INDUSTRIAL AND E N G I N E E R I N G CHEMISTRY
483
Mineral and Fuel Resources RICHARD J. LUND AND DAVID D. MOORE BILTTELL~
m o m msrmm,
From the standpoint of mineraland fuelresources for the chemicd industries, the five East North G n t d staten
the Q-t I&w o h r eMund futurn supplien of Nch h d c materids M coal, limeatone. dolomite, d t , brinw, fluonpar. silica, iron, copper, and zinc. Byproducts of such industrim as iron nnd &eel manufacture. paml.um dining, and zinc melting in the M(L d l continue to supply large gUMtitir of chemical raw maWring
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HE five East North Central states bordering the Great Lakes are richly endowed with mineral and fuel resources that ensure adequate raw material supplies to support long-continued growth of chemical industries in this area of high industrial and population concentration, Miuerals are generally of the common work-horse variety rather than 0ashy specialties, but these are the ones needed in large tonnages by chemical plants. The area is charact+zed by huge reserves of coal, limestone, dolomite, salt, brines, 0uompar, silica, and iron, and lesaer amounts of copper, zinc, oil, and gas. In 1950, these five states accounted for mineral and fuel output valued at ahout $1.2 billion or 10% of the value of the total U.5. output. Large additional supplies of valuable raw inaterials or intermediates for chemical indwtries are available at the large steel-producing, petroleum-relining, and einc-smeltingcentem in the m a . Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois ranked among the firat four states in production of crushed limestone for miseellaneons use8 (including chemicals) in 1950. Michigan and Ohio ranked fist and tbird in output of salt; Illinois was fust in 0uompar production: and Ohio waa first in lime manufacture. i f u e l s , all the states except Wisconsin have important prcduction and reserves of coal, petroleum, and natural gaa. Oil and gas are largely from old settled production, but substantial quantities d l be produced for some time to augment supplies coming into the m a via pipelme from the large producing areas of the
COLUMBUS. orno
Southwest. Large reserves of excellent coal in Ohio, Illinois. and Indiana assure plentiful local supplies for chemical industries that will depend more and more in the future on thia material not only for relatively cheap power and process steam, but also for a cheap baeic raw material from which to produce increasing amounts of chemicals.
LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE Figure 1 shows the general distribution of high calcium limestone and dolomite in the five-&ate m a under review. With the exception of Wisconsin, high calcium limestone is abundantly distributed throughout the area. Probably the largest limestone quarry in the world is found in theuorthern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, near Rogers City. Huge tonnages of Dundee limestone are quarried there by most modern methods and shipped by self-unloading lske carriers for u88 as 0ux stone by the steel industry; for lime manufacture, and to alkali, carbide, and other chemical works. Reserves are huge, especially if the overlying Traverse formation is included. Limestones and dolomites of northern Ohio, in the general Toledo-Sandusky area, supply the most productive lime-manufaturing diatrict in the country. Areas of high calcium limeatone in central and west central Ohio are importaut sources of 0ux stone for the steel industry of the Ohio-Kentucky-West Viginia m a . While the really Luge operations are opencut quarries, there are &able underground dope and shaft limestone mines in the area, perhaps the hest known of which is the 2300-foat mine of the Columbia Chemical Division of the Pittsburgh Plate Glaas CO. at Barherton, Ohio.
SALT AND B R I m Michigan and Ohio have long heen among the principal salt producing states in the country. Figure 2 shows the general area in the five-state region underlain by the well-known Salina
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Vol. 46, No. 3
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
salt beds, with smaller areas delineated where natural brines have been produced. Location of evaporated salt and brine works is also shown. I n Ohio, the depth of the salt beds increases southeasterly from around 1500 feet near Cleveland to over 6000 feet along the Ohio River in the southeastern part of the state. Salt is obtained (1)by underground mining of the thick salt bed, as in the large mine (1100 feet deep) of International Salt Co. a t Detroit, (2) from natural saline waters. either flowing or pumped, and (3) by pumping water into salt formations and recovering the resulting artificial brine. The flourishing chemical industries of central Michigan and northern Ohio owe their location to these extensive deposits of salt and brine.
the Illinois-Kentucky area have been estimated by the U. S. Department of the Interior a t over 11,000,000 tons of material averaging 50% calcium fluoride, with about 5,000.000 additional tons of low grade material averaging 15% CaF2.
SILICA I n reviewing silica, discussion is confined to quart)eose material of high purity-of the order of glass-sand grade of minimum 95 to 99.5% SiOa. Quartz of this purity is also usable in making high grade silica refractorics and for premium metallurgical uses. The extensive pure glass sands near Ottawa, Ill.! have for many years kept Illinois in first place as a producer of high purity silica sands. The material is obtained either by quarrying or underground mining operations. Ohio has limited amounts of quartzose mat,erialsof high enough purity to be used in their natural condition for highest quality glass sand, but many deposits in eastern Ohio can be washed and treated to obtain the necessary purity. Principal formations presently exploited or that offer promise of future development for uses requiring high purity are the Berea, Black Hand, and Massilon Jandstones and the Sharon conglomerate. Outcrops of these formations form a broad belt (with interruptions) from Scioto County in the south to Geauga County in t>henortheast.
e% WISCONSIN
i
WISCONSIN
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HIGH CALCIUM LIMESTONE
DOLOMITE
Occurrences of High Calcium Limestone and Dolomite
Figure 1.
Salt reserves in Ohio and Xichigan have been estimated by the
INDIANA
U. S. Bureau of Mines and by the U. S. Geological Survey as somewhere between 100 billion and 1000 billion tons in each state.
GYPSUM Although of more importance presently as a raw material to the building materials industry than t o the chemical industry, gypsum may some day assume more importance in the chemical field. Michigan has for many years led all states in gypsum output. Gypsum beds of Mississippian age outcrop near Grand Rapids and a t Alabaster on the north shore of Saginaiv Bay, and another occurrence is reported near llackinac Straits. Reserves that can be quarried or mined from shafts of moderate depth are large. TTOquarries in northern Ohio, near Snndusky, produce substantial amounts of gypsum from beds of Silurian age-the same formation that accounts for the large output of western Yew York. FLUORSPAR
Raw material for the rapidly growing field of fluorine chemicals is amply supplied in the area by the huge reserves of the southern Illinois district near Rosiclare. Illinois has long occupied the top position as a fluorspar producer, with the area acrosq the Ohio River in Kentucky running a rather poor second. Together they accounted for almost S O Y , of the U. S. fluorspar output in 1951. Kith Illinois alone supplying about 60%. Reserves for
I
OHIO
w
BEDDED SALT DEPOSITS
NATURAL BRINES, LAKES, MARSHES,OR SPRINGS
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EVAPORATED SALT WORKS B R I N E WORKS
Figure 2. Areas Underlain by Salt Beds and Natural Brines Recent investigations in Indiana have shown numerous deposits of high silica sand mainly in formations of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian age in the western part of the state. Figure 3 s h o w general locations of silica deposits in the fivestate area.
CLAYS Various types of clays are of interest to the chemical industries either directly for processing-as absorbent, filtering, and clarifying uses-or for ultimate use as refractories or protective-lining material for production equipment. Illinois has produced fuller's earth in the past, and all five states are producers of a variety
INDUSTRIAL A N D E A G INEERING CHEMISTRY
Mamh 1954
of claw for vnriow purposes, with Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan standing high in the national picture.
IRON, F P P E R , ZINC Michigan and Wisconsin have been important suppliers of iron ore for many decades, with mbahtial production from the Marquette, Menominee, Crystsl Falls, and Qogebic districts. Most of thia is from relatively deep underground mines, in contrast with the open-pit operations of the Meeabi range of Minnesota. Reserves of directdhipping ore are Still large, and quantities of low grade iron formation or taconite amenable to conoentration by preasntly known economic methods are almost limitless. Michigan has been an importsnt copper producer nationally for about a century. Present development of the long-known low grade rema from the white Pine district by the Copper FLmge CO. suggests that this region cannot be counted out of the copper picture for soma time to come. Mines farther up on the Keweenawa Peninsula are very deep and require relatively higb copper prima for profitable operation. Exploration in the upper Miasiasippi zinc-lead district of southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois in the past decade baa brought &able new lie to this old mining district. During the period 1946 to 1950, output of zinc from Wisconsin was cut in half, while that from Illinois mines was tripled. But a new operation in Wieoonain only came into production in 1950, and this should ensure continued activity there for many yeara. Illinois' output of recoversble zinc in ores in 1950 was about 27,000 tom compared with WMO tons for Wisconsin. Almost SAYo of the Illinois output is from the northern part of the State, the remainder coming as a by-product of fluorspar operations in southern Illinois. Together these two ststes account for only about 5% of total mine production of zinc. Minor mounta of lead are recovered along with the zinc in northern Illinois and southwesternWisconsin-a totalof 2800 tone having been produced in Illinois in 1950 and 500 tons in Wiscon-
Id,, IIigh-Calcium Limestones in thc Area Served by The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1950-51). Bodes, Oliver, “Stone Indust.ries,” Ken, York, hIcGraw-Hill Book Co., h e . , 1939. Bull. Am. Aesoc. Pet.roZeicm Geol., 37, No. 6, 1280-4, 1301-29 (1953). Corps of Eiigineors, Dept. of Army, Rept. for Bureau of Mines, Dept. of Interior on Synthetic Liquid Fuel Potentials of Various States, by Ford, Bacon, and Davis, Inc., Engineers. Illinois State Geol. Survey, ‘Winois Mineral Industry in 1951,” Rept. Inoest. 158, 1952. Lilley, Ernest, “Economic Geology of Mineral Deposits,” Sew York, Henry Holt and Co., 1936. Nurray, H. H., arid Patton, J. B., “Preliminary Report on High-Silica Sand in Indiana,” Indiana, Dept. Conservation, Geol. Survey, Rept. Piogr., 5 , 1953. Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Development Department, Information about Ohio and Her Natural Resources:
Muoh 1954
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY (18) U. 8. Bur. Mines snd U. 8. Geol. Survey. “Mineral
No. 1 caal,1949 No. 2 Cement. 1949 No. 6 Molding @and(Naturally Bonded) 1949 No. 6 Molding @and (8ynth. Fdry. Sands) 1960 No. 6 hlstursl cfi4 1949 No. 7 Petmlsum. 1949 No. 9 Chemical Limeatone, 1961 No. 10 Sulphur, 1861 No. 12 Lime Industry. 1961 No. 13 Gmurn. 1962 No. 16 lndustriSl8snds and Sendstones. 1953 (12) Ohio De*. Ioduatrial R e l a t i o ~ Columbus, . Ohio. Annual Cos1 Remrt md Nonmstsllia Mineral Remrt with Direotories of
,
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(15)
U.8.Bur.Mi&, “Minerela Yearbook 19M1.”
Position of the United States,” Appendix to Investigation of National Resouroas,Hearing# before a subcommittee of the Committee on Publio h d s , u. 8. 8enste. 80th Congress. 1st 8ecdion. May 16.16. and 20. 1947. (17) Wright, A. J., “Economio Geography of Ohio.” Division of Geologioal S m e y . O b .Bull. 50.186a. R W ~ V E Df ~ r
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1968.
Water Resources UNNBRSITI
A. M. BUSWELL or u u i o m l u l ~m o m STAR WATER E,-
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W. J. ROBERTS ILUNOIS STAR W A R SUBVII. uRBIu(h U L
Tha Eut North C.ntrJ. Statu haw u p u i o n c o d indusM.l ewhioh hu m r l t d in oartrdng d d o p u l -t.r ~ p p inh mm. UU.. Than statu haw a comh i n d ht-d of 2S billion ON pa &y of nuku
Thirdly, of the total precipitation what proportion is returned to the atmosphere aa vapor? Fourthly, of this precipitatioq what roportion gets into
dghth tlu rtknrtd ~ t i ~ withdrawal d billion gallons of ground .R* pa &y. Nu19 O M M t p 6 f t h th. m t d hthdmd YY in th.unitd statu. Tha ODcUmTLc. of &urd ground r a t . r i s a h o m by map.. and spmci6c daelopnunt. tluoughout th. area am dirurd Tlu prmult stat. of inwntmy of -tu msourcu is outlird. th.inrd.guacy of p n v n t v a k r information im indiutd, md th.u v u w h u u impronmont is n u d d in collection of hdc water -uhu data a m ~(l(lrt.d.
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1% water resources are the basis of existence, for without them there would be no lXe-plant, animal, or industrial. The history of water development in an ancient an the history of man, and the availability of water has been a prime factor in the riae of civilizations and the loration of large centera of pop&
tiOL Industry. which in the paet has taken whatever water it required, now is forced to inventory ita m u r e e and use it care fully. The time has come, eepecidy in the field of industrial chemistry, when quality and quantity requiremenin for water place a hi# priority on that m i m e . Elice the growth of the chemical industry has been especially rapid in the East North Centrd S t a h , let un look at the water mmurcen of that part of the country. M d w k (‘7) suggeete that the water mmu1ce8 of an area may best be determined by answering the following questions: Let 2 repwent any given geographical d a c e or area for which this dormation is sought. Firsf what in the total annual avarap precipitation falling upon m a 27 b n d l y , of the total average a ~ u a precipitation l what propo.hion ta into dream channels where it can be measured and uwiaei $y man?
underground channels and mrvom and wtat becomes of it?
PIWSIOORllpm OF EAST NORTH CENTRAL STAW
The five states comprising this seotion cover a total area of nearly 250,OOO square miles or a little over 8% of the area of continental United States. The northernmost state, Michigan, consiata of two peninsub separated by a strait. The Upper Peninsula in bounded by Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan and by White Fish Bay and St. Mary‘s River which separate the peninsula from Ontario. Thin northern part is relatively rugged and mountainous with tittle wear by emsion In contrast the southern peninsuls is a portion of the younger marine sediments whose layers contain oil and coal an well as salt and gypsum. Thin area, only slightly elevated above the lakes, has a gently undulating d a c e , with low dlands common to many parta of it. A large plateau of conaiderable dimension is situated in the northern part of the Lower Penineula, but the northwestem part of the Upper Peninsula is rugged with hilla and mountains. The state in drained by many amdl streams of clear water. I n the w e s b part of the Lower Peninsula are the following rivers: Muakegon, Grand, St. Joseph, Manietee, and Ralamssw. Several glacial lakes dot the d a c e of the lower peninsula. .The climate of the Upper Peninsula varies from extremely cold in winter to warm or mild summers. Prevailing winda in this area am from the northwest. The Lower Peninsula is intluenced greatly by Lake Michigan, and the isotherms have a W e r a l aouthwesbnortheast slant along the enatem half of the Lower Peninsula. July is the hottent month and February the coldest month. Precipitation averages 31 inches annually and is evenly distributed throughout the area. About one half of this falls be tween May and October. Wisconsin, the next northernmost state in this group, is bounded by Lake Superior and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; on
