WHITE ISLAND SULPHUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 4

WHITE ISLAND SULPHUR.

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. (Fbou Oub Own (Jobk'esfondknt.) WELLINGTON, April 2. White Island, in the Bay of Plenty, has been throwing off sulphurous fumes and billows steam ever since the, coming of the white man to New Zealand, and as long before as the Maori history of the place goes. One knows it as an island perpetually on fire, with its craters filled with boiling 6ulphur. An attempt was made to work the sulphur deposits in 18S6, but since then the furnaces of Nature have rumbled and spluttered away but seldom even observed of man. Another fate is in store for White Island. Some time ago a number of gentlemen who know all there is to be known about sulphur sent an expert engineer to report on the island. On this report the island was purchased, and a company, registered in Vancouver, and entitled the " White Island Sulphur "Company (Ltd.)," was formed with a capital of £IOO.OOO. of which £75,000 is p*id up, to take steps to work the deposits. In the venture there is a good deal of English capital, and some Canadian and An 3 tralian carn'toi. An evidence of the company's promised activities is the presence in Wellington of Mr J. Gordon Magae. C.E.. of Vancouver, who has come to New Zealand in connection with the preliminary steps to be token in connection with the establishment of the new industrv. T'lhss thrwts good nid.i ara all out." he said. " I think we will have work i erhaDS for 12 or 15 years. According to their reaoxts thene- are 750,000 tons of sulphur there which can be made marketable. That might be an outside estimate; still there is enough to keep us going for at least 10 years. This is the largest deposit known south of the line. The largest output in the world is from Louisiana, which puts out about half a million fcona a year. Nevada's output is about 150.000' tons. Japan is the supplier of the East, and Canada imports a good deal from that country. New Zealand imported about 4200" tons last year, and Australia 22,000 tons, mostJy li'om Jspan. If the proposed reciprocal trade traiff between Australia, New Zealand, and Canada comes to fruition wa have little doubt that we will be able to do a good deal of business with Canada, and we will certainly get the Australasian trade. On being asked as to the chief commercial uses to which sulphur is put, Mr Magee said it was largely used, in the preparation of explosives, in the manufacture of sheep dips, and subsequently in the preparation of the wool. Sulphur was also used in the manufacture of wood pulp (for ]>aper making), and had lots of medicinal and chemical properties which made it valuable. New Zealand sulphur was particularly free from impurities, which gave it an advantage over the Japanese and American product. Recently the Tea Planters' Association of Ceylon wrote to a Government department liere praising the quality of White Island sulphur, which had been used in the preparation of a parasite solution for applying to the tea trees. Its purity gave it distinct advantages over sulphur from other coiftlifc'ies.

Steps are to be taken at once to import a plant. In some cages the plant consists of grinding machinery and retorts, but Mr Aiagee is not sure yet if the grinding machinery will be necessary on White Island. The necessary plant consists of a huge cast iron retort, divided near the bottom with a grating of closeset bars. The first act towards making the sulphur marketable is to fill the retort with the rough lumps, close down the top, and then admit a stream of super-heated steam into the tower chamber (at a temperature of about 114 degrees Fahr.). This gradually melts the sulphur, which drips through the bars, and runs away through a steam packed pipe into a cooling bath, which is also provided with a steam box in order to regulate the cooling off process. The sulphur can then be run into moulds, where it solidifies, whilst retaining its natural colour. Most of the impurities disappear in steam, but in some cases—notably in Japanese sulplirur—these are more difficult to get. rid of. One of the by-products of sulphur reduction is gypsum—a commodity largely used in cement making.