Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resources

Chapter XXVI: Potash

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BY HOYT S. GALE AND A. W. STOCKETT

NATURE AND USES OF POTASH

The term potash is commonly used to designate any of the salts of the element potassium, particularly those soluble in water, which are largely used in agriculture and manufacturing. The element potassium is widely distributed as a component of rocks, soils, and vegetable and animal substances, but large quantities of potassium salts in forms suitable for the uses of man have been found in only a few places. Ashes of wood, which were formerly the principal source of potash in commerce, now supply an inconsiderable part of the world’s requirements. Since 1860, the principal, in fact almost the only, commercial source of potash salts has been the immense deposits in northern Germany. The crude potassium salts obtained from these deposits by mining operations are used either as fertilizer in the form in which they are taken from the ground, or are purified by crystallization or manufactured into various compounds of potassium needed for both agriculture and other industrial uses.

Use in agriculture as an ingredient of the so-called artificial or chemical fertilizers accounts for 90 per cent. or more of the world’s consumption. Potassium is not only one of the ten or more chemical elements essential to plant life, but of these ten it is one of three that frequently become so lacking in soils that the yield of crops is not profitable. Even if potassium exists in soils, it may be and often is present in some form not readily available for plant use, so that the addition of fresh, readily water-soluble salts of potassium shows prompt reaction in stimulating the growth of the crop. In a general way potash is supposed to supply a necessary plant food, that strengthens the stalk and fills the kernels of the growing plant. Also it is a general belief that some destructive plant diseases, such as blight and rust of cotton and potatoes, are largely favored by improper nutrition as well as by poor physical condition of the soil, for which potash seems to be a specific. Thus the so-called potash industry, by which is meant the mining and marketing of the principal or commonest compounds of potash, is based chiefly on use in agriculture.

The other uses of the salts of potassium are many and diverse. Most of the potassium salts have properties similar to the corresponding salts of sodium, and for most industrial purposes the salts of these two elements may be interchanged, a generalization which does not, however, apply to any extent whatever to the agricultural application of potassium. Some industrial preferences for the potassium salt depend on more favorable physical properties of the potassium over the sodium salt, such as a less tendency of the potassium salt to absorb moisture from the air. Other preferences depend on slight chemical differences, as for instance a somewhat greater solubility, which renders the purification of the potassium salt more easy. During the scarcity and high prices of the wartime period many substitutions have been made, which either directly or by some modification of practice are now proving so satisfactory that they will probably be continued.

One of the most urgent demands for potash has come from the match manufacturers. Potassium chlorate is an important ingredient of most matches, and this use consumes a surprisingly large amount of potash. Certain varieties of glass, especially cut glass tableware (flint glass) and some optical glass, are made from potash, generally in the form known as glass-makers’ carbonate. Most soap is made from soda, but potash (as caustic or hydroxide) is used for some of the finer grades, such as shaving, toilet, and shampoo soaps, especially the liquid forms. Caustic potash has had a considerable use in laundries, and for the scouring or washing of wool. The old form of black powder was made from potash as potassium nitrate or saltpeter; hence the commonly assumed military importance of potash. Black powder, though now largely superseded by modern high-explosive powders, still has a relatively small though nevertheless important application in modern warfare. There are other uses, which, though requiring a small total amount, include some important requirements, among these being the medicinal or pharmaceutical, tannery, dye, photographic, electroplate, and metallurgical needs.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

The great deposits of potash in northern Germany underlie an extensive area in the Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and in the duchies of Anhalt and Brunswick. The most important mining regions lie in an area practically encircling the Harz Mountains, 75 to 150 miles southwest of Berlin, and 100 to 150 miles south to southeast of Hamburg. This area is outlined more exactly on the accompanying index map (Fig. 14).

The field originally opened at Stassfurt has since been explored by deep boring and developed by the sinking of mining shafts, with the result that there has now been outlined an estimated reserve of 20,000,000,000 metric tons of crude potash salts, which at the present rate of the world’s consumption should be sufficient to last almost 2,000 years. Thus for all practical purposes the field may be considered as inexhaustible.

In 1904 another important and extensive deposit of water-soluble potash salts was discovered by boring in the valley of the Rhine River in southern Alsace. Alsace, then in possession of Germany, has now been restored to France. The deposit is in two essentially continuous beds that underlie within accessible depth an area of 70 to 80 square miles of the flat bottom lands of the Rhine Valley. The beds are estimated to contain about 1,500,000,000 metric tons of crude potash salts, which average considerably richer in potash than the output of the north German deposits, and, being of simpler chemical composition, are more readily refined. The mines opening these deposits are readily accessible to water transportation by way of the Rhine River and the canals of the Rhine Valley. The distance to ocean ports is considerably longer than it is from the north German deposits, being about 375 miles, as compared with 150 miles by canal and river boats from the latter, but the amount of handling necessary to transport similar cargoes from the two districts seems to be about the same. The deposit in Alsace lies in an elliptical area centering about 5 miles northwest of the city of Mulhouse.

Some potash has been produced from a deposit in Galicia, near Kalusz, south of Lemberg, from deposits reported to be of a type similar to those of north Germany, but the field has never yielded even enough potash to satisfy the local demand, and is thought not to be large.

During the war relatively small outputs of potash salts were obtained from many independent sources, in the United States, Abyssinia, Tunis, and other countries. Under stress of war necessities and the complete shutting off of other supplies, these outputs in the aggregate formed a considerable amount. Much of the development probably will not be permanent, when strict competition with the potash from more available sources is renewed, but each of these fields and doubtless many others contain the possibilities of development that may give the world situation a new aspect at any time. Chief among the most immediate prospects for important development is a rather extensive field in eastern Spain, near Barcelona. This field has not as yet produced on a commercial scale. One estimate of the reserves in the Spanish field claims a proved area of 13.5 square miles containing 200,000,000 tons of potassium oxide.

The nitrate deposits of Chile contain a small percentage of potash, and this is being recovered separately from the sodium nitrate at several of the refineries. It has been estimated that a total production of 240,000 tons of potassium oxide annually might be derived from this source.

Many different sources in the United States are yielding potash salts. The largest known deposit of soluble potash in fairly concentrated form is at Searles Lake, California. This is a dried saline lake, now represented by a bed of crystalline salts with a large amount of saturated brine rich in potash. The body of salts carrying the brine underlies an area of about 25 square miles and extends to an average depth of 70 feet. It is estimated that the brine alone in this deposit carries nearly 20,000,000 tons of potassium oxide, which would be enough potash to supply the needs of the country for about 60 years at the present normal rate. Numerous small lakes in western Nebraska carry brines exceptionally rich in potash, and these are now yielding a considerable production of potash fertilizer salts. No satisfactory estimate of the reserves in this field is available.

Under present operating conditions about one-third of the annual requirements of the United States is recoverable from the cement mills. About 380,000 short tons of potash, most of which is volatilized, is annually charged into the blast furnaces of the country. The best available estimates indicate that about 30,000 tons of potash have formerly gone to waste in molasses distillery slop, and-about 8,000 tons in Steffens waste water at the beet-sugar refineries of the country. Kelp and alunite are available in quantities sufficient to continue to yield a substantial production. Enormous quantities of leucite lava, carrying 10 per cent. of potash in an insoluble silicate form; greensand carrying 6 to 7 per cent. of insoluble potash; sericite with from 7 to 12 per cent., and feldspar with similar content, are available as raw materials of production if satisfactory commercial processes can be developed. Thus potential supplies of potash in the United States are practically inexhaustible. The future of the American potash industry, therefore, depends on the development of processes or methods of separation economical enough to permit the domestic product to compete with imported potash.

GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

The potash deposits of northern Germany lie in the midst of a series of formations known as the Zechstein, the geologic age of which is Permian. Both the Alsatian and Spanish deposits are found in Oligocene Tertiary rocks, although the deposits were not necessarily strictly synchronous in origin. The Galician deposits are described as of lower Miocene (Tertiary) age. These are the principal known bedded deposits of potash in the world, for which as a class the distinction as to geologic age seems to have a special significance. The association of potash with the large salt and gypsum deposits of the world seems for some reason to have been exceptional in geologic history. But the determination that these somewhat analogous occurrences have been formed at various times and places is a good basis for expecting that similar deposits may yet be discovered elsewhere.

CHANGES IN COMMERCIAL PRACTICE

Before the war the world’s consumption of potash was practically the measure of the German production, the statistics of which are available in considerable detail. In round numbers, Germany produced about 10,000,000 metric tons of potash salts, averaging about 10 per cent. of K₂O, of which she used more than 60 per cent. at home, and exported about 25 per cent. to the United States. For two years a very small production from Alsace had been lumped with the rest. Shortly after the outbreak of the war the German government placed an embargo on the export of potash, presumably in the hope of thereby injuring crop production of the Allies, and possibly because of the small military significance that it has. The production of potash in Germany was continued, however, at practically the same rate as before the war, the portion formerly exported being distributed for fertilizer use at home. This naturally gave a tremendous stimulus to the efforts of other countries to develop sources of potash. Although no huge natural resources comparable to the already known deposits were discovered, the efforts nevertheless had a reasonable amount of success, so that the world has not suffered in any vital way because of deprivation of potash. The cost of potash in the United States and its Allied countries increased to as much as ten times the pre-war price, but the supply was sufficient to meet all of the most pressing needs. Many possibilities for production from various sources have been opened, for which it is still too soon to predict the final outcome. It appears that a number of these new enterprises have entered the field permanently, although there will necessarily be some uncertainty during the period of reconstruction.

The ceding of Alsace to France, which is discussed in a subsequent paragraph, undoubtedly entails the largest and most significant change in the commercial situation as regards the world market for potash. A possibility of production from the deposits in eastern Spain holds similar although more remote significance.

SOURCES OF PRODUCTION

The output of potash during 1917, summarized by countries according to the best available data, is as follows:

TABLE 65.--WORLD PRODUCTION OF POTASH IN 1917

[155] Estimated from data indicated.

POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL CONTROL

=Germany.=--The potash industry in Germany is reported to have represented an investment of M.500,000,000 ($119,000,000). In 1918 there were 209 mines capable of producing, as indicated by the Kalisyndikat list assigning quotas for anticipated production from the individual mines for the year.

Most of these mines are privately owned under a variety of laws in the several German states and provinces. Originally the developments are said to have taken place under various local regulations; for example, in Hanover the mining rights belonged to the property holders, in Saxony the prospecting rights were free and the mining concessions belonged to the first discoverer of the deposits without regard to the owner of the surface soil, and in Anhalt mining was at first declared to be a state monopoly, which was later contracted to a few private companies. Some properties are, however, owned and operated by the state. The Prussian government owns mines at Stassfurt, Bleicherode, and Vienenburg; the Duchy of Anhalt has large works at Leopoldshall; and the Duchy of Brunswick holds interest in some potash properties.

Two instances of participation by American concerns in the German industry are known. The International Agricultural Corporation, an American company organized in 1909, was for a time the owner of all the capital stock of the Sollstedt Works in Germany. Later, one-half interest in this American corporation was transferred to the Kaliwerke Aschersleben, another German concern, under conditions which seemed to complicate the matter of ownership. The Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co., of Richmond, Virginia, is reported to have purchased a controlling interest in the Einigkeit Works, presumably by a direct cash transaction.

Under a law of the German Reichstag, known as the potash act of the 25th of May, 1884, an obligatory control of the potash industry in Germany was ordained. A common agency, known as the Kalisyndikat, was established, to represent all of the mines, with power to control the opening of new mines, the output of each mine, and the selling prices of potash salts. The industry has thus become a trust re-enforced by the German government, although the private ownership of individual properties remains. This syndicate differs from an American syndicate in that it is formed for a limited period of time, in the present case 5 years, and its working capital is small, only enough to provide for the actual working needs of the organization. The object of the syndicate is to prevent disastrous competition, to insure that the supply will conform to the demand, and that reasonable profits may be obtained by producers.

The mines or works composing the potash syndicate, as with most mining syndicates in Germany, may be either of the limited liability sort, the shares of which are not assessable, or those whose capital stock is divided into shares called “kuxe,” which are assessable at anytime and are of unlimited liability. The shares of both kinds are dealt in on the exchanges in the large cities of Germany.

Each company that is a member of a German syndicate has its representative on the board of management of the trust, and this board fixes the quota of production allowed each mine, and generally administers the affairs of the entire combination under its constitution and by-laws (statuten).[156] The constitution and by-laws must be signed by each concern entering the syndicate and the provisions therein contained strictly observed under penalties enforceable in courts of law.

[156] Abstract from Daily Consular and Trade Reports, No. 265, vol.
4, Nov. 11, 1911, p. 760.

The weak point in this form of organization is the dissension that often arises over the quotas allowed the different members. Each company wants as large an allotment as it can get. Upon the expiration of the life of a syndicate there is always uncertainty as to whether it will be renewed, owing to competition among the various constituent firms.

Before the war, under the terms of the contracts of the five large fertilizer companies with the German potash syndicate, one-half of the maximum discount allowed was deducted from the amount of the invoice covering each shipment, and the remainder was paid to the buyer at the end of each half year, provided he made a statement in writing to the syndicate to the effect that he had purchased his entire requirements of potash from the syndicate. Thus by allowing maximum discounts to the large buyers, and preventing them from dealing in potash from any source except the syndicate, this provision aimed to stifle the development of any competitive sources of supply.

=Alsace.=--The potash deposits of Alsace were developed under the German mining law for Alsace-Lorraine of December 16, 1843, amended July 14, 1908, with specific reference to potash. Since the armistice the German mines have been operated under the sequestration régime, under charge of the French military authorities, directed by the ministry of industrial reconstruction in France. Now that the treaty of peace has been ratified by Germany, Alsace may be regarded as having formally and finally passed into the possession of France, and with this naturally the political and commercial control of the Alsatian potash deposits. It remains therefore for the French Parliament to determine what the final disposition of the former German ownership of these properties shall be, and questions such as nationalization or French-Alsatian control were being discussed in the summer of 1920.

Although most of the concessions in the Alsatian potash field had been granted to German interests, the development was started by Alsatians, and two of the concessions are in French-Alsatian ownership. These have not been and probably will not be altered, unless they are to enter some voluntary combination.

An agency for the sale and distribution of the Alsatian potash has been arranged in the United States, and for the present at least the product is coming in direct competition with the salts from the older German mines.

=Spain.=--The potash deposits recently discovered in the provinces of Barcelona and Lerida, of Cataluña, in eastern Spain, are subject to special regulations of the Spanish government. A large area of concessions already granted to private interests covers a considerable part of the field outlined by exploratory borings. Operations on these concessions are permitted, but the state reserves the right to subordinate the exploitation to the interests of the country, and impose special conditions in favor of the consumption of the potash produced in Spain. Recently, unexplored state lands have been opened, by royal decree, to bids for exploration and lease. The scheme follows in general the plan of governmental control of the German potash industry. According to it, all concessions for the working and sale of salts are subject in many details to governmental control. Among other conditions, working must be continuous save in certain exempted circumstances; the state shall fix annually the home and export prices, as well as the maximum and minimum quota for each mine.

=Other Countries.=--Before the war, the Austrian potash syndicate, which consisted of the Austrian government and a group of capitalists, controlled the deposits near Kalusz, in Galicia. No specific governmental regulation is reported for the minor operations connected with the production of potash in other countries.

SUMMARY

More than 90 per cent. of the potash handled in the world’s commerce is used as a fertilizer. The rest is used as a chemical in various industries, chief among which are the manufacture of matches, certain kinds of glass and soap, and the better grades of black powder. The uses specifically mentioned in this paragraph are essential, as no satisfactory substitutes are known.

Up to 1914 practically all of the potash used in the world came from the deposits in northern Germany, which are substantially inexhaustible. Next in importance are the deposits of Alsace, which contain enough potash to meet the world’s present demands for almost 300 years. Other resources are known in Spain, Galicia, Abyssinia, the nitrate beds of Chile, and in deposits in the United States, but it is too early to predict with assurance what part they will play in the expansion of the potash industry.

Germany will no longer be able to maintain a world monopoly of the potash market. The passing of control of the important resources in Alsace from Germany to France foreshadows competition from recognized adequate sources of supply. There are many other possibilities, the mere potentialities of which are sufficient to restrain any tendency to unreasonable extortion by those who control the German fields. Moreover, attention has been so directed to the desirability of developing independent sources, and so much able technical talent is now being devoted toward bringing successful issue from the many undertakings in progress, that it is very unlikely that this country, or any other, will in the future be dependent on one or two arbitrarily handled monopolies.

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Political and commercial geology and the world's mineral resourcesChapter XXVI: Potash

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