The Washington herald., 1911-03-26
HOW RADIUM, WORLDS MOST
VALUABLE SUBSTANCE, is
MINED IN CORNWALL. '

since then material at the rate Of 1000
tons month has been most thoroughly
hand-picked IN search of very real treas
ures. In addition to the surface some
miles of deep-down passages which had
collapsed and become choked with debris
have been cleared with the aid of 100000
worth of the most modern machinery.
Over 400 hands are engaged, and it Is
tolerably certain that the st. Ives mines.
as now worked for radium and several
valuable by-products, form veritable
Aladdin's cave of the twentieth century.
AS the pitchblende is discovered it is
packed in boxes-ridiculously like fish
boxes-and sent to London. where in
matter Of fact and rather mean Lime
house it is treated in a factory presided
over by that modern magician, Sir Will
lam Ramsay, X. c. B.. F. R. s., most
famous of mining engineers.
Some of the Processes.
The pitchbIende ore is crushed at the
Trenwith mine. Cornwall, for conven-
ience of transit The crushing is done in
the ordinary way. and on reaching
Limehouse the concentrated ore is treat
ed by series of highly technical process
es for the extraction variously of radium.
uranium, radium bromide, yellow and
orange uranates, black uranium oxide,
uranium nitrates and other products
which are used in many manufacturing
and scientific works.
In the processes the ore is reduced to
a liquid, and from this the radium de-
posits are precipitated, to be afterward
crystallized. The time occupied in OBJ
tanning the radium liquors is a week,
and the crystalliZation takes two months,
while it is said that the Continental
method of extracting radium occupies a
year. So skilfully is the work at Lime
house carried on that Sir William Ram
say states that of $50 grams of radium
produced. only one milligram would
be left behind in the liquor.
Prior to the opening of this factory the
whole world had produced only five or
six grams, but it is hoped at Lime
house to obtain as much as a gram
per month. Certain it is that the Corn
wall pitchblende Is rich in radium, and
that the British supply is amply sufficient
for the demands. 1t is estimated that
the Limehouse works have already pro-
duced between 10000 and f25,OOO worth
of radium, which is now publicly offered
for sale at f20 per milligram. Sir
William believes that a ton of pure
pitchblende yields $50 milligrams Of
radium.
Every place devoted to scientific re-
search. and there are dozens of such, is
purposes, for at present
the curative properties of Nine. Curies
discovery are not fully known. However,
II has been established as a fact that
radium can be employed in the cure of
rodent ulcer, which is allied to cancer,
and it has been found to have beneficial
effects in dealing with cancer itself
The application of ten milligrams of
radium bromide for ten minutes once a
has caused the ulcer to disap-
pear after three applications. 1t has fur
ther been found that radium, dissolved
in water, gives of emanations, and has
been highly effective in treating cases of
yout, rheumatism. gouty neuritis, and
every form of nervous disease. In Ger
many radium baths are taken, but that
IS luxury as yet unknown in this
AS a matter of fact, radium as cura-
tive element is as old as the hills, for
every mineral spring contains
some emanations in very minute quanti-
ties. Now. of course, the healing effect
can be greatly aided by employing larger
and more certain quantities of radium.