Abstract

The General Manager of the National Institute of Supplies asked the National Geological Service for a technical report on the possibilities of some limestone deposits in Nariño and Putumayo to supply an agricultural lime production plant, which is planned to supply this material to farmers in the department of Nariño.

The Geological Survey commissioned its unit in Nariño, the Pasto Mining Development Laboratory, to carry out these studies.

The request of the Instituto de Abastecimientos referred specifically to the following deposits: (1) Buesaco, property of Mr. Alfonso Moncayo; (2) Chiles, of Mr. Arquímedes Rueda; and (3) Putumayo, of Mr. José Benjamín Jurado. However, following the instructions of the Geological Service, these and three more were studied, which by references or previous knowledge were considered possible applications for the proposed purpose.

According to the information provided by the Manager of INA in Pasto, the project foresees the following bases that are related to the requested study:

1- The agricultural lime preparation plant would be installed in the city of Pasto.

2- A production of 3000 tons of agricultural lime is foreseen in the first year, and about 5000 tons in the following years.

3- The cost of the plant is estimated at $ 32,000 to be amortized over 10 years or based on an annual production of 5000 tons, it must have one or more deposits that can supply a minimum of 50,000 tons of economically profitable limestone.

4- lNA aims to sell the lime at the lowest possible price, without any profit motive, and within the natural security for its investments.

5- It is foreseen that the distribution of lime for the agricultural area located to the south of the city of Pasto could be made in favorable sites within the Pasto-Ipiales Road or in Agencies of the Caja Agraria, which exist in intermediate populations of that road, at a price equal to that fixed for sale in Pasto.

6- The total cost of processing is estimated to be $5.00 per ton.

Although the requested study is concerned with the purely technical aspect of the deposits, including only the intrinsic factors of the ore under investigation, the economic question is so closely connected with them that a judgment without it would be defective. In the present study, therefore, equal attention has been given to such factors as transportation and others, which are of the greatest interest in the proper judgment of the possibilities of the various deposits.

The first part of this report presents a description of each of the deposits investigated, with information on their magnitude, quality of the ore, means of communication with Pasto, and a general estimate or appreciation of the cost of production of agricultural lime. Of course, the results on quality and quantity of usable minerals have a degree of accuracy per the requirements of the requested study that, being sufficiently acceptable for the present case, they may not be acceptable for other investigations of more rigorous technicality.

Based on these results, a comparative study of the different deposits is made in the next part to deduce the most favorable possibilities for the realization of the project in question