The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-08
NgQBLZCs THE MINES OF THE NATION-By Frank G. Carpenter

0 N0 S 0 0S0 NJ
 ming and Nevada small amounts If
 platinum are found in the rocks. The
 amount needed is not great, but we
 dare not risk lack of supply.
 A mineral which is of tremendous i'm lportance in making war steel is mang- anese. This has doubled and trebled in value since the war began. We have | some of it in Virginia Georgia, Arkan- sas, Colorado and California, and we are now importing a large amount from Brazil India has some which was for
 merly in the hands of the Germans and now goes to Great Britain. Russia has
 mines, the supply of which will now go to Germany. The United States may be able to get all it needs from this coun- try and Mexico, as our geological ex-
 perts have called attention to the new available supplies. I am told that we can use 900 tons a day as long as the war lasts
 l Manganese is necessary to the mak- ing of all the high grade steels now in use. When iron ia made into steel practically all the carbon and other i'm purities are taken out in the open hearth furnaces or the Bessemer con verters and it is necessary to put back a small amount of carbon to make the best steel. Manganese is used for this i purpose. It adds to the toughness of the metal and makes dense solid steel free from honeycombs and blowholes l There Is some of it in every bit of armor plate, and in every shell and other projectile. It is used in all our 1 airplanes, motor cars and other vehicles of rapid transportation. Since the war began we have imported millions of dollars worth from Brazil.
 metal used somewhat like manga nese is titanium. It is employed as an alloy for steel rails and in forgings and castings to give them wearing qualities. The principal producer of this metal is the United Stltes
 The chief lights in No Mans Land are made of magnesium, This is the lightest metal known, and it remains fairly stable under all atmospheric con ditions. It is stronger, tougher and harder than aluminium, and it is used as an alloy with it in airplanes It is found also in shrapnel shells and in aerial bombs and rockets.
 When magnesium burns it produces white cloud by day and a brilliant white light by night. This lights up the surroundings and shows also where the shells strike. The metal was selling be- fore the war for $1.65 a pound and all that we had was imported. It is now selling for $650 a pound and we are getting much of it in the United States. We produce a great deal from the waste materials of the Michigan salt brines We made almost 100 900 pounds in 1915
 The best red lights for the battle fields are made of strontium, metal which was produced chiefly in Germany until the war broke out. We got our material for making the red signal lights for the railways from that coun- try. We are now making strontium our selves and we shall be able to supply all of our home demands from now on.
 As to aluminium. the chief ore from which it comes was not even mentioned in list of useful minerals published by the geological survey 25 years ago This ore is bauxite, of which there are large deposits in the south and especially in Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas. Tennessee and Georgia. There are also large deposits in France. Before the war we were producing about two-fifths of the worlds output and more than so per cent of our supply came from Arkansas.
 We are the leading country in the manufacture of metallic aluminium and in 1916 we exported that metal to the amount of S15,000,000. Aluminium is used largely in airplane bodies and in automobiles. It is used for electric ca bles, and as a conductor in long, dis | tance power transmission. Los Angeles has one such line 200 miles long. Alum mum forms a part of the camp equip ment of the soldiers, and mixed with amonium- nitrate as a dust or powder, 1t makes an explosive for shells. It is used as a paint and the bauXite ore is employed to make brick for furnace things The metal is valuable on ac- count of it's nonrusting qualities, and for its resistance to the action of acids and especially sulphuric acid and nit ric acid
 We are now getting the most of our nickel from Canada and that country will supply us with all we need for the war It has great deposits at Sudbury, Ontario,h just a few miles north of Georgiana bay, and these be- long to the International Nickel com pany whose headquarters is at New York city, with refining works in New Jersey not far away. I visited the | mines some years ago They have al 1 ready taken more nickel out of them l than would make a solid block as big | as the national capitol at Washing l ton, and the deposits seem to be prac- looks much like S.on; it is combina- ton of nickel, copper, sulphur and iron. It is mined like iron. and smelted into the matte which is sent to New Jersey. The smelling gives forth an enormous amount of brim- stone fumes and the men employed have to wear gas masks or rubber IT. eo caps to withstand the burning sulphur
 When the war with Germany began, Great Britain prohibited the export
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