The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-24
BUREAU Of MINES
SAVES MILLIONS
THROUGH SALVAGE
Billions Of Tons Of Mineral
Bearing Earth Have Been
Strapped and Ore Saved
That Would Be Lost.

WASHINGTON. D. C, Jan. a. tSpll
Millions Of dollars worth OF mineral
salvage has been effected recently
through the activities of the Bureau OF
Mines in the campaign being conducted
10 improve the handling methods used IN
digging out Americas great natural re-
sources. Particularly In the last five
or six years has the Government been
watching with more than ordinary
closenoss the prodlgal waste that exists
In exploitation Of American minerals
and other natural resources, and every
effort ls now being bent to get the most
out OF the stiil lavish supply
The present campaign, which Is more
OF policy of administration, Is built
around the chain Of experiment stations
TO help In working out the most difficult
problems confronting each community,
In all there are eleven OF these stations
and they are geographically located so
as to nearly approximate separate
station for each separate natural re-
source field,
Government has established an expert
ment station at Columbus Ohio, stu
ated In the heart OF one OF the largest
producing fields In the country. This
station Is cooperation with tho clay
digging interests and lending Its advice
and experiment services to the more
than 1000 clay product manufacturing
firms OF the country, The annual re-
turns from this industry are approx
mately 100000, 000 and the clay firms
OF the country represent an Investment
OF about s37s, 100000 Highly satisfac.
tory improvements have been effected
In tho handling and treatment OF clay
products through the experiments OF
the Columbus station and they have re-
suited In barge annual savings,
Exploit Low, Grade Ores.
one of the most important economic
problems the country has known since
the days OF AZ has been that Of salvag-.
ing the low grade ores. Billions OF
tons OF mineral bearing earth have been
scrapped in the West because the large
operator had no time to bother with
anything but pay dirt and the small
operator lacked the funds for making
the "low-pay" dirt yield its riches. In
the Colorado radum- bearing fields the
earth was at one time practically
thrown at the European market for q
song, because the yield was 80 trivial
from the American viewpoint. But
European buyers developed ways OF
getting radium out through reasonable
treatment, and then shipped II back TO
us az stupendous prices Through the
efforts OF the Golden, Colo. station an
American extraction method has been
developed and the ground work OF
radium industry in this country estao-
lished.
This same situation was true, and
still is in part, OF the other mineral
fields, including the ore lands Of the
northwest and the Pacific, the lead and
zinc fields OF Utah and nelghhoring
states and the iron lands Of Minnesota.
The Bureau Of Mines now has stations
established at Minneapolis, Salt Lake
CITY, Utah, Seattle, Wash. Tucson,
Arix,, and Berkely, Cal, combating
these low-grade ore problems and they
are meeting with marked success In
Minnesota alone Il Ia estimated the re-
serve OF ow-grade magnetic iron ores
amounts TO some forty billion tons. I'm
I'll recently these ores, including vast
deposits OF the Guyana Range, had been
untouched because there had been no
process devised for treating them prof
itahly.
In Pittsburgh, the work OF the Bureau
OF Mines has been very generally ex-
nloited and the experiment station has
dealt largely with all the problems OF
mining. Including those Of mine safety
The particular problems OF this territory
have to do with coal mining ana satety
methods for combating mine gaSSes and
explosions. Great savings nave also
been effected through the work OF the
experiment station at Bartlesvlle, Okla,
where economic methods Of oil drilling
and stopping OF waste In the natural
gas fields has presented problem.
WORK SOCn as thlS, hNtolul'A /"
Director Manning OF the Federal Bureau
''not only stimulates mineral production
and helps to make available tremendous
resources that are now unused but IL
increases the total wealth of the nation
and ultimately benefits every citizen.
Speaking OF the situation particularly
IN the west, where low grade earth
must be made to pay. he said
at more than dozen mills in the
West. engineers from the stations are
working directly with the mill men on
various problems and the results they
have already obtained more than war
rant the existence Of the stations, Sue
cess In solving one problem may easily
he worth millions to the country