South America, Central America and Cuba.
—As far as is known, only one chromite-bearing district of importance occurs in South America, this being in the State of Bahia, in Brazil. One deposit has been worked at this locality by E. J. Lavino & Co., of Philadelphia, and the discovery of several neighboring deposits is reported. The first shipments of ore were made in February, 1918, and by July 1, 1918, 12,620 tons had been sent to the United States. The deposits are said to be owned by Newman & Co., a firm of American exporters in Bahia. They are leased to E. J. Lavino & Co., of Philadelphia.
South America, outside of Brazil, has no known chromite deposits of importance. In Colombia, chrome ore is reported to exist near Antioquia and chromiferous pig iron is said to have been produced by the blast furnace near Medellin. In Venezuela, chrome ore is said to occur on Coro Peninsula.
Important chromite deposits lie along the north coast of Cuba in the provinces of Camaguey and Oriente. A small deposit is found in the northwestern part of the Province of Matanzas. The most important deposits in Cuba are those at the Caledonia mine, south of the Bay of Nipe and northeast of the Bethlehem Steel Co.’s Mayari iron mines. These deposits are estimated to contain about 40,000 tons of ore in sight. They are owned and worked by the Bethlehem Steel Co., which began exploitation in the spring of 1918. Shipments during 1918 amounted to 8,820 tons. Next in importance to the deposits at the Caledonia mine are those along the coast, northeast of Baracoa, known as the Cayoguan and Potosi deposits, where about 35,000 tons of ore is estimated to be in sight. The deposits are on the north edge of a rugged mountain range forming the eastern end of Cuba. The Cayoguan claims are owned by Brady interests, American, and the Potosi claims by the Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., of Philadelphia.
In the Province of Camaguey the deposits are found northeast of the town of Camaguey. They consist chiefly of masses of ore in residual clay and float on the surface. The underlying rock is serpentine. The Camaguey deposits are owned in part by Lehigh University and in part by Cubans. The estimated reserves are 20,000 tons.
Exploitation of the chromite deposits of Cuba began in the fall of 1917 and continued during the spring and summer of 1918. Only the Caledonia mine has produced ore. The chromite deposits are all associated with areas of serpentine.
Chromiferous iron ores that are destined to play an important part in the American iron and steel industry are found at Mayari, Camaguey, and Moa, along the northeastern coast of Cuba. The reserves are measured in hundreds of millions of tons. Only the Mayari deposits are mined at present.
Chromite deposits were developed in the interior of Guatemala in 1917 and shipments started in the autumn. The deposits were owned and operated by the International Railways of Central America, an American company, and are situated in the hills 100 miles inland from Puerto Barrios. The ore is in serpentine. It is very pure and is especially desirable for chemical purposes. The average chromic oxide content of the shipments during 1918 was 58 per cent., thus making this the highest grade ore that came to the American market. The ore was used by the Grasselli Chemical Co. Because of the distance from the railroad, these ores are very expensive to mine, and it was only on account of the high prices paid for chromite during the war that they were developed.
POSITION OF LEADING COMMERCIAL NATIONS
The country that leads in the manufacture of chromium products, such as ferrochrome and chrome chemicals, is the United States. In normal times the United States consumes more than one-third of the annual consumption of chromite by the world. In 1913 the chromite used by manufacturers of ferrochrome and chrome chemicals in the United States amounted to 65,000 tons. Owing to the war, the consumption increased markedly until 1917, when it was nearly 130,000 tons. The normal consumption of chromite in England is about 25,000 tons and in France approximately 35,000 tons. These amounts have not greatly increased in recent years. Germany is an important producer of chromium products, normally consuming 30,000 tons of chromite annually. Russia and the former Austrian Empire used perhaps 5,000 tons each annually. Norway and Sweden use small amounts. Russia’s consumption has been mainly in the manufacture of chromium chemicals, and that of the former Austrian Empire was principally for refractory purposes. In Norway and Sweden small amounts of ferrochrome are produced.