SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
The Potash Stinmiion, 
By HEBER GREEN, D.Sc. 
(Secretary of the Chemicals Committee of the Institute.) 
‘HE greater part, possibly 80 per cent:, of the world’s pre-war supply of 
potash salts came from Germany, and the market was controlled by the 
semi-government Kali-Syndicat. When exportation was stopped during’ 
the war the shortage led to a quest for other sources of supply, and 
many proposals were made for working up materials previously 
untouched for this purpose. , 
This search had, indeed, heen developing for some years previous to the war 
in consequence of the German firm having advanced their charges for potash salts; 
and particularly in America many experiments thad been in progress to test 
other sources. 
OTHER SOURCES. 
Although the occurrence of soluble potash salts of a high grade is limited 
to comparatively small areas, yet felspars, and other minerals containing - 
insoluble silicates of potash, are widely distributed practically all over the 
globe. The insolubility of the potash, however, implies its unavailability as a 
plant food, and consequently agricultural experiments with felspars, even when 
finely powdered, have been discourdging. 1t was more profitable to pay the 
increased price for German potash salts; and, in spite of several attempts, the 
chemical problem of rendering felspar potash soluble is still commercially 
unsolved, and a legacy for future generations. ‘ 
During the war, the price of potash in America rose from about £9 per ton 
to over £80 per ton. In Australia, however, such extreme figures must be 
regarded as merely nominal; for its use in any quantity as an agricultural 
fertiliser would be unprofitable in this country if it cost more than about £60 
per ton of pure potash. 
Nevertheless, these high war prices have stimulated the hunt, and the 
enormous kelp beds off the Californian coast have been worked on a large scale; 
but though they yielded other by-products as well as potash, it is stated that 
none of the companies operating have been financially successful. Brine and 
salk lakes have heen more generous in their yield of potash, and last year the 
Californian works alone at Searles Lake turned out about 10,000 tons of 
“potash.” An account of the efforts made in America to produce their own 
potash is given in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (1918), 
vol. 10, pp. 832-844. 
In 1917 the discovery was made that the flue dusts from cement works and 
blast furnaces contained, in some cases, surprisingly large amounts of potash, 
and the statement was officially made that the problem of potash supply for 
Great Britain was solved not only for the duration of the war, but thereafter. 
Large quantities have been obtained from these sources. ; 
The quest for potash has been world wide, and minor deposits have been 
discovered in Abyssinia, Spain, and other countries; and even Australia, so 
comparatively little affected by the war, has been compelled to join in the hunt. 
THE SEARCH IN AUSTRALIA. 
Some £30,000 to £40,000 worth used to be imported annually, consequently 
the Institute of Science and Industry has given considerable attention to a 
number of suggestions that have been made; and several investigations that they 
have undertaken or instigated may be mentioned. 
1. Kelp—A Special Committee was established in Tasmania to investigate 
the commercial possibilities of the utilization of kelp. It was found that the 
potash content varies in the different species, but is never sufficiently high for 
profitable extraction under Tasmanian conditions. 
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