Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1915-08-13

called rafaelite At Talcuna, in the province
of Coquimbo in Chilli, vanadium is found as
yellow earth in connection with copper ore.
The principal and almost the only commercial
source of supply of vanadium at present is from
Peru.
There are numbers of asphaltite deposits in
Peru, among the best known of which are those
of Yauli. When burned, the ash from these de-
posits yields "a to 40 per cent vanadium oxide.
Other mines are located at Matucan and Casapal-
ca, on the Central railroad of Peru near Calao,
at Huari and atsHuancayo. but the greatest of
all deposits, as known and worked, are at
Minas Ragra.
The Ragra mines are about fifty miles from
the celebrated Cerro de Pasco copper mines and
are in the same mining district. Minas Ragra
had been frequently denounced and again aban-
doned as coal mines. The fuel was of SO poor
a quality as to be hardly worth the mining
Some years ago on the abandonment by C. Weiss
& Co. of Lima, Senior Eulogio E. Fernandini who
was engaged in mining at Cerro de Pasco and
who owned the Quisque hacienda about six
miles from Minas Ragra, denounced the mines
anew. Senior Fernandini had process for
making coke in which he proposed to use the
output of Minas Ragra. Senior Antenor RHO
Patron was the technical director of the Fernan-
DIM works, and on his attention being directed
to mass of black mineral which accompanied
the coal he became interested and made a chem
ical analysis. He thereby discovered that 1t
COHIdlHeu Vdnaulum IN a greater proportion than
any of the heretofore known of this metal
The material looks like slaty COAL is very hard,
with 30 per cent or more free sulphur Ia per
cent silica, per cent iron sulphide, and about
w per cent each nickel and molybdenum sui
phides, and about 40 per cent vanadium suphide
After burning out the free sulphur the ore con-
tains about 50 per cent vanadium oxide
The distinguished Peruvian scientist Senior
Jose ]. Bravo, made very thorough examination
of the locality and published the results In
bulletin Of the Society of Engineers. The sui.
phide of vanadium, not having been Heretofore
known as natural product, was named rizo-
patronite by Senior Bravo in honor OF the original
discoverer Of the mineral. This name 1t still
bears. although ordinarily shortened to patronite.
Rizo-patronite, according to Senior Bravo. appears
In the form of compact mass dark In color
and some two meters thick (about feet
inches), and in his opinion is disseminated over
large extent OF country around Minas Ragra
The earth surrounding the rizopatronite veins
is highly mpregnated with vanadium solutions.
and in small catch basins this impregnated earth
is being extensively worked
Until the recent development Of vanadium In
the steel industry its commercial use was more
or less confined to ink making and colorins
fabrics and leather. The ink is made of a mix
ture of neutral solution of ammonium vanadate
gum water, and a solution of galc acid. This
ink is not destroyed by acids or alkalines. nor
can 1t be bleached out with chloride. The ink.
however, is not very permanent 1t dyeing fab
RIGS vanadium chlorides combined with analine
hydrochloride form brilliant and permanent
black In coortng leather per cent solution
Of neutral ammonium vanadate is used with
leather which has been tanned with nutgall.
The FIRST recorded use Of vanadium In steel
was in 1896. in France. in the production OF ar
NOR plates Tests of theses showed that they
were much tougher and more highly resistant