Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-13
The Enormous Extent of Those Now
Worked in Chile.
how IT Is QUARRIED AND REFINED
Extensive Beds Have Been Dis
covered in Colombia.
THE ENGLISH SYNDICATE

nitrate properties as rapidly possible
Seventeen deposits of that important COM
mercial product have just been disposed of
under the hammer, and forty-three other
deposits are advertised and will pass into
the possession of the highest bidders. These
forty-three properties are reckoned to con-
tain 4,635,OOO tons of nitrate of soda, val
ued at $9,5OO,0OO. The crude nitrate is ap-
praised at 81 ton in the bed. Two-and-a-
half tons of it are required to make one
ton of refined stuff ready for use.
Nitrate of soda is one of the most inter
esting of natural products. The chief de-
posits of it thus far exploited are found in
the province of Tarapaca, formerly a part
of Peru, but coded to Chile in 1881 as a war
indemnity. The nitrate belt has a length
from north to south of 26O miles, its aver
age width being not more than IL miles
This narrow strip stretches along the east
err slope of the coast range of barren, ver-
dureless mountains that wall in the Pacific
ocean, from the northern limit of Peru to
the Straits of Magellan. Upon those noun
taiIs and in the valleys adjoining them for
more than 1000 miles not a drop of rain
ever falls. and nothing grows there-not
even a tree, or shrub" or any form of
living vegetation.
Character of the Climate.
The possibility of the existence of the
nitrate deposits referred to depends on the
character of the climate. A salt so de-
liquescent and easily destroyed by moisture
could only accumulate in a rainless coun-
try. The valley through which the strip
described runs is wholly devoid Of all the
characteristics usually associated with the
word, such DIS groves of green trees, YER
can't pastures. running streams etc. On the
the eye Wanders over a scena of treeless
Vero' reiess, waterless desolatio On the
east side of the valley is found an occa-
sional weak spring, in the neighborhood of
wnlch attempts at cultivation have been
MADE with poor success, inasmuch as the
soil Is so thoroughly impregnated with salts
OF various kinds as to render any kind of
of water.
Yet there was a period in the distant ma st
"nen the traveller journeying through that
Iailey might have discovered there a series
CT narrow lakes. He would have found the
water unfit to drink, being a saturat ted soIu-
tlon or nitrate Of soda and other salts The
lakes received all the drainage from n va st
watershed, and. inasmuch as they had no
outiet, save by evaporation the mineral
elements filtered in from the soil around
ABOUT accumuater The nitrate of soda wa 3
continuously deposited through centuries
perhaps On the bottom of the lakes. FL
ialiy the latter dried up, leaving behind the
day. u W.
The nitrate is not found on the surface
. me Top SOIL TO depth of eight or ten
ihcheS Is me loose sand. Under this Is a
layer OF various mineral substances sucb
as gypsum, porphyry, magnesia and conn
mon salt, cemented together by lime int q
oooHlpact mass from six to ten feet deep.
ms is called the crust" and beneath n tba
nitrate Is discovered. The nitrate is vellou,
ism,white, bluish-gray. or of an orange hue
Inc nitrate deposit, like the crust Is CO
, rnented INTO rock-like mass of a thick
Il IN A.
py blasting with coarse-grained eunnoyy
DER More powerful explosives cannot he
usea, because they would shatter and pul-
verlze the stuff After being brought 10
the surface the material is carefully sorteJ
by experts. 1t is broken into pieces donbIe
the size or an orange and in that shane Is
carried carried 10 the refineries at Iquique or some
other center of manufacture and export
II water and fuel were obtainable near
tne deposits the refining would be done ON
the spot, but these essentials are got more
conveniently at the seacoast.
Enormous Deposits in Chile.
1t has been estimated that the nitrate
beds of Chile at present contain about
l2oJOO,OOO tons-an amount sufficient to
supply the worlds uses for many GEN.
turtles al the present rate of consumption.
The conversion Of the crude stuff into the
commercial article is accomplished by
means of elaborate and costly machinery.
is dissolved in water at a high temperature.
in long tanks, from which the solution is
carried in pipes to enormous shallow pans
the water being finally evaporated by arti-
fetal heat. The evaporated water is con-
densed again and put through a chemical
process for the purpose of extracting the
valuable iodine which 1t has taken up.
The chief use TO which. the nitrate is an
piled In European countries is as a fertil-
izer. In Germany and France 1t is en-
p}oyed largely in the cultivation of the
sugar beet. Considerable quantities, how
ever, as much as 30 per cent of the whole
perhaps, are consumed in the manufacture
OF nitric acid, nitro glycerine, dynamite
gunpowder, etc. The stuff is the base of
nearly all known explosives.
Deposits Discovered i'm Colombia.
report newly received by the Depart
ment of State announces the discovery in
Colombia of nitrate deposits almost as ex-
.ensive as those of Chile. Exploration has
developed the existence of about thirty
miles square of beds having a thickness of
from one to ten feet. The vein lies at a
depth Of from eight to twenty feet below
the surface. and rests upon the carbonifer-
GUS sandstone of the region. 1t is asserted
that this is not a sedimentary formation
like that of Chile, but proper study of its
character has not yet been made. The de-
posts lie at a distance of about sixty-fve
miles from the city of San Juan de la Gle |
maya. There is reason to believe that the |
colombian government would give fran
chises or grants to any responsible indi- |
vidual or corporation that would guarantee
to work these beds
The American farmer who has to buy fer
tilizers would be much benefited by the |
opening of the Colombian deposits. The de- |
velopment Of a nitrate industry on the At |
lantic coast of South America would great |
ly reduce the cost of transporting the STUFF |
to both Europe and North America. The re- |
duction of the cost of fertilizers is a uues- I
ton Of great moment to American agricul- |
turists-so much SO that In many of the |
states legislation has been enacted having |
in view the lowering Of expense and the as /
surance of purity OF fertiliziag compounds |
AS early as 1915 an effort was made to de- |
velop the nitrate deposits of Peru, in the
province of Tarapaca. During that year the |
Spaniards exported 5,OOOOOO pounds; but the |
war Of independence breaking out about
that time, little was done 10 develop these
mines Of wealth until 1852. Then an Eng
lishman named George Smith, and Jose
Sandes, Spaniard, established small re-
filming works at Iquique. Many similar es-
Establishments sprang up along the coast, and
by 1875 the trade had become so important
as to attract the attention of the govern
ment of Peru. A law was passed providing
for the acquisition Of the nitrate deposits
and refining plants by the government
which took possession of the properties and
in payment gave certain guarantees of In
demnity.
BEFORE much Of the indemnity, MO, x,Ia