The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-07-28
VAST F|ELDSOF INTER-
NEW SOURCE OF ENORMOUS
WEALTH is FOUND IN
CALIFORNIA
STERILE WASTES RICH
IN CHEMICAL DEPOSITS
The Quality Equal to That Produced
in Chilean Mines-Region About
Death Valley to Leap Into Impor-
tance-Prof. Gilbert {. Parker Makes
Report to Mining Bureau.

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal. July 81
According to a report just submitted
to the state mining bureau by Prof
Gilbert Z. Bailey there are within the
limits of California more extensive
inter fields than are found in the world
famed inter region of Chill. The
statement is based upon the results
OF personal observations recently made
by Prof. Bailey in vast arid and desert
lands which have heretofore been con-
sidered, except for borates, COMPARE
lively worthless. The great CONNER
claI and industrial significance of this
discovery Is apparent at a glance.
The state mining bureau, under the
direction of Mineralogist Aubury. fitted
out an expedition to Death valley and
the circumjacent country for the pur-
pose of making an exhaustive study of
the salines of California. In that ter
rife neighbOrhOOd, where loom the
Panamint Telescope, Owl, Grapevine,
Funeral, Kingston, Avawatz and Shad-
oW mountains, many discoveries have
been made. The greatest is the extent
or Cahtornia'S inter, which is seeming
~ sufficient in quantity to supply the
world for ages to come.
The production of inter in the deserts
OF chill has for many years been the
chlef Chllian industry. Chilli has re-
celNed in one year as high as $40 00O :
600 in export duties on inter.
Nearly all the inter BEDS said
Prof. Bailey, speaking of his investi-
cations, so far discovered are situated
In the northern part of San BernardinO
county, and extend across the boundary
line into the southern part of Inyo
county. They are found along the
shore lines or old beaches that mark
boundary nf
during the EOcene times. The few out
lying beds so far discovered are also
located along the beach line of. some
of the numerous lakes that were form
ed by the drying up of Lake Aubury"
The name last mentioned was con-
ferred by the explorer upon a large
lake in honor of the state mineralo-
gist, through whose offices the explora-
ton was made possible.
Supply Is InexhaustibIe.
It is when Prof. Bailey speaks of the
Quantities Of inter in California. as
estimated by him. that the full i'm
portance of the results of his explOra-
ton appear. There are already Iocat-
ed $4,000 acres for inter in the Owl,
Upper canyon, Lower canyon, Round
mountain and Valley, Confidence, Salt
Springs, Tecopah, Pilot, Dandy, Needles
and Volcano districts.
In order to form some idea of the
possible value of the fields" saws Prof.
Bailey, "one may consider the calfche
alone for minute. The caliche it may
be explained, is the crude nitrate OF
soda, and this lies in beds from six
TO twelve feet thick under a cover
ing of cOnglOmerate or hard porphyritic
cement that is from one to eighteen
feet thick and must be removed to
reach the caliche.
minimum thickness of the surface inter
is six inches. One acre of ground con-
talnS $3.50 square feet. This, at six
inches in depth, is equal to 21,78O cubic
1eet This, at seventy pounds per cub
&c foot, amounts to 1,524,600 pounds
per acre, or 80 tons per acre, say
100 tons; 10000 acres, allowing 5000
acres to be rejected, at $50 tons,
amounts to over 22000,00O tons.
In some places the caliche is known
to be from three to five feet in depth
and the acreage of the coatings of the
high hills is considerably more than
If the ground were level as in the fore
going figures. When it is remembered
that some of the strata from three to
ten feet in thickness have been found
TO contain values from Is to 40 per
cent of inter it will be seen that the
quantities are sufficient to attract the
attention of the largest capitalists and
TO lead to their full exploration and
development.
No attempt will be made to put a
value upon these inter beds, based up
on tonnage or average per cent per
ton The facts so far obtained show
the existence of quantities on a scale
large enough to be of national inter-
est. The analyses show that inter ex-
ISIS on some of the claims rich enough
to rival the beds of Chilli"
Its Value Not Appreciated.
Prof. Bailey accounts for the fact
that while the existence of inter in the
low, rolling hills along the Armagosa
river mas been an open secret in this
state FOR more than twenty years. very
little importance was attached to the
t1rst locations and they We're allowed
70 lapse. One reason that the beds have
lam idle and neglected was that very
little intelligent prospecting has been
done by anyone. The immense hills
were sampled in the most superficial
way, as explorations in the desert are
necessarily expensive and the explor-
ers were handicapped by lack of both
time and the proper capital. Difficulty
IN obtaining accurate analyses was
another drawback. If the clews OBJ
tanned from the numerous ANALYSES
mad been followed up these beds would
nave been worked long ago.
Inc beds and clayS on the latter
Eocene deposits, which contain the nj
trateS, have been worn by erosive
agencies in knobs, buttes and ridges.
mat nave been compared to gigantic
haystacks and potato hills. They have
a soft, rounded surface peculiarly their
own, and this, united to their creamy
yellow color enables one to identify
them even with a field glass in the dis
lance.
The size of the hills varies from
only fifty feet high and covering only
TWO or three acres to those 300 feet or
more IN height and covering nearly
section of land. In some hooks and
corners the rounded appearance of thu
inter beds has been broken up into
ridges and burrows or even into cas-
tellated and pinnacled forms that re-
mind one of the ruined cities" of the
bad lands of the Dakotas.
There is a commercial Importance
in the similarity which Prof. Bailey
has found to exist between the inter
deposits of Chilli and those of Califor-
mia. He claims that they are found
in both countries, under similar con-
dltions. The inter beds of Chill vary
in breadth, the average being 1900
Ieet, and they also vary in thickness.
In California the beds run from 800
feet in depth to more than two miles
in width and from three to six miles
in length.
The inter of both countries was
formed under the same geological con-
ditions and on the same huge scale.
The chemistry of each is practically
the same. In both countries the inter
is peculiar and unique product of
their great desert regions. The chance
for great profits in California inter is
found in the export duty to Chilli Niter
enters this country free, but the export
duties in Chill in the period from 1878
to 1892 amounted to $15S, 1854 and
the total value of the export between
In Of Il,