The Economic Aspect of GeologyLeith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Science
The Economic Aspect of Geology
Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)
Geology, Economic
In the few deposits (_e. g._, those of Almaden, Spain, and of the deep
mines of New Almaden and New Idria, California,) where there is no such
clear relation to volcanic rocks as generally observed, but where the
ores contain the same characteristic set of minerals, it is concluded
that practically the same processes outlined above have been active in
their formation; and that the volcanic source of the hot solutions
either failed to reach the surface or has been removed by erosion. The
same line of reasoning is carried a step further, and in many
gold-quartz veins in volcanic rocks, where cinnabar and its associated
minerals are present, it is believed that waters of a hot-spring nature
have again been effective. Thus cinnabar, when taken with its customary
associations, is regarded as a sort of geologic thermometer.
In the weathering of mercury deposits, cinnabar behaves somewhat like
the corresponding silver sulphide, argentite. In the oxide zone, native
mercury and the chloride, calomel, are formed. In the Texas deposits a
red oxide and a number of oxychlorides are also present. The carrying
down of the mercury and its precipitation as secondary sulphide may
have taken place in some deposits, but this process is unimportant in
forming values.
TIN ORES
ECONOMIC FEATURES
The largest use of tin is in the manufacture of tin-plate, which is
employed in containers for food, oil, and other materials. Next in
importance is its use in the making of solder and of babbitt or bearing
metal. Tin is also a constituent of certain kinds of brass, bronze, and
other alloys, such as white metal and type metal. Minor uses include the
making of tinfoil, collapsible tubes, wire, rubber, and various
chemicals. Tin oxide is used to some extent in white enameling of metal
surfaces. Roughly a third of the tin consumed within the United States
goes into tin-plate, a third into solder and babbitt metal, and a third
into miscellaneous uses.
The ores of tin in general contain only small quantities of the metal.
Tin has sufficient value to warrant the working of certain placers
containing only a half-pound to the cubic yard, although the usual run
is somewhat higher. The tin content of the vein deposits ranges from
about 1 per cent to 40 per cent, and the average grade is much closer to
the lower figure.
Great Britain has long controlled the world's tin ores, producing about
half of the total and controlling additional supplies in other
countries. The production is in small part in Cornwall, but largely in
several British colonies--the Malay States, central and south Africa,
Australia, and others. The Malay States furnish about a third of the
world's total. Another third is produced in immediately adjacent
districts of the Dutch East Indies, Siam (British control), and China,
and some of the concentrates of these countries are handled by British
smelters, especially at Singapore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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