THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY 



969 



consumers are manufacturers of book, writing and wall papers. 

 The mills making newspaper use relatively smaller quantities 

 than is generally supposed. It is stated that some prejudice exists 

 on their part against talc from this region owing to the grit which 

 is usually present. This impurity is objectionable for the reason 

 that it increases the wear of the machines, particularly when 

 run at high speed, as in newspaper mills. 



The production of talc in 1904 amounted to 65,000 short tons. 

 The average selling price at Gouverneur on the basis of car load 

 lots was $7 a ton, at which figure the total output was worth 

 $455,000. There were four companies in the field, the same as 

 in the previous year. The International Pulp Co. had three mines 

 and the same number of mills in steady operation, with an ad- 

 ditional mill running part of the time. The United States Talc 

 Co. and the Ontario Talc Co. each operated one mine and mill, 

 while the Union Talc Co. ran two mines and three mills. 



On the basis of present prices, the margin of profit in the talc 

 industry is by no means excessive. Owing to the character of the 

 material and the nature of its occurrence, the mining cost is com- 

 paratively high. The fact that in most deposits there is a great 

 deal of waste in the form of foliated and gritty talc adds materially 

 to the cost of production. Machine drills are used to some extent 

 for breaking down the rock, but they have little, if any, advantage 

 as regards economy over hand drilling. With the former, work 

 must be frequently suspended to clean the holes as the drills bind 

 quickly in the soft but tough rock. After sorting at the mines the 

 talc is transported to the mills, most of which are run by water 

 power. 



Milling is a tedious and expensive operation. The final grinding 

 is done in a tube mill consisting of a horizontal steel cylinder 6 

 feet in diameter and 8 to 10 feet long, lined with enamelled brick. 

 Three tons or more of flint pebbles are used in the cylinders, and 

 the grinding continues for four or five hours. The rock is pre- 

 viously prepared for the cylinders by Blake crushers and Griffin 

 mills. The latter have superseded buhr stones, which were formerly 

 used almost exclusively. 



ZINC 



The zinc-lead mine at Ellen ville, Ulster co., has been under 

 development during the past year. The production of ore was 

 limited to that obtained during the course of exploratory work and 

 no commercial shipments were made. The operations have been 

 under the direction of the Backus Lumber Co. of Newark N. J., 

 who took over the property in 1 90 1 . 



