Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1896 — PHOSPHATE MININS. [ARTICLE]

PHOSPHATE MININS.

The Large Industry That Has Sprang Up in Florida. \ i’i > .j/ A Sew City Has Been Crested by the Growing HusTneas in the Pcofnsnla State- Marketing of the • Material. The Florida phosphate deposits are of great importance, yet their existence was discovered so recently, and their extent is still so uncertain that few persons not engaged in the sale of fertilizing materials have much knowledge of the large industry which has sprung up in the peninsular state. It has practically created a new city, Ocata. which had a population of but a few hundred in 1870, but is now a thriving business center with modern improvements, banking facilities and ample railway and transportation facilities. Engineering, the leading engineering journal, makes the following statements concerning the region, which are of considerable interest as coming from an unbiased source: “There is no phosphate region in the world known to-day that possesses so many advantages for successful mining as the Florida deposits. The grade of material is the highest average that is being worked anywhere. The facilities for moving the products to points for distribution are good. The average distance from mines to ports for shipment: is about 150 miles. Thediatributing stations for the hard, rock districts are Port Tampa, Fernandina, Brunswick and Savannah, the largest tonnage being moved from Fernandina, where storage bins are located and loading facilities are good. Port Tampa, the terminus of the Plant system of railroads, is constantly adding facilities for prompt handling of cargoes of phosphate, and at present very nearly equals Fernandina hi the amount of its shipments. Railroads are numerous and dheaply constructed, when necessary to extend them into new sections. The machinery needed to mine and prepare the material is simple and inexpensive compared with that generally used in other mining operations, and the cost of a plant j with sufficient land to work upon is | within the reach of small investors. The working days at the mines are j about 280 during the year. The climate is healthful, laborers readily obtained at a fair compensation and skilled oper-j atives ate at hand who are becoming familiar with the business. The min- I log camps are generally well regulated, and proprietors and employes can reside at the mines with safety and with little inconvenience, as supplies of all kinds can be readily obtained at the towns located in the near vicinity of nil the large mining fields. Telegraph and mail facilities are within easy access of nearly every mining camp in the state. Florida phosphates are mostly shipped to European ports, and are manufactured into fertilizers in England, Ireland, Germany France, and quite recently shipments .have been made to the Sandwich islands. Foreign agents of consumers and dealers in phosphates have their offices near the center of production, and contracts for delivery and prices are commonly fixed at points of shipment, the material being sold at a price per unit of its contents of phosphate of lime. The Florida phosphates are all used in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers and superphosphate.”—Boston Transcript.