The Apatite Deposits of Canada. 73 



The mineral is essentially a fluor-apatite, containing not over 

 two or three thousandths of chlorine and, in its purest state, 

 about 92.0 per cent, of tricalcic phosphate. The analysis of a 

 selected specimen gave me 91 .2 per cent, of phosphate, but it is 

 generally mingled with small portions of foreign matters, chiefly 

 insoluble silicates, The analyses of seven specimens from dif- 

 ferent Canadian mines, published by Mr. C. G\ Hoffman, in 1878 

 showed from 85.2 to 89.8 per cent, of phosphate. 



The market-value of apatite, which, as is well-known, is chiefly 

 consumed for the production of soluble phosphate by the 

 manufacturers of artificial fertilizers, varies greatly, other things 

 being equal, with its purity. Thus, while at present the price 

 in England is Is. 2d. the unit for apatite giving by analysis 

 75 per cent, of tricalcic phosphate, there is paid an addition 

 of one-fifth of a penny for each unit of phosphate above that 

 percentage, so that a sample yielding by analysis 80 per cent, 

 is worth Is. 3d. the unit. The price in the English market i s 

 subject to considerable fluctuations, having within the last four 

 years been as high as Is. 5JcZ., and as low as lie?, the unit for 

 80 per cent, phosphate. The present may be considered as an 

 average price. 



The Canadian apatite shipped to England has yielded for 

 various lots from 75 to 85 per cent., 80 per cent, being the 

 average from the best-conducted mines, though lots from mines 

 where care has been used in the dressing and selection of the 

 mineral for shipment have yielded 84 and 85 per cent. Many 

 of the smaller miners to which we have alluded, selling their 

 product to local buyers, take little pains in dressing, and hence 

 their product is apt to be lower in grade. It will be seen, from 

 the rule adopted by foreign purchasers, that there is great profit 

 in a careful selection and dressing of the mineral for market. 

 The basis being Is. 2d. the unit for 75 per cent., with a rise of 

 one-fifth of a penny for each unit, it follows that while a ton 

 of 75 per cent, apatite will bring only 87s. 6cZ., a ton of 80 

 per cent, will command 100s., and one of 85 per cent. 113s. 4c7. 



In the present state of the industry it is not easy to say what 

 would be the cost of production. At the outcrop of the large 

 masses of apatite, and in the open cuts and quarries already 

 described, the cost of extraction and dressing is of course very 



