MINERAL PRODUCTS. 
43 
and strontianite (SrC0 3 ). Strontianite is the more valuable, as by 
simple treatment with acids it is readily converted into the salts de 
sired for commercial purposes. It is, however, rarer than celestite 
and therefore has been mined on a comparatively small scale. Celes 
tite and strontianite are readily determined before the blowpipe, as 
both of them have a crimson flame due to the element strontium. 
Celestite can hardly be assigned a value in the United States, be 
cause heretofore it has not been found in sufficient quantities and in 
positions accessible enough to make its exploitation profitable, in 
view of the scant demand for it. During 1913 no strontium was re 
ported as mined in the United States. There is a small market for 
strontium compounds, as is shown by the import figures. No stron 
tium carbonate, oxide, or protoxide was imported in either 1911 or 
.1912, but in 1913 the total value of imports of these salts was $2,284. 
Probably some strontium nitrate was imported for use in " red fire,” 
but it is not possible to obtain figures of the imports of any salts of 
strontia except those named above. Nearly all the strontium salts 
used in the United States are imported from Germany. Strontium 
occurs also abundantly in Sicily. 
The metal strontium is not commercially used, but its salts are 
variously employed. Of these the hydrate and nitrate are of 
greatest importance. A simple process for obtaining the hydrate is 
the calcination of the carbonate, strontianite, where that is avail 
able. The temperature required is much higher than that of ordinary 
lime burning. Strontium hydrate is used principally in the recovery 
of sugar from beet molasses. Strontium nitrate is made by dis 
solving the carbonate in nitric acid, if the native mineral can be 
procured sufficiently free from other bases that would consume the 
acid. The carbonate used is sometimes made from the sulphate by 
fusing it with soda ash and leaching out the sodium sulphate. The 
chief use of strontium nitrate is in pyrotechny, where it imparts a 
red color to the flame. The chlorate and carbonate are also used for 
this purpose, but to a less extent. The chief users are the manufac 
turers of fireworks and makers of fusees used by railroads and steam 
ships for night signals. 
Strontium in the form of the iodide, bromide, acetate, lactate, 
arsenate, phosphate, and other salts is used as medicine and in the 
chemical laboratory. 
Celestite occurs 15 miles south of Gila Bend, Maricopa County, 
Ariz., associated with gypsum, sandstone, and conglomerates con 
taining pebbles of coarse-grained granite. It is found in the form 
of a bed or beds overlain and underlain in some places by beds of 
sandstone and in others by igneous flows. The bed with which the 
celestite is directly associated is 40 to 50 feet thick. Of this thick 
ness the upper 8 to 10 feet looked most promising as a source of the