Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-01-11
MINING OF PHOSPHATES.
Where Deposits Are Found and How
-hty Are Prepared.

Ahty are prepared.
The Flor. IA phosphate deposits are Of
great iMpO, taDce, yet tEeir existence
was discovered so recently and their
extent is still! so uncertain that few per-
sons not engaged i'll the sale Of fCrtilia-
ing materials Lave much knowledge Of
the large ir,lustly which las sprung up
i'll the Peninnlar State. It has practical
ly created new -Ocala-which
had a population Of but a few hundred
i'll 1870, bU; is now ii thriving business
center with modern improvements,
banking facilities and ample railway
and tr"nEI CrtatiCn facilities. Engineer
ing, the leading eng neering journal Of
the world, makes the following state
ments concerning Tie region, which are
of considerable interest as coming from
an unbiased source: There is no phos.
phato region in the world known today
that possesses so many advantages for
successful mining as the Florida depos-
it's Tie grade Cf material is the highest
average that is being worked anywhere.
The facilities $ for moving tie products
to points for distribution are good The
average distance from mines to ports
for shipments is about l50 miles.
"The distributing stations for the hard
rock district are Port Tampa, Fernan-
dina, Brunswick and Savannah, the
largest tonnage being moved from Fer
nandina, Where s'Cragc bins are located
and loading facilities arc good. Port
Tampa, the terminus of the Plant sys-
tenn of railroads, j. constantly adding
facilities for prompt handling of cargocs
of phosphate and at present very nearly
equals FernaEdina i'll the alnount cf its
shipments. Railroad are numerous and
cheaply constructed when necessary to
extend them into new sections. The
machinery needed to mine and prepare
the material is simple and inexpensive
compared with that generally used in
other mining 0perat ons, and the cost
of a plant with sufficient land to work
upon is within the reach Of small in
vestors. The working days al the mines
are about $50 during the year. The eli
mate is healthful, labOrers readily OBJ
tanned at a fair compensation, and
skilled operatives are at hand who are
becoming familiar with the business.
The mining camps are generally we'll
regulated, and proprietOrs and employ
ees can reside at the mines with safety
and with little Inconvenience, as sup
plies of all kinds can be readily obtain
ed at the towns located in the near
vicinity Of al tic large mining fields.
Telegraph and mail facilities are within
easy access CT nearly every mining camp
i'll the state. Florida phoSphates are
mostly shipped to Luropean ports and
are manufactured Into fertilizers in
England, Ireland, Germany, France,
and quite recently shipments have been
made to tic Sandwich Isl; nds Foreign
agents of Consumers and dealers in phos-
pilates have their Offices near the center
of product Cn, ard contracts for deliv-
cry and prices are commonly fixed at
points of 81 pmcnt, the material being
SOLD al a II ce lCr rnEt CT its contents
of phosphate CT lime. The Florida phos-
pilates are Ill used III the manufacture
Of C~mnierc il fcrt lZcrs and supcrphos-
DLato. '-ELHtun TRANSCRIPT