The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-06-28

s100 a ton. but the cost of extraction
Is the first consideration
Australia's Expectations.
The chief hope for radium ont in
Australia is IN the south. near 0i2ary,
on the broken iiill railway, where the
Radium Hin company owns about
five mics Of rugged and broken cOun
try in. the center of region abound
ing in minerals, with gold and copper
mines and iron-stonc quarries not far
away. The ore was found refractory
10 European processes, but a satisfac
tory method was discovered Ky Profess
sor Sidney Radcliffe, the cost of treat
Juent per ton coming to about 500.
with another $50 to cover crushing
and conveying to Woolwich. Sydney.
where there are several companies a.
work. 1t is reported that the Raiium
Hul company viii shortly be able to
increase its output of radiur1 to zoo
milligrams a month. orders have
been received which cover the output
for p1anv HorthS TO come, but all the
mining companies have resolved to
put share aside Cor therapeutic use
in Australia.
Professor Pollock, of sydney Uni.
Nersity. found Australian specimens or
radiurn gave radtoactivity equal to "a
per cent when compared with i'm
&
SIR Ernest Rutherford and Or II. rus
sell. Of Manchester university, re-
ported on specimens sent over that the
only radio active bodies il contained
were radium and its disintegration
products; the preparation waa free
rr,,.zt,t ffrr~itta and nj fstf' attic
active substances which Nithou care
I'M examination, were liable TO be mis-
taken for radium, The ere in the
,tit.s te'
Increasing as the mines are ieepened.
OF the radium- bearing ores in the
Mudgee district Of New South Wales
no great commercial DEVELOPMENT hai
yet taken place.
Canada is wisely legis1ating on pos
sihllities, for although Ontario has
hitherto proved no claim to radia-ac-
tive ores. a bill has been passed re-
Gently offering S25 900 reward for the
first discovery II such in sufficient
quantity to Justify extraction for med
zeal purposes.
The legislature Of British Columbia
followed suit, authorizing the leuten-
governor 70 PLACE 2. reserve on all
radi,lul discovered in the province, the
Grown 10 retain n so per cent In
terest in all that shall be produced
Tho council also offers IS 900 reward
for a discovery Of radium-t caring
mineral in sufficient quantity to jusu-
fy It's working.
Various reports Of finds continue to
come in from all parts ~ the wCrld.
hut the initial cost Of extraction and
analysis debars any complete in*esu-
CATION
Colonel Snodgrass. II .iosc6w. re-
ported that durtgg geolnglcal surveys
in the Caucasus radium and mezo-
fhoriuin had been discovered at the
mineral springs near Sotuhi and Suk-
hum. while dispatches from New Yea
land state that a Canadian engineer
}aa found a deposit Of earnotite in
the North Island
Every possible source Of radiuTn is
the hYdrated uranium oa1clum phos
rhate or aatunite, notably AT Autun.
France, and i'm Cornwall and Fortu-
gal
The average mineral rs worked con
tajus between and . per cent Of
uranium. bat here and there arc
found touches" containing clusters
IF uranite srystals of great purity.
The 1914 report concerning the autu
rite exploited In Portugal sass the
average value 81 / per cent, autunite
ore ia SO lbs or at sl46.S0 per ton.
and that there is practically free
market.
From tho alitunite deposits recently
found near Mt Painter South Aus
tralia a few tons Of the oec have heen
shipped to London to be anaiyzed
Davina Waterson. in New crk Even
ing Post