The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-01-21
To SOLVE PN0RI FIN
OF MINING INDUSTRY

Washington. Jan. 2o--The federal
government is now maintaining eleven
experiment stations throughout the
country. devoted to the solving of the
problems that arise in the mining in
dustry. These stations. under the con-
troll of the bureau of mines, depart
ment of the interior. are taking up the
big questions that are puzzling the in
dustry. and especially those questions
whose solution will add TO the pros
perity of mining. Already. through
successful solution of some of the
problems, mining has been renewed
and more men employed in certain
localities and what formerly was
waste is being utilized and made into
valuable products that have proved OF
high value.
| In enumera ting these stations and
! their purposes Or. Van H. Manning,
director OF the bureau of mines. says:
The station a. Columbus. Ohio, sit
uated at clay working center. is en-
ployed mostly on ceramic problems.
lin this country there are about 1000
firms manufacturing clay products.
I The amount invested in these indus
! tries is approximately 1875. eco. 900 and
the value OF the products exceeds
s20S 100000 annually,
THE station al Bartlesville, Okla.
Us lnNFStGShtitt- HEhUitIHS, SuCH as
climinR tiou Of waste of oil aud natural
gas improvements in drilling and
easing wells, prevention or water trou-
! bles at wells. and OF waste in storing
and refining peTro'eum. and the re-
convey ~ gasoline from natural gas,
The bureau of mines maintains it's
principal experiment station at Pitts
burgh Pa. Some OF its more impor-
liant accom- plisnmente have been the
is,t- t-es ~
In dangerous mines, the training of
thousands OF coal muers in mine
RESCUE and first aid work, and tbs con-
iducting OF combustion inVestiga tons.
aimed at increased efficiency in the
burning of coal and the use OF our
vast deposits Of ignite and low grade
coal
How vast are the deposits OF low
grade ores being made available
through tho cyperimcnt stations is
shown by tho WORK ASSIGNED to the
station at MINNEAPOLIS. Mimi. whose
purpose is to devise methods of utiliy-
inc low gre de iron ores. II has heeD
estimated ,that the reserves Of low
grade magnetic iron ores in the stata
lof Minnesota alone amounf ia some
forty billion tons. but until recently
those ores have been untouched be-
cause no process of treating them
protita bly, has been devised Econ now
only one company is stten1 Dtinc to
utiiiIe them The Minnna nolis sta :
ton has ALREADY demonstrates that one
process for utilizing thu greet deposits
OF manganiferous iron ores on the
iCuyuna range is etallurgieallv pos
sible
Work such as this not ONLY stirnu-
laies mineral production and helps to
make availa bic tremendous resources
that are now unused. hut it increases
the total wealth OF the nation and
ultimately benefits every citizen.
In the West vast quantities OF low
grade complex ores will become avail
able as soon as cnmn1er~'r''" fen sir'a
processes are devised, Many OF the
iprohlems involved. which arc being AT :
tackled at the Golden. Colo station.
the Salt Lake City, Utah. station tn.
Seattle. wash: station the Tucson
Ariz,. saton and the Berkelcv. Cal,
, station are of such nature that the
small operator cannot afford to at.
tack them. and tho large operator finds
them outside his field. Yet the solu.
ton of any one IT them may add great
ly to tho available resources ~ the
/ ing a new industry that will build up
! the district in which i. is situated
Already these stations although young
have witnessed such results,
/ To-day, through. tho efforts Of men
at the Golden station, there is an
American radium industry. Formerly
4dheslnwzgradc.E Ia d lanag caring ,era< asas
wasted the best nf the orc was bought
( by foreign concerns at ruinouslv low
prices, and the radium aas Skinned
/ hack to this country at excessively
high prices
The Salt Lake City tsticn has do
Ftsed novel methods of treating Ger.
tain low grade and complex ores ~
'ead and zinc Thcso methods sho~s
large savin~ nf metal over methods
hitherto .'oYed. ana have .,,a ~
] ava.ia BILE -~ fh@a other methods
could not treat nrnftahiy,
The Seattle station IL busy with the
iow-grado ores of tne Northwest. are
the mining and Htifiza.inn ~ the coal.
% tne Pacific states the Tucson sta