Evening star., 1931-12-27

ium oxide. scn.e OF the Colorado ores con-
tanning only to 4 per cent of uranium oxide
have been prlnt2b.y worked
D ADIUM, too was pvesent in the pitchblende
N to the ox,ent of 100 to 200 mligrams to
the ton. tbs was as much as the best of
Belgian ores, which Gtil rule the world market.
At least $1,000 worth of radiurS, they we're told,
was .prescnS in every ton CT the ore.
Fortunately the deposits are concentrated
and easily accessible to the surface which is
not true in the Kongo
Further fg.t3 wera made in February and
July until the layout of the lake shore was
thoroughly undergtocd After the first discov-
cry, further explorations were rewarded by the
discovery of a second pitchblende vein.
Mr.. Cragg belie"es, however, that a "radium
rush" to Echo Bay is not likely to be profitable
The discoverers have fully protected their de-
posts by claiming all ground within striking
range of ther veins for long distances. Mo-
uranium orc in which the radium always oc-
ours other than that found by La Bine and
his friends, has been seen.
But the radium find was not all. The silver
ore found alongside of the pitchblende has
turned out to b. of very high grade, contain
ing relatively high per cent of the metal.
Twenty tons of pitchblende ore have already
been shipped out, and 40 more tons are now
ready for Shipping.
THE two great railways of Canada are be-
lieved to be ready to build into these re-
mote regions when outstanding ore bodies are
found. Even with the 81 80 per pound charged
for air freight back to Edmonton it would
almost be profitable to ship the ore by air.
plane.
1t is beginning to look as if these two men
had done bigger thing for the world land
for their new company, Eldorado Gold Mines,
Llmited), than many more highly advertised
expeditions into tie polar regions.
The world really needs addition to its
meager store of radium. After ALL there is less
than a pound and half all told. About half
of this total (nine ounces, to be exact) has
been mined and purified within the borders Of
the United States.
The United States owes the development Of
its radum resources particularly to one man,
DR. Richard B. Moore In 1911 Prof Moore
made speech at the opening of the Chem
lists Club in New York City. He warned his
fellow chemists that the United States was let
ting the radum industry slip out of its hands
into foreign control
Aroused by DR.. Moore's remarks, the United
States Bureau Of Mines sent him out to Colorado
to investigate. Three times as much radium,
he found, was being made from the carnotite
ores Of Colorado and Utah from all other
sources Of radium in the world. Europe was
buying and shipping abroad these American
ores, manufacturing the radium, keeping the
bulk Of it and selling small amounts back TO
Americans at $4,000 a gram.
A RARE minerals laboratory under the
\ charge of DR.. Moore was established at
Denver to work out the best method of coax
ing the radium from the ore. At the same
time Radium Institute was set up.
The Radium Institute supplied the capital
which permitted the long preliminary work
of devisng refining process to be carried out.
The Bureau Of Mines co-operated by supply
ing experts in geology and chemistry.
These Efforts to give the world and the
United States reader supply Of radum were
completely successful. Shortly after 1913
when the work was begun, the Denver radium
plant was producing the bulk of the worlds
supply.
However, this same year witnessed the dis
covery at Katanga, in the Belgian Kongo, Of
much richer and more extensive pitchblende
deposit This contained enough radium so
that 1t was profitable to ship it to Europe for
extraction. ~
Not indeed, Until 1922 did the Belgian ra-
dunn appear on the market, but when it did
1t drove all other competitors out of the field.
For this reason the American workings have
been discontinued tsome think unwisely) and
the Belgian manufacturers have enjoyed a
world monopoly since then.
Resentment has been felt by doctors through
out the world that radium has not been made
more widely available for their urgent uses.
At Memorial Hospital in New York, devoted
entirely to the treatment of cancer, the eight =
gram supply of radium, largest store at any