REPORT OP COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION 163 



Nelson's "Loose-Leaf Encyclopedia." This treats quite fully of this and 

 other processes of extracting sulphur from its ore. In Sicily the ore is placed 

 in ovens and is melted out from the non-sulphur material by the heat pro- 

 duced by burning a part of the sulphur. The melted sulphur runs off at the 

 bottom into the open to cool. The Japanese process is very similar to this 

 but the sulphur there is found intimately mixed with very fine pumice stone. 

 The ore itself very nearly resembles clay. The fine condition of the extran- 

 eous matter does not permit the ready separation by heat as in Sicily. The 

 sulphur ore is placed in cast iron retorts and melted out by means of steam 

 heat, a process called leaching the ore.i 



It may seem strange that California, having deposits of easily workable 

 sulphur just across its borders, should receive its supply from the far off 

 country of Japan. Freight rates by land have set up an economic barrier 

 which effectively prevents all the States west of the Rocky Mountains and 

 from British Columbia to Mexico from receiving sulphur of domestic pro- 

 duction. The cost of sulphur in Japan plus the freight charges to the Pacific 

 Coast is considerably less than the cost of sulphur at a mine in Nevada on 

 the line of the Western Pacific Railway plus the cost of delivery by rail to 

 San Francisco. Whether or not the opening of the Panama Canal, affording 

 a direct water route from the mines of Louisiana and Texas, will change the 

 source of supply for the Pacific Coast remains to be seen. It may be that 

 still other economic factors of deeper significance will prevent any important 

 change in the sulphur markets of the West. 



New Zealand. In 1912 work began on the deposits of sulphur on White 

 Island, New Zealand. The production thus far has not been great enough 

 to be of world consequence. 



Mexico. Consul Wilbert L. Bonneyi reported in 1912 that the great bulk 

 of Mexican sulphur is produced at the mines near Cerritos in the State of 

 San Luis Potosi. The deposit is one of the largest and richest in the world. 

 The production of the mines is about 800 tons per month, one third being 

 consumed in Mexico and the remainder shipped to Germany. 



REFINING METHODS. 



The refining methods in use are in themselves quite simple, although 

 the construction of the apparatus may be considerably varied by different 

 refiners. In principle, the process is as follows: Su'phur is placed in a retort 

 and sufficient heat applied to vaporize it. The vapors are conducted into a 

 large chamber having a vent at the top. As the heavier fumes of sulphur, 

 mixed with a small amount of sulphur dioxide, fill the chamber, the air is 

 forced out through the vent at the top. After the removal of the air, the vent 

 is closed and the sublimation continued until the walls of the chamber 

 become too warm to condense the vapors. The chamber is allowed to cool 

 and the sublimed sulphur is shoveled up from the bottom. 



The finest grade of sublimed sulphur is that which is deposited farthest 

 from the retort. The sulphurs of intermediate fineness are deposited in order 

 from the most remote part of the chamber well up toward the retort. 



i Private communication. 



i Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 232. 



