It is reported that at Dielor, in Senegal, about the latitude of Cape Verde, the westernmost point on the African coast, there is a phosphate bed which is 2 meters thick to a depth of 64 meters. The rock carries only 50 per cent. tricalcium phosphate, so it is not workable under present conditions, especially in view of the abundant high-grade rock in Algeria and Tunis.
Phosphates have been found in Natal, near Weenen, Ladysmith, and Byrnetown, in the form of phosphatic shales and of nodules. The percentage of tricalcium phosphate in the phosphatic shales is too low for use in making superphosphates; the phosphatic nodules are of higher grade but not abundant enough to be of value.
Asia and Australasia.
—In the government of Uralsk, in southwestern Siberia, bordering on the north end of the Caspian Sea, there is reported to be 600,000,000 tons of phosphate rock. It is said that the greater part of this material carries 17 to 20 per cent. phosphoric acid, which is equivalent to 36 to 43 per cent. tricalcium phosphate. The government of Turgai, which borders Uralsk on the east, is reported to contain 67,000,000 tons of phosphate rock, most of which carries 18 to 19 per cent. phosphoric acid, or about 40 per cent. tricalcium phosphate. The highest-grade material reported is 24 per cent. phosphoric acid, equivalent to about 52 per cent. tricalcium phosphate. All the phosphate therefore is low grade. No production is reported from either of the localities.
Low-grade phosphate rock, in sedimentary beds of considerable extent, and high-grade vein deposits are reported in Palestine, on the east side of the Jordan. The sedimentary deposits occur also on the west side of the Jordan. The known reserves are about 3,500,000 tons. The sedimentary deposits average about 48 per cent. and the vein deposits 77 per cent. tricalcium phosphate. As the vein material is suitable for export, these deposits have been explored by a French company, but available information indicates there has been no output.
Islands in the North Pacific Ocean.
—After the discovery of phosphate rock on Rasa Island, 500 miles east of Formosa, a number of years ago, a Japanese company was formed to exploit the deposits. The rock is rich, carrying 75 per cent. phosphate of lime, and the reserves are estimated at 2,800,000 tons. In 1915 Rasa Island yielded 50,000 tons. A former German supply of phosphate is on Angaur Island, in the Pelew group, east of the southern end of the Philippines. Reserves on this island are estimated at 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 tons of phosphate rock, mostly of high grade. Germany increased the output from 45,000 tons in 1910 to 90,000 tons in 1913. Japan has held this island since October, 1914, and is mining 30,000 tons or more phosphate annually.
Deposits of phosphate, consisting of replacements of dolomitic coralline limestone, and phosphatic guano are reported on several other islands in Oceania, as Baker and Fanning Islands, in Polynesia, and Fais Island, in the West Caroline Islands. It is probable that on other islands there are commercial deposits as yet undiscovered.
Islands in Indian and South Pacific Oceans.
—North of Adelaide, in Australia, are pockety deposits of phosphate; they are without regular stratification and are of varying quality. The annual output has been 4,000 to 6,000 tons for several years. In the Otago district, near Clarendon, New Zealand, beds of phosphate 3 to 12 feet thick rest in pockets in limestone. There has been very little if any production.