GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PYRITE
While pyrite is a very widely distributed mineral, there are relatively few deposits which are of sufficient importance to enter into the world’s commerce. This is generally due to the relatively small value of its sulphur content per ton, usually from 40 to 45 per cent. of recoverable sulphur; which means that it takes almost 2¹⁄₂ tons of pyrite to be equivalent to the ton of sulphur which competes with it for many uses. Consequently pyrite seldom moves far, unless it is so situated as to take advantage of cheap ballast rates where little other freight is available for ships, or unless it carries important copper or gold values, which can be recovered after the sulphur content has been utilized. Many known deposits, such as those in Mexico and the Western United States, remain undeveloped because of their distance from market. In countries such as Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and the Eastern United States production is absorbed by the local market. Spain and Portugal, the most important source of world supply, are favorably located to ship to near-by European countries or to secure cheap ballast rates to the United States, and in addition much of the ore carries several per cent. of copper.
Norway is second in export, with a high-grade pyrite carrying copper values, which is shipped to Sweden or across the Baltic to near-by countries. Canada ships considerable pyrite to the near-by markets of the United States, the Quebec product having copper values, while the product of Ontario takes advantage of boat shipments on the Great Lakes.
Spain and Portugal.
—The deposits of Spain and Portugal are the largest and most important in the world, furnishing approximately two-thirds of the world supply. The district is essentially a unit, and the principal deposits occur in a zone extending from Rio Tinto, Spain, to San Domingo, Portugal. The combined annual production of iron and copper pyrites for the two countries is normally almost 4 million metric tons, 90 per cent. of which is furnished by Spain and 10 per cent. by Portugal. About two-thirds of the total output carries copper values, which may be recovered before the pyrite is roasted for its sulphur value or after. When copper is to be recovered at the mine the ore is leached by spreading it out in beds exposed to the weather and frequently stirring it and wetting it down. The copper goes into solution and is precipitated on scrap iron, forming cement copper. The process takes about 3 years and the pyrite residue is shipped as washed ore. The ore is compact and finely crystalline and carries from 48 to 51 per cent. sulphur. Conservative estimates of ore reserves for the district give it from 300 to 400 million tons, or enough to last for one hundred years at the present rate of production. Consequently this district is destined to long remain the chief pyrite-producing center of the world.
The Rio Tinto Co. is the principal producer, contributing about one-third of the total output of the whole district (Spain-Portugal). It is owned by British and French capital. Mining is largely by open-pit methods, and the company employs 25,000 men. The ore carries about 2 per cent. copper, making this company the largest European producer of that metal. The reserves are estimated as 250 to 300 million tons, representing the major part of the whole district. The Rio Tinto Co. furnishes about 60 per cent. of the 1,000,000 tons of Spanish pyrite normally imported by the United States.
The second principal producer is the Tharsis Sulphur and Copper Mines (British), with about one-eighth of the total production. British capital is predominant in the district as a whole, with the balance French and Spanish. Huelva, Spain, is the principal point of export, located from 30 to 40 miles from the mines. Under normal conditions the pyrite moves at cheap ballast rates, and has been sold at from $6 to $7 per long ton (12 to 16 cents per unit of sulphur), delivered in United States ports. Normally this Spain-Portugal district exported one-quarter of its output to the United States, one-eighth to England, one-eighth to Holland, one-eighth to Germany, and most of the balance to France and Belgium.
Norway and Sweden.
—Norway produces from 400 to 500 thousand tons of pyrite per year (about 8 per cent. of the world’s total), and her output is steadily increasing. The ore usually carries from 1 to 3 per cent. copper and from 42 to 49 per cent. sulphur; and is free from arsenic. Seven-eighths of the output is exported to Sweden, Germany, England and Russia. When Sweden’s import of sulphur (about 40,000 tons) was cut off during the war, she changed the equipment of her cellulose plants to burn pyrite instead of sulphur and took about one-half of the Norwegian output, since her own production of pyrite (about 30,000 tons) was of minor importance.
The Norwegian deposits are widely distributed from south of Bergen to the extreme northern end of the peninsula. The ore is generally massive cupriferous pyrite, occurring in flat lenses in chlorite schists in areas of regional metamorphism. About 250,000 tons comes from the Trondhjem district, where the Lokken mines of the Orkla Mine Co. are the largest producers.
The northern district is second in importance, with about 150,000 tons annual production, chiefly from the Sulitjelma mine at the Swedish frontier, near the Polar Circle. In the eastern district the Fodal Copper & Sulphur Co. has a production of from 75,000 to 100,000 tons. Norway has sufficient known reserves to last for thirty years at the present rate of production and probably for much longer. The largest reserves are in the Trondhjem district. Sweden is also reported to have large reserves, although there has been little development so far.
The commercial control of the mines is principally English and Norwegian. It was reported that mines with large reserves near Narvik were owned by German interests, but were purchased by Swedish interests during the war.
France.
—For many years France has produced about 300,000 tons of pyrite per annum, or about 5 per cent. of the world output. The principal deposits are at Sain-Bel, near Lyons, in the Department of Rhône. The product is high in sulphur. The known reserves are probably from ten to twelve million tons. The output is used for home consumption, and in the past was supplemented by the import of Spanish pyrite, and Sicilian and United States sulphur.
Italy.
—In addition to her large sulphur production Italy has produced a considerable quantity of pyrite, which has been used locally in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. Pyrite production was about 300,000 tons before the war and increased to 400,000 tons in 1916, so that Italy produces about 6 per cent. of the world output. The pyrite contains about 45 per cent. of sulphur and a small part of it carries copper values. The principal production comes from a district near Florence, although a number of smaller mines are widely scattered.
Russia.
—Russia has large pyrite deposits located in a belt parallel to the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains. The Kyshtim and Sissert districts furnish the principal output. Reports indicate a good grade of pyrite with high sulphur content. The production has been in the neighborhood of 150,000 tons, or about 2 per cent. of the world total. Production had been steadily increasing up to the time of Russia’s economic collapse, but has been limited, due to the remote location of the deposits from the chief centres of consumption at Petrograd, Moscow, and Odessa. It is to be expected that Russia, after she regains her balance, will continue to import pyrite to a considerable extent, as she has done in the past.
Germany, Austria and Hungary.
—The pre-war German production was from 200,000 to 250,000 tons of pyrite per annum, or about 4 per cent. of the world output. About two-thirds of the output comes from deposits near Meggen. The pyrite is estimated to run about 43 per cent. sulphur. It is reported that the pyrite output was largely increased during the war, as Germany had been importing from 800,000 to 1,000,000 tons of pyrite. She continued to import some Norwegian pyrite, which is especially desirable because of its recoverable copper content. Germany secures a considerable amount of sulphuric acid as a by-product from zinc smelters, which helped to make up the deficiency in her sulphur resources.
Hungary normally produces about 100,000 tons of pyrite per annum, chiefly from the deposits of Schemnitz.
Cyprus.
—An important deposit of cupriferous pyrite is under development in an old copper-mining region on the northwest coast of Cyprus. Several million tons of ore are reported, containing a high sulphur content and high copper values. It is being developed on a large scale by the Cyprus Mines Corporation, representing United States capital, and may be expected to become an important factor in pyrite export.
The United States.
—The pre-war production of the United States was about 350,000 long tons, or 6 per cent. of the world’s production, compared to an import of about 1,000,000 tons. About 40 per cent. of the total was produced in Virginia and largely sold for use in acid-phosphate plants from Maryland to Georgia; about 25 per cent. was produced in California and used for local acid manufacture in the vicinity of San Francisco; about 15 per cent. was produced in New York State; and the balance was scattered, coming as a by-product from coal mines in Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, and from the zinc-mining region of southern Wisconsin. During the war, production was increased by about 50 per cent., but with no discoveries which promise to greatly increase the permanent production of the country. On the whole the deposits are not of very high quality, averaging about 40 per cent. sulphur content. Very large reserves of pyrrhotite are located in western Virginia and eastern Tennessee, but have not been very extensively utilized. Large reserves of pyrite exist in Colorado, Arizona, Utah and other western states, but are too far from the acid plants located in the East and South to compete. On the whole, the scanty development of pyrite in the United States is due to the competition of high-grade Spanish pyrite coming in to the Atlantic ports at cheap ballast rates; to the import of Canadian pyrite either to near-by points in New England or to the Great Lakes ports; to the large production of cheap sulphur from Louisiana and Texas, which has monopolized the sulphite pulp trade; and to the recovery of by-product acid from copper and zinc smelters. The great increase in the production of sulphur during and since the war is very likely still further to curtail the market for pyrite. The production of pyrite has been in the hands of American companies, several of the larger operations being controlled by concerns either in the acid or fertilizer business.
Canada.
—The production of pyrite in Canada has increased rapidly, particularly during the war, to about 300,000 tons. This is due to an increased export to the United States, principally to sulphuric-acid plants. The principal producing areas in Canada are: (1) The district in Quebec, not far north of the Vermont border, where there are two operating mines and a number of promising prospects. There are large ore reserves and the ore carries considerable copper. The principal mines are controlled by American capital. (2) The Goudreau district, located some 40 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, has large ore reserves, but of rather low grade. Thus far an American company is the principal producer. (3) The North Pine district near Graham, Ontario, and a considerable distance west of Port Arthur, has been a large producer of good-grade pyrite. The principal producer was a subsidiary company of the General Chemical Co.
There is a large reserve of pyrrhotite, estimated at about 50,000,000 tons, much of which will average over 25 per cent. sulphur, in connection with the Sudbury nickel deposits. At present it is not commercially important. There are considerable deposits of pyrites in various parts of British Columbia, but these are unimportant commercially because of their distance from any available market. The larger part of the Canadian product is controlled by American interests, chiefly the American Chemical Co., whose headquarters are in New York City. A large part of the Canadian output is imported to the United States through Chicago, Cleveland, and Buffalo; and by rail through Vermont, Boston and to New York City.
Cuba.
—An important pyrite property is being developed about twenty miles from Cienfuegos, Province of Santa Clara, Cuba. It is reported as containing several million tons of good-grade ore, which will average at least 40 per cent. sulphur and may contain a recoverable copper content. The property is being developed by United States capital, interests connected with the Davison Chemical Corporation, of Baltimore, Md., who are one of the largest producers of sulphuric acid on the Atlantic Coast. This property promises to be an important near-by source of pyrite for the United States.
Mexico.
—Important pyrite deposits are known to exist in Mexico, but they are of no present commercial importance because of inaccessibility and high freight rates, and unsettled political conditions. A large deposit is reported about 30 miles inland in the State of Guerrero, containing several million tons of high-grade pyrite of approximately 48 per cent. sulphur content and free from arsenic.
There is no prospect that Mexico will be of any immediate importance in the world pyrite situation.
Japan.
—Japan has a small pyrite production of from 75,000 to 100,000 tons per year, or about 1¹⁄₂ per cent. of the world output. Much of it carries copper values. The production comes from several scattered localities. The state has reserved the ownership of the original mineral rights, and the operators to whom they have been leased appear to be entirely Japanese. Japan consumes her pyrite for local purposes, and exports most of her sulphur.