El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-11
MINERALS Of
GREAT WORTH
United States Has Them
Hidden Away and Needs
Them Very Greatly.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKTN.

Washington, D. c., May lido you
w what vanadium is2 Did you
aiize that without this rare mineral
tae Germans could never have manu-
featured the great cannons with
which they have been Smelling Paris,
because vsuadium must be employed
IN the manufacture OF any steel sub
5ect TO intense and repeated strains?
Had you ever heard that in the sum
mer OF 1915 the German merchant
submarine Deutschland loaded Is tons
Of metallic vanad5um at Baltimore and
It's crew was decorated by the kaiser
on their arrival at Bremen because
they had brought to Germany sup
ply OF a mineral essential TO war. OF
which not a trace IS 70 be found IN
any Of the central powers?
The Is tons OF vanadium carried
from this country IN the hold OF a
single submarine constituted three
percent Of the present total annual
production Of the mineral in the
United States. Our entire native pro-
duction OF $50 tons in 1917 could have
been shipped aboard a 5000 ton
freighter. Until the scarcity Of ships
made e impracticable, we were i'm
porting about 5000 metric tons OF
vanadium a year from Peru. where
the richest known deposits are found
Plenty In Colorado
Nevertheless this metal is present
IN large undevelOped sources in san
Miguel county. Colorado, where the ]
ore was mined in 1910 for 40 to so /
cents a pound Since 1912 these de- /
posts have been allowed to lie idle /
r1ntr-f D standing the fart that Tannr- /
Jun now fetches 81 and more q pound, /
and is in tremendous demand.
Vanadium is but one Of 100 minor
minerals necessary for war purposes
which are present in large quantities
IN the United States but have hither-
70 been largely imported from other
countries. On the last day Of April
the house OF representatives passed q
bill providing for the development Of
these resources under government
control, and carrying an appr0pri-
alton OF S10.QO0.00O for this purpose
At the present time we cannot build
a battleship OF turn out q field piece
without importing materials neces-
sary 10 their manufacture If you
VIII dig in TO our mineral wealth and
bring out for the nation what We have
hidden away in abundance, VT can do
Manganese Important.
Anthony, bismuth, cerium, chrOm-I
ium, graphite. iridium, manganese
pyrites-the names OF the minerals
specified in this bin read like the
table OF contents OF a mineralOgy- Yeti
their Importance to the nation now
Is great, despite the fact that most OF
the people In IL never heard Of them
Shutting off manganese and cnrom-I
ium from our munltion plants would
stop the war program Of America
within a. For the manufacture OF
every ton OF steel from Il TO 10
pounds OF pure manganese is required
and although the ore is found eZten-
sively through the south and west
America last year produced only 81
percent Of her total consumption OF
almost LOCO, 900 long tons. importing
hundreds OF thousands OF tons from
Brazil and a large quantity from In
dfa Before the war the averaged
price OF manganese ore was about
So q ton Now Il Is fetching five
times that sum and supply is unable
to meet demand.
Need OF Chrozzltfe Iron.
Chromite is essential for war needs
from the fact that every shell must
be tipped with Il, and every piece OF
armor plate must contain Il as
strengthening factor Yet in 1913, out
OF $4,000 tons Of chromits used in this
country all but Z55 tons OF less than
half OF one percent were imported,
mostly from Asiatic turkey. The
average price was SIS a ton
Besides its war uses this mineral IS
invaluable in leather tanning, which
IS one explanation OF the rising cost
Of shoes. 1t is indispensable in the
manufacture Of any ste where extra
hardness and non disability are re-
luIred.