Evening star., 1938-02-24
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
1l1A,
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.

In forty years there has been produced
in the world pound and half of
radium-about enough to make a two
inch cube of this precious mineral.
OF this, less than quarter of pound
now can be located in the United States.
The element is worth, at present market
prices, S25,000 a gram, which is about
one four-hundredth of pound. 1t re-
quires million pounds of the original
ore OF the richest deposits in the world
to obtain one gram.
These statistics are distracted from
publicity release just issued by the Ell
Dorado Radium Corp, owner of the
deposits discovered seven years ago near
Great Bear Lake, just below the Arctic
Circle in Northwestern Canada. This
discovery, according to the news release,
resulted in reducing the price of the
life-giving element from $4,000 to $25, 900
a gram. The company, believed to be
the largest in the world, is able to
produce about five grams month.
The corporation, presumably seeking
for possible customers, surveyed about
2l3 leading hospitals in Al cities They
found that about 100 of these hospitals
had no radium at all. Some cities, such
as Des Moines and Syracuse, had not a
speck. There are about 80 grams in
New York City valued at S75O,OOO; 13
grams in Philadelphia, II grams in
Chicago, nine grams in Buffalo and
about five grams in Boston. This makes
68 out of the total of 80 grams which
the company was able to locate in the
United States. The other IA grams are
scattered over the country.
When the survey started the publicity
release states. the corporation expected
to find about 225 grams. They were un-
able to locate more than 100 grams,
however, although it is extremely
doubtful if much of it actually has been
lost. Some of it, of course, may have
disappeared through commercial uses.
Radium is found in extremely minute
amounts in the mineral pitchblend
which is widely distributed over the,
world, but In very minute quantities so
that exploitation in most places would
be prohibltively expensive. The original
radium mines were in Austria from
which the Curies obtained the supplies
OF pitchblend out of which the element
was isolated. The richest radium de-
posits in the United States were in
Southwestern Colorado from which, over
period of several years, four or five
grams were obtained.
Both the Austrian and the American
deposits, however, sank into insignifi-
canoe about Is years ago with the dis
covery of very rich pitchblend deposits
in the Belgian Congo. These were
exploited by Belgian company and the
price Immediately fell from over 100000
to $4,000 gram. The richness of the
mines and the "cheapness" with which
the element could be extracted gave this
company essentially world monopoly.
Then, about seven years ago, came the
discovery of the Great Bear Lake de-
posits-the original find, it is said, having
been made by an Indian who "smelled"
the rocks. Radium prospectors believe
that a peculiar odor permeates the at
mosphere in the vicinity of a rich de-
posit. These finds, breaking the world
monopoly of the Belgian Congo, rapidly
brought the price down almost two
thirds. The cost of extraction is very
expensive. Other deposits may be found,
although 1t is doubtful II any of them
will be much richer.
The owners Of the deposits have been
especially generous in supplying speci-
mems OF the ore to institutions for scien-
tif1c study, and several have been re-
ceived by the United States National
Museum here.
The element, emitting soms Of the