Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1914-01-23

as the uranium minerals. This in (
terest is, of course, due not TO the I
minerals as such, nor to the uranium
they contain, but to the accompany.
ing radium, which is found only with /
uranium. Hitherto the interest in /
radium, though lively. has been large
ly academic, on account of the marve-
lous qualities which it displays when
compared with better known ele.
ments. Toward the end of 1913,
however. public interest became al
most feverish, owing to the apparent
cures of cancer wrought by the ap-
! plieation of the gamma rays given off
/ by radium.
| Uranium minerals were produced in
commercial quantity in the United
States in 1913, as shown by prelimi-
nary statistics gathered by Frank L.
Hess. of the United States Geolo-
gical Survey, only in Colorado and
Utah, and although during the year
some pitchblende was mined in Col
orado in the Belcher & Calhoun
mines, only a few pounds we're sold,
though so dry tons of low grade ma
terial carrying LAG per cent uranium
oxide was shipped to France from
the Kirk mine. This had been mined
in previous year. Carnotite, "a vel.
low powdery or waxy mineral found in
the sandstones of the high plateau
between the Rocky Mountains Of Col
orado and San Rafael swell of Utah,
south of the Book Cliffs, furnished
the whole production.
Carnotite, as the word is ordinarily
used, Is potash or lime Uranium
vanadate. Several vanadiurH min
erals occur with the carnotite. so that
In mining for uranium a great deaf of
canadium is also obtained. AT New
mire. San Miguel county. Colorado,
one Of the uhanium mineralss roscoe
lite. occurs practically free from
uranium and is worked for vanadium
alone.
The total mine shipments of ura-
mum and vanadium, as shown by pre-
liminary figures. were equal to 2,14O
tons, of dry ore. carrying an equiva-
lent of 38 tons of uranium oxide. The
vanadium in carnotite ores shipped,
| together with that which is esti-
mated to have been produced from
the Newmire district, was equivalent
ito 914 tons of vanadium oxide.
These quantities are equal to about
1928 tons of metallic uranium and
412 tons of metallic yanadium
The Bureau of Mines has deter
mined that carnotite carries about 90
percent or even a little more Of the
theoretical quantity of radium in
equilibrium with uranium, which, ac-
cording to Rutherford t"Radioactive
substances anA their radiations," p.
49,, is equal to about / gram in g.
600 Kilograms of uranium. Assum-
ing that 80 per cent of the radium is
recoverable, this would give in the
output of 1913 an equivalent of about
$40 grams of metallic radium, or
1910 grams of hydrous radium bro
mide. worth. at $3.50 milligram OF
, metallic radium about 81 LOSS, 900.
the total value of the carnotite ores
sold was about $4,000, which repre-
! sents the uranium value only, as lit
tie was paid for the vanadum con-
tent and the figures for these re-
ceipts are not yet in hand
The production of the year was
the Geological Survey figures, that
for 1912 being equivalent to 20 short
short tons OF uranium oxide (22 tons
OF the metal. and that for 1911 be.
ing equivalent TO 25 tons of ura'
mum exde (2l.2 tons OF the metall
An increase OF nearly 50 per cent
for 1918.
OF the quantity produced, apparent,
~ 1926 tons OF uranium oxide con
tanning the equivalent Of So grams Of
hydrous radium bromide. was shipped
TO Europe. and 1875 tons. containing
an equivalent of 81 grams q hydrous
radlum bromide was retained in this
country. although In tonnage ths
i quantity retained IN this country
ilss tons. WAS larger than thai
shipped 60 Europe. which VAS ap
parenlly see tons. One 81 the prin
cipai producers FOR foreign trade di'
little work FOR more than half Ia
\ year OWNS d Is reported 10 ~
j, fact that ~ factory Va tiserpcol IA,
nnt been completed HAD the factor
come Into operation suoner the "a
ports would have bsea eonsiderahr
larger
A pso@iasas feature az aranlau