Strike Oil — Strike It Rich

20

A Future in Israel Minerals

By MOSHE NOVOMEYSKY

THE JEWISH NEWS
out by the Petroleum Com-
Friday, September 19, 1952 parry, a subsidiary of the Iraq
Petroleum Company, and the
some three miles south of Wadi Jordan Exploration Company.
Mukjib (Arnon). This place had - The economic and national is-

—

been visited by several geologists, sues involved in the question of
but it could be found only when the presence of oil are of such
In school manuals and geog- found in the Negev by geologists ated near Fenan in the south of the level of the Dead Sea was -tremendous importance, that the
sufficiently low.
government will no doubt 'take
raphy texts in general, Palestine of the Army, and particularly by Transj ordan.
speedy steps to encourage the
was known as a country poor in Mr. Ben-Tor, who also dealt with
Besides
the
millions
of
tons
of
Drilling and prospecting is a
natural resources, poor in water the other minerals in the Negev,
limestone in various beginning ' of deep borings in
lengthy business, and it will be bituminous
search for the precious mineral.
resources, poor in minerals. In represent a real discovery.
parts
of
the
some time before the full extent seepages small country, asphalt The work, if crowned with suc-
the last two and a half years,
large
appear
me Fertilizers & Chemicals of the deposits and the quantity
cess, will be one of the greatest
however, discoveries of minerals Ltd.,
of Haifa, producers of su- of available metal is more or less at different points near the contributions to the economic
in large quantities were report- perphosphate
shores of the Dead Sea. Evidence
f
o
ir
agriculture,
accurately
ascertained.
ed in the Negev.
of the presence of oil is shown development of the new state.
have been in great need of rock
Most of our early knowledge phosphate,
Copper ore in the Negev. is also by the appearance from
which
up
till
now
about minerals in Palestine came they had been importing from not of the usual composition time to time of large blocks of
YOURS AND MINE ..
from Prof. W. Blanckenhorn's
and Morocco, • for the (it is not combined with sul- floating pure asphalt on the
The chasidim of Chabad were
classical German work which ap- Florida
phur
and
carbonate,
as
in
Dead
Sea's
surface.
continuous operation of their
so kindhearted that they were
peared about 1912. Prof Blanck- factory,
many
copper-bearing
locali-
more attention has
Althotgh there are positive in- wont to say: "This loaf of bread
enhorn led three geological ex- been paid and
to the immediate need ties), and we understand ex- dication of the presence of oil which I possess is yours as well
piditions to Palestine in the first of quarrying
and transporting it periments have established a in the country, there is not as— mine." Notice that they
decade of this century. The Dead to Haifa than
to systematic comparativelypasy method of enough to give an assurance first said "yours" and then
Sea and the surrounding area prospecting.
extraction of the metal from that there is sufficient liquid
"mine."
was then the private property
the ore.
fuel underground to build up a
It speaks highly for the man-
of Sultan Abdul Hamid, and
Manganese ore was known in I profitable industry. Whether or
Blanckenhorn's first expedition agement of the phosphate com-
was financed by the Sultan's pany, A. Goldberg, and his as- old Palestine in Wadi Dane, in not there are large reserves of
Court; the last one, undertaken sistants, and the "Mahzavei Is- Transjordan, and Wadi Menei- oil in commercial quantities, can
be proved now by deep
on the initiative of Dr. Theodor rael" under Dr. Joseph Blumen- aich in the Southern Negev not only
Herzl, was financed by the feld, that a little over a year far from the copper occurences. borings.
after the discovery of the phos- In the early thirties samples of
Zionist Organization.
All the preliminary investi-
rich mahganese ore was brought
During the four decades which phates, trucks loaded with 80 by Bedouins to the Southern gations necessary for these
passed since the appearance of tons of rock phosphate daily Potash Works. A British-Egyp- borings—geological, geophysics
Blanckenhorn's work, only one reach the superphosphate fac- tian company was already ex- ieal and drillings up to 3500
new mineral deposit was discov- tory in Haifa, although no prop- ploiting manganese deposits in feet—have already been carried
ered: this is the sulphur occur - er road yet exists from the the Sinai, to the extent of over
rence near Gaza. It was origin- quarries to an asphalt road for 150,000 tons, in 1938.
ally prospected by this writer's a distance of some 15 kilometers.
The deposits of Wadi Menei-
company, The Palestine Mining
What are the prospects of
Mr. & Mrs. Abe
Syndicate, and subsequently ex-
'Profitable exploitation of the aich were examined on several
ploited by a British-Arab Com- N e g.e v phosphates? Firstly, occasions, but the stage of prop-
Saginaw and7amily
pany, "Palestine Sulphur Quar- they are important, of course, er prospecting of the occurence
ries." After a few years' work as raw material for the su- with a view to its exploitation
the undertaking was abandoned. perphosphate industry in Hai- had never been reached. The
4287 Clements
fa. A saving in foreign ex- main reason must have been its
The presence of oil, phos-
geographical
position
and
the
change of some $800,000-$900,-
phates, bituminous limestone
Extend greetings to their
000 per annum is an important absence of any means of com-
and iron, copper and manga-
item in view of our present ' munication, except through the
nese ore were known to Blanck-
relatives and friends for a
scarcity of foreign currency. Red Sea and the Gulf of Akaba,
enhorn, and were prospected
with
the
total
absence
of
harbor
year
of health and happiness
at various times in the present
The Negev deposits have the
generation; however, little had great advantage of occurring facilities.
been done regarding the in- near the surface, at a depth of
S. H. Shaw, the last geologist
dustrial utilization of minerals less than three feet, so that ex- of the Mandatory government,
in- Palestine.
ploitation can proceed in open in a publication in 1947, esti-
Best wishes on the
Of the minerals occurring in quarries, while Moroccan depos- mated the possible extent of ore
ALUMINUM COMBINATION
New Year to All Our
the Negev much is now being its require deep underground in the Wadi Meneiaich at 500,-
WINDOWS AND DOORS
spoken and written. The most mining. The distance from the 000 tons. The systematic geolog-
Friends
ical
investigation
and
prospect-
promising ones for the present Moroccan phosphate deposits to
Alumatic aluminum combination win-
are the phosphate deposits of the port of shipment—Casablan- ing work undertaken by the
Special Greetings to
dows are built to serve for the life of
the `Machtesh Hagadol."
ca—is 80 miles, nearly the same "Mahzavei Israel" only a year
Raciomer Friendly Society
your home—or longer! Custom-fitted,
The deposits which have been distance from the Negev phos- ago have confirmed the large
they'll never shrink, rot, warp, or rust! -
extent
of
the
deposits.
phates to the Mediterraneah
Serve without trouble, annual repairs.
The prospecting work has not
MR. AND MRS.
near Ashkelon. If the construc-
Once they're up, they're up for good!
tion of the much discussed Beer-' progressed sufficiently to provide
SAM BROWN
sheba Railway materializes, the accurate figures. For the mo-
distance to the railhead will be ment, it is not the quantity in
18073 pinehurst
only 32 miles.
the area which is of importance.
8817 Lyndon
TE. 4-2210
Next in importance to phds- Manganese is actually a mum
phates is the extensive prospect- needed metal, particularly in the
ing work of copper deposits in steel industry. Nearly 40,000 tons
the Wadi' Arab undertaken by per annum is needed in the
the Mahzavei Israel. The best United States for this purpose
known copper deposits are situ- alone. The requirements of the
dry' cell battery industry, the
chemical, the photographic—and
other miscellaneous industries--
accepting registrations for
are also very considerable. Late-
rinItz nittr5
ly, a substantial industry has
developed in the use of manga-
nese as an agricultural fertilizer.
MAIN SCHOOL: 13722 Linwood at- Pasadena
Up to now the only known
iron ore deposits in old Pales-
tine were those near the River
NORTHWEST AREA: Pasteur Public School
Jabbok in modern Ajlun. These
Room- 210
deposits were worked in ancient
3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
times and apparently also by
the Crusaders.
19410 Warrington Drive

Copyright, 1952, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.

,

,

,

At this. High Holy
Day season

Alumatic Windows, Inc.

THE. UNITED JEWISH FOLK
SCHOOL and KINDERGARTEN

BUY

ISRAEL
BONDS

You can get a Prospectus and buy yam
Bond at Anterican Financial and
Development Corporation for Israel

2200 David Stott Bldg.
Detroit, Mich.

Pre-Kindergarten and- Elementary Classes

Mr. and Mrs.
Nathan R.
Epstein -

Extend sincerest greetings to
h e entire membership of
Congregation Adds Shalom,
to the workers for the City
of Hope, to all their associates
in communal movements and
to the entire community.

THE HOME RELIEF SOCIETY

Wishes to extend greetings and the best of good wishes
to our members and the Jewish Community of Detroit
for the New Year. We are looking forward to your at-
tendance as our guests at our Donor Luncheon on Nov-
ember 5th, at the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel at 12:30 p.m.

Very Best Wishes for the

Holiday Season from the

INDEPENDENT BISCUIT CO.

1124 Oakman Blvd.

Dr. Nelson Glueck, the arch-
aeologist, in his book, "The
River Jordan," writes that he
found fragments of slag near
the ancient Biblical City of
Succoth, situated about half-
way between the southern
.point of Lake Tiberias and the
northern point of the Dead
Sea—now the site of Fell-
Dein-Alla. Succoth was the
center of a district in the Jor
dan Valley, with widespread
smelting and refining activi-
ties, turning out finished met-
al articles for the adornment
of King Solomon's Temple.

Outcroppings of iron oxide
have now been found in the
Machtesh Hagadol, some 30 miles
from Beersheba, in a sandstone
formation containing some 30
to 40% of metallic iron. Pros-
pecting work is only in its early
stages and it is possible that
better ores may be found.
All the accumulated geological
evidence gives sufficient justifi-
cation to place pre-war Pales-
tine in the category of oil-bear 7
ing countries. As long ago as
1883 a German geologist, Roth,
described in a provincial Ger-
man publication, a seepage of
liquid petroleum shown to him
by Bedouins at Ain-Umma (Ain-
Humar) which is situated on
the east side of the Dead Sea,

19811 Stoepel at Pembroke

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bringing relatives
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