To manufacture alumina from the sul-…
source date: 1890
availability: public-domain

in abundance in the neighbor- hood of Silver City, such as fluorspar, pyrites, copper ore, pyrolusite. Sulphate of alumina is now manufactured and sold in England, at $21.75 per ton of 2240 pounds, so that there would be nothing in shipping the Gila mineral to the seaboard. To manufacture alumina from the sul- phate, the latter is calcined with common salt, furnishing muriatic acid gas from a burning limekiln passed with the solution which precipi- tates the alumina or oxide of aluminum, and leaves a colution of bicarbonate of soda as a by-product. So it will be seen that if an alumi- num industry is built up in Grant county, other chemical industries would have to follow to use up the by-products. It would be curious if the successful manufacture of this wonderful metal should be inaugurated upon a large scale, at the scene of the early experiments here re- corded. I do not doubt for a moment but that at some time the Gila deposit will be used to make aluminum, the coming metal.