The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-02-26
.RAD|UM BEARING ORE
AND ITS APPEARANCE
SUBJECT THAT Is BEING DIS.
CUSsED WHEREVER MINERS
OR PROSECUTORS GATHER.

The subject of radium and radium
bearing ores Is discussed wherever
miners or prospectors gather In Mon
! tana these winter days. While no def
mite announcement has been made that
radium has been discovered In this
state, there is little doubt but that II
exists, and miners from several Sec
tons of Montana have written the
mining editor of deposits resembling
the ore which carries radium, says the
Butte Miner
As to PitchbIende.
A mining engineer Of Central City,
Colo, was discussing the question of
radium in Colorado at the Leggat no.
| tel last evening. According to his con-
illusions, pitchblende will run about
81 per cent uranium oxide. 1t is, how
ever seldom found in any quantity in
the pure state. The best Gilpin coun-
Ity Central City, pitchblende will as
say so per cent uranium oxide. Now,
vi lllC illSt pldtC, lHt ucIllHu lOI uTd
MUM is not confined to it's association
With radum. 1t has many uses Of it's
own. The demand for uranium is in
|creasing.
For one thing 1t is an essential part
Of the metal alloy which is called aur
metal. This metal Is used in all the
cigar lighters that have become so
popular in recent years. An alloy con-
sisting Of aluminium, uranium and
jrhodium has the remarkable property
Of striking fire when scratched with
steel very much more readily than the
old fashioned flint and steel, and
hence is finding a wide market for all
sorts of lighters, but particularly for
pocket lighters for those who worship
i4t the shrine of Lady Nicotine.
| No longer now need Mr. Smoker
strew my lady's carpet with half
burnt matches bit Of aur metal.
piece Of steel wrapped with naptha-
soaked gauze and there you are!
No More Burnt Matches.
There need be no more burnt
matches to disturb the household
equanimity and promote friction be-
tween husband and wife.
SO it happens that both metals in
pitchblende serve to promote human
happiness. Radium Is the wonderful
life saver, but uranium in modest
way saves trouble for father and an
novance for mother
The use of uranium in aur metal, to-
gether with its other uses, exclusive
Of its radium bearing qualities. has ad-
vanced the price of uranium oxide to
1925 per pound.
Sixty per cent ore would contain
1900 pounds u. 8 or. so the uranium
value alone will be $500 per ton
1t has been estimated that every ton
Of uranium oxide contains 342 mill
grams of radium chloride. Hence 60
per cent ore will contain 2O5 MILL
Grams of radium oxide per ton, which
at 100000 per gram comes to s2O,1O0,
Hence we see that the gross value of
60 per cent pitchblende is $4,000 per
ton.
1t is claimed that some Of it has ac-
tually been sold for $12 per pound,
which amounts to $4,000 per ton.
Pitchblende is extremely heavy (spe-
cific gravity plus 9.4. 1t takes only
y little Of it to make a ton.
Gets Name From Coal Tar.
1t is black as pitch (coal tar and
has the same lack of crystalline struc-
! lure that pitch has; hence its name.
tccording to the ideas Of the Gilpin
miners it may occur anywhere in small
1treaks and pockets in the veins of
Gilpn county.
1t is characteristic of pitchblende
hat it "robs" the vein of practically
I'll gold and silver values.
For instance if drift is being driv-
on on a good gold bearing vein which
IS three feet wide, and a streak of
pitchblende one inch wide appears at
! that point, the vein will become bar
ron of all values but pitchbende
Hence little pitchblende has been
wasted by shipping it to the mills or
smelters; but on the other hand, there
! is no doubt that much of 1t is irrevoc-
ably buried in stope filings.