Asbestos deposits have been noted in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Greece, and Turkey, but all the above deposits are said to consist of coarse and brittle material of little commercial value. A large deposit of good asbestos is reported in the island of Corsica.
Asia.
—Deposits are known in various districts of India. Asbestos is also reported in Afghanistan. Indian asbestos is of inferior tensile strength, and the lack of development renders it an uncertain resource.
The United States Geological Survey reported in 1912 that three asbestos mines were in operation 45 miles northeast of Antung, China. The product, which was shipped into Manchuria, is of the amphibole (anthophyllite) type and quite brittle. Chrysotile asbestos of good quality is reported south of Lake Baikal, in Mongolia. It has never been mined, and on account of its remoteness is not likely to be developed. Deposits yielding a small output are reported from several other provinces.
Asbestos deposits occur in several localities in Japan. The output is of inferior quality and is mixed with imported material for asbestos packing. The Japan Asbestos Co., of Osaka, is the chief manufacturer of asbestos products.
Deposits have been opened at Minusinck, on the Yenesei River, in Siberia, but production is reported for the year 1905 only. Transportation is difficult.
Africa.
—The asbestos of Cape Colony is crocidolite, or blue asbestos; it is of the amphibole type and will not bear high temperature, probably on account of its iron content, but is longer, stronger, finer, and more elastic than chrysotile. On account of its low fusibility it is useful in electric welding. The mineral occurs in three important districts and outcrops at numerous points from the Orange River north to Bechuanaland. Government engineers report it to be the largest asbestos-bearing area in the world. The principal deposits are at Koejas, where the Cape Asbestos Co., Ltd., produced in 1916 about two-thirds of the total amount of asbestos mined in South Africa. Blue asbestos is gaining favor in foreign markets, and this fact, in connection with the great extent of the deposits, indicates that these deposits constitute an important factor in world supply.
Large and probably extensive deposits of chrysotile asbestos of the finest quality occur in the Transvaal. Three companies have recently operated in this district. Production, which began about 1914, in which year 30 tons were reported, had increased to a total of 407 tons in 1916.
A new and important development is the mining of a long-fibered amphibole asbestos known as “amosite.”