Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1919-02-22

of potash from lands that were but
 recently unutilized public lands. The
 deposit has now been subdivided by
 the secretary of the Interior into a
 number of leaseholds, under author
 ity of the potash-leasing law enacted
 October 2, 1917, and much larger
 production may be expected. At
 present this deposit is yielding
 about 4,OOO tons (gross weight) of
 potash salts monthly, equivalent to
 about 2,000 tons of "actual" potash.
 About 14,O00 tons of salts, equivalent
 to 5000 tons of "actual" potash, was
 produced from this deposit during the
 first half of the year 1918.
 8. Kelp. Next to the primes, of
 which the principal sources of pres
 ent production have already been
 named, .kelp yielded the largest out
 put made by any single source or dis.
 trict. At the close of 1918 the
 larger kelp potash plants had
 already ceased operation, and this
 branch of the potash industry will
 probably not survive considerable
 reduction in the price of potash.
 However, during the first six months
 of 1918 there was produced from kelp
 6.512 short tons, gross weight, of
 potash salts or materials, which was
 equivalent to 2,412 tons of "actual" potash, which was about II per cent of the domestic production of potash during that period.
 4. Distillery wastes. Waste de- rived from molasses that has been fermented and distilled in the manu- facture of industrial alcohol was con- centrated and dried, yielding a potash residue in large quantity that is use ful for fertilizer. During the first six months of 1918 there was obtain ed from this source 7,721 short tons of potash fertilizer containing 1897 tons of "actual" potash. The produc- tion from this source was therefore at the rate of about 1900 tons of crude potash material. This is by-product from an in- dustry already established and will probably be maintained as long as the price of potash covers the cost of concentrating and drying the waste liquors.
 Alunite. Another mineral source is alunite, which is being worked in a deposit in Utah. This is yielding about 20 tons day of potassium sulphate, equivalent to just about 10 tons of actual" potash. This constitutes about per cent of the domestic supply.
 Miscellaneous. The other sources of potash which have furnished only a small part of the domestic supply include dusts from cement and blast furnaces, Steffens water of beet surgar manufacture, green [ sands, and leucie and other silicate , rocks. The manufacture of crude . potash salts by eaching wood ashes las long been an established though , oroportionately small industry.
 The potash recovered as a by- product from the dusts of cement and blast furnaces bears great promise for future production that may be ! maintained in the face of competi- ion. It appears that quantity of potash equivalent to nearly one-third I If our normal annual requirements is low going to waste in cement-furn- zee dusts. The quantity lost in blast ( urnaces seems even greater, but we Ire probably not yet in a position to 2 ay what part of this is practically . recoverable. The cement blast col { ected in the first six months of 1918 t to 5,909 tons carrying 658 t ons of "actual" potash, which was F ess than 3 per cent of the total do- nestle production. The recovery from 4 cement dust increased during the ater part of 1918. Blast-furnace lust amounting to 792 tons, equiva- | ent to 79 tons of "actual" potash, vas recovered in the same period. I Among the potential resources in pro- . ess of development are the potash \ caring silicates, particularly the d eucite rock of Wyoming, the green {, ands of New Jersey and elsewhere, Ii nd the potash-rich slates of Georgia, Ii uch as are found also in other parts d f the country. There are vast re- i, erves of these raw materials in this O ountry, the utilization of which de- f. ends on the discovery or operation e f processes cheap enough to permit V under normal competition it 'ith potash derived from other and rom foreign sources. Many of