N0nmb.r 1952
INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
The second major agency drawing wood steadily from New
6m,h t a , and k e . Fire is the most speotao~lar,but the damage done by insects and k e is by far the most extensive (Table V). Although there are variation6 from year to year, it is .stimated that on the average h t a and disease are twenty The U. 8. Forest Service estimated timen M deatructive 1y1&e. that all three combined agencies annually remove 450,000 cords ofsoftwood and I,saO,ooO cords of hardwood. In years of severe insect infestations the losses run much high- than the average.
Tab1o "'
Commrdd
-
rowh cords) Boftmodi Errdaood. 4250 3a5a
(Tho-nd
.&
Timber out Timber n m o d by &trap tin agentiea-h inIOEt.. (&. for
450 47w
Io-Yar pniod) Gourca:
in
Nmw England
12'54 16w
Totd 7M)o
1700 9200
U. 8. Fonst &vim
Table VI. DMin os. Q m w t h
Boftaooda
€ludrood. TOtd
4700
45w 92w
5.050
6.100 11.1110
350
IBW 1950
A comparison of the drain of all agencies with the estimated growth in our timberlands (Table V I ) made by the U. S. Foreat Service indicates a small surplus of softwood and an appreciable surplus of hardwood The figures taken simply ere a little hard to believe, for the age-old complaint of the loggers is that it is harder and harder to h d logs each year. There are shortages of timber of certain kinds and eapeoially in certain localities. For example, the cut of pine enw loge in central New England probably exceeds the p w t h rate considerably, wherees in
2529
northern Maine white pine trees overmaturity. Pulpwood is invariably overcut in the immediate vicinity of the pulp mills, while thousands of cords elsewhere rot for lack of a market. Thus the apparent mrplus is located in generally less acceeaihle areas. The key to the utiiiaation of most of these s u r p l ~w d lies in the construction of made which will permit logging crews and equip merit to bring out the wood and in the aolution of the serious woods labor shortage problem which plagues the industria. The growth rate of timber is a very complex matter, and m y of the technical ddails of contmllbg it are still unknown to foresters. However, existing knowledge is sufficient to increaae current growth rata substantially through the application of already proved techniques. The pest few years have produced a very marked increase in the adoption of better management prcgrams. Improved marketa for timber have made more intensive forest management attractive, and the growth rate will no doubt rise witb this wactice. The two goals of better management ere better qualitiand more rapid gro&. Twice as much and higher quality timber can and will be grown by the foresten in New England whenever markets are su5icientlyattractive. Over and above the growing timber marked for industry, there is a considerable supply of so-called waste material which develops in the manufacture of wood produots. Most of this wsste material is used for fuel in the plants, hut there is an unused excem estimated as 25,000,000 cubic feet annually. The material is principally in the form of slabs, edgings, sawdust, and shavings which accumulate or are burned as traeh at sawmills. A few plants are making wood flour from some of this material, but many potential users h d it unacceptable because of the preg ence of the hark. The current development of a process for chemical debarking of trees during the logging will gradually eliminate this objection and wider uses will be found for this m&88 of raw material. Such trends are already evident.
w
RICF%VSD for review Maroh 31. 1952.
A c c a ~ r a oJuly 3. 1952.
Mineral Resources JOSEPH M. TREF'ET" LlNNEESITY Or aUmq ORONO. MAINE
N
EW England is as complex geologically as it is industrially and ethnologically. The rocks that comprise the area are of all types, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, and the div d t y of minerals corresponds. Throughout most of the region a cover of glacial debris mantlen the surface. Broadly, New England is a region of worndown mountains, a continuation of the Appalachian Piedmont. It owes much of ita grandeur and charm of landscape to the complexity of ita framework. However, rich es the region is geologically, and diverse as 8re ita minerals, economic concentrations of minerals are spllr~eand limited. This poverty of mineral rwurces is reflected percentagecollectively the New England state produce lese than 0.5% of the United States total of mineral raw material. With 6% of the United S t a t e population, New England accounta for 11% of the total value of manufactured goods in this country. The relatively d l portion of the mineral production, c o r n puently, cannot be ascribed to an indolent or lethargic population. Nevertheleas, there are Borne basic mineral r w u r w in the re-
gion present in large supply. Some of these are currently drawn upon; and Bome are potential, waiting exploitation. It is convenient in diacusaing mineral resollrces to eepnrate metallica from nonmetallies. The hulk of New England production is from the nonmetallic group. These nonmetallies include gravel end aand, crushed stone, dimension stone, slate. feldspar, cement rock, apstone, structural clays, graphite, mica, asbestos, talc, and a few other minor commodities.
N0NI"ALS Sand and Gravel. Reliable ststisties on the production of sand and gravel are nonexistent, because of the widenpread distribution of these remuroes and the resultant pmductiou from a multitude of large and emall operations. Most of the sand and gravel, used for construction purposes, is obtained from looslired but widespread de@@ of glacial outwash, especially in Connecticut, Maasaohusetts, and Maine. Vermont and New Hampahire h v e
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
2530
Vol. 44, No. 11
METALS less adequate supplies. Perhaps the important item here is that a t most places, a t least in the first mentioned states, there are Copper is the only metal currently produced in New England. local sources of sand and gravel suitable to heavy construction. The Vermont Copper Co.'s Elizabeth Mine, in Orange Co., Vt., Crushed Stone. Although natural aggregates supply the bulk rehabilitated during the war after half a century of abandonment, of construction requiremeuts, rocli is crushed on commercial ranked twentieth among the nation's copper mines in 1949. plant scale in each of the states. AIassachusetts, Connecticut, Production figures are not available, but the production is substantial. A plant is under construction a t Berlin, N. H., to make and htaine lead, The total production is on the order of 3,750,sulfuric acid from iron sul000 tons per year. Limestone. Limestone fide gangue from Vermont is in various forlns T h e national total valuation of mineral production is operation. for many purposes. In tht, estimated at some 10.5 billion dollars (1949). Of this, A magnesium plant, New England accounts for approximately 0.5%. The based on local dolomite New England area are ten
active plants that produce hydrated and quicklimr, and other lime products. Four of these are in westerri
h ' a s s a c h u s e t t s , three i n Vermori t,, two in the Rockland, LIaine, area, and onr
principal mineral products are nonmetallics-sand and gravel, stone, lime and cement, asbestos, talc, slate, feldspar, and structural clay. With the exception of asbestos, the known reserves of these products are large and production can be expanded readily. Copper is the only metal currently produced. Resources not currently exploited include dolomite (for magnesium), manganeseiron deposits, molybdenum, and pyrrhotite. The development of these hinges on technologic improvements in extraction or beneficiation, or on national necessity.
e ti t' Alassachusetts plants produce about 100,000 toris of quick and hydrated lime per yrar and Vermont producrls about 30,000 tons; production figures are not available for the other two st,ates. Production of limestone for chrmical and metallurgical uses, in various forms, could undoubtedly be substantially increased, hut distribution of pure limestone and IllaI'ble is apparently very localized and there is litt,le probability of large new tonnage (listricis entering the picture. Impure or siliceous limestones, possibly suitable for cement or glass wool, are more widespread. Slate. Maine and Vermont are act,ive producers of slate, and production could easily be expanded. If profitable, use could be made of ground slate; both states have large dumps of broken s1at.e above ground. Minor use of this can be made for roofing grnnules and linoleum or ot,her filler, hiit, large tonnage uses in addition are needed. Talc. Theonly talc production in New England is in Vermonabout 65,000 tons per year. The industry is Tell established and although estimates of reserves are not available, they appear to be adequate to support enlarged product,ion. Asbestos. Asbestos is produced, also, only in Vermont. This state is, indeed, the only large producer of asbestos in the United States. The product is mainly short fiber, and the annual tonnage is on the order of 50,000 tons prr year. The reserves helow ground are thought to be large. Feldspar. Feldspar is produced in Kew IIampshire, Maine, and Connecticut in that order of irnportance. The total tonnage approximates some 60,000 tons per year, with New Hampshire accounting for about half. If the prodirtion methods were furt,lier modernized, total output could supply any demands. Structural Clay. Structural clay products, mostly brick, are produced in all the New England states, from local clays. These clays are for the most part rock-flour clays of nonrefractory t'ype. Raw, these clays are not adapted to higher quality uaes, although small potteries are locally established, as a t Blue Hill, Maine. Graphite. Graphite, used for foundry facings, is produced only in Rhode Island from a met,amorphic coal bed. Other parts of the region have graphitic schists that could produce large quantities of fine flake if economic conditions were favorable. The mineral is easily separat>edfrom t,he rock which contains it. Mica. iLlica is produced in Nem Hampshire, hlaine, arid Connecticut. Without supportPrices, the vvartinle production of mica fell off, and in this region no mines produced mica except as a by-product of feldspar oI>pratioll. Some scrap anti a little sheet mica are brought out in this way. A new price support, program (1952) is reactivat,ing mica mining, Lut production under this program so far has t i t ~ nsmnll. I'
I'
(calcium-magnesium carbonate) a t Canaan, Conn., was operated during t'he war and is reported as now On
a stand"by basis. UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES
A number of potentially significant sources of minera1 production exist in New England. Future development of some of these depends on market and technologic factors. Manganese. In northern Maine, in two deposits known through drilling, are over 100,000,000 tons of manganese-bearing rock which averages about 11% manganese and 25% iron. The manganese is in considerable part in silicate compounds. These deposits constitute one of the two or three large-volume reserves of manganese on this continent, and in emergency these sources might be invaluable. I n peacetime, if an economic process is developed for extraction of the manganese and iron, they could be a profitable basis for industry. They stand as a challenge to the chemical industry, for it is apparent that recovery of this manganese must be by chemical process. Sulfur. With increasing demands for sulfur, and relatively few discoveries of new sources of brimstone, New England pyrite and pyrrhotite deposits may well come into production. One of the largest sulfide bodies east of the Mississippi River lies in central hlaine, undeveloped. The search is on elsewhere for reserves of sulfur in sulfide form. Others. Other types of deposit may eventually be tapped. It is possible, for example, that sillimanite (4I2SiO6)used in ceramic manufactures could be economically produced. It is certain that dolomite is locally available for production. New uses for peat might be developed. The outlook for metals is not overbright, although the recovery of the Vermont copper district suggests that new discoveries may be made in other old districts, as a t Blue Hill, Maine. By and large, however, the known deposits of metals are too small to support operation. Clay of the rock-flour rather than clay mineral type is abundant If these blue and gray clays could be successfully treated to render them applicable to such large tonnage consumption as paper manufacture, or to higher grade ceramic uses, the raw clay presmt would support any tonnage demands. SUMMARY
The opportunities for expansion and development of mineral production, although limit'ed, are nevertheless real and substantial. Development of the geological resources of this region depends in considerable measure upon learning how to use what is present in abundance, and how to improve or extract, within economic limits, both desirable and undesirable constit'uents. R E C E I V Efor D review March 3 1 , 1952.
ACCEPTED August 20, 1952.
