I38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



could have been expected. One company sank a drill in a mass of 

 the Algoman gabbro in search of ore, when a geologist could have 

 saved them time and money. The writer has no personal axe to 

 grind, but he wishes to call attention to the fact that consulting 

 mining geologists are available, whose services w T ould cost less and 

 save the expensive mistakes of present methods. 



Besides the more technical problems, there are the financial ques- 

 tions. The writer believes that Bartley's recent article 1 has a great 

 deal of truth in it that is of value to us and hence he has abstracted 

 certain portions of Bartley's paper. Bartley believes that graphite 

 companies who simply mine and mill the ore, selling the concen- 

 trates or finished products to graphite manufacturers are usually 

 operating on a narrow margin of profit. This usual practice has 

 been one of the causes of the unstable conditions and the fluctua- 

 tions in the industry generally prevailing in this country. Bartley 

 thus comes to the conclusion that the methods which have proved 

 detrimental must be done away with and that " the successful 

 American graphite miner must be to a certain degree a manu- 

 facturer." To illustrate this point he assumes that the finished 

 product of the average plant is as follows : 



1 Flake, 90-95 per cent carbon 



2 Flake, 68-72 per cent carbon 



3 Flake, 24-28 per cent carbon 



4 Flake, 8-12 per cent carbon 



" The first has a ready demand, and the price is based on the 

 price asked in the Ceylon market for similar grade. The price 

 (before the war) was about 9-10 cents a pound. (It is used in 

 crucible manufacturing, for lubricants, and for special electrical 

 requirements.) There is less demand for the second grade and the 

 price, naturally lower, running (in normal times) around 4-4^2 

 cents. It is principally sold to manufacturers of graphite oils, 

 graphite greases, stove polish, etc. The two lower grades are of 

 little, if any, value to the miner, who often is glad to dispose of them 

 at any price. 



" Here to my mind is the secret in mining American graphite 

 successfully. It costs just as much to mine and refine the lower 

 grades as for the higher. The next thing to consider is the 

 average yield of graphite the mine will deliver, how this yield when 

 finished will divide up into the four grades, etc. 



1 Bartley, Jonathan, " Can Profits Be Made in American Graphite? " Iron 

 Age, July 8, 191 5, p. 86-87. 



