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Showing results for tags 'sulfur'.
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Sulfur has been used for centuries in several sectors: while alchemists consider it (together with mercury and salt) one of the "primordial essences" constituing matter, physicians use sulfur in skin treatment and to prevent the spreading of contagious diseases (i.e. disinfecting a room by fumigation); modern science, additionally, is discovering more and more possible uses of this element in industrial processes. What makes brimstone extraction a real paramount, however, is gunpowder production; coal and saltpeter can be produced (even if the latter requires long and complex procedures), but sulfur can be obtained only digging it in volcanic areas: for this reason large deposits represent one of the most precious and fiercely disputed mineral resources; up until now, in the New World, no real brimstone lore has already been discovered and most of the gunpowder is still imported from the motherland. In the uninhabited interior of Île de Zeus, in a rocky area near to Astrapi, an explorative expedition recently found a volcanic cliff with deep cracks and fumaroles: some of them developed wide sulfur encrustations that can be exploited (even if on a limited scale). Hammering sulfur concrections on a rickety footbridge, clinging to the rocks among suffocating fumes, is probably one of the most dangerous occupations, significantly more than working in the mines but, since the pay is relatively good, it's not hard to find someone mad enough to take this job. Rock scraps are later lifted (using a rudimental crane) to the top of the cliff, where they are put in barrels ready to be sent to Astrapi: there sulfur will be grinded, refined and converted into "the finest gunpowder of the New World", as the manufacturers say. The largest and purest sulfur crystals are accurately selected and packed directly in the extraction site: bought at a high price by chemists and alchemists, they ensure an additional (and considerable) profit margin. To be licensed as a small factory; this building is freely based on Cortes expedition to Popocatepetl crater (conquistadores needed gunpowder for their cannons). C&C are obviously welcome
