Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-10-10
PRODUCTION OF sULpHUR
Consumption Has Increased with Conse
quent Rise In Price.

The recent advance In the price Of
sulphur and the consequent Increase
In the consumption of pyrite. which
has lately found favor as a substitute
for sulphur especially In the manu-
facture OF sulphuric acid, were nota-
bic features OF the sulphur and pyrite
Industries en- 1903. Dr. Joseph HYDE
Pratt ascrbes the changes In these
Industries during the last year to an
agreement made between the Anglo
Siciian sulphur company and the
operators Of mines I'M Sicily, by the
terms of the agreement this company
controls at least So per cent OF the total
production OF sulphur In Sicily An
interesting report entitled "The Pro-
ductlon OF Sulphur and Pyrlte in 1909
has been prepared by Dr. Pratt for
the United States Geological Survey
and Is published as an extract from
the forthcoming volume Of Mineral
Resources. 1902
The greater portion Of the worlds
supply OF natural sulphur ls obtained
from sicily. and Of this production
the United States consumes by far the
larger amount. The organization Of
the Anglo -Sicilian company I'M 1896
has, however, helped the domestic
trade, as shown by the fact that while
the imports OF natural sulphur have
increased only 1915 per cent since 1895,
the production Of natural sulphur In
the United States has increased 1858
per cent
The sulphur imported into the
United States is used chiefly In the
90 1f.h agt4 al nd Ian
the paper trade, while that used In
France and Italy Is employed for agri-
cultural purposes. The increase In
the price OF Sicilian sulphur has stim-
ulated the manufacture Of sulphuric
acid from pyrite and has begun to
cause a substitution OF pyrlte Tor the
natpral sulphur employed I'm the man
ufacture Of paper pulp. In q few
instances IN this country sulphite-
paper mills are obtaining their sui
phurous acid from shelters that are
roasting pyritlo ores. Up 10 the pres
ent time the largest increase I'm the
production OF pyrite and It's use in the
place Of sulphur has been IN the man
ufacture Of sulphurc acid for the fer
tili2er trade and for refining petro-
leum 1t has been estimated that
since 1895 the production Of pyrite has
increased l4l per cent and the imports
OF pyrite 1872 per cent
Or. Pratt devotes some space 10
description OF occurrences OF sulphur
In Louisiana, Texas, Arizona Nevada,
California. Utah, and Alaska The
deposits IN Sicily. Jauan, Mexico,
Chile, Peru, and Spain are also noted
The countries that may become extern
sive exporters of sulphur are Mexico
and Chile. II Is probable that the
United States may always have to de-
pend on importing "a portion Of the
sulphur consumed, and the control by
American companies OF large deposits
OF this mineral In Mexico would be Of
advantage TO this country
The production OF sulphur and OF
pyrite for the manufacture of sui
phuriC acid iu the United States dur
ing 1903 was 23312I long tons. valued
at SLl09slS, as against q production
of 20IS14 long tons, valued az Sg410S9.
in 1902. The states that produced
this sulphur We're Louisiana Nevada,
and Utah. The total domestic con-
sumption OF sulphur I'm 1903 was
4ss,lSi long tons, as against 4G9 36l
tons In 1902. am increase Of 1888 tons.
Considerable space is given 10 a dis
cusslon Of the production. exporta
ton. and prices Of Slclian sulphur
and to a description Of the four
methods used IN Sicily in smelling
sulphur ore.
The report closes with an account
Of the sources OF supply production,
imports and exports. and consumption
OF pyrite. The pyrite produced In 1903
was obtained from the following states.
given IN the order OF their respective
output Virginia, Massachusetts, Cali
tornia Georgia, Ohio Alabama, Indl-
ana, South Dakota, and New Jersey.
over one half Of the total production
was obtained from Virginia. The do
nestle production does not begin to
equal the demand. and the rest OF the
supply used in the United states is I'M
ported, principally from Spain with
smaller quantities from British Colum-
ba, Canada, and Newfoundland.