The Harrison times., 1915-09-11
Zinc Ore and It's Uses.
tBY T. d. sIsSoNl

lBy ]. d. SISSoNl
lack has climed the bean stalk Of
prices this wear. Zine ore has gone
from % dollars to as high as l3S
dollars a ton, a new chapter in the
history of zinc has been opened Do
YOU wonder that Arkansas, one OF
thu richest ore fields in the world, is
on the boom! This Ozark country
is rich in mineral deposits of all
kinds, but Northern Arkansas is es-
pecially rich in zinc ores. Zinc ore
was first mined here in 1857, and in
1883 there Was a rush ior these
fields. The ore was so generally dis
tributed and so readily accessible
that mines were started in many
places, but at that time there were
no shipping facilities; all of the ore
had to be hauled by teams over
many miles of poor roads to any
shipping points, for it is only within
the last ten years that this rich
Ozark country has been brought IN
touch with the commercial world
through railroads.
Why the sudden raise this year,
you ask. The usual answer, the
war" Until this year we imported
about 20 per cent of our zinc from
Belgium. aud now this supply has
been completely cut of, and not only
has the supply decreased but the
demand increased. for zinc is the
principal ingredient in brass, and a
great amount of brass is needed iu
making munitions of war Brass
has long been in use on machinery
and around Our homes, and the IN
creased manufacture of automobiles
has farther increased the demand.
German silver is 20 parts zinc 60
parts copper 20 parts nlckle. Ger
man silver is used in the manufac-
ture of mathematical and scientific
instruments, and jewelry. zinc is
used to galvanize iron sheets to
make them proof against rust, cor
rigated iron has many uses in the in
dustrial world, and it is galvanized
iron, ridged and furrowed. Zinc is
the electropositive element in bat
teries, it is also used in the manu-
facture of paints. varnishes, dyeing
oils, and medicines.
There are five important zinc ores.
Red zinc, franklinite, about 10 per
cent zinc, calomine. electra calomine,
and last but not least, zinc blend.
Most of the zinc of commerce is de-
rived from zinc blende, a sulphide of
of zinc Pink spar is by far the
most common mineral with which
zinc OF North America is associated.
1t is also found with calcite, or
tiff secondary ebert, quartz, and
pyrite or fools gold" 1t is con
stantly associated with lead, some
times silver, and even gold.
Zinc may be extracted from it's
ores by either the dry process or
wet, or combination of both Com
mercial zinc is obtained almost en-
tirely by the dry method, but a
small amount is extracted by
electrolysis. There are threee steps
in the dry process. First, the con-
centration of the ore to yield high
grade product, and this is removing
the impurities mechanically associ-
ated with the ore. Second, the
roasting of the concentrated ore, the
oxide, when heated with carbon, is
reduced to the metal, the metal
passes of in the form of a vapor,
and is distilled and condensed. Zine
is extracted from its ores with ease
1t takes some great event, like this
war in Europe to make country
realize it's own partly developed
wealth, that is one of the great
benefits that our United States
will reap from this great carnage
Our imports have been cut off and
our demand has increased, so we are
looking around, and finding that
we have these riches right here, that
are only partly developed,