The Denver Jewish news., 1919-05-21
VAST WEALTH HIDDEN in
FAMOUS OIL MOUNTAINS.
Oil Shale of the Rockies Produces Forty Sixty Gallons
Estimated Profit $500 Ton and Valuable Products.
By Noni C. Bailey.

WOnueftul simplicity WIN winch
this shale can be mined will sur
prise you when we point out the
site where we expect to build our
treating plant. OF course, it is
practically surface mining-just
a question of breaking up the
rock and shoveling it into the
cars which will be carried by
gravity to the plant.
Can you fancy a double track
leading from that rich formation
up there on the mountain down
to the plant and cars without en-
gines pulling each other up and
down? The cars full of shale,
while sliding down one track, will
by their own weight, pull the
empty ones up the other track
they in turn will be filled and
draw the first ones back after
they have been emptied. Presto,
it is done, and at so little ex-
'pense!
Profit is $500 4 Ton.
A conservative estimate places
the profit on the oil at So ton.
A 1,000-ton-a-day plant would
mean a profit of 5000 a day
from oil alone.
Then there are the by-products
in this shale. Germany declares
that to punish US for going into
this war she will refuse to sell
US. after the war. dyestuffs, sui
phate of ammonia and potash, so
vitality necessary to cur indus
tries. Heretofore we have de-
pended OH Germany for these
things. Now we find that while
we are taking oil from the shale,
at a very small cost, we can also
extract millions of tons of sui
phate of ammonia and pure pot
ash.
As a by-product from oil shale,
hard rubber has been discover
ed which, il. is said, will wear bet
ter. than. steel. 1t is a very valu-
able material. iOr,niany uses. A
test of the durability of this rub
ber was made by replacing steel
water. pistons in the Brooklyn
water plant with pistons of this
material. The average life of
pistons used in this plant, was
from five to seven months. The
new ones have now been in con-
stant use for nineteen months
and are just as good as new.
This material is not affected by
heat up to 400 degrees Fahren-
heit. 1t is also acid proof and,
Of course, waterproof. 1t is light
weight and can be manufactured
at a very slight cost. 1t promises
to revolutionize a great many in
dustries. Many parts of machin-
cry, which are subject to con-
stant wear, will be made of it.
A far more durable roofing
than has ever been manufactured
can be made from a composition
of this substance at much
smaller expense, and roads that
would last for centuries could be
constructed. This is only one of
the many valuable by products to
be obtained from oil shale.
From the refuse that is left we
may CLEAN expensive dyestuffs,
including purple, turkey-red, fast
black and others previously i'm
ported from Germany and Aus
tria-we will also CLEAN gold, sill
yer. platinum and many valuable
chemicals and perfumes. After
this we will take about So worth
of pure carbon and the very last
residue we will spread over our
plains to enrich them, for it is an
excellent fertilizer.
l cannot tell you half the inter-
esting things which could be told
about shale-space will not per-
NIT it-but the human mind can
scarcely conceive all the possibil-
tiles in the oil shale industry.
Only consider that all these tests
have been made at or near the
surface, while some of the shale
runs from 1,500 to 5000 feet
deep and every indication is that
the heart of the mountain is far
richer than the surface.-The
New York Morning Telegraph. :