GRAPHITE 



279 



though its higher cost makes it noncompetitive for 

 some uses. Synthetic graphite, however, is the only 

 product that is pure enough for use in moderator 

 rods in nuclear reactors. It is also used in electrodes 

 for electrosmelting and in anodes for the electro- 

 chemical industry. Total consumption of synthetic 

 graphite in the United States has increased steadily 

 over the last 20 years and in 1969 was 225,500 tons, 

 almost seven times the total tonnage of natural 

 graphite consumed. The use of synthetic graphite in 

 future industrial markets undoubtedly will affect the 

 mining of natural graphite. 



Other details of the economic aspects of the graph- 

 ite industry are given by Lewis (1970). 



EXPLOITATION 



Graphite production in the United States began 

 between 1644 and 1648 at Sturbridge, Mass., but 

 between that time and about 1850, production, which 

 came from scattered operations in New England, 

 New York, and New Jersey, apparently was small 

 and sporadic. During the period 1850-1900, deposits 

 in New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Pennsylvania, 

 Michigan, Texas, California, Nevada, and Rhode 

 Island were explored and developed, and a domestic 

 graphite industry came into being. From the 1850's 

 to 1900, the mines of the Joseph Dixon Co. near 

 Ticonderoga and Lake George, N.Y., were the prin- 

 cipal domestic source of flake graphite, but around 

 1900, Alabama and eastern Pennsylvania began in- 

 termittent production of substantial amounts of 

 flake graphite. In 1911, Alabama took first place as 

 a producer of flake graphite and maintained that 

 position until after World War II. From about 1946 

 to 1954, Texas and Alabama produced nearly equal 

 amounts of flake graphite. By the end of 1954, all 

 flake graphite production had stopped. After a short 

 lapse, production in Texas resumed in 1955 and has 

 continued to the present at the Southwest Graphite 

 Co. mine in Burnet County. 



Amorphous graphite was apparently first mined 

 in quantity from deposits in Rhode Island, North 

 Carolina, California, and Nevada, then later in 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, and other States. By the end 

 of 1954, only one deposit of amorphous graphite in 

 Rhode Island was being mined. Tonnage and quality 

 of the deposits in these States are both lower than 

 the Mexican sources that have supplied a large part 

 of our needs since World War I. 



A high proportion of the annual consumption of 

 natural graphite in the United States is by the fer- 

 rous and nonferrous metals industries where it is 

 used for foundry facings, carburizing, and a wide 

 variety of refractory ware. Total consumption and. 



to a lesser degree, total imports therefore, approxi- 

 mately reflect the general level of prosperity and 

 industrial productivity in the United States (fig. 31). 



Total imports plus 

 total U.S. production, 

 all types 



Total U.S. consumption, 

 all types (includes some 

 synthetic graphite) 



1910 1920 1930 1940 



1960 1969 



PiGUBE 31. — U.S. consumption of graphite, 1910-69. 



Industrial activity during World War I caused graph- 

 ite production and imports to reach a record high; 

 the great depression of the 1930's caused them to 

 reach a record low. World War II, the postwar boom 

 of the 1950's, and the Korean and Viet Nam Wars 

 also caused peaks in graphite consumption. The gen- 

 eral recession of 1949, intensified by disastrous 

 strikes in the coal and steel industries, marks the 

 deepest low since the early 1930*3. 



The data shown in figure 31 also reflect one of 

 the major problems of the prospective U.S. pro- 

 ducer — that of fluctuation of graphite consumption. 

 Since 1949, U.S. annual consumption has ranged 

 from 15,000 to 52,000 tons, a difference of more 

 than 340 percent. Only with bravery and optimism 

 can capital and effort be invested in a business that 

 fluctuates so widely and unpredictably. 



Until recently there has been strong resistance by 

 industry to graphite from any but long-established 

 foreign sources, notably the Malagasy Republic for 

 flake, Ceylon for both flake and vein, and Mexico 

 and Korea for amorphous graphite. Several reasons 

 account for the favored position that foreign graph- 

 ite commanded. Supplier's formulas for refractory 

 ware were based on trial and error. Certain graphite 

 plus certain clay plus certain mixing and annealing 

 gave products with a long life. Changes in ingredi- 

 ents or preparation methods shortened the life of 

 the product, thus changes in formulas were strongly 

 resisted. Uses of lubricating flake demanded coarse- 

 rather than fine-grained material, a preference favor- 

 ing Malagasy flake over others. Finally, many over- 

 seas suppliers had been in business long enough to 

 have demonstrated their ability to maintain quality 

 and provide reliable delivery at prices well below 



