Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1919-05-10
CADMIUM IN THE WAR / IMPORTANT NEW USES

The end of the war is an appropri- ate time to review the part played by mineral products in the great struggle A report on cadmium in 1918, prepar- ed by c. E. Siebenthal, of the Uni ted States Geological Survey, Depart ment of the Interior, describes the minor but interesting uses of this metal in the war. The war interest in cadmium centered mainly in it's em- ployment as substitute for tin, but more of it was probably put into bronze telegraph and telephone wires. Cadmium Substitute for Tin in
 Soldiers.
 The large quantity of tin used in making food containers for rationing the American and Allied armies, com- bined with the lack of shipping and the loss of several cargoes of tin, pro- duced critical scarcity of tin in this country and led to Government control OI its distribution as we'll as to a cam paign for it's conservation. One meth cd of saving tin is to substitute cad mium for it in solder. In the last year of the war the Government and certain large concerns began expert ments with cadmium soldiers as means of saving tin. The results of these experiments were promising, but the demand for tin decreased, and the armistice was signed before cad mium soldiers became widely used.
 Cadmium was used by European nations during the war for some stric- tly military purposes, but little exact information is available to show those purposes.
 Germany Used Cadmium Soldiers The first of the belligerent nations to make large use of cadmium as sub stitute for tin in soldiers was Ger man, which from the beginning of the war was cut off by the blockade al- most entirely from the worlds sour ces of tin. The great scarcity of tin in Germany is indicated by the fact that over 30 per cent of the cargo of the submarine Deutschland, on her re- turn trip in July, 1916, consisted of pig tin. Soldiers containing 10 per cent of cadmium were used in Ger many early in the war, and some were reported to contain as high as 30 per cent cadmium and only 2 per cent of tin instead of the customary 40 or 50 per cent. Nickel was also scarce in Germany; it made up a large part of both cargoes carried by the Deut- schland; and in Germany cadmium plating may have been substituted for nickel-plating where possible.
 Production of Cadmium in the United
 States.
 About 600 tons of cadmium accumu- lates annually in this country as dusts and residues, by-products of the lead and zinc industries, and from these by-products about 100 tons of metallic cadmium is recovered. If all the cad mium dusts and residues were treated the output of metallic cadmium would be small in comparison to the 19,000 or 10000 tons of tin annually used in this country in solder, even if due allowance is made for the fact that I pound of cadmium can replace from to 5 pounds of tin.
 The output of metallic cadmium in the United States in 1918 was 127,164 pounds, as compared with POT 7,40S pounds in 1917, and the output of cad mium sulphide in 1918 was 51,702 pounds as against 50,169 pounds in 1917. The average value per pound for metal and for sulphide was $1.48 and $1.36 in 1918 as against $1.47 and $1.41 in 1917. The exports of cad mium in 1918 were 62,S20 pounds, of which 30,440 pounds was sent to France and 10000 pounds to Japan.
 The market for metallic cadmium was not strong in the first half of 1918, and considerable stocks accu- mulated. Production was somewhat curtailed before August and almost stopped during the remainder of the year.
 The Geological Surveys report of Cadmium in 1918 can be obtained from the Director of the Survey at Washington, D. c.
 Cadmium is diatomic metallic el- ement, discovered in the latter days of the last century. It is ductile, mal- leable, white metal It has the prop ' erty of not tarnishing. Its melting point is 315. degrees and it boils at a temperature of 860. It is found in some zinc ores, but owing to its low point of volitalization it passes over before the zinc from the retort. + is found in nature in the form of a sulphide in greenockite. Owing to its low melting point it may take the place of tin to certain extent in the manufacture of solder and the thinning" of iron and zinc plate ves- sells. With certain combinations it is possible to make it take the place of tin for all purposes, and lack of tin in the United States will probably re- suit in further experimentation until the right combination is found that