The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-12-19
Southern Station, Bureau
Of Mines, Conducts Many
Experiments In Minerals
General Work of Station Under Supervision of Dr. W.
R. Crane, With Headquarters in Birmingham.
Investigation of Mineral Filters Is Under
Supervision of w. M Weigel

be ground so finely that individual
particles can only be seen with the
aid of microscope.
II In the Same way ground talo is
used in paper, rubber, shoe polish
soap, toilet powder, paint, roofing,
moulded goods and similar articles.
4 North Carolina and Georgia are the
! chief southern producers but there is
also tale I'm Alabama. Silica occurs In
several ways which are marketed
under different trade names. In its
various forms it is used in securing
and cleaning compounds for domestic
use, special grades of rubber wood
I filler, paint. polishes. photograph
records, and insulating materials.
First In Graphite
On account of tho high cost of mica
and the difficulty of grinding 1T to
a fine powder, it Is only used for spe-
cial purposes. such as for giving the
silVery Iuster to wall paper, In GER
tain grades of rubber. as a busting or
dressing powder for high grade au-
tomobile tires and decorative pur-
poses. Tho cheaper grades ground
from mica scists and impure mica are
used in large quantities as coating
on prepared roofing.
Barytes or natural barium sulphate
I Is Il very utdNY NlllNb hAAtAcANNA 1hN -
! adapted to certain uses such as paint,
highly finished paper, phonograph
records, and certain grades OF rub
Der, in which 1t is used to secure spe-
cial properties. Georgia., Tennessee
/ and Alabama are the largest pro-
! ducers.
Ocher is only produced to any ex-
tent in Georgia, but Alabama has
some promising deposits. This min
eral enters largely into the manutac-
ture of linoleum, and the Georgia
ocher is unsurpassed for this purpose.
1t is also largely used In paint but
the southern ocher has not as good
color as some OF the imported brands.
Alabama holds first place as a pro-
Queer of graphite and while it's great
est use is for other purposes than as
a filler, considerable quantities are
used in paint, lubricants, foundry rae
ing and stove polish.
In addition to the mining of these
diversified products, many problems
are met in their proper preparation
for the market. Nearly all of them
are imported to some extent, and the
southern producer must meet TINS
competition of foreign production OF
firms who have had generations OF
experience In the preparation OF the
GlniSheQ DTOuuCls. HuNNSSoANitS
compete they must offer an article
equal to or superior to that imported
In many cases this can only be done
by tedious experimentation. followed
by care in mining and preparing q
finished product of uniform grace
Cooperation Carried Out
Jhe bureau of mines is working In
a. spirit of cooperation with the pro
dueers in the solution of the broad
technical problems that confront the
various lines of activity. Each mine
has it's own particular difficulties to
overcome, as no two mineral deposits
are exactly alike. These must be
worked out by private enterprise, for
the bureau of mines, as a government
agent, cannot devote its energies to
the betterment OF single individuals
or corporations, and must confine its
work to Investigations of general In
terest and good to group OF mines
or district.
The general work OF the southern
| experiment station of the bureau OF
| mines is under the supervision of Dr..
w. Crane. with headquarters in the
new federal building. Birmingham
while the investigation OF mineral
filters is under the direct supervision
of W. NJ. Weigel, mineral technologist
of the bureau Of mines at the labofa-
tories at Tuscaloosa.