The herald., 1893-08-23
ALUMINIUM IN PLENTY HERE,
1t Can Be Made a Source OF
Great Wealth.
Several Rich Deposits of the Ore In
this Region.
Inform alton About This Metal OF the Age
Of Electricity-Its Peculiar Prop
srtios and Uses-An Oppor-
tunity for Capital.

HERALD readers will have observed
lately in show windows all sorts Of cook
ing utensils, medals, checks, penholders,
toys, ETC., made of the bright and shin-
ing metal, aluminium, valuable espe-
cially for it's non-corrosive quality. and
interesting for its lack of weight.
Aluminium bronzes are alloys Of the
metal with copper, nickel, titanum, ETC.,
and show remarkable strength and
lightness.
1t is not generally known as yet, how
ever, that the richest mines of alumipa,
an oxide of the metal aluminium, are
found in Southern California, and as
powerful electric currents are necessary
for the reduction Of the metal, and have
to be generated chesply by water power,
it is altogether probable that the great
water power now dormant in many
Of our irrigation systems, in con-
junction with our vast deposits Of
high-grade ore, will make South
ern California famous in the near
future as the one great producer and
refiner of this new metal of the age of
electricity.
In San Bernardino county there is q
vast deposit of the ore, soft shale. free
from silica and other impurities, and
feeling like soapstone to the touch.
The ore is pure white, occurring on
the surface and extending downwards
near the Santa Fe railroad. Assays
made hT the Harhsfeld Smelling COM
pany OF Kentucky show over 50 per cent
of alumina. 1t ia q we'll known fact
that every clay.bank in the world con-
tains alumina, but only about2 or per
cent of it, and a large per cent of iron
oxide, making the clay worthless for the
extraction of the metal aluminium.
The only other aluminium mines of
Georgia and Alabama; they contain
tanning large amount Of water, and
much lower percentage OF alumina.
There are two valuable products of
the smelling of this ore; the metal
aluminium and alumina composite. The
metal is worth $1,000 ton, or 80 cents
q pound. 1t is white and lustrous az
silver, shows much greater strength
than silver in alloys and will not tar
nish or lose its luster, even strong
nitric acid has no effect upon it, and its
most valuable and wonderful feature is
its extreme lightness; one pound of
aluminium being a piece of metal four
times as large as q one-pound piece of
silver. Therefore a sheet or piece OF
aluminium can be bought for one-eight.
ieth part of the cost of piece or sheet
of silver equally large, while the in.
trinsic value of aluminium is greater on
account of it's weight and acid resisting
qualities, it being practically non corro.
sive.
There is a new process OF smelling the
metal out of the ore by fusion in the
electric arc, which has reduced the cost
OF production to minimum. making the
business very highly profitable.
The second 10 alumina composite,
worth $50 ton at the smelter, or $6 a
GENITAL in small lots. It is used very
largely in all iron foundries, giving 80
per cent extra strength to iron castings
where 21e per cent Of the composite has
been added to the pig iron. By this
means iron Of the lowest grade can be
used and will make castinRs of great
strength for small weight, valuable es-
pecially in shipbuilding, bridges and
high building. But the metal and its
alloys are destined to find very extern
sive use in the outer coating of ships
and machinery for aerial navigation.
T. W.