No. 4.J APATITE IN NORWAY. 313 



of apatite is given to very pure crystallised phosphate, averaging 

 from 85 to 95 per cent, of phosphate. The apatite mines of 

 Norway are but few, and all situated within an area of forty 

 square miles The worst situated of all is that of Bamble, 

 which lies a few leagues in the interior on the other side of the 

 ports of Langesund and Bervil. The apatite of Norway is not 

 •quite uniform, but its richness does not vary much. It never 

 yields under 85 per cent. The apatite we have seen and analy- 

 sed gives about 91 per cent, tribasic phosphate of lime. 



" The veins are generally from one to two feet thick at the 

 surface, but on following them to fifty feet deep they are often 

 found to increase to six or seven feet thick, and each vein is 

 often from twenty-five to one hundred feet in length, more or 

 less, and descends to an unknown depth. The apatite is massive 

 and hard, and to extract it pits must be sunk, as the more the 

 veins are dug the larger they grow. From this it should have 

 been inferred from the beginning that at a depth of from 150 to 

 200 feet they would unite to a massive bed, of which these are 

 but branches. 



" At Bamble, in the month of June last year, a large bed 

 was discovered after a vein had been followed to a depth of 160 

 feet. This fact confirms the preceding statemeut, and augurs 

 well for the future of these apatite mines. 



" The Norway apatite is generally crystallised and compact. 

 In a few of the veins it is of a white colour, in others of a yel- 

 lowish green or of a red tint. 



" The mines of Husaas in the Bay of Risoer, are the principal 

 and best situated in Norway. This large and important conces- 

 sion is perpetual, and free from all taxes. It comprises an area 

 of about 1600 feet long and 800 feet w r ide. The mine is situated 

 at from 200 to 300 feet from the shore in the interior of the bay, 

 where it is deep enough for even the heaviest ships to load easily. 

 From the mine to the ship, the distance being so short, expensive 

 transport is avoided Iu these mines there are two large veins 

 of white apatite of exquisite formation and great purity, contain- 

 ing from 89 to 91 per cent, of tribasic phosphate. One of the 

 two lodes is 200 feet loug. The other has not been worked so 

 much, and has only been followed. 90 feet, but there is every 

 reason to believe that it extends much further. This remains to 

 be verified, and is of secondary importance. The thickuess of 

 the veins naturally diminishes towards their extremities. As it 

 is very large at their surface, we believe that the bed from which 

 they emerge cannot be very deep, and that the thickness of the 

 veins will double at about 50 feet. But calculating at a minimum 

 upon their actual thickness, it may be stated that if, over their 

 length, at distances from ten to twenty feet apart, only ten pits 

 were dug six feet deep, from three to four tons of apatite per 

 yard dug could be extracted, or for the united ten pits thirty 

 tons per day. This would not take more than half a day, and 

 would allow 18,000 tons to be extracted in a year of 300 working- 

 days. 



