The daily progressive-miner., 1917-12-19
BUREAU OF MINES DEVELOPS LATENT
 POSSIBILITIES

United States, under the dire stress
 of world war, 8 awakening to new
 commercial possibilities in the way of
 new industries that will buy their raw
 materials in this country instead of
 importing them as in the past, add
 ing thousands of men to the payrolls l and keeping millions of dollars here, according to the annual report of Van Manning, director of the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior is- 1 sued today. The report discloses the extent the military authorities have to depend in modern warfare upon the mineral industry and indicates in a the Bureau of Mines in obtaining a sufficient supply of mineral essentials from American mines and American Imetallurgical plants.
 Experts from the bureau have searched the country far and wide for meals that would add strength to the military arm of Uncle Sam and have reported in most instances not only an abundance of these materials but have added that these sam emetals employed also in peaceful industry can be used to build up permanent industries in the United States, per haps destroying for all time the de- pendance of the United States upon foreign countries for necessary raw materials These new industries have already shown such growth as to add materially to the American output and 10 bring about a diminishing importa- ton of raw materils. This condition according to Bureau of Mines officials, is equivalent to the production of new tonnage for the use of the United States. as many vessels now bringing in raw materials from foreign coun- tries can be used for more pressing war purposes.
 It may seem paradoXical that the Bureau of Mines, created originally for saving life in the mines, becomes in war time an active aid in the pros ecution of the military aims of the United States. but here are some of the illustrations.
 The Bureau. cooperating with the War Department, sent c. l.. Parsons chief chemist, to Europe to investi- gate processes used there in the man quantities in war time in the making of explosives. and also used for fer tilizer. His report and recommends tion were adopted in substance by the committee on nitrate supply, and a large plant for the production of nit ric acid for war purposes and ammon- ia for agricultural purposes is in pro- cess of erection. If this plant does what the experts hope it will do, all States even in peace times, will ulti- mately be made here, and it will no longer be necessary to depend upon Chile with tn econstant fear that in times of war the supply may be cut off by a hostile feet Even if in peace times the plant is not able to compete with Chile as a source of nitric acid itself, it can do so in fertilizer mat erial and this country will have the security that in war time the nitrates can be made here.
 With the present sharp decrease in available ship tonnage and the partial shutting down in shipments from Spain of iron pyrites used in the man. ufacture of sulphuric acid, the Bur eau of Mines was called upon to find the United States. The experts have now located number of promising py rite mes and steps have been taken 10 er 5ure a full domestic supply of "aw material for the making of sul- phuric acid which is absolutely vital in war time. It is stated by the bur eau experts tildI all AMerlcdI 0uuS- try supplied entirely by American raw material may be the permanent out come Magazines, used for the pro duction of high-grade steel, is another valuable peace and war mineral that the bureau has been endeavoring to find in great quantities in this coun- try, the steel industry being at pres ent dependent on Brazil for this ore. It has taken quite a fleet of sorely needed vessels to bring this ore to the Pnited States. w e. Phalen, mineral technologist of the bureau, has already visited the chief manganese producing divisions of the country, and his report is that a considerable pro- portion of the nations requirements san be supplied. So promising is this situation, it is estimated that some of