Manufacturing opportunities in the state of Washington . By far the most promising source of pot-ash lies in the second division, namely, the igneous rocks. There is an incalculably great tonnage of potash in the feld-spar, which constitutes one of the chief minerals in the graniterocks occurring in practically every district of the country. Itis easily possible to get rock in quarry size operations that willrun 10 per cent, potash. The pure feldspar which occurs in((uantity in nuuiy places will run as high as Ifi pei cent, potash. 164 Matuifacturing Op port a nit its in Washington Ta
Manufacturing opportunities in the state of Washington . By far the most promising source of pot-ash lies in the second division, namely, the igneous rocks. There is an incalculably great tonnage of potash in the feld-spar, which constitutes one of the chief minerals in the graniterocks occurring in practically every district of the country. Itis easily possible to get rock in quarry size operations that willrun 10 per cent, potash. The pure feldspar which occurs in((uantity in nuuiy places will run as high as Ifi pei cent, potash. 164 Matuifacturing Op port a nit its in Washington Tailings from certain gold and copper ores run very high in pot-ash,—4 to 13 per cent. K^O. lentil recently, no practical process had been perfected l)_vwhich this potash could be separated and collected without ex-cessive expense, but a short time ago the Riverside PortlandCement Company of southern California, in an endeavor toeliminate the dust from their plant, reached a solution. The dustfrom all parts of the cement plant is drawn through chambers. highly charged with electric current and every part of the dustis jjrecipitated, leaving onlv inert gas to escape into the air. Before the installation of the process, the cement companywas throwing several hundred tons of dust into the air evcrv 24hours. Now it is found that this dust which is collected by theelectrical process contiiins practically all of the potash that oc-curred in the original raw materials. This dust contains aj)proximately 1 per cent, of ]iotash. Itis now being run back into a special kiln where the potash isvolatilized. The (jotasli leaves the kiln along with some dust andis collected in the electric precijiitation chambers. This dustcontains 10 per cent. ])otash, in the form of potassium sulphate,and is now finding a Ieady sale to the very orange growers whobefore attempted to shut down the cement companies because Fertiliser Resources 165 tlie dust injured their orcliards. About 4 tons of dust contnini
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmanufactures, bookyea
