GREY CLOD OF EARTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20740, 6 December 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

GREY CLOD OF EARTH.

VALUABLE FIND IN ENGLAND,.

BED OF AN OLD LAKE. A grey clod of earth found by Mr. J. T. Browne, a mining engineer, of Buxton, Derbyshire in the beautiful valley of Kentmere, Westmoreland, has led to the discovery of diatomite under the bed of the vanished lake which gave Kentmere its name.

Mr. Browne sent the earth, which his knowledge suggested might be valuable, for scientific examination, and was informed that it was pure diatornateous earth—a siliceous deposit which has many commercial uses.

A survey revealed that Mr. Browne had stumbled on what may prove to be one of the largest deposits of diatomite in the world. The bed of the vanished lake covers 160 acres and the grey coloured earth is three feet thick. Hitherto Britain has been paying Germany and the United States about £2O a ton for diatomite.

Mr. Browne in telling the story of his

'scovery said that sixty years ago a Mr. William Wilson owned the valley. Finding that his land was being Hooded by the lake, he cut a channel 20ft. deep and drained the lake away.

" With one of my three partners, Mr. P. Ireland, I visited the valley on the off-chance of findiug blue clay," Mr. Browne continued. " The peculiar colour and texture, of the earth interested me, but I did not realise what 1 had found until I had a sample examined by an expert. " The uses of this remarkable product include the manufacture of firebricks which are nearly three times lighter than ordinary fire-bricks, and will save nearly 50 per cent, of fuel costs in some furnaces; lining sound, heat, cold and electricity proof buildings; and the making of fine concrete. It is also used in cotton piece finishing, as a filter for wines, in polishing and tooth powder, and in the manufacture of matches. The only deposits of importance hitherto known are in the United States, which has for vcars supplied 70 per cent, of the world's 'total output, and in Germany. These details are set out in a Government geological survey, which adds that except for negligible ouantities in ' ordeenshire and Rkve there were in 1928 no known deposits in Britain.