PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS

Evening Star, Issue 22631, 24 April 1937, Page 9

PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS

INDUSTRY ON PACIFIC ISLANDS > ADDRESS BY DISCOVERER An address, ‘ Nauru and Ocean Island Phosphate Development, ’ was given to the agricultural section of the, Otago branch of the Royal Society last night by Mr A. F, Ellis, C.M.G., F.8.6.5.,* the discoverer of the phosphate deposits on both islands and Dominion representative on the British Phosphates Commission. Increased attention had lately been paid to the production of fertilisers, Mr Ellis said. It was not only the poor land which benefited by the application of manures, but the good land also. The welfare of New Zealand depended >■ a great deal on its primary produce, and every shipment of produce meant that, large quantities of phosphates were removed from the soil. Phosphate was vital in organic matter, and the response on the part of plants treated with phosphoric acid was remarkable. There were large areas of second and third class land in New Zealand, and it was necessary to remedy the deficiency in phosphates to bring that land into productivity. *. It was interesting, the speaker said, to look back to the time when mankind first applied phosphates to tho soil. The Romans had used bones, but. they believed that their virtue lay in the glutinous material adhering. It was about 100 years ago that rock phosphate had been discovered, and the search had been continued throughout the world. Another discovery was that, if the phosphate rock or . bone was treated with sulphuric acid, it would be much more readily absorbed by the roots of plants. This discovery resulted in the manufacture- of superphosphate, of which 16,000,000 ton* were now manufactured annually,, Hand in hand with this movement came the discovery of phosphate deposits in various parts of the world. Mr . Ellis continued. The principal ones were in Morocco, Tunisia, .the United States of America, Russia, and on Nauru and Ocean Islands. These islands were near to Australia and New Zealand, and consequently the low shipping rates were a valuable advantage. The British Empire was poor in re. gard to phosphatic deposits, Mr Ellis said, and those on the two islands referred to, on Christmas Island, and ia Egypt were the only ones known. The industry had been started on Ocean Island in 1900, and on Nauru in 1906. Shipments of phosphate had continued steadily since that time, and h° felt sure that in another 100 years there would still be large quantities for export. The rate of shipment had been gradually built up, and to-day it was possible to load 8,000 tons-in one day. The islands were the tops of mountains above the sea; the land rose -at an angle of 45 degrees from tho shore. An unusual method of loading the phosphate had been adopted, Mr Ellis’ • said. Two cantilevers were used, and conveyor belts along these cantilevers wore capable of loading a ship at tho rate of 1,000 tons an hour. Except at Ocean Island the system of lightering the cargo to the snip had now been dispensed with. One million tons of phosphate were exported annually, of which amount Australia took about 700,000 tons, New Zealand 250,000, and Japan, tho United Kingdom, and the "United States the remainder. An interesting series of films, showing the methods used in obtaining* tin* phosphate and the life of the workers on the island of Nauru, were later; shown, and commented on by Mr Ellis*