New York State Museum Bulletin 



Entered as second-class matter November 27, 1015, at the Post Office at Albany, New York, 

 under the act of August 24, 1912 



Published monthly by The University of the State of New York 

 No. 199 ALBANY, N. Y. July i, 1917 



The University of the State of New York 

 New York State Museum 



John M. Clarke, Director 



THE ADIRONDACK GRAPHITE DEPOSITS 



By Harold L. Alling 



INTRODUCTION 



The world's chief supply of high-grade graphite comes from the 

 island of Ceylon where it has been mined for nearly a century in a 

 most primitive way but at low cost. In 1916 a little more than 70 per 

 cent of the crude crystalline graphite used in this country came from 

 Ceylon. Graphite is also mined extensively in Bohemia, Bavaria 

 and Mexico, the last-named country being noted for the amorphous 

 grade applicable to pencil manufacture. Madagascar has lately come 

 into prominence as a source of the crystalline article and promises 

 to vie with Ceylon in the quantity of exports, which already amounts 

 to over one-half the total credited to that island. 



The graphite-mining industry in the United States has been a 

 slow development ; only recently has it shown signs of a growth 

 which may at last win for it a place of importance in the world's 

 trade. The industry was established here as far back as the middle 

 of the last century, for it has been carried on in the Adirondack 

 region for more than sixty years. Yet the total output of crystalline 

 graphite in 1916, according to the records of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, was only a little over 5000 tons, or less than 15 per 

 cent of the indicated supply available for consumption. Of the 

 total, New York State contributed about one-fourth, ranking second 

 to Alabama in size of output, with Pennsylvania, California and 

 Montana contributing smaller amounts. An incentive to the expan- 

 sion of the domestic industry has been given recently by the cur- 

 tailment of supplies from abroad and a consequent rise in prices 

 paid for the native product. A continuance of these conditions may 

 be anticipated for some time at least so that there is opportunity for 



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