﻿ASBESTOS AND MANGANESE DEPOSITS. 167 



Island of 3fasbate and a deposit, concerning the extent or grade of which 

 I have as vet received no reports, has been cut through along the new 

 road from Capas to Iba in Luzon. 



There can be no question about the sale of apatite, the phosphate, for 

 it is always valuable as a fertilizer. This mineral and the organic 

 phosphate deposit, guano, are sure to find a market, if not at present in 

 the Philippines where the soil has never yet been deeply disturbed for 

 agricultural uses, certainly among the Japanese firms, who should take 

 considerable quantities. 



Mica and talc, as they are encountered in these deposits, can only be 

 utilized in minor ways, such as for insulating parts of electrical appa- 

 ratus, for lubricants, "frosting" for Christmas effects, etc., and it is 

 doubtful if there is as yet any local demaqd and also it is improbable that 

 there would be any great call from the outside. 



There should be a good, steady, local market for the ocher for, if I 

 am correctly informed, the Manila Chinamen handle greater or less quan- 

 tities of the red and yellow mineral paints. If the day of buge red 

 barns and granaries is ever inaugurated in these Islands, then there 

 should be a considerable use for pigment of this class. 



The granulated quartz and feldspar might be made use of in the 

 manufacture of glass, which is just being begun in Manila, and in the 

 ceramics which are already being manufactured. Although a pure quartz 

 sand, such as one would get from crushed quartzite, would be better, 

 doubtless a good grade of silica could be obtained by separating the quartz 

 from the feldspar in this deposit and using it in glass manufacture, 

 whereas the feldspar could be employed in the making of pottery. 



The building stone would undoubtedly have to depend on an extremely 

 local demand. The Hongkong granite, a decidedly better and prettier 

 stone, can very probably be imported to Manila at a figure which would 

 be the same or less than that for which the Ilocos Xorte granulite could 

 be placed on the market. 



Asbestos, — The asbestos of Ilocos Xorte is of two varieties, the '"'par- 

 allel'" and the "cross fiber," with the former species predominating. 



The "cross fiber" variety, true chrysotile. has up to the present scarcely 

 made its appearance. This, it is hardly necessary to state, is the kind 

 most eagerly sought. The "parallel fiber" asbestos is a variety of mineral 

 distinct from that of the "cross fiber" and consists largely of the minerals 

 anthophvllite and tremolite. both amphiboles; the latter being the mineral 

 chrysotile. having its origin in serpentine. The anthophvllite does not 

 necessarily have any connection with serpentine. 



In order to bring the differences clearly before the reader, some of 

 whom may not be mineralogists. I have culled data of a mineralogical 

 nature regarding these and other varieties of asbestos from the best 

 sources at hand. 



