The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-12-19
By Fl. MD. FRASER

The southern experiment station OF
! the United States bureau of mines,
I located at Tuscaloosa, is carrying on
a number of Investigations and origi-
nal scientific researches which will
be of great benefit in the develop
ment and operation of the mineral
resources of the south and especially
of Alabama.
Not only are the problems In well
known lines of mining, such as iron
and coal being studied, but the lesser
known mineral products of which the
| south has large undeveloped depos-
its. Ono Of the most interesting lines
of work carried on at present is in
connection with the mining and pro-
duction of mineral filters. Large
amounts OF what are known as the
non-metallic minerals are used every
year in the manufacture of many ar
ticles OF every day use. The most
important of these minerals are white
clay, whiting, which is ground chalk,
limestone or marble, tale, silica or
tripoli, mica, barytes. ocher, and
graphite.
White clay is used In a great va
riety of articles. Its largest use Is
In the manufacture of paper especial
ly for books and magazines These
grades contain from 15 to 20 per cent
of white clay. Within the past few
years 1t has been used in the com
pounding of rubber and it's use along
this line is increasing. Large amounts
are used In paints, white oilcloth, kali
| somine and to some extent in cotton
cloth and photograph records. Geor-
gia and South Carolina are the chief
! producers of clay suitable for filters,
but there are many good deposits in
Alabama that only await proper de-
velopment
So far there is no sure way 70 fore
tell whether a clay will make good
tiller except by an actual working
Test various chemical and physical
tests. however, allow the elimination
of unsuitable ones and permit a pre-
diction TO be made as to the possible
value of the clay for some particular
use Some sort of treatment Is neees-
sary to prepare the clay for the mar
ket Some are pure enough so that
all that Is needed Is drying and grind
ing to fine powder Others have
to be washed and water floated to
get rid of sand and other impurities
On account of the cost of this latter
process such a clay mine must have
some advantage over the mine pro-
ducing pure clay, such as cheaper
freight rates. or else so situated as to
make mining cheaper.
white Clay Imported
More than half of the white clay
consumed in the United States is i'm
ported from England. There are am
pie clay resources in the United
States of proper quality TO supply the
demand IL rightly handled and treat
ed to meet the needs of the manufac-
turers. The proper preparation of
domestic clays is one of the many
problems of the industry that the
bureau of mines hopes to solve.
Whiting enters into the manufac-
ture of rubber, paint, linoleum, shoe
polish, dentifrlce, putty and many
other articles. The coarser, cheaper
grades are used in prepared roofing
asphalt pavements and similar lines
of Industry. Up to the present the
south is not a large producer of this
filler, but the natural resources are
here awaiting development and ex-
ploitatiop.
Only certain grades OF limestone
make good whiting. 1t must be COM
paratively free from Impurities.
ground to a pure white powder and
be easily ground, as the cost of grind
ing is the greatest expense in its pro-
duction. For most purposes 1t must