Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-10-09
The Largest Bona Eide Circulation
THE ACIDPHOSPHATES.


its treasurers are rich lodes of sulphur
retted copper ore. At Ore Knob, in
Ashe county the deposit OF copper is
almost unprecedented. From recent
letter in the New York Tribune we
learn that in the first ten weeks OF it's
opening over 1,5O0 tons of ore of %
per cent were extracted by IA men in
other words, The labor of these mer
produced daily during that time over
10000 pounds of copper in the shape
ofa 25 per cent ore. This, at the pres
eut price of27 cents, is worth S2,IOO,
aud its conversion into ingot copper
and shipment to market would still
leave net profit of over 81, COO a day.
This remarkable deposit Of over a mile
with breadth of from II to 10 feet,
and it is not too much to say that, II
The future developments of the mine,
when shafts and galleries shall permit
an adequate number Of miners, are at
all commensurate with the present
working results, it will be unriValed
in the history Of American copper
mining. A company has lately been
organized in Baltimore for the working
of this great mice, and preparations
are being made for the reduction OF the
ores on the spot and also for the con-
struction of railway about 40 miles
in length, to meet the Virginia ana
Tennessee Railroad near Marion.
The advantages offered by a great
deposit of very rich ores, like those OF
Ore Kuob, are enormous, but it must
not, however, be supposed that the
mining of low-grade ores is unprofst-
able.
Many of the low-grade copper ores
are like those of Ducktown, rich in
sulphur, and this, though there allow
cd to pass of into the air, is in other
regions q substance ofgreat value. In
the shape of sulphuric acid it forms
the starting point Of the great indus
tries Of tha soda manufacture and OF
mineral fertilizers. The native sui
phur beds of Sicily formerly supplied
ihe world, but the chemical nanniac-
lures of Great Britain are now indie.
pendent of this source, since they hnd
q more advantageous supply in the
beds ofsuIphuret ofiron and copper OF
Spain, from which more than half a
million tons are annually shipped 10
England. These ores when burned in
proper ki!ns yield from 50 to 40 per
cent or more ofsulphur in form fitted
tor the making ofsulphuric acid while
from, the residues a portion of copper
amounting to two or three per cent is
extracted with profit, leaving behind
a valuable ore of iron. The profits Of
this industry are enormous, and the
demand for sulphur ores in Great Bri-
tian is daily increasing. The great
success ofthe Tharsis Company, which
has hitherto controlled the trade IN
Spanish sulphur and copper ores, has
led to the organization in London OF
new company, the Rio Tinto, with
capital of g., ,25O,OJ0 sterling. 1t pro-
poses to construct a railway OF hfty
miles, to the sea coast in Spain, and TO
ship yearly 100000 tons of sulphur ore
upon which the profit is estimated at
e775.OOO. Large quantities o. the
sulphur thus brought from Spain into
England are used for the treatment o.
the phosI Ihates of South Carolina
which are shipped to England Tor the
manufacture of fertilizers.
The value of these mineral nanuTes
for our soils is becoming more aud more
understood, especially for the cotton
and tobacco crops. The production OF
superphosphates in the works OF Char-
lesion, this year is about 5O,OOO tons,
for the manufacture of which 0,OOO or
6OOO tons of native sulphur are impor-
ted from Sicily. Large quantities OF
the crude pbosphates are from South
Carolina to the coast of New England,
where they are treated, as at Charles
t,n with the acid made from Sicilian
sulphur. and the product is sent back
io the cotton lands of the South. 1t
NAV well be asked, why do not our
manufacturers initiate tue example OF
the English and substitute the sulphur
ore or pyrites for the native sulphur OF
sicily 2 The answer is easy. Avail
able deposits of pyrites suited ior 'he
purpose are not accessible. For many
Years manufacturers of acid IN the
vicinity OF New York have drawn I'M
tied supplies of sulphur over from sne
provinces Of Ontario and Quebec, ana
from Vermont, and to-day a similar
ore is brought from near Richmond
Va, to Phila ielphla, there to treat
the South Carolina phosphates and
convert them into fertilizers, which
are des,iped for the Georgia market.
The Viviaus, great copper smelters OF