Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1901-01-31
FLUOR SPAR AND IT'S USES.

drymen in the north became no
ted for the fine quality of their
castings. Sand holes and Unequal
tiles in the iron produced by these
concerns were unknown. So mark
ed a contrast with the ordinary
I foundry work led to a quiet inves-
LEGATION upon the part of their
Competitors, and it was ascertain
cd that what is now known as huor
spar was the reason for the greater
lfiuidity of the iron, and as a natu-
raj sequence the higher grade of
the casting, In these days and in
some instances at the present time
fihor spar is sold by the foundry
supply men under the name of
"Ifonaid, ''IronfluX' and many
other fanciful names that the in
genuity of the advertising agent
suggested. OF course the price at
which huor spar under such labels
is sold is many time greater than
that obtained by the incorporated
companies who make the mining
and marketing of huor spar their
business. Within the past year
an Alabama furnace company has
paid sixty dollars per ton for
"Ironaid," which was ground huor
spar, pure and simple, mined,
ground and sold by a Marion COM
pany at perhaps one-sixth of that
price. The cyanide process of ex-
tracing gold from refractory ores,
used SO extensively in the western
mining districts South Africa and
elsewhere, consume enormous
quantities Of hydro huoric acid,
which is produced from our huor
spar The granite ware largely
nsed in our kitchens and through
tout the house is enameled and thus
jprotected against the action of
'iac;ds and alkalies, making it most
desirable for all classes of cook
ing, The enameling Of bath tubs
and other household articles, the
production of opalescent glass, and
its necessary use in the arts and
sciences has led to demand for
our huor spar that today is almost
beyond the productive point of
our present shafts. 1t is to the
great Iron and Steel companies of
the United States, however, that
this use and this demand has in
creased to an extent little dream
ed of few years ago. The pro-
duction of steel in the open hearth
process, as good judges say the
coming steel of the century, i'm
peratively demands the use of huor
spar. So many and varied are its
uses that over production is prac-
tically impossible, at least for ma
ny years.
THE CHEMISTRY OF FLUOR SPAR.
Prof. Dana, in his admirable
work on descriptive Mineralogy"
says of huor spar: Hardness, 4
Specific gravity, 3,l4; Lustre Wit
reous; sometimes splendent, usu-
ally glimmering of the massive i'm
palpable varieties; Color white,
wine-yellow, emerald, pistachio,
blush green, rose and crimson
red, violet blue and sky blue.
Wine blue and violet blue are the
most common and the red varie-
ties the rarest. The colors of mas
sive varieties are often arranged
in concentric lines; and occ aston
ally in crystals they are arranged
along the axes or in concentric
coats. The spar is transparent
subtranslucent. Brittle" Prof.
Dana also adds; "Fluor spar sell
dom occurs in beds in rocks. 1t
generally constitutes veins"
An analysis of fluor spar, deter
mined from samples taken from an
eight foot vein at 80 foot depth in
the Chicago Mining Company's
shaft at Marion resulted as fol-
lows: