The tunnel cuts this same zone of replacement at a depth of 120 ft. along the dip of the shales. The following samples. show the diminution in the percentage of vanadium. Vanadic Oxide. No. 35, tunnel, average of 20 ft., No. 37, tunnel, average of 4.5 ft., 9.61 7.81 6.51 This impregnation, or replacement of the shales, can, of course, only extend to the depth of ground-water circulation, which in this immediate vicinity will probably not exceed 100 ft. vertically (about 200 ft. on the dip of the shales). Production. Within the period from June, 1906, to January, 1909, there has been produced and shipped to the United States about 1,800 tons of oxidized ores, containing about 20 per cent. of vanadic oxide; also the product obtained from roasting about 400 tons of sulphide ore, patronite. CONCLUSIONS. The occurrence of vanadium in hydrocarbons is not confined to Peru, for it has been announced by Kyle in the ash from a coal (asphaltite?) found in the province of Mendoza, Argentine Republic; also from other localities mentioned in Clarke's Data of Geochemistry." I have found it in the ash from an asphaltite from Page, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The material contained 1.10 per cent. of ash, of which 0.19 per cent. was vanadic oxide. A review of the original articles describing the above-mentioned occurrences has convinced me that all of the materials are very closely related, if not almost identical, in nature and occurrence. In other words, they all appear to be asphaltites containing an appreciable amount of sulphur. 10 Investigators of the subject seem agreed with the opinion expressed by Eldridge in his article, entitled The Formation of Asphalt Veins, that asphaltites are derived from petroleum. Richardson," after a most thorough study of the subject from a chemical standpoint, shows that all asphalts contain sulphur, 9 Op. cit. 10 Economic Geology, vol. i., No. 5, p. 437 (Mar.-Apr., 1906). 11 On the Nature and Origin of Asphalt, by Clifford Richardson, Bulletin No. 1, Barber Asphalt Paving Co.; also, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, vol. xvii., No. 1, p. 13 (Jan. 31, 1898). and that the hardness appears to depend upon the amount present. "Asphalts are distinguished by the large amount of sulphur they contain, and it is to its presence that many of the important characteristics, and perhaps in part, the origin of this form of bitumen is due "The harder and least soluble portion always contains the larger part of the sulphur. It seems, therefore, that sulphur is the effectual hardening agent of natural asphalts, in the same way that it is of artificial asphalts which are produced by heating a soft natural bitumen with sulphur. "It seems justifiable, therefore, to suggest that where certain mineral oils, composed of alicyclic hydrocarbons, originate under such circumstances as to be subjected to conditions favorable to condensation and polymerization, or to the action of sulphur or sulphates, asphalt will be formed, not necessarily immediately, but in the course of time." Further, a method of preparing the sulphides of vanadium, described by Carnot," has some bearing: VS3 is prepared by heating an oxide or a chloride of vanadium in hydrogen sulphide, or vapor of sulphide of carbon. This sulphide, heated in a current of hydrogen, furnished the bisulphide, V2S2, and in the vapor of sulphide of carbon, at 400°, the pentasulphide. Taking these observations into consideration, the occurrence of vanadium in asphaltites appears to depend upon three factors: 1. Vanadium, as oxide, disseminated through a rock of a fair degree of porosity. 2. Impregnation with a hydrocarbon to a greater or less degree. 3. A source of sulphur or sulphureted vapors. The first of these conditions undoubtedly often exists over large areas. In the two districts in Peru under consideration, the two remaining conditions have undoubtedly been brought about by the intrusion of the dikes. It would seem, therefore, a safe forecast, that most asphaltites containing more than 2 per cent. of sulphur contain vanadium. The Quisque deposit may now be interpreted as an extreme phase of differentiation from asphaltite, the intrusion of the dikes probably having had the effect of successively concentrating the vanadium. Further, the unique climatic conditions account fully for the formation of the large aureole of oxidized ores. Had there been erosion by water even to a slight degree, 12 Traite d'Analyse, p. 778 (Paris, 1904). . the oxidized minerals would have been carried away, instead of being permitted to accumulate in the porous country-rock. With the exception of the analyses made by Dr. W. F. Hillebrand, of Washington, to determine the composition of the minerals, and those in Table VI., which were made by J. O. Handy, of Pittsburg, Pa., I have done all the analytical and research-work given in the present paper. Cordial acknowledgment is hereby made to Dr. Hillebrand, whose analytical work has been of invaluable assistance. Acknowledgment is also made to Señor Felipe de Lucio, mining engineer in charge of development of the property, for unqualified co-operation in every phase of the investigation and work on the property. The Residual Brown Iron-Ores of Cuba. BY C. M. WELD, NEW YORK, N. Y. (New Haven Meeting, February, 1909.) ATTENTION has been turned recently to the exploration and development of certain large blanket-deposits of brown iron-ore in Cuba. The most conspicuous of these to-day, and the one upon which the most light has been shed, is the Mayari deposit, situated about 15 miles south of Nipe bay. Here the SpanishAmerican Co. has sole control over 18,500 acres of ore-bearing lands, reported by its engineers to contain 500,000,000 tons of ore. The necessary plant and equipment, with docks and railways, is now under construction for the early marketing of this ore. A similar deposit, and undoubtedly the next to be exploited, is the ore-field at Moa bay, where from 13,000 to 15,000 acres of ore-lands, immediately adjacent to the shores of an excellent harbor, have been generously covered by numerous miningclaims, practically all controlled by four large interests. This deposit is now estimated to contain approximately 350,000,000 tons, on the basis of dried ore ready for shipment, a figure which may be increased when the western limits of the oredeposit have been more accurately defined. Other deposits of the same type, but smaller and less accessible, are those at Cubitas, situated from 12 to 15 miles north of Camaguey city, and at Taco bay and Navas, points lying a few miles west of Baracoa. The area of the Cubitas deposit is said to be 6,000 acres, and the yield of ore is estimated at 150,000,000 tons. The Baracoa deposits are less well known, but preliminary estimates have placed their joint ore-reserves at 40,000,000 tons. Accepting the above tonnages as reasonably correct, we conclude that the deposits enumerated give promise of adding FIG. 1.-MAP OF PROVINCE OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA, SHOWING DEPOSITS OF BROWN IRON-ORE. about 1,000,000,000 tons of iron-ore to the world's supply; they have, therefore, to be considered in any attempt to forecast the future of the iron and steel industries. The map, Fig. 1, shows the approximate location of all the deposits mentioned. An illustrated description of the Mayari deposit, and the proposed plant and equipment for its exploitation, has already been published; also, additional information, together with a brief reference to the Moa deposit. These two papers are largely commercial in their attitude. A. C. 1 1 Iron Age, vol. lxxx., No. 7, pp. 421 to 426 (Aug. 15, 1907). Spencer, in his paper entitled, Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba, gives valuable and interesting information along more purely scientific and technical lines regarding the deposits at Mayari, Moa, and Cubitas. While the subject of the present paper is therefore not altogether new, it has appeared to me that certain features concerning the character and probable genesis of the iron-ore deposits B A. Recemented capping of brown ore, from 1 or 2 up to 10 ft. thick. Frequently absent. B. Clay-ore, red, yellow, or brown in color, from 7 or 8 up to 50 or 60 ft. thick. Contains disseminated nodules and pellets of brown ore, at times agglomerated in the form of beds or layers. C. Serpentine bed-rock. FIG. 2.-IDEALIZED VERTICAL SECTION SHOWING NATURE OF OCCURRENCE OF RESIDUAL IRON-ORE IN CUBA. have not yet been brought out, and it is with this in view that the paper has been prepared. The deposits under discussion possess essential characteristics in common. They occur as residual mantles of enormous surficial extent, with a thickness occasionally as great as from 50 to 60 ft., but more commonly varying from 10 to 20 ft. The 3 Bulletin No. 340, U. S. Geological Survey, pp. 318 to 329 (1908). |