New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-03-14

official JOURNAL OF THE UNITED STATES
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS
FACTS ABOUT BORAX.
A New source of Profit on the fac'no
Coast.

A New source of Profit on the racine
Coast.
The San Francisco papers report the DIS
coyery of valuable deposits OF borax III
California and Nevada, and give some In
-oresting facts in relation to the trade anu
production.
Rorax 1.-THE bborate Of sodal is used 10
the amount of $500 tons annually IN Cnris-
tendon, mainly in welding and working
iron. glazing fire pottery, medicine and the
toilet. The greater part OF the supply
comes from Tuscany, and SO much OF II goes
into the hands of Woods & Sons, of London,
that they NAV be said to have monopoly
of ii. and they fix the price at such rate
that the consumption keeps pace with the
production. The price in Europe is abo"t
fifteen cents per pound, and IN the United
States, under high tariff, twenty -flve
cents. or $500 per ton Its high cost greatly
restricts it's consumption, especially IN
glazing the cheaper pottery and III the
toilet. and it is impossible to know how
great the demand would be If the price
were reduced fifty or sixty per cent. as
there is reason to hope that it will be III :, a
few wears, by the help OF the deposits iateiv
found in California and Nevada, whence u
is supposed that 20, 900 tons can be obtained
annually for many years, at an expense Oh
not more than five cents per pound. or $lOo
per ton.
The newly discovered deposits OF borax,
mr. minerals with which boraX can be pro-
duced. are flats or sinks at the end or near
the courses of various streams. and lie
nearly in straight line, extending from
Pyramid lake in a sOutheastward direction
three hundred and fifty miles, to the vicinity
OF Fort Mojave. These flats include the
sinks or parts of the sinks OF the Truckee,
Humboldt, Carson, Walker, Fish lake,
Owens, Amargosa, and Mojave rivers:
Within few days a tract Of six thousand
acres. rich in bOrate of lime, has been found
near Hot Springs, eighteen miles east OF
Wadsworth, on the Central Pacific rail
road. The next noteworthy deposit, going
southwark, is forty miles from the railroad,
near Carson lake, and covers oOO0 acres.
Another borax flat, of unknown size, but
supposed to be large, lies between Dead
Horse Wells and the hot springs, east of
Walker lake, fifty-fve miles from the iron
track. The Rhodes or Virginia Salt Marsh,
one hundred miles from Wadsworth. con-
tains much borate of lime. The largest and
richest known deposit is in Columbus Tat,
and has an area of &c, 900 acres. one hundred
and thirty miles from the railroad. Teal
Marsh, west Of Columbus, has lO,oO0 acres
from which boraX can be obtained, and Fish
Lake valley, fifteen miles south of Column
~
lime and bOracic acid.
All the fats mentioned above are in Ne
vada, and going further southwark we now
enter California, and find large deposits of
bOrates near Owens lake, amt some OF the
mineral has been sent to this city, but we
have not heard the result of the venture
In Death. valley, Amargosa valley, and
MOrjave valley there are various flats, con-
tanning, according to report, considerable
L. 81 h,x-n mt hoo 90 kt n
examined, because they are not conveniently
accessible, and the Indians in the vicinity
are troublesome. .
A lot of few tons has been brought from
Columbus Flat to San Francisco, and Is now
prepared for the market. The experiment
so far promises very well, for it is said the
expense will not be more than five cents per
pound, leaving large margin tor profit:
Even at ten cents there would be profit OF
$3.50 per ton, and that is more than any OF
our large gold or silver mines pay. No sys-
tematic work has been done as yet, how
ever. capitalists being afraid 10 venture
much in an enterprise which, however profit
able il may be at first. will soon have
to contend with large competition.
The days of mOnopolizing borax will
soon come to an end. The deposits
are too large and numerous to
be named by one|house. The fats have
not been examined yet with sufficient care
to ascertain which will yield the most profit.
Much will depend on the freights, by wagon
and rail. We are JUSTIFIED in hoping that
borax will within year or two, give much
business to the commerce Of our bay, and
form an important addition TO the already
large and varied list OF the mineral produc-
tons Of our coast. Several years ago We
exported considerable quantities Of borax.
but since the high water Of lS66-67, the
borax lake, in Lake county, has been SO high
that the works there have been covered:
and the proportion of borax in the water
has been 50 much reduced that the whole
work has stopped. The new deposits will
furnish the borax in much larger quantity
and at less expense.