The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-07-11
FOSFATE IN FLORIDA
How 1t was Discovered, It's Differnt
Forms and Locations

Capt ]. F. LeBaron Of the United
States army, while employed, in 1881
by the government, in making pre-
Iiminary survey for a canal, uniting
the hadwaters of the st. Johns river
and Charlotte harbor, was attracted
by the numerous water-worn pebbles
and fragments OF bone, in the bed Of
Peace river 1t is said, that a num-
Der OF barrels OF the material were
collected by him, and sent TO the
Smithsonian institute, where it " as
examined, under the direction Of
Prof. Baird, who became much inter-
ested in the collection, and at once
made efforts TO have a complete geo.
logical survey made Of the river and
the adjacent country. His plans,
however, for some reason, were new
er carried out. The importance of
the discovery seemed TO have been
fully realized by Capt. LeBaron; but
having been called away on other
duties he was unable TO make fur
Their investigation.
Returning in 1886, after an alb
seDce of five years, he made a more
extensive examination of the river
bed, and reported the result of his
investigation to a party of northern
I capitalists, whom he WISHED to in
terest in the deposits. His plan for
purchasing large tract on the
Peace river for the purpose Of min
ing phosphate. did not meet the APP
prevail of the capitalists, and his pro-
ject was finally abandoned.
| About this time, Col. G. W. Scott,
of Atlanta, who was interested in the
manufacture Of commercial fertilizer,
hearing Of these phosphate beds
at once had the deposits investigated
and as a result, he purchased a large
area of land along the Peace river.
Shortly after this, T. S. Moorehead,
of Pennsylvania, made similar pur
chase on the river, in the vicinity Of
Arcadia, and began mining operations
1.-THE following spring. In May 1883,
/ the first shipment OF Florida phos-
/ phate was made from these works
consigned to the G. w. Scott Manu-
/ featuring Co, of Atlanta, Ga. Other
shipments soon followed; new COM
panies were quickly organized min
ing machinery was purchased and, in
/ a comparatively short time, Peace
river became the seat Of very active
mining operations.
| About the first of Nay, 1888, Mr.
Albertus Vogt, while having we'll
| put down at Dunnellon in Marion
county, discovered a peculiar rock,
which he submitted to DR.. R. r.
Snowden, of Ocala, for examination.
A chemical analysis of the specimen
showed, that it contained over 76 per
Icent. calcium phosphate. This led
to further examination of the rocks,
in the vicinity of Dunnellon, result
ing in the discovery of an extensive
deposit of phosphate Prospecting
now became general, and almost the
entire western coast of Florida from
Tallahassee to Charlotte harbor was
soon found to have rich beds of
phosphate.
The RFllorida phosphates occur in
the form of pebbles and water-worn
grains, or as hard or soft rock. The
former are found in the beds OF
streams; also on land, where they
are of light-gray or very dark color
and vary in size up to three inches in
diameter. Associated with them, are
numerous bones of the. elephant, the
mastolon, the shark, the alligator
etc, all united by a sandy or clay
matrix into a more or less compass
stratum. The land pebbles have
nearly always an overburden of sane
or clay of various thicknesses, the
; removal of which, frequently add.
! greatly to the cost of mining, and i!
one of the most important points, t
) take into consideration in estimat
ing the value of deposit. The peb
: bIe-phosphate is confined principal!
> to Polk, DeSoto, Hillsborough an
> Manatee counties, where they ar,
I know to underlie large tract o
. country; but only small part Of til
total area can probably be worket
with profit, on account of the thick
ness of the bed, and the great dept
of the oyerburden. The percentag
of calcium phosphate is always high
usually running from so to so pc
: cent.
!, The hard and soft ck-phosphate
t which differ from each other, prin
r cipally in their physical conditions
E are frequently found associated to
8 gether, in the same deposit, and .hav
: evidently had a common origin. The
s appear to reach their greatest devel
y opment in the neighborhood of Dun