Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-09-02
Page Six.
TIN.
sems FACTS Abdlt the Tin Resources
Of North and South Carolina.

e WIN. n. tOOTIlcii VI hiiiSoiieoh' ~. S''
has addressed the following communi-
cation to the Manufacturers Record:
Your journal is so brimful of en-
thusiastic optimism and promise for
the many and varied possibilities and
interests of the southern states that /
am hopeful that my vision" on the fol-
lowing subject will elicit your interest
and that you will help me awaken the
interest Of the south in general, and of
the people directly interested in parti-
cuIar. through the power Of The Manu-
facturers Record.
tIarefer to this tin belt. which ex-
tends from Lincolnton. N. c., to Gaff-
ney, S. C. The filing in of a part of
q great national need is possible on
this belt, I firmly believe.
The United states imports upwards
of $SD.pOo,0oO worth of metallic tin
per year. In 1917 1t imported 72,1ss
tons OF tin and produced only SO tons.
INhave' yearly reports of many of the
worlds tin mines, several of which are
very similar to this from our govern
ment: mineral resources of the Unit
ed states, 1917. part tpages sS-7s),
published September 16. 1918" On
page 70 occurs the following:
"The largest dredging operator is
Malayan Tin Dredging Utd), which
during the fiscal year 1916-17 worked
s,14f, 400 cubic yards of gravel.
From this gravel 976 short tons of
cassiterite concentrates were obtain
ed, an, average Of 0.o2 pound to the
cubic yard. equivalent to 0.4S pound of
metallic tin to the cubic yard. The
profit for the year was 3s,35s pounds
(about s1s1,756). from which dividends
of 24.200 pounds (about s121,0O0) were
paid" Payenthesis 'rnine.)
Figured ins TONS. taking 20 cubic
feet to the ton of dried ore. this is
equivalent to only O.46 pound concen-
trate per ton and ,0.S1 pound tin per.
tom SSYst considcry their profits. tA !
They have to work 14,135 tons per
day. whereas the ores on this belt.
judging from the average of 5,2ss tons
miiled here during the past 10 years
tnote the sfnafl basis' of operations).
win, average 1926 pounds concen-
trates per TOM against their o.46
pound. over 20 times as rich!
TO produce the same amount of
concentrates per day we would have to
mine only $50 tons, as against their
14,135 tons per day. Also. oil the pro-
nljnenta engineers who have visited
our property tand they have been
coming quite frequently iately), have
said that we lost at least so per cent
Of our values in this very poorly con-
structed and defleiently equipped iniIl,
and probably much more than so per
cent. This argues that these tin de-
posits should under efficient treat
inert, yield over 20. pounds of concen-
tratcs to the ton, or over so times as
MUCH as the ores which are yielding
,sl}dA handsome returns in the Malay
diAtrict.
Dredging is q cheap way Of hand
ling. DIRT, know, but IL our ores do,
assf am firmly of the belief, run q one
per cent average (great quantities run
over this, and some up to II per cent?,
we would only have to move 325 tons
per day to handle the same values as
their 14,1s5 tons carry, and one steam
shoyel drege which to get there and
assemble and keep up, must cost a
greet deal more than a. shovel here
wddid. =
The ore bodies between here and
Gaifhey are enormous, and could stand
for years daily tonnage Of 10000 to
20.e6o. -
Our people owning and interested in
tinse tin properties. have nevor.;, so
far as can learn, looked at this ques-
ti9n In the right. light. These are no
high grade ore bodies, but enormous
low-grade deposits which must be
worked as are all other large low
grade bodies like copper, phosphate
rock, ETC., in the world, e. g., on a
large tonnage basis.
trfiere Is s70,000,000 demand and
every reason why this section of the
south should go after its supply, and
no reason that can see why it doesn't
except lack of knowledge of the true
facts on tin.
Co-operation between the owners of
the; tin-bearing lands between here
and Gaffney could easily result in great
mutual advantages. A very little sac
rifioe on the part of each. a few hours
for conference to start things. and
the seall could easily be set rolling.
/ haven't mentioned the by-prod-
ucts which would be secured with COM
pafatively little additional equipment,
all Of which have their. values. e. g.,
mica, good road gravels. kaolin, rutile,
ilmenite. tantalum. etc.
have given great deal of study
to the question and have worked on,
thought out. what / believe TO be a
cheap and efficient method of hand
ling. these low grade bodies. The con-
centrates obtained from our ore is
very high grade. / have very recently
shipped four tons. assay of e-half
days run of which gave 7413 per cent
tim return (the average output of the
mines Of the world average less than