Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1916-07-02

UelltI li1lOiHlet, luf III lHe --LATEST IS
sue of The Annalist we read about
tungsten as a mineral and are told
that it is converted into an acid for
the hardening of steel tools" By this
time our readers know all about the
minerals in which the metal tungsten
exists as an acid radical tungstic OK
ide. Tungsten is a Swedish word mean
ing heavy, (tung) stone (sten). The
chemical symbol w is taken from the
Latin wolframium. In California the
chief ore is the tungstate of lime,
scheelite, and it is noteworthy fact
that during recent months the most
profitable mine in the state has been
a tungsten enterprise, the Atolia Min
ing company in San Bernardino county.
In Arizona hubernite and wolframite
! the tungstates of manganese and iron,
share economic Importance with
! scheelite, while in Colorado, particu-
/ larly in Boulder county, the mineral
! ferberite, a tungstate of iron, is the
characteristic product In all these
minerals the content of tungsten tri-
oxide (WO3) ranges from 70 to so
per cent the actual treatment of the
ore yielding a concentrate containing
60 to IS per cent. This concentrate is
reduced with carbon, together with
iron ore in an electric furnace the
resulting ferro- tungsten containing IS
to so per cent tungsten. This is added
to the charge when making certain
| kinds of steel. Alloy steel, especially
for high-speed cutting tools, con-
sumes most of the production. An
other important use is as wire in the
making of filament for incandescent
lights; when used for this purpose a
pure tungstic oxide is obtained by
chemical process and then reduced al
a temperature of 1000 degrees C. by
hydrogen or. pure carbon, yielding g
black powder that is pressed into bars
through which an electric current is
passed in order that the heat may
agglomerate the metallic particles Sc
that the bar can be shaped. becoming
so ductile that it can be drawn into
wire. Previous to the war, the worlt
output of tungsten was about 1900
tons of 60 per cent concentrate; anC
out of this total Burma contributed
200 tons, the United States 1890 tons
and Portugal 1880 tons. At the end o
1913, Portugars output was increas
ing the most rapidly, having nearl!
trebled in five years. Until recently tn
manufacture of ferro- tungsten wa
: mainly a German industry; now Eng
land is making supplies for hersel
and her allies. The placing of an EN-
barge ON the shipment of tungstel
ores and products from England 0
her overseas dominions has had
beneficial effect in stimulating tn
, mining and metallurgy of tungsten i
: the United States, where the maxim
of high-speed tool-steel is at its max
imum. Hence the extraordinary rise i
price. During 1913 the price ranged be
tween Sc and 81 per unit of so pc
: cent concentrate. In 1914 the averag
was 81 per unit. BY the middle of Feb
ruary 1915 the quotation was $40, ris
% ing slowly to $50 in February of thi
year. when a jump to sos per uni
:, or $5.25 per pound, was recorded
Whereupon there ensued a veritabl
scramble for tungsten ore all over tn
west; the resulting production. to
= gether with large shipments from Sout
America, flooded the market so ths
the price declined rapidly until now
is at about $40 per unit. That incor
rigible ratio of supply and demand ha
a way of asserting itself, despite a
we may hope or dream.