The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-05-24
U. S. GRAPHITE INDUSTRY.
Greater Part Is Imported Says Official
Report.

The natural graphite mined and con-
centrated in the United States is yari-
Bile in amount, principally because the
process of milling flake graphite, the most
aboundant type of domestic material, Ia
still in an experimental stage. Because
of this unreliability of the domestic sup
ply most of the large consumers of
graphite prefer to depend for their sup
ply ON imported material
In 1911 the quantity of graphite inn
ported into the United States for con-
sumption was 20702 short tons, valued
at 81 ,495729. 1t contrast to this the
total domestic production was 3,6lS
short tons of natural grapite, valued az
1928, 465, and 5,072 short tons of manu-
featured graphite, valued at S664000
The great bulk OF the graphite inn
ported into the United States comes
from the island of Ceylon, and the Uni
ted States has for many years been the
principal market for this Ceylon prod
uct. Considerable amounts of graphite
are also imported into the United States
from Mexico and within the last few
years graphite from Chosen tKorea1 has
entered the market.
Ceylon and Korean Graphite.
Information concerning the Ceylon
graphite deposits has been widely scat
tered through obscure publications but
is now made available to American read
-ers in the form of summary of existing
knowledge of these deposits, appearing
in a report of the United States Geologi-
cal Survev-"P Production of Graphite in
contains also description of the Korean
deposits, general information in regard
TO the character, origin, and uses OF
graphite, and statistics of domestic and
foreign production and importations.
There are three general classes OF
graphite-natural crystalline or flake
graphite natural amorphous graphite,
and manufactured graphite, which is of
the amorphous type. Graphite is a min
eral of great and increasing industrial
Importance and is applied to many uses,
though the graphite from any one source
or mine is never adapted to all these
uses.
Crucible Made of Flake Graphite.
One of the oldest and most important
applications of graphite is in the manu-
facture of crucibles for use in the steel,
brass and bronze, and other industries.
Such crucibles must have good tensile
strength and for their manufacture a
fibrous or fsky graphite is used, the in
terlocking of the fibers adding to the
strength. Ground Ceylon lump graphite
is the material most in favor in the
United States for making crucibles. al
though small amounts of American flake
graphite are also used. Amorphous
graphite has never been successfully util-
lied in erucible manufacture except
for very small crucibles.
The difference in the grades of graph
lite is shown by the values placed on
the production of different countries.
In 1909 Italy was the largest producer
of graphite with 44,S75 tons. valued at
| S320,2s9. The United States produces
only s,243 tons, but this was valued
at S345, 500. Ceylon, however, beats
the world in the value of graphite pro-
duction. This little island produced g.
056 tons and it was valued at s3,237, :
75l OF this the United States imported
more than one-third.
A copy of Mr.. Bastin's report may be
obtained free on application to the Di-
rector of the Geological Survey, WASH
ington, D. c.