Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-08-06
WEALTH IN A VOLCANO
American Plans for Exploiting Noun.
Popocatepatl.

One of the last business enternr;sas r.,
which the late Andrew H. Green of
New York was engaged was tho or
ganization OF a company to exploit the
SULPHUR deposits Of Mount Ponoc,t,-
petl, the extinct volcano about sixty
miles from the City of Mexico II
was announced in the press desnatcbes
a few days ago that the purchase of
the mining rights had been accom-
plished by Charles Holt on behalf of a
New York mining company.
1t was into Mr.. Hollis hands that Mr..
Green committed the task of making
an investigation of the sulphur mine
property and of it's commercial ayaila-
bility. Mr.. Holt. who is a mining en-
gineer. spent something like $50 600 in
this inquiry. He visited Sicily and
other sulphur producing countries and
made a report as TO the COST of mining
and marketing the sulphur in each.
His report on the commercial side of
the question was that it cost inward of
$3.50 long ton to mine and market the
sulphur of Sicily, which is about me
most formidable competitor in the field
To mine and deliver the Mount Pnpo-
catapetl sulphur on the New York
market, he figured. would not cost. m
der the advanced methods of working
proposed. over $40 ton, thus giving
the long leeway of $3.50 a ton as n basis
for cutting under existing conditions of
competition.
Sulphur commands a market r.r;ca of
500 long ton. The total sulnhur CON-
sumption of the United States and
Europe is about $4,000 long tom. 4 wear
of which the United States takes 200
ono tons and all Europe combined
about $4,000 tons.
Eefore Mr.. Green met his tragic
death the plans for going ahead with
'he Mount Popocatapetl enterprise were
pretty well matured and Mr.. Holt went
to Mexico to conclude the preliminary
steps of the transaction. He is there
now, ana either has succeeded in maxi
ing the purchase of the property or will
succeed in so doing within the next
week or ten days.
Mount Popocatapetl has long been a
real estate poSs' ssion in the family OF
General Casper Sanchez Ochoa, n wealthy
gentleman whose home is in the city of
.l'Nico. He has been ready for some
%"aiS to sell it, but there were two obsta-
'h-H in the way. One was that his price
:"r the property, $l,5OO.oOO in gold, was
th",iilt |" be too nigh and the other was
that there seemed to be some dout: as
10 :, valid title. Both theS+. impetiiments
il would now SEEM have been removed
TIA" work Of operating the vast sulphur
cpe'itS i'll the volcano crater will it is
L tnunc"d. he under way i'm the course OF
!'w months This will involve the ex-
londiture of something like 500. UW.
The sulphur in the crater of Mount
Iopocatapetl. as In all other volcano era.
tc:.:. is found encrusted on stones These
stones must be lifted from the crater,
transported to the reducing plant and
there stripped Of their surface deposits
\ consulting engineer in the erection OF
TIE plant. said he understood that the
work. considered as an engineering prob
lem. was very simple.
These surplus deposits are down in the
water at depth of between go and .OJ
feet. Simple machinery will suffice to int
them to the crater rim. the crater being
about half n mile I'M diameter.
The ores will be conveyed by angaerial
tramway about three, inhIes and a halt
long to a point about. half way down to
it's veriOus destinations.
there is TO be hotel on the summit OF
the mountain and a saritarium for con-
sumptives, to be reached by Coz rail-
way About 300 acres will be laid ont az
park. Another side issue to be Elk
plotted is the cutting of mountain ice and
selling it to the residents down In the val
ley.
In a desultory way the sulphur in the
PopOcatapetl crater has been mined Tor
upwards of 400 years. fernando CortcZ
being among those who engaged in dig
ging it out. The Mexican Government re
port puts the amount of sulphur in the
cone at AS go tons and places the an
nual increase in the deposits at per cent.
annually of the total amount, or l.4>oCoJ
tons a year. There is now about lt.Wooj0
tons OF sulphur blocked out III the cfa'er
4 hr m M
While all rocks in ,he crater are deeply
oncrusted with sulphur. Mr.. Holt found.
on an excursion down $50 feet in the era
Ter which he recently made. tnat uHderiy-
ing the layer OF rocks and IN IN inter
ct,ces between them there We're GepositS
of practically pure sulphur lying IN soiid
chunks of solid sulphur. IN
,,ther words One such chunk that was
licked up weighed 100 pounds.