380 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
 Freeport Suipher Co's new Caminada development, (Grand Isle Block 16 field)
offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, was virtually completed in 1967 and was expected
to be operational in early 1968. Seven thousand tons of steel was used in
the structure, which stands in 50 feet of water some 6 miles offshore and
6 miles southwest of the first development in the Gulf of Mexico at Grand
Isle. As at Grand Isle Block 18 field, production will he brought ashore
in liquid form through a 9-mile, heated, insulated pipeline trenched into
the floor of the Gulf. The plant has the same hot water capacity as Grand
Isle mine, 5 million gallons per day, but sulfur production is not expected
to be as great as at Grand Isle because the sulfur-bearing formation is considerably
thinner and will require more water per ton of sulfur produced. 
 
 
Table 20.—Sulfur produced and shipped from Frasch mines 
 
(Thousand long tons and thousand dollars) 
 
 
Shipments 
 Year Production 
 Quantity Value 
 
1963           
1964 --1965___       1966.._..       1967.._~       
2,469 
2,739 
3,582 
4,085 
4,059 
2,445 
2,733 
3,577 
4,018 
4,233 
$48,905 
54,996 
81,372 
104,472 
139,739 
 Construction work progressed on facilities for mining of sulfur from the
Bully Camp Dome by Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. and Lake Hermitage Dome by Jefferson
Lake Sulphur Co. Water-heating capacity of each of these plants is 3 million
gallons per day. The Lake Hermitage facility was scheduled to be in operation
during the first quarter of 1968, and Bully Camp about the middle of the
year. Frasch mining operations resumed in July at Chacahoula Dome by John
W. Mecom, but did not contribute greatly to 1967 output. Water-heating capacity
was being increased. Chacahoula previously was mined between February 1955
and September 1962. 
 A number of known salt domes in the area were unsuccessfully prospected
for sulfur during 1967. 
 Continued heavy demand for sulfur led to further price increases, bringing
about 
a reduction in the differential that had existed between overseas and domestic
prices during recent years. U.S. Frasch producers increased domestic prices
$4 per ton about the end of the first quarter, and $5.50 per ton on October
1, 1967. This brought the domestic price for dark sulfur to $38 per long
ton f.o.b. Gulf ports. Bright sulfur was priced $1 to $2 per ton higher,
depending on quality. 
 The outlook was for continued recordrate consumption and production in 1968.
Production must increase at a faster rate than demand if consumers are to
be fully supplied, because inventories are not large enough to make up any
sizable shortage. Higher prices are stimulating exploration and development
of new sources. Significant output from the new projects probably will not
be achieved for 1 or 2 years, and supplies are expected to be short throughout
1968. The most critical factor in the outlook for demand was the rate of
growth achieved in the production and consumption of phosphatic fertilizers.
Fertilizer use accounted for 48 percent of the sulfur used, and chemicals
for 18 percent. Freeport Chemical Co. was nearing completion of its phosphate
chemical plant on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The plant will produce phosphoric acid by acidulating phosphate rock with
sulfuric acid. 
 
METALS 
 
 Aluminum.—Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. produced alumina at
its Gramercy and Baton Rouge plants, calcined coke at Norco and Chalmette,
and produced aluminum at its reduction plant at Chalmette, the Nation's largest
aluminum reduction plant. Louisiana plants produced all of Kaiser Aluminum's
domestic alumina and about 39 percent of the company's domestic primary aluminum.
The bauxite ore was imported from Jamaica. The aluminum industry, however,
has been a very important part of the mineral activity of the State. Kaiser
Aluminum Corp., along with Kaiser Chemical Corp., employed approximately
4,200 people with a payroll of $42 million per year. In 1967, it used 82
billion cubic feet of natural gas, 190,000 tons of oystershell, 100,000 tons
of coke, 270,000 tons of salt, and 80,000 tons of sulfuric acid. 
 A modernization and expansion program was planned by Kaiser Aluminum &