while in the latter the usual formation is in capriciously
occurring pockets of varying extent, although on the east bank
of the du Lievre River there appear to be beds or veins of
greater regularity than on the lands to the west of the river.

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Canadian Phosphates.

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The finding of these rich pockets or bonanzas in the
Ottawa district led eventually to a general transference of the
larger operations to that locality. The first company of any
importance was the Buckingham Mining Company, which
worked a property on the east bank of the du Lievre River,
about eleven miles above the village of Buckingham. Owing
to a fall in the prices of the phosphate market in the year 1875,
the operations of this Company, which had but a small work-
ing capital, came to a sudden conclusion, and no solid enter-
prises seem to have been set on foot till six or seven years later,
private individuals having continued the various workings in
the meantime. In the years 1883 and 1884 several joint stock
companies were organised, and the du Lievre River became
the centre of much mining activity.

In order to furnish a better idea of the industry as a whole,
it will be well to give a description of the various mines which
have been opened and the methods by which they have been
worked.

The village of Buckingham, situated three miles north of
the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, at a point about
twenty miles east of Ottawa, is practically the centre of the
Canadian phosphate mining industry.

It is here that the scows unload the phosphate taken on
board at the riverside wharves of the various mining under-
takings of the du Lievre River district. A branch line from
Buckingham Station (on the C.P.R.), built to the village for

Canadian Phosphates.

187

the purposes of securing the carriage of the phosphate, runs
alongside the river and the phosphate is discharged from the
scows into the cars or into bins, should immediate shipment
not be required. Before this branch line was constructed, the
phosphate used to be carted from this point to Buckingham
Basin, where it was loaded on to barges and conveyed down
the Ottawa River, the rapids on the du Lievre River between
Buckingham Village and Buckingham Basin, where the
du Lievre River joins the Ottawa River, preventing water
transport beyond the village.

Ascending the du Lievre River in the steamer which plies
daily between the village and High Rock landing, a point some
two and a-half miles below High Falls, and 26 miles distant
from Buckingham, one observes the surrounding country which
is fairly flat at the start gradually change into a hillocky
appearance, and at a distance of about ten miles a considerable
hill, of sugar cone shape, is seen rising from the eastern bank of
the river. This is the Emerald, formerly the Watt Mine, which
at one time had probably the most remarkable show of
phosphate ever witnessed, Mming operations were commenced
on the top of this hill, about ioo feet above the river, on a
small outcrop of phosphate which gradually expanded and
developed until there was a chamber with walls, floor and part
of the roof of absolutely solid pure apatite.

Needless to say this bonanza had its limit and in time was
exhausted, but a very large quantity of pure phosphate was
extracted at a very small cost. This property probably

i88

Canadian Phosphates.

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contained a greater proportion of apatite to the other
accompanying minerals, and even to the country rock than
any other in this region, and the veins or leads both of
phosphate and pyroxene rock are most regular. The phosphate
itself is dark sea-green in colour, and very hard and shiny. In
part of the vein matter there is a considerable quantity of iron
pyrite, which occasionally cuts right through the apatite in
streaks of about an eighth of an inch in thickness. All the
mining operations have been conducted by hand, no machinery
or steam power having been employed. Originally the
workings were made entirely from the upper surface of the
mine, although the hill was most obviously suitable for the
tunnelling which was afterwards undertaken.

It was on the north-east side of this hill that the
Buckingham Mining Company had previously operated, aiid a
recent visit to this part of the property showed that the apatite
extracted by them had occurred in parallel leads of exceptional
size, separated by walls of pyroxene rock.*

The Anglo-Continental Guano Company of London and
Hamburg are now operating this part of the deposit, which is
known as the Aetna Mine, and have continued the shaft
originally sunk by the Company just referred to with satis-
factory results. A considerable quantity of pink calcite is to

ih n

• Note. — Mr. J. Fraser Torrance, of the Canadian Geological Survey,
in referring to this feature remarks: "It is perhaps worth while to note
that this banded apatite and pyroxenite has never been found at a greater
depth than a few feet below the soil." See " Geological Survey of Canada ;
Keport of Progress, 1884; Apatite Reports, p. 13."

■! ! I

Canadian Phosphates.

189

be observed in the vein matter, and the concomitant pyroxene
rock is so crystallised in places that in early days many tons
were mined under the impression that it was apatite.

This phosphate property is one that could have been
worked (and possibly still can be) most successfully on a large
scale, on proper mining principles with complete mining plant,
and have yielded large quantities of mineral at a low cost.
Some two years ago an attempt was made to float the
Emerald Mine on the London market and provide suitable
working capital, but owing to the general disfavour in which
phosphate enterprises are looked upon by the English investing
public, the issue did not prove a success.

Travelling a few miles further up the river, the Little
Rapids are reached. At this point the river is shallow, and in
the summer months much trouble is caused by the water being
often so low that scows which usually carry 80 to 100 tons can
only be loaded down to 25 tons, and the small steamers that do
the towing cannot pass at all, so that one does the towing above
this point and the other below it. The Government have been
building a lock for several years, which will be ready for use
next season.

About half a-mile to the east of these rapids, the Allan or
Little Rapids Mine is situated. This property has been well
prospected, and its richness displayed by the opening up of
several good shows. A shaft has been sunk in one place to a
depth of about 160 feet, and the phosphate is continuous from
the surface to the bottom of the present excavations. The

190

Canadian Phosphates.

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formation of this vein or lead is lenticular in shape, and nearly
vertical in dip. The width varies from about 15 to 25 feet, and
the thickness from a few inches at the surface to about 8 feet
lower down. In places this bean-shaped lead goes off laterally
into pockets, or separate leads.* The five or six acres surrounding
this shaft contains an amazing number of surface shows, which
may merely be small pockets, though possibly on being worked
they might develop into well defined leads. The phosphate is
light green in appearance, fairly hard, and very pure in quality.

The mine is fitted with a small air-compressor and with
drills, but has not been worked regularly for several years,
owners preferring to sell the property.

About five miles directly to the north of the Little Rapids
Mine, and two and a-half miles to the east of the river, is the
property known as the North Star Mine, consisting of 100
acres on the top of a hill several hundred feet above the level
of the river.

This is the only mine in this district (and as far as we
know in any phosphal. district in Canada) which has been
worked on regular mining principles. A permanent air-com-
pressor plant was established as soon as the property had been
thoroughly prospected, and a shaft sunk to a depth of 660 feet,
from the study of which many false theories have been upset,
and much learnt as to the occurrence, continuity and persistence

■l: . 1.

• The formation at these mines is said to have been pronounced by
Professor Boyd Dawkins to be a pure fissure vein. The hanging and foot
walls are well defined, and the vein has been traced for several hundred
yards across the property

Canadian Phosphates.

191

of Canadian apatite. Of the commercial results of the policy
pursued in the sinking of this shaft we are unable to speak, but
all those investors and scientists who are interested in the
development of Canadian phosphate mining, owe a moral debt
of gratitude to the proprietors of the property, who have thus
made clear much that formerly was in doubt and dispute,
proving absolutely that the beds or leads or veins of apatite are
not confined to the upper parts of the formation, but extend
with them into depth.

Commencing at a spot where the vein matter was only a
few inches wide, the shaft was sunk to a depth of 30 feet where
the vein attained a width of two feet. Continuing in depth,
the vein varied from one to four feet in thickness till at eighty
feet the apatite diminished into several small stringers. At
ICO feet the vein expanded to one foot, and still increasing in
size led to a bonanza pocket at a depth of 165 feet, and many
hundreds of tons were extracted at this point at a small cost.
At a point 100 feet below this the entire floors and sides were
pure apatite, and drifts were run here, and a* the 200 foot level
into massive branches of solid ore. The same features were
met with down to the 660 foot level. To sum up these results :
the shaft penetrated a series of branching pockets or bonanzas of
various sizes and of the utmost irregularity in their occurrence
(as the ore would branch out now on the north side, now on
the south in every conceivable shape), all connected with
stringers or leads or narrow veins of phosphate. The apatite
would also occur from time to time in quite disconnected
bunches surrounded by pyroxene rock, in other parts the

192

Canadian Phosphates.

1: :i

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I '

pyroxene and apatite would be j^radually blended together.
Again, ut some points a section of the vein matter would
show parallel but irregular veins, separated by bands of
pyroxene and sharply divided from them. The dip of the
vein matter is about 65".

As would naturally be expected all the available phosphate
ore was extracted as the mining proceeded in depth, but there
are sufficient indications left on all sides to warrant the beliet
that drifts and cross levels would result in further bonanzas
being developed.

A second opening about 100 feet to theeastof the shaft, just
described, has been sunk on an incline of about 50° following the
dip of the vein matter, which has well defined gneissic walls.
This pit varies in width from 20 to 100 feet, and is from 1 5 to
about 60 or 70 feet high. Here also huge bonanza pockets
have been struck, one particularly large one occurring at a
distance of about 160 feet from the mouth of the pit. All
the profitable ground struck was removed, and the pro-
portion of phosphate to the total matter excavated reached
a higher proportion than anything we have seen elsewhere in
this district. In fact the year's working (about two seasons
ago) of this pit is known to have yielded very highly
profitable results.

Several other pits, in the form of open quarries, have
been opened up on this property, and one particularly rich one
containing a body of ore which leads into the inclined pit just
described.

■1 ■;
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Canadian Phosphates.

The phosphate buariiig vein or lode is distinctly traceable
over a part of the property, and various small shows have been
opened up along its course.

Though all the mining operations have been conducted on
sound principles, yet the question of transport to the river,
a distance by road of three and a-half miles, has been sadly
neglected, and all the ore has been hauled over a bad road,
corduroyed or logged nearly the entire distance to the river's
bank, entailing heavy expense for its transport.

Crossing now to the other side of the river, and going
northwards about one mile, the Ross Mountain is seen rising
abruptly from the river's bank to a height of some seven
hundred feet. Stretching across from the front of this hill, on
the river side, the vein matter and bands of pyroxene rock ran
be distinctly traced in their N.E. by S.W. < ourse.

There are three main leads, which commcn ■' the Ross
Mountain, and traverse the country for miles, crossing' tl
properties known as the Crown Hill, High Rock, Star Hill and
Central Lake Mines. Other th'-ee leads commeiice .ofiie
two miles higher up the river, anu crossing the Ruby I^iit^
continue into Bowman County.

Five companies have operated upon various portions of
these leads, i.e., the General Phosphate Corporation, Limited,
on Ross Mountain ; the Canadian Phosphate Conipany, Limited,
on Crown and vStar Hills ; the Phosphate of Lime Company,
Limited, on High Rock ; the Anglo-Canadian Phosphate
Compa-iy, Limitei, on the Ruby Lots; and the Central Lake

\'-

194

Canadian Phosphates.

Mi'

i '

Mining Company on the Central Lake Mines, with success at
some points and heavy loss of money at others, according to the
size of the pockets met with, and means of extraction employed.

The occurrence of the apatite is practically the same in all
the mines just mentioned, and may be described as belonging
to the irregular and capricious pocket formation.

In the early days of mining at High Rock, about eight or
nine years ago, some enormous bonanzas were discovered and
worked with great profit on the top of the hill. The original
workings consisted of open quarries and cuts which were
operated with a view of securing immediate returns, and the
results of the years 1883 and 1884 are said to have yielded very
large profits. As experience was gained, the methods improved,
and an air-compressor and drills having been purchased, the work
took a more permanent form On the south-west side of the hill,
some 200 feet from the top, a tunnci was run in and very rich
ground struck, which has, we believe, yielded satisfactory
results with astonishing regularity up to the present date.

On Star Hill the Union Company of New York commenced
work in 1883, and shipped some 4,000 tons to Europe the
following season, the whole average test of which exceeded
80 per cent. Their main or " big " pit seems to have been a
bonanza of remarkable size, tor some 9,000 tons of first quality
ore were extracted in less than three years with the use of only
one second-hand steam drill. In those days it was thought,
and naturally enough too, that bonanza pockets were to be
expected regularly, but the results of the last few years of

Canadian Phosphates.

19;

mining have proved that these are the exceptional prizes, and
that the real way to estimate the results of mining is that the
proportion of apatite to be won will be in proportion to the
total number of tons extracted.

What is the safe proportion on which to rely will be
answered by those interested in very varying figures. In some
places we have seen pits which have yielded as much as 25
per cent, of apatite from the total tonnage excavated; in
others the percentage has fallen as low as a single unit. To
sum up the results of our enquiries and practical work, we find
that anything over 10 per cent, must be considered exceptional,
and that the probable general average has hitherto been little, if
anything, over 5 per cent.

Among the successful 'enterprises, chief mention must be
made of the Blackburn Mine in the township of Templeton,
about 10 miles due south of High Rock. Here the apatite is
found associated with large quantities of mica, and is very pure
in composition. The main working consists of a deep but
narrow open pit, and the proportion of phosphate to the total
tonnage extracted has always been exceptionally high. Here is
found "sugar" or soft granv.lar phosphate, friable to the touch, in
considerable quantities, with mica much disseminated through
it. During our last visit to this mine, some two years ago, we
made a careful examination of the whole property, and traced
a number of parallel courses or veins for long distances.
Without going into particulars we may state that the result of
our investigations convinced us that this is a property of most

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Canadian Phosphates,

i!# :'■■'! 'I

exceptional merit and richness, capable of extensive develop-
ment which would result in an annual output of large
quantities of first-class ore. The original proprietors worked
the mine on a small but economical scale, and the yearly
returns or profit upon the number of tons produced is said to
have exceeded the profits per ton of any other mine in Canada.

Many small undertakings have been worked in a desultory
manner in all this region, and any description of the work
would be merely a repetition of what has been already stated,
but we may mention before closing this part of the subject
several remarkable shows of phosphate which we have
personally examined.

The first was on the Stewart property, about i^ miles north
of the High Falls, where at the lower extremity of an abrupt
hill a few blasts had developed an extraordinary bunch of pure
green apatite. Here we measured a body of ore 35 feet in
length and 15 feet high, without a trace of a single impurity.
Thirty feet to the side was another show of nearly equal impor-
tance. Whether these shows were merely surface pockets, or
the commencement of huge bonanzas, no one could judge
without further development ; but we hear that this property,
which has since changed hands, has carried out the promises
of its initial development.

The second show was on the Murphy Lots, west of
Buckingham Village, where on a flat surface the earthy
overburden had been removed and di^:closed a lead, or irregular
mass of pure ore, running for over 100 feet in length, and

Canadian Phosphates.

197

varying in breadth from a few inches to several feet. We liave
since been informed that this was a surface-showing only, and
that aftei the first few feet of solid ore had been removed the
apatite diminished in quantity and has now lost its bonanza
character.

The next show was on the west of Portland Township
^W.), on what is known as the Fleming Mine. Here on the
upper surface of a precipitous hill the work of a few men with
picks and shovels had uncovered the most massive quantities of
apatite we have ever witnessed. Some three acres of land had
been roughly prospected and found to be permeated with a
number of small veins of apatite, about one foot in thickness,
leading into the massive bunches just mentioned. At the time
of our visit, sixteen months ago, we estimated that there was an
available quantity of at least 3,000 tons of pure apatite which
could be mined and put on carts for transport at a cost not
<;xceeding $2.00 per ton of Ho per cent. ore. In colour the ore
varied from pure green to pure red ; in places the apatite was
composed of red and green crystals alternately.

Turning now to the study of the Ontario phosphate mines,
the Bobs Lake Mine may be selected as fairly representing the
average deposit of tiiis secti(Mi. This property is 600 acres in
extent, and seems to have any number of parallel and even cross-
cutting veins of pure apatite varying in thickness from a few
inches to several feet. Innumerable openings have been made
over this property (which has been worked by contract) and the
phtjsphate extracted wherever tound in easily worked localities.

198

Canadian Phosphates.

m I

The main opening at the time of our visit was about four to six
feet wide, 20 feet long and 36 feet deep ; the dip of the vein
was about 70°, and the apatite had been extracted without
removing any appreciable quantity of other vein matter, from
which it was entirely distinct. We saw a pile estimated at
100 tons, and the quantity of refuse matter was certainly under
10 tons. The phosphate here is dark green and highly
crystallised, in fact there was one pile of 20 tons, of which
three-quarters, at least, were made up of hexagonal crystals.
These leads appear to be true fissure veins.

On the Foxton property also there are a number of similar
veins all of the same character. They occur in the country
gneiss and are almost vertical, with lines of banded pyroxene on
both sides. The Foxton Mining Company, Limited, started
operations some years ago on this property, and the vein worked
broadened out till it showed 17 feet of pure apatite, and large
qmntities of ore were produced at a low cost. At one time a
large bowlder disturbed the vein, which was discovered again
after sinking through the rock. On the Sherratt propert}' we
observed the same formation ; the ground being absolutely
covered with a network of veins, which widened and
diminished in turn.

At Otty Lake, one of the earliest properties mined, some
of the veins have been worked to a depth of over 100 feet. In
most cases the line between the vein matter and country rock
is sharply defined. Sometimes the apatite occurred in regular
veins, at others in large bunches, and the property is undoubtedly
a valuable one.

Canadian Phosphates,

199

ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN APATITE.

Having thus given a general sketch of the various
undertakings, we will now consider in detail the actual working
or mining of the apatite, and the methods of preparing it
for market, but before doing so it will be necessary to refer
to the analysis and the nature of the ore. Pure Canadian
apatite tests between 88 and 93 per cent, phosphate of lime ;
the following table of analyses by Dr. Christian Hoffman* gives
results of selected samples :

Phosphoric Acid (1)

Fluoride (2)

Chli rine (3)

Carbonic Acid (4)

Lime

Calcium . ,

Magnesia . .

Alumina . .

Nickel, Cobah, and Copper

Iron

Sesquioxide of Iron
Insoluble residue

II.

III.

40573 •

. 41.080 .

• .39 04O

JJII •

• 3-474 -

• 3791

0..438 .

. 0.260 .

. 0.476

0.026 .

- 0.370 .

. 0.096

47.828 .

. 49.161 .

- 46327

3-732 .

- 3-S03 .

- 4258

0.151 .

. 0.158 .

. 0.548

0.O09 .

. 0.705 .

. 1. 190

0.151 .

. 0.125 -

. 1.290

J.89.) .

- 0.370 .

• 3490

Tulal 100.509 99.506 100.512

(i) i'A\m.\ ioTrilhtsic Phosphate of Lime 88.138 .. 89.682 .. 85.241

(2^ Equal to Fluoride of Calcium .. 6.796 .. 7. 131 •• 7.781

(3) Hqual to Chloride of Calcium . . 0.685 . . 0.406 . . 0.744

(4) Equal to Carbonate of Lime .. 0.059 .. 0.840 .. 0.218

(/. is lioiM StorriiiKtoii, I'roviiicu of Ontario ; //. is IVoiii Buckingham, Province ot (Juobec
///. is from Norlli Hursoss, Province of Ontario ).

* Geological Survey of Canada, 1879.

200

Canadian Phosphates.

ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN \P\T1TE.— Continued.

IV.

VI.

Phosphoric Acid \r)

.. 4i-i3y •

. 40.868 .

. 40.812

Fluoride (2)

.. 3863 .

• 3-731 •

3-554

Chlorine (3)

. . 0.229 .

. 0.428 .

0.043

Carbonic Acid (4)

.. 0.223 .

0.105 .

. 0.518

Lime

•• 49-335 .

• 48.475 •

. 49.102

Calcium

.. 4.195 .

. 4.168 .

• 3-763

Magnesia . .

.. 0.180 .

. 0.158 .

0.620

Alumina ..

.. 0.566 .

. 0.835 .

. 0.565

Nickel, Cobalt, aad Copper

—

— .

Iron

—

Sesquioxide of Iron

.. 0.094 •

. 0.905 .

0.125

Insoluble residue

. . 0.060 .

. 1. 150 .

. 0.630

Toial 99884 100.823 99729

(i) EqM3i\ to Tribasic Phosphate 0/ Liwe 89.810

(2) Equal to P'luoride of Calcium . . 7.929

(3) Equal to Chloride of Calcium . . 0.358

(4) Equal to Carbonate of Lime . , 0.507

{IV. is from Portland, Pro^'ince of Quebec ; V. is from I.ougliboro', Province of Ontario
VI. is from Templeton, Province of Quebec).

89.219 ..

89.098

7658 ..

7.295

0.669 ..

0.062

0.239 -

1. 177

The specific gravity varies from 3.139 fo 3.i'88 and has a
hardness of 5. As already mentioned the ore occurs in
hexagonal crystalline masses, and even when brr' en up finely
the same form is retained, as can be seen by the use of the
microscope. At times these masses of ore are extremely hard,
at others quite brittle and sometimes soft and friable. The
grain of the phosphate also varies, being small and compact in
some instances, while in others the granulations are large and
coarse. Several remarkably large crystals have been preserved,
the largest measuring 32 inches in length and 17 inches in

Canadian Phosphates.

201

diameter.* A still larger crystal, measuring seven feet by four
feet, was uncovered at the Aetna iMine two years ago, but it was
not possible to extract it in its entirety. Crystals of 12 inches
in length are not uncommon, but it is always difficult to extract
them unbroken.

The colour of the mineral seems to be no indication of its
analysis, and many samples of red ore, usually supposed to be
ferruginous, have analysed less than one per cent, of oxide of
iron and alumina. When ground to a fine powder the green
phosphate looks white to the eye, though the microscope
reveals the green even in the smallest pieces ; the red phosphate
grinds to a light flesh tint.

It can be readily understood that although the analysis of
samples of pure apatite runs so high, the same results cannot
be expected in whole shipments, as it is not possible to separate
the apatite entirely from the rocks which have to be mined at
the same time and are consequently mixed in the pits with the
phosphate.

PREPARATION OF THE ORE.

In the early days of the industry, shipments were sold
on a guarantee of 70 per cent, minimum of phosphate of lime ;
later on the guarantee was raised to 75 per cent, and eventually
to 80 per cent, minimum, which is now the standard minimum

• This is to be seen in the Museum at Ottawa.

202

Canadian Phosphates.

of first -class Canadiun phosphate. Th'jic have been instances
where shipments have been even guaranteed to analyse 84 per
cent, minimum, but this is quite exceptional.

The consequence of the guarantee being so low- -during
the infancy of the mining operations — was that not much
attention was paid to the cleaning of the ore.

When it became necessary to raise the percentage,
cobbing and careful hand-picking and sieving were resorted to,
and at each pit there was a table or platform upon which boys
broke up the mixed pieces with hammers, and selected the pure
pieces. The large lumps of pure ore were set ajjart for first
quality and the smaller pieces kept as seconds, the respective
guarantees being 80 and 75 per cent, minimum. A great
quantity of mixed phosphate was thrown on the dumps as
useless in the years 1882- 1884, since it was not thought worth
while to save anything that would not analyse 70 per cent.

In 1885 the Union Company of New York leased a building
and water power at Buckingham Basin, and fitted it with a
Frisby-Lucop grinding mill for the purpose of utilising the
" fines," or residue of the ore which passed through the screens
used for cleaning the phosphate and was so mixed with small
pieces of rock that separation was impossible. This product
tested about 62 per cent, phosphate of lime, and was shipped
in a ground state (in bags) to Buffalo and Chicago, to which
points this trade is still being carried on.

About the same time improved mechanical methods of
separation were introduced by the more important mines,

Canadian Phosphates.

203

which had now adopted regular mining machinery such as air-
compressors and drills, steam drills and hoisting apparatus,
pumps, &c. Large cobbing houses were erected, from the top
floor of which the mine cars emptied their contents on to a
sloping fixed screen made of strong bars of iron placed about two
inches apart. What fell through this rough screen was
shovelled into a circular wire screen, the fines from which
were kept as 70 or 75 per cent, quality, and the residue as
60 per cent, and upwards.

The larger pieces of ore were passed on to the cobbing
table, the pure pieces were selected and the mixed pieces
broken up by hammers and then picked over.

Following the mine cars back to the loading point in or at
the mouth of the pits, the details of work at the point of
prcxluction have now to be investigated.

Supposing a pit to have been sunk to a point where
hoisting machinery is necessary, in the form of a derrick
worked either by steam or by horse, it will be understood
that the work is being carried on in a space more or less
confined. Holes are bored in the rock surrounding the lead
of ore which is being worked, and the dynamite is fired.
Before so doing the pit has been thoroughly cleaned up and
the drilling machine has been either raised to the surface or
sheltered in a safe position. After firing, the bottom of the
pit is a mixed mass of rock and phosphate. The rock is taken
out first of all, and then there remain a number of pieces of

204

Canadian Phosphates,

phosphate of various sizes mort; or less pure, mixed with the
debris and small pieces of broken rock. All this has to be
raised to the surface together and passed into tlie cobbing-
house for separation. If the phosphate is hard there will be
a good yield cf first quality, otherwise the ore gets broken up
almost into powder and inseparably mixed with the small
pieces of rock. After firing the holes round a bunch of
softish phosphate the interior of the pit is coated on all sides
with white powdered phosphate. Much of the phosphate
gets broken up by being blown against the opposite walls
of a pit.

One great trouble, if not the greatest, is the changing
aspect of a pit from day to day. One morning a pit will seem
to be in a regular well defined vein, the next morning nothing
will be seen but a few thin stringers ; another dozen holes may
perhaps, after firing, develop a new bonanza bunch. What
is possibly still more discouraging is when there is a lead of
phosphate mi.\ed with calcite, mica and pyroxene, for though
there may be no space of two feet without phosphate, yet the
yield will be of ore and rock inseparably blended together,
and therefore worthless except ^or grinding as third quality.
It is this capricious " playing-out " of the phosphate that
makes the results of any single pit irregular, and the
only way to keep up a steady output is to have several pits
running at the same time. It is, of course, impossible to
predict how much dead work will have to be done when a
pocket has ceased to be paying, and it is this uncert;>inty which

Canadian Phosphates.

20:

causes pits to be abandoned and the machinerj- moved elsewhere
in the hope of something better being found. Occasionally, a
fault or dyke of trap rock will interrupt a good lead, but the
more usual obstacle is a "horse," or large mass of ccnnitrj- rock
which has to be sunk through.

This irregularity and the absolute want of knf»wledge or
means of acquiring any certain knowledge as to the probable
future of any lead, bunch or bonanza of phosphate ha\e helped
to continue what must be admitted to be, after all, a most
primitive method of conducting mining operations, for with a
very few exceptions thw average pit has always been worked
in a way contrary to all recognised mining rules.

TRANSPORT.

The question of the transport of the ore at and from the
mines has not been given, as a rule, the attention which its
importance demands.

Short tramway tracks were in use at some of the mines
between the pits and the cobbing houses, but the first tramway
to the bank of the river was built by the Little Rapids Mine.
The distance is half a mile only, and the cars which all run to
the river by gravitation are hauled back bj- horses.

High Rock Mine was the next to improve its facilities for
transport, and a rather circuitous tramway was laid from the
top of the hill to the landing on the river, with a total length
of about two miles. The cars are worked in the same manner

206

Canadian Phosphates.

here as at the mine just mentioned. From the top of the hill,
where several pits were being worked, another tramway was
built down to the west side of the hill to Pit XI., and the cars
operated by a wire rope run by a hoisting engine.

In iXHH at the Crown Hill Mine a straight tramway was
laid down the face of the hill to the river's edge, a distance of
i,ooo feet, and the cars worked by a stationary hoisting engine.
All the pits on this mine were connected with this point and
with the main cobbing-house by tramway tracks.

These are the only transport facilities in the du Lievre
district, the other mines having to cart all their ore from the
pits or cobbing-houses down the very rough roads to the river's
bank. As all the mines are situated on or near the tops of
hills, this work is very slow and difficult, and, as a rule, the
transport has been mostly effected during the winter months,
when sleighs are used instead of carts.

The ore has also to be moved on the various mines by cart
to the cobbing-house, which is both laborious and expensive,
and adds very considerably to the total cost. A general calcu-
lation of the cost of moving the ore on the mines from the pits
to the cobbing-house, and thence to the riverside wharves,
shows an average of not less than #1.50 per ton.

Transport on the du Lievre River to Buckingham was
originally done by contract ; as much as $1 per ton was paid in
the early days, but this price was reduced by competition to
50 cents per ton. Some of the larger companies built their

Canadian I'hosphates.

207

own barges or scows, and had only to pay for towage; other
toinpaiiifs bought towing steamers as well, and diil all their
own transport.

To-day's expenses from the pits at the mihes to the
shipping point at Montreal are as follows : —

Cost of transport at mines, and thunce to riverside

wharves .. .. .. .. Si. 50

leading from wharves into scowb . . . . .10

Towage to Huckingham Village . . . . . . . . .2<.>

Unloading scows and loading on to railroatl cars . . .15

fiailroad freight to Montreal .. ., .. 1.25

Cartage from cars to ship's side . . . . .25

Harbour Dues .. .. .11

Shipping agents' commission . . . . . . . . .25

Total cost of transport from pit's mouth to f o.b.

Montreal 813.81

In the Templeton and (iatineau districts the minimum
haulage from mines to railroad is ten miles, and in some
instances the distance is considerably greater. The axerage
cost of this transport is 8-.00 per ton ; railroad freight and
Montreal expenses add about .*i.75 to this figure.

In the Ontario mining districts, those mines which are
near the Rideau Canal transport their ore to the banks of the
canal, whence it is conveyed by water to Montreal.

Other mines load their ore on to the line of railroad between
Sharbot Lake and Kingston, in which case the phosphate is put
into barges at the latter point.

The average cost of transport from all the mines in this
district to Montreal varies between ij^.fo and i>\.oo per ton.

208

Canadian Phosphates.

IJST OF COMPANIES OPERATING IN 1891.

Name.

Anglo-Canadian Phosphate Co.,
Ltd

Anglo-Continental Guano Works
and Squaw Hill

Canadian Phosphate Co., Ltd.

Central Lake Mining Co.

Dominion Phosphate & Mining Co

Dominion Phosphate Co., Ltd.

E. Templeton District Phosphate
Mining Syndicate Ltd.

Fo.xton Mining Co., Ltd.

General
Ltd.

t'hosphate Corporation,

Kingston Phosphate Mining Co.

Maclaurin Phosphate Mining
Syndicate, Ltd.

Ottawa Mining Co. . .

Phosphate of Lime Co., Ltd.

Mining at.

( Perth, Ontario,
- and du Lievre
I District

' Squaw Hill and )
1 Aetna Mines* j

Star & Crown Hills*

Central Lake Mines*

J^orth Star Mine*

London Mine* . .

( Blackburn Mine,)
I Templeton )

Foxton Mine

( High Falls* and )
^ Ross Mountain"
( and Templeton

Frontenac

I
I

Templeton

Emerald Mine*
High Rock Mine*

Capital.
$500,000

550,000

125,000
200,000

30,000

60,000

750,000

24,000
100,000

250,000

COST OF PRODUCTION.

It is probable that more reports have been mnd^ upon
Canadian phosphate properties (and more mines offered by
promoters and owners) than upon any other phosphate deposits
in the world. These reports have been written by a great
variety of persons, including geologists, mining engineers,
phosphate experts, and owners of phosphate lands. All such
reports state unhesitatingly the vast quantities of apatite which
each property contains, and all agree as to the cheap cost of
production, the high percentage of the phosphate, and the

• du Lievre River District.

Canadian Phosphates.

209

large profits to be made from mining the deposits. The point
that all, or very nearly all, these reports are inaccuraLe about is
just that one most essential and vital particular of the proportion
of first-class ore to the total quantity of phosphate produced.
We will first look into the question of cost of production of the
ore, and in so doing must consider matters fr/> initio.

Supposing a property to have been roughly prospected and
found to be rich in surface shows and outcrops, it is apparent
that the cost of excavating the ore from such superficial pockets
will not be great. In addition to this, the phosphate to be
extracted can be mined without breaking it up badly, since a
small quantity only of explosives is required to loosen the
surface rocks. In this way it is possible to raise about 1,000
tons per annum from any fairly promising property, without any
expensive machinery or plant ; but as soon as the open quarry
becomes a pit, the expenses increase, as hoisting appliances,
steam drills and pumps become necessary. In addition to this
it is to be remarked, according to our own experience and
observation, that no surface shows which contain phosphate
mixed with calcite, pyroxene, &c., are selected for working,
though possibly the phosphate itself may often be rusty and
dirty.

In the years 1883, 1884 and 1^85 the mines in the
du Lievre district were as a whole doing remarkably well and
earning large profits, whereas of late years profits have
materially diminished, and in several cases losses have taken
their place.

■m

2IO

Canadian Phosphates.

■ l I

m '->

This is to be accounted for in the following ways : —

(i.) When superficial pockets were being worked the
mining was cheaper and the proportion of first-class
quality very materially higher.

(ii.) As depth was reached more expensive machinerj'
was required, more explosives used, and consequently
the proportion of high-test quality decreased.

(iii.) Owing to the discovery of the Somme phosphate
deposits, the prices realised for second and third
qualities has fallen to such an extent that they do not
now realise even the cost of production.

The cost of production has nearly always been stated in
the vai ious reports to be $5 per ton of apatite cobbed and ready
for transport, and no doubt this figure was correct some years
ago, but we have now to consider what is to-day's cost, and our
estimate is as follows : —

Cost of producing one ton of phosphate at pit's mouth,

in labour only .. .. .. .. .. .. *5.oi'

Cost of explosives employed for same . . . . . . i .00

Cost of wear and tear to plant . . . • . . i .00

Cost of hand-picking, cobbing, &c. .. .. .. i.oo

Cost of management and sundry expenses .. .. i.oo

Total cost at mines (exclusive of transport) . . ^9.00

In the earlier days of mining in this district the second
quality usually averaged about 77 per cent, of phosphate ; some
years ago its grade fell to about 72 per cent., and now it is very
doubtful if the average of second quality produced from the
cobbing houses is over 68 per cent. This can only be accounted

Canadian Phosphates,

!II

for by the deeper mining and the free use of explosives, which
breaks the ore up into fine pieces which cannot be separated from
the rock with which it is mixed.

PRICES REALISED FOR THE VARIOUS GRADES.

Year.

80 per cent.

75 per cent.

70 per cent.

60 per cent

1882

. . i6d. v

Mth ^ rise

.. i5d.

I4id. ..

—

1883

.. I5d.

i»

.. i3cl.

i2d.

—

1884

. . i4d.

i2d.

lod.

9d.

1885

. . i4d.

• »

Hid.

lod.

8d.

1886

.. I id.

lojd.

9id. ..

gd.

1887

.. Hid.

lod.

Bid. .

—

1888

.. Hid.

. . 9id.

8id. . .

—

1889

.. i2id.

iid.

lojd. .

SJd

1890

.. i6id.

.. 13d.

i2d.

9id

1891

.. i4d.

lod.

gd.

8d.

These prices are ex ship London and Liverpool.
A ghmce at the above figures shows at once that the
second and third quaHties have not realised of late years prices
at all in proportion to the value of the first quality.

The average value at the mines during the last two seasons
of 70 and bo per cent, qualities was about $6.00 and $3.50
respectively, showing a very serious loss upon cost of production.

If then the first quality ore has to provide for the loss
upon the other two qualities before the possibility of making
any profit can be arrived at, it follows that in order to make
such an enterprise a success, the proportion of first-quality ore
to the whole must be a high one. Unfortunately just the
opposite is the case, and we doubt very much whether the
first-quality ore is more than two-sevenths of the total quantity
produced.

.■T.

212

Canadian Phosphates.

■V m

SHIPMENTS OF CANADIAN PHOSPHATE.

Year. To Europe. To U.S.A. Total.

1878

3.701 .. —

3.7°'

1879

11,927

—

11,927

1S80

7.974

—

7.974

1881

15,601

2,402

18,003

1882

17.181

2,080

19,261

1883

17,840

220

18,060

1884

22,143

22,175

1885

23,908

745

24,653

1886

18,972

532

19,504

1887

19.713

733

20,446

1888

14.432

2.814

17,246

i88g

23,540

3,926

27,466

189c

24,154

1,903

26.057

1891

14,009

2,000*

16,009

A few hundred tons annually are also manufactured locally.
Shipments of phosphate from Montreal to Europe are not
made hi whole cargoes, but form the heavy ballast for stiflFening
the steamers. Consequently the usual amount carried by one
steamer does not often exceed six hundred tons. Freights to
Liverpool and London vary from 5/- to 17/6 per ton, the
a\erage being about X/- to 10/- per ton. Should the
Canadian phosphate industry assume larger proportions in the
future, higher rates of freight must be calculated upon, since
the quantity taken as ballast will probably not exceed about
25,000 tons annually.

PRICES OF PHOSPHATE LANDS.

In the days of mining in Ontario, the price of lands is said
to have reached )i530O per acre for mines situated near the
Rideau Canal. Early in the last decade a very large area of

* Estimated.

Canadian Phosphates.

213

lands on the du Lievre River changed hands at a price exceed-
ing $100,000. The purchaser was looked upon as being very
foolish, until it transpired that he resold four hundred acres
for $80,000 and another 1,000 for $100,000, still retaining a
considerable acreage for himself. About the same time
another mining property changed hands at $135,000.

Speaking generally the acreage has not affected prices,
since most phosphate lands are of little or no value apart from
the phosphate deposits.

About three years agt), when the demand for phosphates
had become larger than the supply, and prices of phosphates
of all kinds were rising rapidly, the owners of Canadian
properties thought that their millennium was at hand, and
London was full of promoters and property owners. The air
was filled with phosphate schemes from Norway, Canada, Spain
and other countries. Enormous prices were asked, and a
considerable number of properties actually changed hands in
different countries, and some of the more astute of the
Canadians eventually realised the highest prices ever given
for phosphate properties of any kind.

This brings up the question as to what is a fair value of a
Canadian phosphate property, and we will venture to put our
own ideas on record.

In order to arrive at a \aluation the following points have
to be considered : —

(i.) Possible annual out-turn and profit p*^r annum.

214

Canadian Phosphates.

(ii.) Amount of capital required to be invested for that
purpose.

(iii.) Chances of getting back original cost and outlay for
1)1 ant.

With these points before us, and with the full knowledge
of the geological formation of these deposits and of the results
of the various mining undertakings hitherto established, we say
unhesitatingly that we do not know of any undeveloped
phosphate property in Canada of which we could recommend
the purchase at n^ore than £"5,000 as a maximum for a one-
half interest, and this figure is far beyond the entire value of
most of the undeveloped properties which we have explored.

Turning now to the question of developed properties, these
should only be bought upon a valuation of the money spent
upon plant and developments and upon the quantity or reserve
of ore actually in sight, for what lies hidden is an uncertain
quantity.

The most satisfactory method of operating a property
would be upon a royalty of so much per ton extracted.

These are our views to-day. but it must be understood
that a few years ago the position and value of Canadian
phosphate properties stood upon a totally diflFerent footing.
The discoveries in Florida of large quantities of high-testing
phosphate, capable of being easily and cheaply mined, liave
altered the relative value of Canadian lands most materially ;

Canadian Phosphates.

for whereas some years ba<k Canada and Norway wcru
recognised as the only countries* capable of producing high-
testing phosphate, and that only in small quantities, an
enormous new field with illimitable supplies has now been
put into active operation.

PRESENT POSITION AND FUTURE

OF THE CANADIAN PHOSPHATE

INDUSTRY.

During the spring of 1890 the prices for Canadiaji
phosphate of first quality reached the highest point they had
ever touched, and it looked as if prices would go still higher.
The unexpected development of high-testing phosphates in
Florida at once put an end to any chances of increased prices,
and the heavy ^;hipmcnts which came into the European
market last year, and the over-abundant offers of to-day ha\e
very seriously affected the Canadian industry. Last autumn
nearly all the mines suspended operations or materially
reduced the number of their employes, and shipments this
year are Tikely to be smaller than they ha\e been for at least
twelve years ; in fact, last year's shipments already showed a
decrease of 33 per cent.

What, then, must be done to keep the industry from dying
out, and to prevent the total loss of the heavy capital invested ?

*Nc)Ti-.— Curatao Island, which contains deposits of high-testing phos-
phate, is left out of question since the owners have ceased making the large
shipments received in former years.

! I

2l6

Canadian Phosphates.

We have shown already that the second and third qualities
do not realise high enough prices in Europe to cover cost of
production, and will now point out what is the main cause
of the general non-success of the mining operations in
Canada of late years, apart from the influence of developments
in Florida.

The present system ol cobbing and of making so many
grades of ore must be discontinued. One of the heaviest
expenses in the total cost of production is in the selection,
preparation and handling of the phosphate. Instead of several
qualities there should be only two, i.e., first quality of 80 per
cent, and over, and the residue which will probably average
about 62 per cent.

![:,.!

The proper method of operation is to select only the
absolutely pure pieces of ore in the pits, raise them to the
surface, and dispatch them direct to the bins at the river's bank
or other shippirg or loading point, as the case may be.
Cobbi'ig-houses and cobbing-boys, and double and treble
handling would thus be done away with. All the fine and
mixed ore should be kept separate and ground at Buckingham
or elsewhere, and either dispatched to points in the United
States, or else converted locally into superphosphate. If this
were done the quantity of phosphate produced and marketed
would bear a greater proportion to the total quantities of rock
mined, and would mean just the difference between profits
and losses.

Canadian Phosphates.

217

As regards the manufacture of superphosphates, Canada is
an immense wheat -growing country, but as yet is using only a
few hundred tons of fertilisers per annum. This cannot
continue, and the example of other countries must be imitated.
There are extensive deposits of pyrites near Sherbrooke,
Quebec Province, and others in the Province of Ontario, con-
taining 40 to 45 per cent, of sulphur suitable for the manufacture
of sulphuric acid. It therefore behovis those interested in the
future of Canadian phosphate mining to digest these facts, and
by the establishment of fertiliser works continue the industry
and enrich their n .ighbours and themselves by the manufacture
and sale of chemical fertilisers.

APPENDIX.

ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS
PHOSPHATES.

ENGLISH

PHOSPHATES.

Caiiibridnt-

Coprolltes.

[ohn Huglies.

Uedfonl

Coprolites.

Alfred Sibsoii

Moisture

Water of Combination

3.13 )

_ 1 .. ..

2-34

• Phosphoric Acid

25.20

25.40

Lime

43-33

37-22

Carbonic Acid

—

t320

Oxide of luin and Alumina

—

5-15

Insoluble Siliceous Matter. .

755

18.74

Undetermined

M
~" • • Al

iHiieitla and 'j nz,
Ijulinc Salts '•-'-'

100.00

♦ Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime . .

55.01

53-45

t Do. Carbonate of Lime ..

. . . .

7-27

SPANISH PHOSPHATES.

Moisture

Carbonate of Lime . .
• Phosphoric Acid
Oxide of Iron and Alumina ■

Estraiiiadiiia.
O. Pieper.

0.23

12.27

3351
.91

Estramadma.
J. HugliLS.

Siliceous Matter

15.22
28.00
1C.75

• Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime .. 7315 ^^'^3

NoTi;.— The higher qualities were practically exhausted several years ago.

tie

Appendix.

ALGERIAN PHOSPHATES.

Moisture . .

OfKunic Matter and Combined Moisture
*l'h()sphoric Acid . .
f Carl)onic Acid

Oxide of Iron and Alumina

Insoluble Siliceous

L'ndetermined

'Eijuivalent to Tribasic rhosphate of Lime
fDo. Carbonate of Lime

Dcckma.
J. Napier.

Turin.
J. Nuplui

1.23

>.}5

2.95

3.10

J4.JO

25.71

10.10

M.40

3-96

.1.5«

8.75

7.40

7.12

9.36

5.104

5O.12

i2.95

19.09

FRENCH PHOSPHATES.

Mtusf.
Maret.

Honlcini
Man;i.

Moisture ..

I. go

425

I'hosphoric Acid . .

18.74

ly 06

Lime..

29.23

31.92

Carbonic Acid

4.80

4.81

Oxide of Iron

Alumina

5-46 )

4.0H

Insoluble Siliceous Matt' ■:

2K.74

27-5S

Undetermined

8.5G

8,30

100.00

Hoiilciniic. Ardi'iines, Uordeaii.x, Bordeaux,
Shepard. J. Napier. J. Napier.

1713

34 74

327

2.96

3C.86

'.00

I.2I

1.84

5. Go

22.25

2.50

3-14

2.02

1.76

;

•Kquivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime . . 40.90 41. Gi

IDo. Carbon.ite of Lime .. 10.90 10.93

37-39

80.47
2-75

62. 5G
4.18

Appendix.

!2I

SOMM?: (FRENCH) PHOSPHATES.

Organic Matter and Water

of Combination
•I'hosphoric Acid
[.ime

Oxide of Iron . .
Alumina
Magnesia, Carbonic Acid, &c
Insoluble Siliceous Matter

Vnrlckcr.

rsso

Votlckcr.

-0/75

Cannon &

Newton.
606]

Cannon &

Niwlon.

35,60

1. 82

•34

Molnturo 2.80

2.40

J553

i?i-(>i

29.10

2ri.2i

51.81

48.I5Ci«rbonlo Acl.lt3.oO

3-51

•95
.24

I.51
1.08

4.07

4.16

9.30

12.68 rndetermincil 1 4. 10

10.45

•35

2.63

8.55

15.84

100.00

•Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime

tDo. Carbonate of Lime

77-56 73-37

C3-53
6.95

57-25

7 'J?

BELGIAN PHOSPHATES.

Mens District.

Voclcker.

4045.

Moisture

Organic Matter and Water

of Combination
* Phosphoric .\cid . .
Lime

Oxide of Iron
Alumina

Magnesia & Carbonic Acid

Insoluble Siliceous Matter

I.ltue Dlstrlcl.

Cannon U Nuwton.

5560.

.48

1.23

J-50
2G.23

39-04
3.80

T'ndetermincil
•nd Wttei nf 6,84
Comblnatio .

.68 fc»ibonlc.\cld
18.76

50 95
1. 07 1

•77)

24.61

2.68

100.00

19.36

100.00

I.itRo District.
Cannon ^ Newton.
50,55-
1.26

3-50
^475
37-'2

4.05

6.16
.'3.16

ICO. 00

•Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime

I Do. Carbonate of Lime

40-95

57-25
7-95

54-04
7-95

222

Appendix.

GERMAN PHOSPHATES & NORWEGIAN APATITE.

I '!

German Phos

■HATES.

Norwegian
Aj-atite.

Cannon & Newton

Puru sample

from Statel.

John Hughes.

Lower
quality.
Sliepard.

Moisture . .

1.42

—

•37

Organic Matter and Water

of Combination

1.90

—

.54

'Phosphoric Acid . .

33-45

I7'5C

39.92

Lime

48.18

—

51-96

Magnesia . .

.65

—

Oxide of Iron
Alumina . .

3-30)

r.37) ••

—

1. 14

tCarbonic Acid

3.70

—

1.36

Fluoride, Alkali, &c.

2.80

— I'mletcnniueil I '99

Insoluble Siliceous Matt(

2r 3.23

35 '89

2.72

100.00

JOO.OO

•Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime 73 02
tDo. Carbonate of Lime 8.40

38-33

87. 14
3-09

R It

WEST INDIAN ISLANDS.

Navassa.
BretschneiJer.

Sombrero.
G. H. Ogston.

Aruba.

Teschemacher

and Smith.

Cura(ao.
G. H. Gilbert

Moisture 3.54

2.57

—

.68

Organic Matter & Water

of Combination . . 4.64

2.90

1.79

♦Phosphoric Acid .. .. 35.60

.. 34.22

• 35-4° - -

4045

Lime 38.35

. . 49.22

48.40

51.04

Oxide of Iron . . . . 3.40 1
Alumina . . . . . . 6.50 )

1.05 .

. 2.85 ..

■35

tCarbonic Acid &o.. . . 2. 58

C.20

II. 15 ..

Z-<>5

Insoluble Siliceous Matter 2.05

1.30 .

2.20 ..

-50

Undetermined . . . . 2.74

2.54

—

2.14

100.00

•Equivalent to Tribasic

Phosphate of Lime 77.71

.. 74.70 ,

. 77.28 ..

88.31

f Do. Carbonate of Lime —

. . 14.09

5"34 ••

G.93

> ■ /-

Appendix.

223

GUANO.

Peruvian, Ichaboe.
Nesbit.

Bolivian
Delierain

Moisture

9.30 .. 3.14

—

* Organic Matter . .

.. 57.30 .. 63.52

23.00

Phosphates . .

23.05 . . 22.20

4S.60

Alkaline Salts

9.60 . . —

—

Sand

0.75 .. 1. 16

—

100.00

'Containing Nitrogen

15-54 •• —

.^38

Equal to Ammonia

1S.S7 about 13.50

4.10

Mexillones
Guano.

Moisture . .

. lO.QO

Water of Combination..

. II. 01

"Phosphoric Acid

. 33-70

Lime

. 28.00

* Carbonic Acid .

• 370

Undetermined .

S.oi

Insoluble Siliceoi

s Matter . .

basic Phosphate of Lime .

. 4.68

100.00

*E<iuivalent to 'I'ri

• 7345

fDo. Carbonate 0:

Lime

. 8.41