Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources
Science
Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources
Geology, Economic; Mines and mineral resources
It has been the policy of Turkey not to allow her mineral properties
to fall into the hands of foreigners. Even while the exploitation of
the chromite deposits was most vigorous, therefore, the mines, although
in many places worked by foreign firms, were largely owned by the
Turkish government or by Turkish subjects who leased them. Thus in
1904 the principal deposits near Brussa were owned by an officer of
the Porte and were operated by J. W. Whittal & Co., an English firm in
Constantinople, while other deposits in the same district were worked
by Patterson & Canghellari, an English company located in Smyrna. The
famous Daghardi deposit, in the Kutahia region, at that time was owned
by the Turkish minister of marine and was operated by a Turk named
Raghit Bey.
In the Macri district, a number of low-grade deposits were in 1904
under the control of Patterson & Co., of Smyrna, and the mines near
the Gulf of Adalia were controlled by a French syndicate. Some large
deposits near Denislu, in the interior, north of Macri, are said to be
lying undeveloped owing to the refusal of the Turkish government to
permit mining.
The chromite deposits in the region surrounding the Gulf of
Alexandretta have been worked in a small way both by Turks and
foreigners. Among operators in the region are mentioned Durian Effendi,
a Turk, representing the Ottoman Bank; Husni Herikizadeh Effendi, a
Turk of Adana; Nader Brothers, of Mersina; Alfred Keun & Co. of Smyrna;
Protopazzi Brothers, of Smyrna, and Mavrommati & Sons, of Mersina,
both probably Greek firms; Loizides, of Mersina; and Hadji Kemal Bey,
of Constantinople. Durian Effendi is mentioned also as having operated
chromite mines near Beirut.
The most important chromite deposits of _India_ are in the northern
part of Baluchistan, but the mines of the Madras and Mysore districts
in southern India have also furnished important amounts of ore. A
small production has come from Bengal. The deposits of Baluchistan are
large and the ore is rich, much of it averaging nearly 55 per cent.
chromic oxide. One deposit is reported to be 440 feet long by 5 feet
wide. The ore bodies are segregations in serpentine. The problem of
transportation is difficult, as the ores are far from the coast and
land transportation facilities are poor. Nevertheless, those mines
have made a steady output since they were opened in 1903. The largest
production was in 1907, when the yield exceeded 7,000 tons. Since then
there has been a decrease owing to competition from New Caledonia and
Rhodesia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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